Happy Scribbles

It's a finish!

Happy Scribbles

42.5 x 59.5

I made the top in March 2025 after I received some Happy Block frame pieces. 

I had a few different crayon fabrics to use as Happy Block centers.

I quilted it on my sewing machine with some scribbles...

...in a variegated thread...

...on a gray backing. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

***

I finished a book! I've Got A New Complaint: Essays on Aging Disgracefully and Other Small Disasters by Laurie Notaro.  I was looking for some light reading that might make me smile. It wasn't a laugh out loud book but it did make me smile some. 

Other things that made me smile the last couple of weeks...

- I am the historian, record keeper, genealogist for John's family. John's brother wanted to know if I had his dad's recipe for Tomato Jelly. Yes, I do.

- I always have to laugh when someone says "that's a nice quilt for a man".  What? Men don't like flowers? Maybe watch a few episodes of Gardner's World.  And that reminds me...one time when we were at Walmart (I think) John saw a fabric I just had to buy for a quilt for him. He said it reminded him of his grandmother. Well, it was what I would consider a pretty darned ugly old lady type floral but to each his own. I did buy it and I did make him a quilt. I used it as the center string in a string quilt where it fit right in. He used his "grandma comfort" for years.

- I always have to laugh when someone thinks it is work to do a few loads of laundry. I have a wringer washer - two tubs with a wringer in between. And my dryer is a clothesline outside or drying rack and clothesline in the basement. (I gave up on washers and dryers because my basement is too damp for the electronic components they put in them nowadays.)

***

Oh joy! I received a surprise package of goodies from Karen Z. with batting pieces for Frankenbatts as well as some scraps. It was indeed a surprise...her sister Sandi told her about me, the collector of comfort quilt fodder. And Sherron who is a blog reader started it all when she sent me some beautiful appliqued blocks and then told her friend Sandi about me.  How nice.   Karen wondered if what she sent might have some pieces that are too small. Nope...I use anything down to 1.5 inch squares and go down to one inch if it is a strip. Every little bit counts!

***

Happy Scribbles and 11 other quilts are now boxed up and I will drop off at UPS Friday morning.  They are going to Oglala Sioux Head Start at Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, SD.  According to the Sew For Kids website Headstart is looking for 300 Blankets – For naptime, Children were given their blankets to take home at the end of last year. (Blankets aren't their only needs). 

***

It has been raining every day for about a week now so I've been unable to get out to the gardens. I know there will be bucket and wheelbarrows full of weeds to pull! More rain in the forecast through Sunday. Guess I'll go sew.

 

It's A Finish!

It's a finish!

Snowballs and Rails

36 x 42

Someone gave me a lot of 6 inch finished Snowball blocks with red corners. Last year I made three different tops with them.  This one has a toy theme and I combined the Snowballs with Rail blocks.

I quilted it on my sewing machine on the diagonals. 

The back. I had just enough fabric for it! 

And sew on...

 

Charm Tuesdays

Two Charm Tuesday quilt tops 58.5 x 84.

A free Moda pattern called Charm Tuesday.

The one on the left has the dark/light layout in the pattern. 

The one on the right has light and darks reversed. 

I did some scrap processing last December and kitted up all the parts for the two quilts back then. 

I used 2.5 inch scraps for the rectangles instead of cutting charm squares in half.  I had a box of charms/5 inch squares received from others over the years that I sorted into piles for a few differen quilts including these two.  

I had so many scraps I decided to make a version reversing lights and darks. 

I pulled out and sewed up the kits for some mindless sewing.  I think it took longer to cut all the pieces back in December than it did to sew parts together. 

I think I like the reversed version better although both make for nice comfort quilts.

And sew on...

 

No Longer Under Construction. It's a Finish!

It's a finish!

42 x 60

This is one of five row quilts I made for Stay At Home Round Robin 2025 (SAHRR 2025). 

This one started with a large print of construction vehicles. 

Following the SAHRR prompts I added in more construction print novelties. 

I quilted it on my sewing machine with swirls. I bound it in "concrete" (gray). 

And there's a construction print on back that I had to fill in with a little "concrete". 

And sew on...

Monday Musings at Brenda's Songbird Designs

***

This quilt and others I have on hand will soon be heading to Oglala Sioux Head Start at Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, SD. I saw on the SewForKids recent blog post that they are asking for 300 blankets for naptime. The kids were given their blankets to take home at the end of last year. 

My favorite place to donate kiddo quilts, Wrap-A-Smile,  is on pause for a bit so I was looking for new places to donate quilts so I can keep on making scrappy comfort quilts!

 

And Now For A Couple of Hat Tricks

My husband is having a mandibulectomy one of these days if they quit moving him around on their schedule. (Right now he is scheduled for Sep. 1). Well, anyway, it will involve at least a week in the hospital which is an hour away so I will probably be an overnight visitor staying with him.  I was thinking of things to take with me to do other than read books on my Kindle. I have one small box of yarn for making washcloths and dishcloths and I have a box of yarn that's been around since I used to make things like hats, scarves and sweaters for the grandkids and shawls for me (shoulders get cold in winter). 

