Thursday, June 10, 2021

I Like Thursday #248

 

Welcome to this week's list of likes. Short this week, starting with pin cushions... I made this one from a cute vintage plant holder. 

Summer is popping out all over
 

I planted the beans saved from last year's plants, and some bell pepper seeds, last weekend. Fingers crossed they thrive. It's hot enough! 

bush breaks out in flowers this week!

this week's coloring page

using a mix of watercolor pencil (prismacolor) waterpen, and staedtler fineliner pens
 

videos on youtube:

 Trying to eat better?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DudMHGosYEk


thinking about a new hairstyle and return to the salon? Watch this first!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkmBn-HlPbM
 

I have seen some good videos on The Quilt Show recently on hand dyeing and landscapes with hand dyes. Messy though, I won't be racing to do that again any time soon. Maybe now that it's hot, I'll go out to paint on fabric again. 

Speaking of fabric I'm having a lot of fun sewing my abstract mountain, meadow piece this week. 

On TV the bachelorette show returns and I'm in, all in. Other favorite shows had finales this week, the Good Doctor's season end was so good... as was New Amsterdam's. Watching the NY  and Beverly Hills housewives on Bravo. Midsomer Murders and Murdoch Mysteries are both in season and good. 

 

Listening to a great audio book this week, 

Hardcover Burials Book

solving a mystery this modern day archeologist returns to her husband's home town to solve a mystery from 30 years ago... thank you to Colette for the referral but then I found out it's book 10 in the series!!! I have to go find the earlier ones now 

Reading Jude Devereaux's latest book on ebook and I am now into it and enjoying the storyline. Two sisters grappling with following their hearts while doing what is needed for each other.


Milo's Moments



 

"Mama, I want a big pancake like yours!"

Mama: well, you're not as big as Mama, so I gave you a Milo sized pancake

Milo: I could be bigger if I had a bigger pancake!

come out and play Mama!

these fine people have likes to share please visit them too and let me know if you wrote a list this week so I can add your name in!


 
 
Linking to
https://www.knitbygodshand.com/
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/ 
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Sunday, June 6, 2021

sunday questions Time for dinner!

 

The questions today are from Sunday Stealing and it's fun to read answers from all the people playing along around the world. Today seems to be centered around dining.

1. When is the last time you went out to a meal with someone special? Tell us about it.

                           A: I eat with my husband every night! (and the poodle) and it feels cozy. We often eat while watching a tv show, in the family room. The dog wants his chewy treat at 8 pm on the dot, so he keeps us on schedule. They are special to me. I'm pretty tired of our own cooking but lately I've been watching videos for new recipes and admit our food tastes better.

2. Show us a picture of your favorite cuisine.


Easy Chicken Marsala Recipe & Video - How To Make Creamy Chicken Marsala

                       chicken marsala at Amici's in Baltimore's little Italy... with the garlic shrimp bread bowl first!


3. What is the funniest thing a man/woman has said to you lately?

       A: sadly nothing is very funny these days

4. What makes a gentleman a gentleman in today’s dating world? Are there any left?

        A: helping you on/off with your coat, opening doors for you, listening while you speak

5. Is there anything you won’t tolerate when out to dinner with your significant other?

       A: he's quite polite, but I do not like to sit waiting a long time after ordering. I also hate hearing someone on a phone when I am out to dinner. Oh, yes, and children running amok is annoying. Undercooked food.

6. What type of ambiance do you enjoy in an eating establishment?

       A: depends. I mostly like lots of low lights, white table cloths and pretty cutlery, hate when restaurants think it's cutesy to serve iced tea in mason jars or the silverware has smudges on it, ewww. I like servers to dress well in uniforms, and don't like it when they say good choice! or perfect ! or are you still working on that?

7. Tell us about the worst public dining experience you ever had, whether it be a date or with your family.

        A: I'd rather not relive it, er, all of them.   Well, on one blind date the guy started ranting about how women are subservient to men in his religion, and should be in all of them.

We barely made it back home to never see each other again.

