More Bow Ties

Two Bow Tie Tops

40 x 40

Recently Jenny B. sent me a box of small blocks. I blogged previously about the first Bow Tie top in a different layout made with Jenny's blocks. 

Blues and greens with alternate squares went into this top.

This one has red and orange Bow Ties with alternate yellow squares.

There's no need to tell me I have a rogue block. I already know that!

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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Finished a book! - The Forget-Me-Not Library by Heather Webber. It's not my usual type of reading. It was kind of like a Hallmark movie in print - perfect for when you need some easy reading, a little magic and a happy ending.  I learned a new word I guess is used by bibliophiles but does not yet appear in most dictionaries: bibliosomia - the enchanting smell of old books. I read on my Kindle and when the word popped up I highlighted it to look up the meaning (although I knew from the context). The dictionaries the Kindle uses (Oxford English Dictionary, I think) did not find the word so I later googled it. Interesting reading about the science behind bibliosomia,  Hmmm, now I want to go sniff all the books on my bookshelf! 😊📔

 

A Little Bow Tie Top

It's a top!

Bow Ties

40 x 40

A few weeks ago Jenny sent me a box of small 3 and 4 inch finished blocks in all colors of the rainbow. Instead of putting them away for later I decided to use them. This is the first of several tops. I happened to finish this top on July 9 before I took my husband to the ER but didn't take photos until this morning. 

When finished it will make a nice comfort quilt for a wee one. 

And sew it goes...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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Good News! He's home. He was discharged yesterday around 4pm.  Diagnoses from that visit: Acute hypoxic respiratory failure, Bronchiectasis, Left lower lobe pneumonia, Medical problem-major (whatever that means) and Sepsis, unspecified organism. I can't believe he is out of the hospital after only two days. Oh, thank goodness! Now he just has to stay well enough to pass a stress test on July 24 and if he does then he gets the mandibulectomy, etc. on August 5. 

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Oh joy! Recently Sandi sent me a box of HSTs and Barbara sent me a box of all sorts of different goodies. I am blessed with so many bits and pieces as fodder for comfort quilts. Sewing (and gardening and reading) keeps my mind healthy and able to deal with all the health issues with hubby. 

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I finished two books! Dead Canyon by Jeff Carson. It is book #16 in the David Wolf Mystery Thriller Series.    

I Know an Old Lady by Margaret Standafer. It is a coming of age novel. I think it was longer than it needed to be; however, it was a nice story. 

Reading (and sewing and gardening) keeps my mind healthy and able to deal with all the health issues with hubby. 

***

While I was out taking pics of the quilt this morning a songbird I've never heard before decided to serenade me. After I got inside hubby asked if I saw what bird that was that was singing. No, I didn't. 

Also while I was out taking pics I walked over to the fragrant garden I made by an old swing set for hubby. It is not far from the house so it is good exercise for him to get out for a bit. I added a couple of Adirondak chairs so he could sit for a bit. Well, anyway, as I said...I walked over to the fragrant garden and saw Orienpet (Tree) Lilies in bloom so snapped a couple of photos. Orienpet Lilies grow taller with each year. 

Gardening (and sewing and reading) keeps my mind healthy and able to deal with all the health issues with hubby. 

.

And sow on... 

From Fodder To Flimsy

 

It's a flimsy!

Nine Patch

42 x 58

Fodder - n. raw material, as for artistic creation.

This month the theme in my sewing space to move things forward is "strings, crumbs and fodder".

The fodder for this quilt was a small stack of Nine Patches and some pieces for more that I was given. 

Since the Nine Patches were bright and had some novelties I decided to make a small comfort quilt with sashing. For that I needed 35 Nine Patches. After I finished up making Nine Patches with all the parts I needed 14 more Nine Patches so made them with some 2.5 inch squares in my Parts Dept. 

Then I looked for what to use for sashing possibilities. I happened to have accumulated a lot of yellow 2.5 inch strips given to me by several folks so that's what I used. I think there's enough pieces left for binding too! 

The cornerstones came from my 2.5 inch squares. 

