Welcome April!

Hi friends! I can’t tell you how happy I am to see March in the rear view mirror. There were a lot of good times during the month with friends and family and some nice weather, to be sure. It was just so hectic! And full of dust (remodeling, you know). I think I’m getting too old to be “on” all the time. I need my space and quiet times to recharge the ol’ batteries. Evenings with Bruce (and our furkids) by the fireplace, with a good book or movie are balm. So is time in the sewing room. I bet you can relate. 

Anyway, there has been more relaxation this week, and I’m grateful. Dear (but oblivious) brother-in-law Marv left for home in Arizona on Wednesday. Our contractor/family member Jeff had to return to work during the week, but will spend a couple Saturdays here finishing up the linen closet doors. He’ll also be ripping out the master bedroom carpet to see if we have those nice old hardwood floors in the master bedroom that are in the hall and back bedroom. I’m guessing that we don’t because I don’t remember seeing them when we recarpeted in there back in 2008. Whether we end up with hardwood or having to carpet, we’ll be painting and adding new baseboards and getting a new bed. But enough of that for now. When I do have “after” pictures to share, I will. 

The first thing I worked on this week was finishing up my Rainbow Scrap blocks for yellow March. I don’t have a picture of the row of solid-and-crumb yellow tumblers for the rainbow tumbler project because it’s just too hard to get a picture of one long, skinny row. But in time, as the rows multiply, they’ll be more photogenic. But here are the two scrappy placemats I made with yellow. 

They measure 12x18”, having been made with six 6” blocks. I may start making them a bit larger, but I’ll have to see how many pink crumbs I have at the end of the month. Pink is the color for April and I bet there are loads of wonderful things showing up for the RSC’s Scrappy Saturday. As for me, I have gotten my pink scrap bucket out and have sorted it into chunks, strips, etc, but I haven’t started sewing on them. I’m going to have to make a good start on them next week!

I do have three quilt finishes to share though that were done a week or two ago, before the circus came to our house, hehe. These are the three that were made by our Quilts for Kids member-with-dementia, then deconstructed and given to me to clean up (dethread, trim), then sew back together and quilt/bind. They are all from the same style kit we offer, and finished up at 37x44”.

This first one is cuter in person. Well, they all are. 

This next one is my favorite. The backing fabric is full of adorable animals from the same line.

And lastly, another monkey quilt. In person, the alternating mottled fabric appears more yellow than gray. But our donations dictate what we have to work with.

So, that brought my March quilt finishes up to six. I will update my “2022 Quilts” tab (above) later today. I still have one March quilt to finish that was pushed over into April because I ran out of time. I’m calling it Ukrainian Cats, but I’ll explain and show it next week. It’s already sandwiched up and ready for quilting. 

Speaking of Ukraine, are you participating in Bonnie Hunter’s Hearts of Hope Sew-Along? I joined in and stitched up my Part 1 pieces this week. They’re the top half of the hearts (the bottom halves are yellow). Bonnie’s pattern is free and available at that link. It’s another gorgeous design, and I’m a sucker for string piecing!

Today I plan to spend an hour or two doing some pruning and spring cleanup in the garden. Our eyeglasses are ready at Costco, but we’ll avoid going there on a weekend and wait until early next week to pick them up … and do some shopping, too. We also have a Barnes and Noble date planned next week in Salt Lake, and we’ll be dropping off some kennel quilts to Best Friends animal shelter that were made by my sweet friend Terri. Oh! It’s time to get the car inspected and the registration renewed. And I’m hankering to visit a nursery and scope out some new plants and pick up some supplies. But first I have to get my garden “chores” done (sometimes I can be such a bi*ch!). Actually, though, working out in the yard first will be the best way to come up with a list of things I want  need! 

Have a great week!