8. What is the lamest or rudest thing a man/woman has said to you lately?

       A: anyone who says covid isn't real. Our neighbor ignored me when I said not to let his boys jump our fence to fetch their baseballs, another neighbor was nasty about our mask wearing on walks.
9. Are you a good tipper?

       A: I tip 15-20%

10. Do you ask for doggie bags when you leave food on your plate at a restaurant?

       A: yes if it was really good and there is enough for lunch the next day! It doesn't matter what anyone thinks... if I paid for it and want it, I'll take it home. But I want to be the one to put it in the to go container.

11. What is your pet peeve about restaurants and dining out in general?

       A: noise and price.

12. Do you prefer to order yourself or do you ever let your significant other order for you?

     A: myself, in fact dh waits to see what I'm getting and usually says he'll have the same

13. Describe your most intimate romantic dinner ever. (fantasy or real)

       A: I remember one lovely meal, in Laguna Beach, sitting outside at a cliffside restaurant, the temperature was perfect, sail boats bobbed below us, we had just toured old missions and gone to the art/craft show. We were together, drinking wine, eating healthy food, seeing flowers and the sea and hearing birds. It was a moment.

14. Do you enjoy piano bars?

      A: oh my yes. Looooovvveee

15. If you could go anywhere in the world for dinner, where would it be and who would you be with?

      A: I think flying to somewhere in Greece might be lovely, sitting on an outside patio in the evening with breezes and moonlight and laughter. Really good Greek food. Dancing with all the other customers and dashing our dishes down!  Definitely my husband. 

 

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Saturday, June 5, 2021

sewing saturday Time Flies goddess of procrastination

 

some projects take a while... especially hand pieced work. 

My grandmother was probably ecstatic when her mother bought a treadle machine back in rural Alabama. 

They were poor... poor enough that they picked cotton as work. She introduced me to quilt making and sewing on that same machine and I was in love from about age 6 with fabric and sewing. 

Today I am showing you made by hand like granny worked... and by machine but most of my quilting takes time because I dither over design decisions. 

I started the week by pulling out my bin of painted bits... and found some squares I used to test stamps and inks... in them was one with a flying watch and the words time flies. I painted a " goddess" artist next to it (using permanent pens)
and turned her into this!

She has joined the two other recent painted goddesses to protect the muse!

Basically I start with something stenciled or painted, and look for a way to see a guardian in it. She is quilted of course and embellished with appliques rhinestones and flower beads

holding either a paintbrush or pen... you decide

Another project taking time this week was the runner I finished last week but decided to surround the binding with tiny iridescent white beads

the pic is kind of dark as it's already hanging in studio two but the beads are beautiful around the binding. 












Since the color of the month at rainbow scrap challenge is purple, I got out the scrap bin of purple and looked for some leftover blocks to start an  abstract. 

and found these I meant to become a field of flowers. I started moving them around and adding bits of oddly shaped greens for leaves, and blue for skies and some of them started to look like a mountain to me...purple mountain majesty

While I listened to my audio book Spies of Shilling Lane, I sewed. Cut random curves, added in areas, with a vision in mind it became more focused 

these blocks went on the wall for later as I concentrated on the mountain emerging in the other piece

ahhh with tall grass pieces I can see this as a field of crocus. 

green compliments purple, blue is next to it on the color spectrum... yessss this is going to engage my creative side this month!

I found these two painted bits I might use somewhere soon... just waiting patiently in the "container of painted things"

metallic greens and blues thru a stencil from an art supply store

I know at the time I just kept painting on a long fabric scrap thinking I'd cut it up to use. Now I'm not so sure... I kind of think it looks like a scroll, and I like unusual orientations... 

It feels good to have projects going. I am doing some final long seam joining the tumbling blocks so I hope to have the top together this coming week. I'll miss that one so I might have to continue with another one in the series.

thanks for coming over... get a cookie before you leave!

recipe: https://apriljharris.com/orange-gingerbread-crinkle-cookies/

Linking with

 design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays

oh Scrap Sundays 
 slow stitching Sundays

 scrap happy Saturdays








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Thursday, June 3, 2021

I Like Thursday #247

 Welcome to this week's list of likes!

