Pieces of My Life QAL, Block 3

I'm popping in with one more post to share the next block I've made for the Pieces of My Life QAL, hosted by Melva of Melva Loves Scraps.  I wasn't sure I'd get it done before we left on our trip, but I did!  

This block is called Bachelor's Puzzle, and it is kind of a puzzle!  Definitely a good one to take a photo of and compare what you're doing with the photo - often!

Four fabrics were needed for this block - so I used my cream Grunge, and the rainbow floral inspiration print, plus two yellows - a solid and a batik.

Did I sew it together correctly without flipping any pieces on the first try?  Yes!

Here are the first three blocks that I've made for the QAL.

Melva's theme for this block is life in high school, and what we were involved in.  Check out her fun post about being a gymnast here.  I was not an athlete - instead I was involved in music.  I sang in the choir and was involved in the musicals, as were all my friends.  My most fun memory was how we got so obsessed with the music and dialogue from the shows that we could answer any question with a line from the show.  We sang just about all day long.  I wish I had a photo to share from that time, but ran out of time to dig one out!

So happy to have the block done, though, and I'm sharing it over at Melva's link-ups - the Block 3 link-up and Sew and Tell Monday.

Travel Stitching

DH and I are getting ready to go out of town for a week, and I wanted a project to take along in case I have some time for a little slow stitching.  It seemed like the easiest thing to plan for would be a simple cross-stitch design, like one of Melisa's mini samplers.  So I hunted around on PinkernPunkin Quilting and found this one that I haven't stitched yet.

This is the Bunny Mini Sampler - found here.

I picked out the flosses I'll need, cut a piece of Aida cloth to size, and got out the bigger hoop to take along, too.

Last year, a friend gave me this adorable needle book that she made for me, so I'm taking it along to hold the floss, scissors, needle-threader and needles.  Isn't it sweet?

I love this little label that is on the inside.

Now I'm excited to get working on this little sampler!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

More with yellow

We had a nervous little visitor at our house yesterday.  He (or she?) found a good place to hide after leaving the nest, behind that big blue pot, and then I scared him when I came out with my camera.  

Stay safe little guy!

Back in the sewing room, I made the four patches that were needed for the alternate block that I'm using with the patchwork hearts.

They are quick to sew together into the chain block.

And all the blocks so far... It's fun to see what's developing here!

I'm thinking I'll shoot for a 5 x 5 layout, 

so that there will be a heart block in every corner.

For that I'll need 13 hearts and 12 alternate blocks.

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

And at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #383

 Here's our eclipse photo!  😊  Can you see all the little crescent shapes?

Older son got this one with his work camera which had a special filter on it. 

Our younger son enjoys cooking, and likes to figure out copycat recipes that sound good.  These were something he made last weekend - Copycat Crazy Puffs from Little Caesars Pizza.  They're made with pizza dough, pepperoni, sauce, and mozzarella cheese in a muffin tin.

We discovered that Trader Joe's has pizza dough that is very tasty and easy to work with.  We'll buy this again and try it for an actual pizza, too.

LeeAnna's question of the week is: Morning Person or Night Owl?  I'm definitely a morning person.  Never have been able to stay up very late.  I start fading about 9:00!  But I love those early morning hours when the house is quiet and I can read and sip my coffee when I am up all by myself.  Even in college when everyone else was pulling all-nighters, I would go bed at my regular time and get up early - 4 am?! - and study more then.

Good morning!

We will be out of town next week, so I won't have a Thursday post, so I'll answer next week's question here, too.  Crunchy or Chewy?  Oh, crunchy, for sure!  In fact, the joke in my family is that I might burn a pan of cookies, just so I can have them all to myself! 

Yum! 

Hope you're having a great week!  

I'll probably post as usual on Saturday and Sunday, 

and then be back here in a couple weeks.

Joining in with I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color.

  

 

 

Midweek Update

Every month I combine the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (April is yellow) and the challenge of the month for the Table Scraps Challenge (April is umbrellas) and see what kind of little quilted item I can come up with.   I'm not sure I've ever made an umbrella block before!  So the last few days I've been playing with an idea for an umbrella block.

My idea was to make a string block into an umbrella, so I started with a square of phone book paper and some strips of yellow.

This is looking umbrella-ish!

But it needed a handle...so I took a triangle of a background white, cut it in half, and added a black strip in the middle.  This could work!

Sewn and trimmed...what do you think?

I thought maybe I'd like those pointy corners to be smoothed off a bit, so I added stitch and flip corners, and might change the top point to a white background piece, too.  

I'm not sure how I'll finish this up, but I think I will turn it into a new mug rug for my mom.  I'll share the finish at the end of the month.

Linking up with Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Beatrice Bunny and Friends

The other day I finished up Beatrice Bunny, a sweet design from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.  I love her carrots, held up like lightning bolts!  Carrot power!

And her chick friends - so cute! 

Now I'm working on the April section of Kathy Schmitz's Woven Wreaths panel.  It's a little blue bunny!   Each month it's been fun to watch Kathy's video for the section and then get stitching.  She loves the stem stitch and uses it a lot, but I'm kind of clumsy with it, so for this bunny I've been doing a lot of back stitch.

Today I have a little bit more of the bunny to stitch, 

and then the branches, leaves, and flowers to work on.

Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers at Kathy's Quilts!

Sunny Yellow

It's been kind of a hectic week here because we have been working on moving my mom to a different place, so there hasn't been a ton of sewing time.  But I did manage to play with the yellow scraps and stash a bit.

At one point, I took this photo of my ironing station because it made me smile!  Piles of different things - yellows sorted onto paper plates, rows sewn for a heart block, and some hollow nine patches stitched.

Hollow nine patches for the year so far.  I started these in February, so still need to go back and make some green ones.  I'm hand-piecing these.

Those yellow rows in the first photo turned into a patchwork heart.

There are five of these so far because I started with a dark blue block back in December, plus the alternate four patch chain blocks I'm making.  I still need to make a yellow alternate block - that will be on this week's To Do list!

Hope you've been having some fun with your yellow scraps this week!

Linking up with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

And with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.