Wednesday Wandering

I spotted my first butterfly of the year - an Eastern Comma.  They always look kind of fake to me -like a die cut thrown on to the ground. 

The species tulip Tarda is blooming here and there throughout the flower garden. 

My patch of Hellebore is finally blooming. It usually blooms sometimes as early as March and the plant usually has green leaves all through the winter. When I looked at the patch in March I saw nothing but a patch of rabbit droppings. 

I made a very low "fence" out of sticks and put it around the patch. Then I tied a bunch of selvages around the stakes. Then I loosely wove together a bunch of selvages to make a sort of mesh and laid that on top of the "fence".  (I should have taken a picture because I'm not describing what I did very well).  Then I sprayed Bobbex rabbit and deer repellent over all of that. 

And now my little patch of Hellebore is back! 

More Tarda species tulips. 

The deer and rabbits usually munch on my regular tulips; however, they don't seem to bother these species tulips. 

I have several little patches of different kinds of Daffodils in bloom now too. 

I cleaned up the rhubarb patch. 

The Crocus popped up here and there throughout the garden if the deer and rabbits leave them alone.

There are pops of blue. Scilla everywhere buzzing with bees. They are cute little things but kind of invasive. 

Bloodroot. 

Aquilegia (Columbine, Granny Bonnets) are leafing out all over the garden. Here they are next to some Crocus. 

And we had our first harvest of the year - Asparagus. Hubby picked it on Monday because before the freezing temperatures on Monday night. We ate some of it last night with our meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Yum! 

 

Paper Chains, Bow Ties and Coins. Oh My!

Remember the other day when I mentioned I was going to use some gifted 2 inch squares as well as my own squares to make Paper Chains? 

I also mentioned I would work toward emptying my 2 inch width scrap bin. 

Moving right along I now have 7 dozen six inch Paper Chain blocks and I'm aiming for 130 of them. 

Maybe I will meet my goal next week if I keep at it. 

I've also been making little 3 inch (finished) Bow Ties for my collection. I've mostly been pulling out all the shorter 2 inch width pieces from the scrap bin and if there is enough for a Bow Tie (2 x 5) then I cut those Bow Tie pieces first. 

After I cut the Bow Tie pieces if there is enough left to cut a 2 inch square then I do. If not and the piece left is less than a 2 inch square but at least 1 x 2 then...

...it gets set aside for awhile and then eventually gets sewn into a strip that will eventually probably get made into a Chinese Coin quilt.  Those itty bitty pieces eventually add up! And it is kind of fun to see what shows up in a less than 2 inch square. 

I'm itching to start a couple of new things but I'm making myself complete those Paper Chain blocks first. 

And sew on...

 

Loose Ends

I had a whole bunch of loose ends of different balls of mostly variegated cotton yarn. It's been around for awhile. I had it stored in a box and when I looked in there to see what yarn I had in there I found a mouse must have chewed through the balls of yarn in a couple of places. Thank goodness there was no sign of the mouse.  Eeeeeeeek! 

Well, anyway, I decided that I should probably do something with those loose ends and so I found my crochet hook and one of my pattern books and made a very scrappy pocket shawl. 

Goofball hubby thinks it is ugly. He likes a world that is more black and white. 

It's not for him. It's all mine and I think it will warm my shoulders when they get cold next winter. 

Before I used any of the balls of yarn I crocheted a dishcloth if there was enough yarn for one. When the urge strikes I will embroider on some feedsack dishcloths and make some potholders and make up some gift sets. I found some scrubby yarn too so I may crochet up a few scrubbies to go with the sets. 

I still have lots of unused cotton yarn so may crochet a few fancier washcloths to combine with body wash or handmade soap gift sets.  Several years ago I included luffas I grew with those gift sets.

So that's how I've been making myself useful in the evenings. 

I think I'm tired of crochet right now and hope to get a quilt in the hoop one of these days so I can do some hand quilting. 

 

Pink Pieces and Parts

Pink is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. So far this month I made a couple of twin sized tops and a baby one using up some small chunks of pink. This week I worked on using what was left of the small chunks after making those tops and a few other small bits and pieces of pink. 

Three x and + blocks that finish at 7.5 inches. 

Three Buckeye Beauty blocks that finish at 6 inches. 

Three Postage Stamp Pandemic blocks that finish at 8 inches. 

Six Puss in the Corner blocks with light corners that finish at 6 inches. 

Three Horizon blocks that finish at 4.5 x 9.5

Eight Bow Ties that finish at 3 inches. 

Two Wonky Log Cabin blocks with black background novelty centers that finish at 12 inches. 

Two Heartfelt slab blocks that finish at 12 inches. 

Two pink Hollow Nine Patches that finish at 7.5 inches.   Then I made a few in other colors because I had some 3 inch squares and some 3 inch width scraps laying around ready for these blocks. (Now I'm going to cut the rest of the 3 inch width scraps in half lengthwise for some 1.5 inch scraps because I have several RSC projects going that take 1.5 inch scraps). 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

 

It's a Finish!

Arrowhead Puzzle

in Autumn themed fabrics.

It's a finish!

60 x 80

This is one of five autumn themed tops completed back in November 2019 when I decided to clean out a bin of "Autumn Stuff".   This is the last to be quilted. 

The block is called Arrowhead Puzzle - a free pattern at Quilter's Cache.  A lot of these blocks were in the Autumn Stuff bin - orphans from a swap long long ago.  

The reason a lot of the blocks ended up orphans was because some folks didn't follow the swap directions and used a dark background in the blocks.   Well, I finally decided to use the orphaned blocks. I made a few more blocks to go with the orphans and added a border which is unusual for me. I wanted to make it large enough for a twin sized donation quilt. 

I quilted it with leaves on my DSM in a light brown. 

Backing and binding. 

I am filling several boxes with quilts to be sent to Lifting Hands International via Give Back Box. 

 I see "blankets" are on most of the LHI needs lists.    LHI partners with other organizations to get supplies where they are most needed and right now are focusing on evacuation efforts as well as distributing medical and food supplies. 

Lifting Hands International Website

Lifting Hands International Facebook

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Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

 

Well, Hello Kitty!

Pieced front and back for Hello Kitty baby quilt.

Now I just have to piece some batting, sandwich, pin baste, quilt and bind.

The front consists of 4.5 inch squares of a Hello Kitty fabric plus squares in different black fabrics and different red fabrics. 

I have three different paw print fabrics and several different polka dot fabrics that seemed to go well with this Hello Kitty print. 

I used a different Hello Kitty fabric for the back. There was not enough for an entire back so I added in a little pink and white stripe as well as a pink, white and gold polka dot fabric. 

And sew on...

 

With Two Inch Squares

I recently received a couple of baggies of two inch squares. Plus I had a baggie full of my own. Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full. 

Decided I might as well do something with them. I'm not sure what the name of this six inch block happens to be but I was inspired by a quilt called Paper Chains at Wedding Dress Blue.

I really like making blocks with lots of smaller pieces. It is very soothing to me to watch the fabrics go by under the needle as I stitch them together. 

I've been trying to clean out my 2 inch width scrap bin for a couple of years so now between these blocks and a couple of others I have going as RSC projects I think I will be able to get the job finished sooner rather than (a couple of years) later. (Neutral 2 inch with scraps are in the plastic bag).

And sew on...