I like watermelon... this one is tooooooo small!

 

I like fresh fruits and vegetables... but have to accept what whole foods delivers

I like the scent of the flowers growing on our bushes right now!

 

I throw vegetable peelings out on the plants where they will either feed squirrels or become tree food

I only eat vegetables cooked with butter on them

We discovered on youtube a documentary called Genius of the ancient world, about socrates, confucius, and buddha: the trailer

It was fascinating. On Acorn we started watching Martin clunes show on the islands around Australia... first of all we love him, and we love travel shows and now we want to visit Australia to see the islands

I love my book on audio playing in the studio now

a mother tracks down her missing daughter to find she's working as a spy... well read too!

I'm reading this on ebook


but the jury is out.... I love the author but so far the story line is **yawn** and my library doesn't have her most recent book following the one I did love in the Providence Falls series

I have many on hold... and tried to join hoopla but having trouble... 

Over the holiday we had rain and cooler weather so I baked. and baked. I made scones with cherries, molasses cookies:  https://apriljharris.com/orange-gingerbread-crinkle-cookies/

with orange zest

and one bowl lemon bars... not your usual lemon bars, and dh asked how many thousand we'd have to eat before we got tired of them! 

My friend Cindy sent me a recipe for parmesan cream sauce that we usually make with chicken. This time we made it with shrimp... yum! Link is (here)

Wednesday we made souvlaki for lunch

the spices are parsley, oregano, garlic, paprika, thyme and we put them on the chicken with olive oil and lemon juice to cook

Unluckily the feta went south, so I had to sub other cheese, luckily I made enough for tomorrow's lunch too, and an appetizer the next day! 

I boiled potatoes on Friday and kept enough for dinners, plus made greek salad with the rest. Let's see, I use a mix of yogurt and mayo, lemon juice, parsley and oregano, S & P, and balsamic vinegar for a zing. a bit of minced red onion. 

so, we're fat and sassy. 

I like working in the studio adding beads to quilts, starting others and coloring in my calendar. 

this one got gold on top and bottom, and iridescent

beads along the outside of the binding all the way down. Pics on Saturday!






I like Milo freshly bathed and hair trimmed, here he is (longsufferingly) at the spa
He was busy last month growing hair...
stop gawping and get 'er done Mama!

NOTE: 

I had just written an entire Milo dialogue and blogger erased it. Can't get it back... don't think I can repeat it. The back button did not work. It's gone as I was typing this. 

I'm. tired. of. blogger. trouble.

It was the doggie logic of why he barks... an abbreviated rendition of what was very clever and funny and would have won a writing prize... (thanks blogger)

Mama: Milo stop barking!!! Please! you are so loud, we heard you and are not worried about the neighbor who is checking their mailbox or a dog walking by. 

Milo: I'm not barking for you, I'm barking at them so they need to hear me, Mama, not you! silly mama! You need to learn poodle-ish.

please get vaccinated if you can, wear masks for a while longer, there are still about 350 deaths a day in America to covid. 

Do it for me... I had an allergic reaction to the first shot, so I'm at risk and am begging everyone who can get it, do so. It's okay to do it for the common good of a country you say you love. A country is made up of people, like me, who would like to return to a fuller life.

for now, these people have likes to share please visit them

 
Linking to
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Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Life is so Daily

 


uh oh the coffee maker leaked again but that's okay, who of a certain age hasn't leaked something from their body?

It's old and has a broken toggle so if you don't put the caraff back in just so, the coffee dribbles down and leaves a mess on the counter. Then I spilled the cup a bit picking it up, so who's to judge?

Life is quirky if you notice. Little things that make you wonder if you've gone crazy or if everyone has these kinds of things happen. That's if you're lucky because those quirks and weird things are what keeps things interesting.

They may be odd but they are YOUR oddities.

habits and weirdness doesn't grow on trees, one must form them over time. The surprise weirdness shows up like a new TV show, and can be as entertaining if you let them. 

No More Wine!

Suddenly my poodle does not like the opening of a wine bottle, an all too frequent happening these days. He is content watching out the back slider to see if a neighbor is threatening our safety, by maybe going to their mailbox. One of us asks the evening question, "do you want wine?"

