Saturday, July 25, 2026

living the creative life Using the lovely blue-green color this week

 

the beloved blue green (aqua to teal)  from rainbow scrap challenge has made hot July more lovely 

I got my hexi spiral ready to stitch and just love these colors

love the prints and colors!

I have been busy going through batik scraps, unused for years. I pulled out those easy to cut to squares in sizes 2.5"   3"   and 3.5"   and those joined all the other colors I cut out of other fabrics. I have many in each size to use in future projects

this changes a long held practice of keeping all batiks separately but which led to not using them often

All my fabrics and scraps have been washed in hot water and detergent, then sorted and kept by type or color. This is usually workable for me. 

Batiks cause sinus trouble when pressed if not thoroughly scoured. You know that scent they have? 

now I am mixing them in more, they make me happy with their color intensity and pattern


this was made from tiny scraps of regular printed fabrics... 
scraps from making my GGG squares that filled the design wall and the next rows are still on the sewing table ready when there's room

compare the jewel tones and watercolor like batiks in the piece I sewed this week on the bottom to
prints of regular prints at top,

All are so pretty

this is an audition of borders for the 14" X 20" new work

then I ran across this little scrap and it will become inspiration for future works... the pattern, the colors and the relative amounts of each color to each other.... inspiration comes from many sources! 


the extra GGG blocks ( on the right below)  will make it 15 rows by 12 across.... with borders maybe large enough to cover a human for a nap

otherwise I have less flashy work to do this week. The watercolor quilt needs borders and quilting. 

the two tiny scrap pieces also need to be finished into "flimsies" and then maybe tote bags or book covers for notebooks, or or or....


a close up of one of our patio chairs for the end of blue green month... but I will continue to work on my projects of blue green because they sooth my soul at a time when it is in need of soothing

 if you need me (or my snoopervisor) we'll be in the studio! 

Alfie the grateful poodle


I still love crochet and this seems like a great method!


 



 



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Thursday, July 23, 2026

I Like Thursday # 515 diaries and summer crushes, muffins, shadows and a poodle

 


Fine Dining likes

pumpkin banana muffins
recipe centercutcook  and they are fragrant, moist, and just the right sweetness

Also made Thumbprint cookies again, made with almond flour, and seedless raspberry jelly (no pic)
my fave Peanut butter cookie recipe.... just right...


my potted cucumber set blossom, so the vege will hopefully soon

love the way tendrils sprout to hold on for safety in our winds

we managed a bit of porch time despite the near 100F temps this week





mama, it's hot but I like being out


shadow shot on a walk this week


I took a photo through a latice and like the distance on it!

Reading ebooks and listening to audio books while in the studio


watching Big Brother... great summer entertainment... anyone else want to discuss strategy?


Our conversation starter this week 


did you or do you keep a diary? what kind of things did you put in yours? ever have a summer crush or vation romance? 

I started about 6th grade with a traditional child's diary, with a tiny key. I wrote daily telling what happened, who I had a crush on, what I did, how school went. I remember loving the process, and hiding the diary since my mother was a snoop. 

I romanticized life, so yes summer crushes happened. 
I often spent a month with my sister's family, and when she lived in Washington Indiana I fell for her neighbor's son, who was older than I was by a year. He was 14 and soooooo handsome. Our two families often hung out in evenings, the kids played and chased lighting bugs.  We rode bikes together and talked and I pretended he was my boyfriend. 

I met a guy at beach week after high school graduation, and we had a summer romance but he wanted more than I was prepared for then. Still.... 
so many crushes over the dam, summer flings. 
I fell for a guy I met while staying with my friend's family at their beach place... he was tall and skinny, I had such a crush on him, he juggled, and worked at the newspaper office, and it lasted the summer.

"see you in september"

shadow shot on a walk this week

please visit these folks to see what they like in a picnic basket, and share here with me! 
if you ever want to do an I Like Post to include, let me know to add in your link! 





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Saturday, July 18, 2026

Creatively speaking, this week...

