Saturday, April 13, 2019

Aquamarine Sewing Machine

It’s late and I’m writing this post on Friday night, although I won’t post it until Saturday morning. That’s my excuse for such a corny post title, so take it or leave it. But I guess I should clarify that there are no aquamarine sewing machines here, just scraps in that color that are coming out from under the needle. Aqua (teal, and all their friends) are the April color of the month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

This week’s RSC sewing started out with eight Anvil blocks, which will be 8” finished size in a quilt.


I wanted to see how they looked with the other colors made so far, and also with the varying white with black scrappy backgrounds.  Me likey!!


Next up was working with 2.5” squares.  Here are 12 aqua 9-patch variation blocks up on the design board.


And right after that came the eight garlic knots.


I also sewed nine blocks for the Block Lotto. Curiously, the assigned color for the blocks was shades of blue with white. My blue scrap drawer, which houses all shades of blue from light to navy to the green-blues of teal and aqua, is noticeably emptier! Anyway the Block Lotto blocks are called Twin Sisters and finish at 6 inches. I really like these blocks and may make them for RSC blocks next year! Notice the secondary pinwheel pattern?


Other than sewing it’s been a quiet week. I’ve been working on the graphics for the African bookmarks. We’ll get those printed up next week. In between raindrops, we did a bit of work in the yards chipping old dead branches and growth (Bruce) and pruning roses (me). We are also going to build a pollinator habitat from plans we saw in Mother Earth Living magazine, so that necessitated a trip to Home Depot for supplies as well as for some paint so I can repaint the patio wicker furniture (a bi-annual project).

And the most curious thing happened to me at Weight Watchers (now called just WW) this week. For the last year my weight (after having lost 35 pounds in 2017) has stayed stable, only fluctuating in a 3-5 pound range. I was nearing the high end of that little range again, although I’ve been pretty good eating-wise and activity-wise. Then at last Tuesday’s weigh-in, BAM!  I was down 6.6 pounds from the previous week!! WHAT?!?!?!? How does THAT happen? Our leader said it was probably mostly water weight. Well, duh. But that’s OK, I’ll take it. Besides for all those times in the last couple months when I was up a half pound or whatever - when I figured it was just water weight gain - HA!! Gotcha! I have not gone out and eaten junk or felt license to snack or binge this week. And although it would be perfectly natural after such a dramatic one-week loss to gain back a pound or two this week, I’m hoping I can avoid adding back anything more than a half pound. I’ll let you know how that goes....

17 comments:

  1. I really like the Twin Sisters block! I also want to make Garlic Knots! More UFO's in my future!!!! Congrats on your success at WW! I was attending, then they moved the time and day of the studio meeting and I have a conflict. My last quarter had been less than stellar with all the stress of medical issues involving family (yep, I'm a stress eater!) Maybe at a later date, I can get back there. It always works for me, if I work it!!

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  2. I love seeing all those soothing shades of aqua together! And the anvil blocks are playing nicely with each other for sure! Just in case you want to drool over an aquamarine sewing machine: https://www.etsy.com/listing/276536518/singer-featherweight-221-sewing-machine

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  3. Fantastic blocks! Your work and process (making multiple blocks for multiple quilts) is so inspiring and fun to watch what you make!

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  4. great progress, and I like the way the anvil blocks are looking together. Great job at ww - can't be easy

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  5. Beautiful blocks, all of them, and you made a lot ;) Love the pinweels too

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  6. Those anvil blocks are really neat, and the picture of them all together is wonderful! Such pretty color, Cathy!

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  7. Even without the names under the pictures, I knew as soon as I saw it that this was you! Love the anvils. They look so great all together! Your other blocks are great, too. What size are your garlic knots?

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  8. I like those Anvil blocks. I was thinking of making them out of crumbs and/or strings next year.

    I probably won't make those Lotto blocks this time. I rarely miss but I have my small stash of blues set aside for use in a UFO. Good idea for an RSC project though.

    Pollinator habitat is a good idea. No shortage of bees here. I grow most of those plants in the flower gardens just so I have bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. I've always wanted to raise bees and even thought of taking the free beekeeping class offered at the community college in a few weeks. I decided I didn't want to drive that far for the class and probably wouldn't buy all the beekeeping supplies anyway.

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  9. Such a great collection of blocks! Those anvils are looking more and more tempting...
    The Lotto blocks would make a great RSC choice. (Scribbling notes to self, here)

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  10. Oh! The AQUA goodness coming out of your scrap bins!!!

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  11. You have accomplished a lot with your aquamarine. Apparently all that sewing helps burn calories? LOL!

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  12. All your blocks look great! I'm on the verge of abandoning one of my RSC blocks after just three months. Too fiddly. Maybe I'll adopt one of yours :)

    Great news from WW!

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  13. All your blocks look great! I'm on the verge of abandoning one of my RSC blocks after just three months. Too fiddly. Maybe I'll adopt one of yours :)

    Great news from WW!

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  14. What a lovely mix of RSC blocks. I've been wasting too much time debating whether something is aqua or turquoise and I haven't even defined teal. I try to tell myself that anything between blue and green is okay, but still second guess. And really, who cares anyway? I'd hazard a guess that the increased outdoor activity might have something to do with the weight loss. Yeah, spring!
    Pat

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  15. Your collection of anvil blocks is really colorful, Cathy. With your garlic knots blocks hanging in a row, I finally saw it, the way garlic is hung in braids. Reminds me of traveling in California through Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the World. The smell was always there in the summer.

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  16. Me likey too!!! Love the anvil blocks. I struggled with aqua, teal and turquoise too. And then I decided to invite all of them to the party. The more the merrier, right? It is so much fun when secondary patterns pop out unexpectedly :-) Love the pinwheels too.

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  17. I was all excited to think about an aquamarine sewing machine!! Congratulations on the continued WW success too.....not an easy feat I know.

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