Thursday, July 24, 2025

I Like Thursday # 461 gardens, colors, summer dinners

 

time for another list of small likes, starting with these colorful pots seen at our community garden

I've been walking a lot, early morning, and late afternoons, to strengthen my back, I saw this lovely lavender along the way

and more shots of the community garden in a minute

Sewing
I finished my challenge piece this  week, for Joy's Table Scraps, and will share photos Saturday. It's called butterfly house... 

shared this project last Saturday... hand sewn hexies
no response on my inquiry about this rescue dog, a 9 lb poodle
I am ready to love again and praying for the right pup to join our family
want to do a jigsaw puzzle with me? I like this site: jigsaw planet
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=348e1d82ccb5

conversation starter this week: 

do you like particular foods for summer dinners? do you use a recipe or combine whatever ingredients you have on hand? 

yum, nectarines are delish even if we did order peaches! 

We tend to eat more BIG salads for dinner when it's so hot.... I'm not a fan of cooking in general, but do like to eat. 


I love fresh fruit and vegetables available in summer, like melons. 

Love the sounds of a donkey enjoying watermelon...


Watermelon! I cut it up, put it in a fridge container to snack on no mess. 

I've been known to drink a watermelon martini... or two...

Our kitchen is directly below our bedroom and heat rises so with it hovering around 100 F we bake much less dinners than we would like.

 Speaking of food, we took a walk by our neighborhood community garden this week 

there are about 20 plots, that rent for $150 a year. They have water

benches
composting area
each person decorates their plot differently and have very lush plants growing





love a colorful leggo wall divider
and my OWN backyard wildflowers are finally blooming! 
and my rose bush is finally rose-ing
they are knock out roses and lovely shades of orange but small

On TV


Watching Love Island, hunt for love, Love abroad, 90 day fiance, and bachelor in Paradise
the summer of love? Oh, not quite, watching Big Brother too! 

Listening to audio books, and reading a Molly Murphy book

 Watching on video

I liked this set of videos, the guy will purchase an old photo and then research who it is, and their lives, and I find them very interesting, and a history lesson. I've watched several and like the guy who does it, and learned some about how to do historical research from him...

 


that's it, stay cool, speak your truth, be kind to others, (thank you for visiting) 
please visit these folk to see their list of likes this week, and remember to tell me what foods you like in the summer months



Saturday, July 19, 2025

creatively speaking, so many decisions, purple focus, a lovely gift, seeking focus

 

it's time for this week's creativity round up.... things I worked on rather than finishes this time

I take the RSC challenge to focus on a color each month, to heart. I not only pull out the purple scrap bin, but think about the shades and tints of a color, it's relationship to other colors. 


I did finish this month's hexie block in purple. It's so satisfying to finish the block press it and see it all together. It starts with choosing the shades and fabric patterns, which ones to put next to the others, moving the little basted hexies around til it feels right. Sometimes I baste the whole set and don't like how they look in the block and choose another fabric. 

no project too small to dither over

I now have 7 blocks done, and am already worrying over how to set them. Do I put black between each block? just sew them together into some shape then fill in around them to make a border? 
just on the sewing table for a picture
 will it have too much movement if just set next to each other, too much to enjoy seeing on the wall? 

And how will I quilt it? there are so many seams here. 
My granny hand quilted every quilt she made, or tied them with little tufts of thread on top. She followed the seam lines. I seldom do that, and this would be difficult to hand quilt. 

that's another decision for another day

I walk a lot lately, and on walks I often notice things in the RSC color of the month. this month it's purple so I notice what is purple on my walks.... 

clematis is purple
I started a pair of hand knitted socks, in a summer yarn, that is stretchy and so variegated

Knitting is soothing to me, and I do it at night. Stop the day's demands, slow down, turn on the TV
the colors really blend and blur with this yarn
I do like the meditative aspect of handwork. Slower, more chance to observe color, repetitive stitches add up and like in meditation my mind can ping pong or quiet down and I go with it. 
I worked on this project, curvy improve joins of tiny mosaic fabric pieces to each other, then strips to strips, tidy order made from the chaos of a pile of scraps. Like tiny pieces of glass in a kaleidoscope. 

I'm also working on the table scraps challenge to use purple scraps and focus on the word blossoms
I'll show it next week... it's turning out well so far
 

in between studio projects I turn back to just what a small shift in shade will do to this journal cover. 
 


