Pink Scrap Progress

It feels as though Spring is racing by. Daffodils and tulips are blooming in our yard, trees are budding out and the birds are back! Easter is next weekend, and I’m looking forward to Bruce barbecuing a pork roast that we can have with fresh asparagus, home baked rolls and some strawberry-rhubarb Angel food cake. And deviled eggs. Always deviled eggs! 

This was another full week for us. On Monday we picked up our new eyeglasses, and we love them. I’ll show a picture once my face heals - I had a few things frozen off on my face and upper chest, so I look like a teenager with bad acne. Thank goodness for masks in public! 

Our contractor Jeff was here on Wednesday and tore up the master bedroom carpeting to reveal the very nice original hardwood floors underneath. He will have to do some paint spot removal, then buffing. It seems the previous (original) owners repainted the bedroom without a drop cloth when they knew they’d be carpeting some decades ago. Anyway, once that’s done, he’ll install the baseboards and the master bedroom will be finished. I did paint the closet in there this week, which apparently never had anything more than primer all these years.  We have to shop now for a nice rug and a bed. I’m still waiting for a few minor things to be done, like my cabinet pulls to be installed in the laundry room, but I should have Before and After photos of the laundry room and linen closet expansion next week.

It was so nice to spend lots of time sewing this week! First I worked on Part 2 of the the Hearts of Hope quilt-along string blocks. I got the yellow string bottoms done, the hearts sewn together and the top assembled.

I will add the next three small borders for Part 3 this week. But I’m not sure if I’ll add the final large string pieces border, at least not this month. I do have a half yard of blue an yellow Ukrainian-designed fabric that I may try to work in somewhere. We’ll see. 

In order to jump start my pink scrap sewing this week, I decided to start with the Framed Four-patches. I had 23 of the 4P’s sewn last year, so it was quick work to get them done. Then I realized I’d only need to sew 7 more to have a 40x48” quilt top. So that’s what I did!

This will get sandwiched and quilted this week, along with my as-yet unshown Ukrainian Cats blue and yellow quilt. Obviously, there is something wrong with my clocks here, because there are never enough hours to do everything I want to get done!!

And then I switched to sewing pink elephants.

I have four more elephants cut out, so next week I’ll show the entire pink herd and maybe all the two dozen-plus ellies I’ve made so far! 

We’re supposed to have cold temperatures and possibly snow in the next few days. We’ve been working out in the yard as time and weather permit, with Bruce getting all the irrigation and tilling done, and me working on the pruning and garden bed clean-up. We should have some of our early crops like peas and spinach in the ground, but it’ll be at least another week.

Have a great week!

Linking up to Scrappy Saturday/Rainbow Scrap Challenge

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!