He pops up like the guardian of the gates of hades, barking and running to the daddy. It makes us laugh still, happens all the time now, and yet we laugh. He is so sincere in his new weirdness about wine, we take turns supplying a running imaginary  commentary for him.

"No !!! No more pops! No more noises... haven't we had enough noise? You two should stop drinking wine! Think of the Poooooooooooodles!"

I watched a video the other day ( find it here ) that explained to me I am a highly sensitive person. I suspected it... I think all the time and cannot stand noise or violence, am overwhelmed by too many frightening daily circumstances, I pick up on unspoken clues others miss, I am highly empathetic.

I feel shell-shocked.

When it all gets to be too much I hear myself say, "I need to go to the studio and make something" I found out I am not odd, nor neurotic (well that's not proven) and 20% of humans are born like this too.  In fact 20% of over a hundred species of animals have it as well!

We just need some methods to enable us to cope with this crazy world we live in, and to stop judging our selves. We need to inform the 80% of people who are not like us that we are not just weird, we are people too and if they persist in judging us harshly and dismissing us, we will not believe their assessment of us. So there.

We are sensitive to noise at our house, the popping of corks, loud cars, jets flying over on training missions, sudden barking of poodles who are startled. 


If you want me, I'll be in studio making stuff. 

Linking to  T stands for Tuesday... like a "drink' post 

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Saturday, May 29, 2021

Sewing Saturday

about 14" X 44"
I finished my "Table Scraps" entry for this month, in red because I wanted to use the color of the month at RSC too. 

I've been hanging some of my previous quilts on the bannister, pattern from Bonnie Hunter
 

why don't you come on up to the studio to see how it was made? (Milo will greet you and lead you in)
 

yea for improve piecing!

It started because I sorted some leftovers in the studio and put random blocks in with their color bin if possible. There were about 6 improv diamonds, plus two 4-patch diamonds in the bunch so I thought it was a fine time to make them into something!

To use them, I made a couple more improv blocks, and cut some diamonds and half diamonds with seam allowance, from my red scrap bin. ( success! I can now close the bin!) In this pic you can see that I couched a thick metallic cord down the two long sides. I only had scraps of that too, j-u-s-t- enough for the two long sides! I also used a "petting stash" black with red dots piece for the border. 

I decided this tine to pull the backing to the front, turning it under and measuring carefully, and sewing it all on machine to create an edge treatment. It can distort a bit so I blocked the final quilt by spraying with water and letting it dry in place flat. 

I quilted each diamond slightly differently

Continuing the improv feel, I quilted each diamond differently. 


I still want to add some beads but hurt my back trying to sew over the cutting table last night

I hope to hang it in studio 2 where I keep the bulk of creative supplies. Thank you to Joy at https://thejoyfulquilter.blogspot.com/

for the impetus for making this! 

I did not quilt this one yet...

but I have been sewing the blocks together into sections on this one


 

I love how they change and intensify when sewn together! The pic looks weird because they are temporarily on the portable design board that folds in half, and it's bent on the floor!!

see how large the sections have gotten? Won't be long now! Then the decisions have to be made about how to quilt it and how to finish the edges. I love the ins and outs of a hexie/tumbling block so I expect I'll ladder stitch the finished block edge to the turned under backing when the time comes.

I have found while stitching these EPP blocks that sometimes the fabric is too tight folded around the paper that is too thin, and I have to remove the paper to whip stitch them.

Thanks for coming over, wish I could meet all of you. Maybe one day it will be possible for me to leave the house, if everyone who can get vaccinated does... then it will be safer for me. 

I have immune issues like many people do. We who cannot be fully vaccinated will not ever be able to return to a full life unless the people who are able to get the shots do. For those of you who have political reasons not to do it, consider that it's okay to do it for the common good of your country. 

and me.

Linking to
patchwork Sunday                    
oh Scrap Sundays
 slow stitching Sundays 

https://thejoyfulquilter.blogspot.com/2021/05/may-2021-table-scraps-runnertopper.html 

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 








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