Ok, so anyway, I decided to take a look in the box of yarn thinking of making hats and eeeek! a mouse jumped out and traumatized me. Maybe I should store the yarn in plastic bin or use the yarn? Oh, yes, that's what I can do while with hubby in hospital! 

I happened to come upon a Ravelry group called "For the Children of Pine Ridge and Rosebud" (actually they have projects for the elders too) and saw that one of their projects was making 300 hats for Christmas for the children at Rosebud School.  So, I'm in! A use for the yarn before a mouse shreds it for a nest or something!

I decided to see if I remembered how to crochet so pulled out one of my books on hats, found my bag of hooks and pulled out some yarn and, yes, I do remember how to crochet! Now I will put yarn with patterns so I can work on hats in the hospital. 

The hat above was one of my granddaughters' favorites when they were pre-teens. 

This wild and crazy one should have a pom pom but I didn't have enough yarn for that so maybe down the road after I finish a few hats I will buy some yarn for pom poms and add before I send them off for Christmas. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

Some Yellow Scraps

Yellow is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. I added a round of 2 x 3.5 yellow rectangles to the Giant Potato Chip quilt. 

More yellow 2 x 3.5 rectangles as well as pink and orange ones I didn't get sewn together in past months went into Streak of Lightning blocks. 

More 2 inch width scraps went into Courthouse Steps blocks. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

***

Oh joy! I received THREE boxes of goodies from Ry Lynn. What a treat it was to sort through the boxes of comfort quilt fodder. There's just something about looking at fabric that soothes the soul. I think that goes back to the summers I spent with my grandparents on their farm. I just loved to sit on one of grandma's quilts and look at all the fabrics. Her quilts were made from old clothes and she would sometimes tell me stories about what that fabric used to be and who wore it and what happened one time when whomever was wearing whatever that fabric used to be. Good times! Good memories! Soul soothing I tell you!

***

I finished a book! By the River's Edge by Gregg Olsen.  "By the River’s Edge is the astonishing true story of an elusive serial killer, an escape plan like no other, and the women who lived and died on the fringes of the Lilac City for whom justice was at long last served."...Amazon

***

Reminding myself to take a deep breath and stop and smell my roses every once in a while. 

 

Limes, Olives, Peas and Leafy Greens

It's a flimsy!

54 x 72

Earlier in the year I sorted a box of 5 inch squares (charms) I have received from others over the years into kits for a few different comfort quilts.  I made a top similar to this one in June with blue squares. I will also be making a brown version. 

Limes, olives, peas and leafy greens. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

***

Here's photos of another garden area - one of the native wildflower areas. I sowed a native wildflower mix of seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery in the Autumn two years ago. Last year and this year I have spent time continually removing woody species and noxious weeds like ragweed, dayflower, different types of cockleburs, green brier, brambles and virginia creeper. In the Autumn I will cut it all down to about six inches like I did last year. Then in year three the management involves burning sections each year. 

Here's a view from one side of the driveway. A lot of my front yard near the ditch is the native wildflower area. 

I know all the flowers look the same but the mix has Black Eyed Susans, Sweet Black Eyed Susans and Brown Eyed Susans in it.  

Mostly all the Susans are blooming now. 

But if you look closely there are other things in bloom like Anise Hyssop.

That tall mullein (verbascum) in the foreground was not in the mix but I left it. 

The thistle wasn't part of the mix either but I also left it. It and a lot of the other wildflowers has been covered with Goldfinch the last few days. 

The blue tall Bellflower was also not part of the mix but I also left it. I love it but it can become invasive; however, it is easy to pull out if it ends up taking over. 

Wild mint was not part of the mix either! 

That purple hidden back there is wild bee balm. That was part of the mix. I have another photo where it is not so hidden.

Some purple Coneflower appeared this year here and there. Some of that was in the mix. I'm going to sow more seeds in some bare spots where I pulled out a lot of weeds in the Autumn. 

A shady area is filled with wild white snakeroot. I might be pulling out some of that. If cows eat white snakeroot the toxins can build up in their milk and cause milk sickness (or trembles) in humans. Abraham Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died of milk sickness. 

More Purple Coneflower.

There is a patch of Motherwort that appeared. I will probably reduce the patch a bit before it takes over. Motherwort is in the mint family. That is easy to tell because it has square stems. It supposedly is beneficial for women's issues. I'll pass. Well, I don't actually have any issues. 

Tall yellow coneflower. 

More Bee Balm.

View from the other end. 

My walk to the mailbox. Lately there have been a lot of goldfinch flitting about. There are other things that will bloom soon like goldenrod and asters. I have another wildflower area that is shadier. I haven't used a mix of seeds for that area but have been building it up with different native plants I've sown from seed each year. Maybe I should call it the deer and rabbit buffet instead of native wildflower area. I will maybe show that area later. Right now the pathways are a little overgrown and I need to take the weedwhacker to them. But that has not been a priority. One of these days...

And sow on...