And sew on...

***

Finished a book! The President's Wife by Anna Stuart. Historical fiction inspired by the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. I enjoyed the book. I have read several other historical fiction novels by this author that I have also enjoyed. One thing that stuck out to me was that the author is English. For example, she wrote about Eleanor knitting "jumpers" instead of sweaters. And there were more than enough references to FDR's infidelity. 

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I signed up to get a free Iowa Lottery ticket each month and April's ticket was an $8 winner. I don't ever buy tickets - just get my free one each month. $8 is the most I have ever won. 

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Still trying to get my husband some treatment for his pain due to Osteoradionecrosis of the Jaw (ORNJ) and Osteomyelitis (bone infection) - one of many side effects of radiation received over 20 years ago for stage IV squamous cell carcinoma at the base of his tongue. He went to primary care physician on March 10 for swelling of face and received an antibiotic. Two weeks later he had a CT scan. Finally he got a referral to Oral Surgeon and now that he has all the records he needs and Easter vacations are over we are waiting for a phone call from that office.  

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We have been having a cold snap again along with some rain but I finally got my potatoes planted on Monday. I do see some radish, lettuce, beet and sugar snap peas have sprouted. I see it is supposed to get up to 60 today with possibility of rain this evening so I hope to make it out sometime today to work in the flower gardens. I want to get some sweet peas planted. 

***

It's a Finish! Orphan Justine

It's a finish!

Orphan Justine

36 x 48

The top was assembled last November from orphan blocks with mostly purple with touches of yellow and orange. I put some smaller blocks together into larger blocks and framed some blocks so all of my blocks finished at 12 inches. All of the blocks were given to me by different folks.

I quilted it with swirls on my sewing machine. 

The back and binding. 

And sew on...

Monday Musings at Brenda's Songbird Designs

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A little quilting marathon is going on here in March . Soon I will have boxes of comfort quilts to send off to two of my favorite charities that provide quilts for kids  - Wrap-A-Smile  (WAS)  and      Quilts Beyond Borders.  (QBB).

Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) partners with Rotaplast International.

 Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities.

Quilts Beyond Border (QBB) quilts go to many different initiatives both foreign and domestic...foster care, refugees, Indian reservations, orphanages, women's recovery centers...you will just have to go read the QBB blog because I can't remember them all.

****

A few things are starting to pop up in the gardens. And a few things like my tulips are being eaten by rabbits and deer. We could use some rain because the ground is very dry. I see some predicted for the week starting on Tuesday. 

Species tulips

Rhubarb

One sedum that hasn't been nibbled yet. Deer and rabbits must have not seen it while on their rounds. 

You can't see them very well but his is my new bed of black and white Tulips in my Perky Goth/Moonlight garden. They have been eaten down by deer or rabbits. I hope to get out to spray with Bobbex today before the rains come. 

Iris Reticulata (Dwarf Iris)

Scilla has popped up all over the place. 

Another type of species Tulip. The critters missed eating this one!

Crocus around one of the little Gazing Balls the fairies put there. 

And sow on...

 

It's A Finish! Orphan Ignatius

It's a finish!

Orphan Ignatius

36 x 41

This orphan block quilt is a row quilt. For this one I picked out orphan blocks with some black in them. All of these orphan blocks were given to me by others. 

I made rows of blocks of the same block size.  I finished the top in November 2025.

I quilted it with loops of gray on my sewing machine. 

Kind of blurry because it was windy when I took the photo but here's the back and binding. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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A little quilting marathon is going on here in March . Soon I will have boxes of comfort quilts to send off to two of my favorite charities that provide quilts for kids  - Wrap-A-Smile  (WAS)  and      Quilts Beyond Borders.  (QBB).

Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) partners with Rotaplast International.

 Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities.

Quilts Beyond Border (QBB) quilts go to many different initiatives both foreign and domestic...foster care, refugees, Indian reservations, orphanages, women's recovery centers...you will just have to go read the QBB blog because I can't remember them all.

