Not Afraid of Color: January 2025

Saturday, January 4, 2025

creativity over the holidays SAHRR center block start, scrap and pink love

The online challenge Stay at Home Round Robin ( at https://quiltinggail.com/ ) starts soon with a parade of our center (starting) blocks. I could have found an orphan block to start with but who wants to open that can of worms and see all the UFO's?

I love Mary Englebreit, get her calendar yearly, and have a stash of her fabrics

I had browsed through my applique books, liked one by Piece O'cake but eventually chose one from the book here. The pattern was VERY small so I enlarged it. My thought is to hand embroider the center with many stitches and build out from that using each row prompt of blocks made often with the stash of prints.

I apporached it like a paper collage, tacking down the motifs with glue or a bit of fusible web. The background fabric is light blue with teacups in white.

I think I'll start with the house outline in black or a strand of black and one of red, buttonhole stitch.

I tend to keep a cart open at Dick Blick art supplies, adding items for fun. DH bought me all the items in my cart for Christmas, whee! In there was an embroidery kit so I'd have an easy way to hand stitch when I am in so much pain I can do nothing else.

Stitching takes me out of my self and pain sometimes. I hope this will eventually pass but not sure.

Sometimes just surviving becomes your life

I punched holes in the picture card, and am looping the threads by color with a slip knot. It starts with the bird outline, 3 strands of black. Why don't kits give you a needle threader?

My friend Kathleen (link to her blog ) sent me a gift box of her scraps and it was Christmas all over again! Like a stocking of little items I sifted through the scraps by color to wash ( I ALWAYS wash fabrics before using and pressing, as I'm SO allergic to chemicals used to process them)

put small pieces in mesh bags to wash

then, enjoy all the prints. She also sent a ball and pretty card) I'm an addict with scraps, keeping really small ones. These were gorgeous and enormous mostly... regular stash worthy but I am going to put them in my scraps stash since that will encourage me to use them. I'm just so excited to have an influx of material!!! just a small example of the pinks she sent...

Kathleen has no idea how much she raised my spirit and boosted my creativity with these.

I wonder what I could gift her with to spread the love?

sharing in link parties:

linking with

patchwork Sunday

oh Scrap Sundays

slow stitching Sundays

https://melvalovesscraps.blogspot.com/

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

https://songbirddesigns.blog/

http://www.inquiringquilter.com/ Wednesday wait loss

Midweek makers wednesdays

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

finished or not

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Thursday, January 2, 2025

On and on it goes... I Like Thursday # 433 food art and kindness

on the first day of the year we eat some traditional good luck foods. Above are the home made hamburger buns, just perfect for any sandwich. Not hard to make, and the dough feels so soft in your palms as you form them. That warm soft not sticky dough is one of my favorite sensations.

recipe here https://www.jennycancook.com/tag/best-hamburger-buns-recipe/

we made baked crispy cod and made my own tartar sauce, mayo, sweet relish, grated onion, lemon juice, hint of tobasco

For NYDay we always have fresh collard greens wash well, pull veins out, roll leaves and cross cut (julliane style) cover with water, some onions, butter s and pepper, simmer til soft. Add some pepper vinegar when serving.

My father loved the soup left when they are cooked, calling it pot liquor, I love it too. DH didn't grow up with these but he also loves them.

Black eyed peas are a must, citrus salad (sectioned grapefruit and oranges, coconut, banana, pineapple and cherries)

I made a salad dressing from this cookbook this week, Maple vinegrette. Found the cookbook in a restaurant in VT. Also made chocolate syrup this week, very simple cocoa, milk, sugar, vanilla)

We had these stuffed chicken breasts which are an easy fancy meat for dinner.

DH found these caramels on McCreas website and they have no corn syrup. Deeeee licious

DH watched the video on how to dismantle and clean/oil the Bernina 930 machine. He did this for me to get me started using this gift from a wonderful friend (Marianne) in Annapolis. She no longer able to sew and gave me this just before we moved to Colorado.... now that my Bernina's motherboard broke again, I look forward to learning to use this one.

I got to zoom with Joy this week and chat with Diane P. on the phone. We took a walk around the 'hood one evening and ran into a nice man who we haven't seen in donkey years. He had a compact loafy white English bulldog.... but we suspected she was not the original one Milo knew. Nope, he said when their dogs die, they get another quickly, lots of love to give he said.

She was quietly sizing me up, wary of my mask probably, and when I made the Aweeeee sound you do at babies and pups, she ran to the fence and nearly squeezed her muzzle through, little pink tongue and squished black nose....

I have thought about them many times the last day

No real prompt but I read one asking if you believed New Year's Day was the start of things, if it wiped the slate clean and was like a do over.

No, no I know it's the next day in time, the continuation of your life. I wondered can we call the first day of the new month a clean slate too?

I also think of things I want to do but less like a goal than a possible chance to learn or change or achieve something.

If I had a wish it would be to be relieved of the burden of chronic pain and disability that interferes with creativity and sleep.

We finished the Canadian tv show Murdoch Mysteries available season, and finished Emily in Paris current season, so good. Now looking for another show to watch together

"looking to the future"

I was relieved on New Year's Eve that Milo wouldn't be disturbed by the stupid fireworks of our neighbors. Why is being really loud so appealing to them? Milo HATED fireworks, I'm not a fan of ones shot off in close housing during a fire watch.

I wrote a NYear's post You might have missed... Click here or read on

I ordered this desk calendar so excited to find one by my new favorite artist but.... note the year...

DH asked casually why I wanted a diary from last year... Ooops! I'll love the insides and pics!