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!