****

FYI - Yesterday's blog post was about some quilts I made with some patients of the Feb. 2026 Rotaplast mission in Chattogram, Bangladesh. 

 

Sock Monkey Strippie Finish

It's a finish!

Sock Monkey Strippie

36 x 45

Someone gave me some strips of Sock Monkey fabric. 

Someone else gave me some crumb blocks that just happened to have a Sock Monkey in one block. 

They were meant to be together so a Strippie was born. I had enough of the green stripe fabric to add some strips to the mix. 

I assembled the top in November 2025.

I quilted it on my sewing machine with some loops and squiggles. 

There's another green stripe on back and I had enough of that for the binding too. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

A little quilting marathon is going on here in March . Soon I will have boxes of comfort quilts to send off to two of my favorite charities that provide quilts for kids  - Wrap-A-Smile  (WAS)  and      Quilts Beyond Borders.  (QBB).

Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) partners with Rotaplast International.

 Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities.

Quilts Beyond Border (QBB) quilts go to many different initiatives both foreign and domestic...foster care, refugees, Indian reservations, orphanages, women's recovery centers...you will just have to go read the QBB blog because I can't remember them all.

****

FYI - Yesterday's blog post was about some quilts I made with some patients of the Feb. 2026 Rotaplast mission in Chattogram, Bangladesh. 

 

It's A Finish! Orphan Heidi

It's a finish!

Orphan Heidi

40 x 60

Heidi is full of 8 and 8.5 inch unfinished blocks I framed in blue scraps so they all became 12.5 inch unfinished blocks. 

T

I arranged the blocks in columns with a blue multicolor sashing in between columns. 

The top was finished back in November 2025.

I quilted it on my sewing machine with swirls of blue. 

The back and scrappy blue binding. 

And sew on...

***

I meant to post about this quilt on Monday; however, I have spent most of the last several days sleeping. I came down with some kind of illness that caused dizziness, vomiting bile, headache, sensitivity to light and extreme exhaustion. I'm rarely ill, thank goodness. I had to make myself better yesterday afternoon so I could take hubby to get a CT scan so maybe they can figure out the cause of his jaw pain now that the antibiotic caused the swelling to go down. I hate seeing him in such pain.  I think the extreme anxiety caused by several things going on in my life right now that are a cause of constant worry as well as dehydration and pushing myself too hard might have been the cause of my bout of illness.   I need to stop worrying and go sew and sow!

 

A Couple of Small Finishes

Two Small Finishes

42 x 42

Last year someone gave me some Sixteen Patch blocks made of 4 inch squares.  I decided to make them into two small comfort quilts and just added Star centers. 

I finished the two tops back in November 2025.

I quilted both on the diagonals. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

A little quilting marathon is going on here in March . Soon I will have boxes of comfort quilts to send off to two of my favorite charities that provide quilts for kids  - Wrap-A-Smile  (WAS)  and      Quilts Beyond Borders.  (QBB).

Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) partners with Rotaplast International.

 Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities.

Quilts Beyond Border (QBB) quilts go to many different initiatives both foreign and domestic...foster care, refugees, Indian reservations, orphanages, women's recovery centers...you will just have to go read the QBB blog because I can't remember them all.

**************

The latest Rotaplast mission has been in Cebu City, Philippines. You might like to read Reynaldo's story!

I see from the latest QBB blog post that I have a quilt going to  Comfort Cases, for children entering foster care and several quilts going to Salaam Cultural Museum, for the comfort of refugees, both in the US and abroad.

***

I took a little break from my quilting marathon the last couple of days to process all the quilt back trimmings as well as some other scraps that have accumulated on my cutting mat.  I'm preparing for next month's theme in my quilting space - "strings, crumbs and fodder".  I have also been working out in the garden the last couple of days. I planted lettuce, spinach, kale, mustard greens, radishes, beets, sugar snap peas in the veg garden and noticed my rhubarb is sprouting up.  Today my granddaughter and her partner are coming for a visit and lunch. It's been awhile since I've seen them so I'm looking forward to catching up on their lives. I have a little box of odds and ends to pass on to them as well as a few quilts.