Saturday, April 28, 2018

Wrapping up Yellow

Let’s talk yellow. I was able to get in some good sewing time this week, but it was all on two specific projects. First though, let me recap the yellow blocks I sewed for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge’s April color of the month.


Top Row, L-R: 10 selvage squares, 6 (4.5”) bow ties; 4 (6.5”) blocks for AllUNeedisLove
Middle Row, L-R: 6 Noon & Light 9” blocks, 3 Squared Away blocks, 12 6.5” Qtr Log Cabins
Bottom Row, L-R: 6 crumb blocks, 4 yellow birds, 3 Linked Squares blocks
Total Blocks: 54
I also made 32 yellow flying geese units for the AllUNeedisLove quilt, but haven’t counted those because they are just units, not blocks.

And in weight loss, I lost a grand total (hold on to your hats) of a half pound in April. Still walking, still riding my bike and still watching what I eat. But obviously, not as conscientiously as I should be. Life will get easier when I can go back to cooking for just Bruce (after my brother leaves). 

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Groovy Guitars, the quilt I’m working on for DH Bruce is coming along nicely. I’ve got about seven or eight more pieces to fuse, plus several little dots for “tuning pegs”. It’s possible that I could finish this today or tomorrow and squeak in just before the end-of-the-month deadline for my April One Monthly Goal (OMG). The goal was to get the top cut and fused.


And I may or may not continue with this project for May (the hand and machine appliqué). I need to add a border, and am torn between using the bright scraps in piano-key fashion or just finding a suitable red, which is Bruce’s favorite color, to border it with. The Utah Quilt Shop Hop is May 30-June 2, and I’ll be hunting for that fabric then if I decide to go that way. So, I may select a different project for my May OMG.

That OMG project is likely to be this ABC baby quilt. The working title of this project is “AB Baby”. I had a math teacher in 7th grade named Mr. Abrahamson. We called him Abey-baby (not to his face, although he was cool and probably would’ve laughed). This quilt made me think of that. Yes, my brain works in mysterious ways.....


I am so in love with these blocks! The pictures do not do them justice. They are so sweet and whimsical. The picture above shows everything just pinned up on the design board. My goal for this week was to get halfway through the alphabet, and I actually did more than that.

Some close-ups:


The fabrics are mostly from various collections of Tamara Kate, with a few other fabrics thrown in here and there.

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This week I was also able to meet up with Emily from Em’s Scrap Bag. She runs Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo, one of the charities for Hands2Help. Hands2Help is a great online international charity organized and run by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

Anyway, Emily was kind enough to meet with me last Wednesday and a passerby was kind enough to take our picture. I donated six quilts; four of which will go for Quilty Hugs and 2 smaller ones which will go to Primary Children’s Hospital (where my friend Terri and I donate our baby quilts). 



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Grapes along west patio, 2006 
Garden-wise, it’s been another busy week of working in the yard. The new drip irrigation is installed in the raised growing beds. The weeds have been pulled everywhere (for now), although I still have an area on the west side of the house that has a lot of grass to pull out where it’s invaded the flower beds. But everything else is spiffy; the lawns are thick, weed-free and nicely trimmed, the flowers and bushes are all cleaned up and dead-headed from last year and we are ready to plant vegetables. 

The only concern is that last fall my brother cut back the four grape vines along the west side of the patio to within an inch of their lives. It looks as though three out of four are still (barely) alive, but they won’t be producing anything this year. My brother thinks he knows more than he does about everything gardening. Anyway, since the grapes shade the patio from the afternoon sun (see the old picture, above), we are going to have to come up with a plan B to make the patio habitable in the early evening. The apricot tree will provide some shade, so that might have to do. I have hung some cute solar firefly lights (a gift from one of my friends) along the lattice and could always stitch up a canvas valance or something. I’ll just have to wait to see how it goes. 

After we plant the veggies this weekend, I’ll focus on visiting nurseries for flowers for my front entry Talavera flower pots plus some other landscaping items I’ve wanted for awhile - more roses and perennials. We are members of Red Butte Garden and I’m looking forward to their annual plant sale in a couple weeks.  

The first half of May will be crazy. My brother Steve is leaving for Arizona this week and Bruce’s birthday is also this coming week. Plus over the next two weeks there are dentist appointments, a graduation, two charity sewing meetings to attend, a family gathering and the aforementioned plant shopping and garden work. My sewing time may grow scarce for awhile!

15 comments:

  1. The rectangular alphabet blocks give it a lot of interest. The colors are wonderful too. And Molly would never let her brother near sharp objects.

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  2. Aw - few things sadder than a vineless arbor... Hopefully the greenery will grow back quickly. (Molly is a wise cat, btw.)
    I love all your yellow blocks, and I'm going to have to go take a closer look at that Noon and Light block. Because I totally need another project, ya know.

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  3. I like those quarter logs. Do you use consistent sized strips for those? I've used strings on one that were different sizes but might have to try one size fits all.

    Congrats on all those H2H quilts! I mailed to Em and to Little Lambs for the cost of several yards of fabric!

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  4. I loved that picture of you and Emily because I knew you were so happy to have been able to meet up with her and pass along your quilts! You have lots of yellow goodness in your blocks for the month, too. The ABC quilt looks like it will be adorable! We've been out in the yard today, too, but we won't plant anything until Mother's Day. Good luck with your grapes!

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  5. What a lot of yellow to love!! You really got a lot done on RSC! I am envious. I'm really drawn to the baby quilt. Are the letters from a panel?

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  6. Your projects are all so beautiful! Pretty yellow blocks, I love the guitar quilt, and the so sweet alphabet quilt!

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  7. Love your Yellows! The baby quilt is fantastic

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  8. I just love the Baby Quilt. The focals for each block are so sweet. We are not warm enough in Northern Indiana to work in the yard yet. We got Sun but temps in the 40s and a cold wind. We are skipping Spring this year and jumping right into Summer. Terry wants to tear out a lot of my front garden. I have been fighting it for about 6 years. Yesterday I told him to do what he wants...I don't care...I'll stay by the pond and I am not helping him. Picking my battle? Nope. Caving. But watch me clean out the garage. I'll have no mercy for all the crap he has saved there, lol.

    You are going to have a busy month!!
    xx, Carol

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  9. What a great varied blog post. Your yellow RSC blocks ar so good, particularly like the Squared Away and Noon ones, both new to me.

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  10. You and Gayle and Sally and Cathy from Iowa are responsible for my having way too many projects in progress. So I really laughed when I saw that they were the first three commenters on today's post. Love all your lemony goodness.
    As far as outside work, we won't be able to plant until the end of May and with the way this spring has gone, maybe not even then. But it is supposed to be near 80° on Wed (we'll ignore the snow flurries we had this morning).
    Congratulations on getting so many donation quilts done. My only H2H project is waiting on my piecing a back.
    Pat

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  11. Good thing you got so much accomplished in April! I'm in envy of all your stitching progress!

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  12. Love all that you do. I love those little birds in your yellow quilt. You sure keep busy that's for sure. hugs, lj

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  13. You've got some very fun scrappy projects in the works and your alphabet quilt is going to be stunning. All that stitching and gardening too? Wow you make great use of every hour in the day!

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  14. Abey-Baby made me laugh! It's a term of endearment, I'm sure :) Best of luck moving AB Baby along for your OMG. Sounds like you're ready for the guitars to rest a bit again.

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  15. As usual, I'm floored by all that you manage to accomplish! The alphabet quilt is really sweet - so perfect for a baby. And the guitars are looking spectacular! Can't wait to see what you decide to do for a border.

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