 

it's been so hot, it's hard to do much of anything...

oh there are people who say, but that's in the sun.... 
well, we don't really have shade here so that's how hot it is on our walks. We drag thru morning walks, and I'm in too much spinal pain by the evenings now to go much more than a mile after dark. 

Almost too hot to sew as my creativity nook is over the hot garage. Did I tell you we moved here to evade heat? We had about 3 years in the beginning with nicer colder weather but now it's hot all year. 

on to what we were able to do... no beading, no painting, no embroidery but I was obsessed with...

making GGG blocks with my scraps, and enjoyed sorting through my scrap bins seeing them in this new way. I am focusing on Aqua/turquoise, purple, lime, fuchia colors 
there are about 140 blocks done
don't get too excited, when they are sewn together this center would be about 40" X 56" so I continued
as I sorted, to prep more blocks

then..., all the bits I cut off were improv sewn into 


groups and strips, then the groups sewn together. I LOVE it. Not sure what it will become or how large
but very few little scraps went back in the color bins

it's so satisfying to see color/pattern next to another... growing faster than my cucumbers
it's similar to my big quilt in percentage of colors too


my snoopervisor has been pleased with my progress, 
or at least with my happiness in these colors... all he knows is this is where we go every day for him to nap

I realized I need to do a mundane but necessary task of sewing on a replacement button 
this lovely shirt has been mine for approx 40 years.... still beautiful on and brilliant color. Made by an independent clothing designer (in Florida ) called Ooo La La

so the heat continues to increase my inflammation and pain, our AC can't fight the temps, promised relief in form of 80's this week, are now dashed in favor of near 100's. A creative person still needs to make things AM I Right? 


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Thursday, July 16, 2026

I Like Thursday# 514 books, clouds, picnic food and a poodle

 

welcome to this week's list of likes... starting with our puppy Alfie wanting to go up to another dog

These three belong to a neighbor we see out walking, 3 rescues, this short one on the side is always happy and wagging.... so Alfie thought it would be good as a calm meeting 
but
turns out she likes us from a distance only....
Alfie had apparently decided the 5 month adoption anniversary is for meeting dogs so he went up politely to a little doodle, touched gently, she was age 4 and with her dad and brother in a stroller. 
She lost all control however, when meeting Alfie. (patsy cline's song Crazy played in the background) 

Alfie didn't let it bother him as she wanted to play like a wild thing, and he knew leashes were in the way. The father apologized saying she's wild, but I was glad Alfie accepted it. 
We passed two labs we see frequently next and one of them is even wilder. Alfie looked the other way and growled softly as we passed by just so there was no chance of her getting a sneak attack. 
plenty of time to test the waters later. We just groomed Alfie this weekend and he looks great! 
Took the Mama three tries at shaving him however, he has thick hair like cotton 
The temps are nearly 100 F and the sun intense, so after washing and brushing, I was able to cut half his hair  away and he's so soft and pretty! 

saw this interesting shadow and thought it was 3 mailboxes
but just two and a post

this neighbor has grapevines that return yearly
I like the way they look on the white fence

I also like the bug holes in the leaves making leaf lace


Apparently Alfie's toys might be worthy of play now that he's been here 5 months

he played and squeaked the dragon for about 20 minutes!

He squeaked and tossed the dragon a long time, then suddenly dropped it in favor of the benebone. 
we call this brushing his teeth! lol   He like all animals has opinions and thoughts. In fact this week he actually watched TV with us one night. 
Alfie: Mama! of course I have opinions! That's why I tease you by going to the top of the stairs and looking down at you! And race you to the bottom sometimes, other times if you stop I stop, as many times as it takes to get down! 

We decided to break his food into 6 meals to keep the stomach acid from causing vomit, so far so good but he stops to sniff the food bag every time he passes our table. 

I'm excited Big Brother has returned on TV. 
Sewing on a scrap project the center blocks may be almost done... since it's much larger now!
I like the colors Aqua/ lime/fuchia/purple so that's my scrap focus

Reading on E-book

clever, engaging, funny, new author to me

I like that dh got the garage door window repaired after trying himself... the professional came out, put in new glass and promptly broke it too! Re ordered, another workman came out, I had doubts because he was young but despite taking 3 times the time to install it, managed to get it in place. Yea! 