The circle in the center was a scrap square I cut into a circle, changing the whole feel of it. 
I plan to do stitching by hand over this for a texture addition

My good sister friend Cindy sent me a box full of treasures. 
I LOVE a box of things to go through. She said they were from a studio cleanse but I see nothing but treasures. The fabrics are so pretty, so useable
she said she wouldn't use them but knew I would, and she's right. 
It's good to have a friend who knows you isn't it? 
She sent it for my birthday meaning there is a second gift in being remembered and being "post office worthy"

notions, beads, ink blocks.... needles to try, bead scrapers, a lighted "un-stitcher" and omg

 

Joy sent me a birthday box with flamingo fabric, in happy colors along with a journal in pink which lifted my spirits so much! 

Pat in NM sent a big box of tiny scraps that gave me hours of sorting fun, and some of those are in my current purple work.... it's like a collaboration between artists to receive the fabrics they chose to use, and now I will pick up the gauntlet and carry on in my own way. 

I am so grateful

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

I Like Thursday # 460 take a walk with me


welcome to this weeks list of small likes starting with tall lilies seen on our walk. I'm 5'7" so....

yep I'm wearing socks with sandals, because something in the grass caused toe infections for me here 

Hiya! come walk with me!

two roommates enjoying the sun one morning

hi bunny-baby   better move!


that's a BIG truck you're under
uh, what? Guess they like to cozy up to the street
another Donkey-baby visit...love your eye liner baby

what kind of tree is this???
is it about to start raining?? (YEP) 
whew I need some water, it's been quite hot (with only one day of normal summer heat)
gosh but I love the color pink even in my waterglasses (IKEA)
Fine Dining
these are more like fudge candy than cookies

we tried this recipe for no bake fudge oatmeal cookies . All her recipes are small batch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H1Pz14iurk

Oh my, so good that although they made 7 cookies, I break them in half and eat like candy!!

Applesauce cake with cream cheese icing

we may cut the pieces smaller..... or not

Our wildflower seed is finally turning to flowers.... what are these? (Delicate little trumpet shapes)

these flowers are in MY garden.... WHAT are they???

Our conversation starter this week 

do you like shopping at garage sales? Flea markets? what is a really good one? Do you shop at thrift stores? 

 



Oh yes, I like looking at stuff! I especially love an estate sale in the house... so I can see the house too. 

I remember a yard sale in CT in a historic area. We were out walking around, so I stopped and found the sweetest pink serving dish to buy. 

I went to a crafter's sale, and Lordy she had everything one could ever want. I did love going through stuff and buying what I might like to use. That was in DC. I went to another crafter's sale here in Colorado and the whole house had her supplies in it. Yep, virtually a whole house craft room. Aaaaah

we have never made any money on our own yard sales, I feel like telling people, we JUST brought it out of our own house.... One person showed up asking what we would give her for free, at the start of the day. Wow. Our neighbor down the street, also doing a sale told me a woman bought a beloved doll she dithered over putting out, and on the way back to the car, tossed it to her dog that immediately began tearing it up. My neighbor was sad... 

When we were doing a big purge before moving to Colorado, my friend and bee mate said sagely, 

"first you get rid of the junk, and after a while it all looks like junk"  

my fave flea market was in New Orleans French Quarter on Sundays 

Video 

wildlife photographers have the cameras turned on them, love shared

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-6Q8CG4HTc 


now please visit these folk to see what they liked this week, and how would you answer the prompt?

Saturday, July 12, 2025

creatively speaking, this week Purple Haze

 

I spent my studio time this week with these projects plus a few more. 

All in the various ranges of purples, blue-purples to red-purples from light to dark. 

I do love scraps and am grateful to my friends who sent me scraps to give me choices to use

I did three blocks for my rainbow scrap challenge quilt this week

each strip is 2.5" across width of fabric, and each one is pretty

I thought this was just okay til I noticed the gold hearts!


these might be the 4th block...

I walk a lot, and try to notice the color of the month (purple) along the way
clematis blossoms
I worked on my table scraps challenge this week.... interpreting blossoms and using purple scraps
here's a little close up of the direction I'm taking with it
I started sewing without a design, but keeping blossoms and purple in my mind and surprised at what happened! It's due the end of the month, so I'll show it finished then God willing

I added on some free form geese to the other project...and sewed gentle curves into the strips
Mindless sewing of tiny rectangles got this one going and I might not have a vision of the finished piece but I quite love the pattern and colors that are emerging from a pile of tiny scraps
along the way I found this painting in my purple scrap bin.... I think it's from a playdate with gelli printing on fabric with my bee mates in Maryland. Which means it's very old. There is a lot more to it

a strip scrap surrounded log cabin style... what will it be?
In the parts dept I found a little circle, so I gave it a home in strips, what do you think of the blueish purple strips for the sides?


what about this swirly strip?
My idea is to hand stitch over the whole thing and use it for another paint journal cover

Lastly I am hand stitching this month's  hexi spiral block (at night in front of mindless TV)
Ah, I love making these



that's about it for now.... 

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