I do not like the neighbors who drive loud cars and park under my bedroom window instead of on their side of the street.... haven't had a full night sleep since they moved in. 


Our conversation starter this week: (Feel free to use these for chatting with your spouse, children etc)

 what do you think makes a good picnic lunch? sit on the ground or picnic tables? 



I remember attending concerts where you sat on the ground with a picnic... so nice, to snack, listen to live music, and lie down looking up at the sky. As adults we would bring take out like sandwiches cut into strips, chicken, deviled eggs, cookies, or gourmet take out treats. Always wine too. 



For bigger parties a picnic table is nice, if it can be cleaned and given a wipe off cloth. Many a church social was enjoyed this way, sometimes with a dedicated food table, pot luck. Always a lot of casseroles, snacky finger foods, desserts. The big container full of ice and soft drinks, a large jug of iced tea or lemonade unless it was a reunion picnic... 

Cole dining alfresco with us on a trip 


there might be beer there alongside iced tea and sodas! 
I liked to bring a veggie display with dips on ice. I grew up in Florida to extended families in the South so always homemade rolls, and desserts, weird desserts made with jello, lots of bar cookies and recipes exchanged. 

of course eating while at the beach was a lesson in blowing sand in your bites!

I like eating at outside tables... like at festivals and fairs. I love sharing tables with strangers and getting to know them while eating our own food. We often brought a cooler on our own summer getaways as a married couple with a dog.... we'd see a particularly pretty vista in the mountains or lakefronts as we drove along, and stopped on a whim to eat whatever we had. 

this is a whimsical post I wrote about Cole -dilocks and the three chairs



please visit these folks to see what they like in a picnic basket, and share here with me! 
if you ever want to do an I Like Post to include, let me know to add in your link! 



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Saturday, July 11, 2026

Creative time this week adding to new blocks, finishing a flimsy, and finishing a needlebook

 

I've been working on two quilts this week. My watercolor summer piece which is now bordered and ready to quilt, and my new block, goody goody gumdrops which is addictive and a fun way to use scraps

While I've been going through my scraps for components for that block, I've been pulling out pieces that are square or able to be turned into small squares for my growing collection

usually I keep scraps by color no matter size or shape,

this is the aqua scrap bin plus yardage from my stash
but I decided it could be really useful to keep 2.5"   3"   3.5"  squares together by size and I have kept 2" squares together to make water color quilts for years. 

I decided to put larger watercolor style fabrics around for a border without a spacer...

and in the quilting I'll couch down a satin cream piping between center and border... 
It's so pretty and delicate! How will I quilt it? 

bunny butterfly  fairy

big flower, birdhouses 

I am loving it ! I think a soft backing of nature print  maybe concentric lines?  sweeping long lines? 


for now my obsession with the GGG  blocks continues. 
It's amazing how many pretty scraps I'm finding. I do not start with 5" squares like the pattern. 

I start with a piece at least 2.5" from which I cut a 5" piece, and two 1.5 X 2.5" pieces, for the outside

and use one of my newly cut 2.5" squares for the centers of the blocks. 
right now I'm focusing on Aqua/turquoise,  pink, blue, lime as colors to pull from for this.. 
it's hard to leave off in the evenings, "JUST ONE MORE"  my snoopervisor has fallen asleep despite the thunderstorm going on outside
When I left last night I had 89 blocks done,, and two more cut and waiting to start again the next day


I betcha I will rearrange them before sewing together! Aren't they a bright happy set of colors? 

I finished hand stitching my needlebook from last week, and machine sewed it into a usable form
those are mermaid arms from one of my "sea" quilts, and I thought to bead it but... it's good 
the insides all scraps!
no painting except for painting videos. 
Creativity used in baking and cooking this week. I'll leave you with one of our pretty skies

it's about 100F here in the sun...too hot for me! On one slightly cooler morning we made fresh cherry scones... so good. And a ruby red watermelon was summer delish but didn't last cut up in the fridge this time... we are enjoying fruit this summer
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