creating so far this new year....SAHRR center and more

 

Time to announce our "stay at home round robin" center for 2026

I decided to join my three 12" dragonfly blocks for my center and keep the small 6" blocks to use as I go.... 

I used a special nature fabric to join them and it was a challenge to find the right one! 

It has photographic branches in gold metallic. Not blending too much, but standing out a bit. Once I see the first prompted blocks to add, I think I might put a small border of this print around the joined three blocks as a spacer

at first I tried a sparkly deeper blue but it repeated the look of the body , I've gathered up blue dragonfly prints to add in, but I might just  end up making garden or pond blocks, who knows. 

I love this challenge every year. I love making a prompt fit my esthetic and theme, and love to see what everyone else is making with that same prompt!!! Quilting Gail (our leader's blog)

you can join in anytime.... 

I also cut out the next hexie spiral blocks to hand EPP piece by the TV... using snowy winter fabrics in blue for the Rainbow Scrap challenge color of this month

so much fun to hand piece hexies! I know I did them last year but well never too many hexies

our skies are the blue inspiration although we have had only about an inch of snow all winter here in Aurora CO this year.... temps are in the 60's and 70's all winter so far, plus intense sun (10 + hotter)

Just for fun.... lookie what I found to inspire me to paint

Now I want to take lessons from this frog.... mesmerizing music too.... Love a Lily pond...

https://youtube.com/shorts/8B7PBgWBWVw?si=vMuAhrQlFf86bwaB

loved this hand embroidered book cover tute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5Ui30gg7qU 

 

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

patchwork Sunday   

oh Scrap Sundays

 slow stitching Sundays

https://melvalovesscraps.blogspot.com/

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

https://songbirddesigns.blog/

http://www.sewcando.com/ 

https://myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/inspire-me-monday-335/ 

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

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

finished or not

https://myblog-lunchbreak.blogspot.com/

https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

friday face off  

https://www.pamspartyandpracticaltips.com/2025/09/its-time-to-dare-to-share_0372312595.html 

 

I Like Thursday # 487

 

Welcome to our list of likes, Thursday, and sunny hot Colorado. (January and temps + sun= hot)

I saw this aptly named truck along my walk this week.... 

dogs and cats seen on walks

this mini godendoodle was so charming...

then a cat came out of nowhere to chirp at us walking by

It did not linger,  but might have if I'd asked it to... It went a few paces ahead, sat down and turned back to give me such a look!!!  I rarely see cats... have allergic symptoms if I pet them but love them....

then later on the walk this sweet kitty meowed at us from a yard. 

I responded with hello beautiful! It meowed again, turned toward it's house then looked back at me, meowed again, flipped to it's back  wriggling and chirping! An obvious invitation to come play but I couldn't go into a closed gated yard with the excuse your cat invited me in! 

Canadian Geese are here for the winter, (they must be surprised at our heat too) and this one was the guard. The rest ate, meandered around the park, while he kept them safe. 

WE must have thousands of them in our neighborhood.  

pretty sunset

what are you doing for this new year so far???

noticed this on a walk, something left a question mark in the pavement!

I LOVED this great post  asking the hard questions then answering them... 

https://themarmeladegypsy.blogspot.com/2026/01/seven-reflection-questions-that-made-me.html#more

cow adopts puppy, so heartwarming.... you don't need to be the same to love....

link if you need it: https://youtube.com/shorts/dHR_-pu-jE4?si=b-UqY_GSpikQzV1b

Our conversation starter this week is

Have you ever lived anywhere else? 

 

I grew up in Tampa Florida, living there until I went away to College in Tenn for a year. 

I returned to Univ of South Florida to graduate, and work for a few years

My longtime boyfriend and I decided I needed to move where he was living at the time, to see if we could make a go of it.... he had moved to Edmonton Alberta Canada from Toronto by then, so I lived in Utah with my sister's family while I waited for a work visa in Edmonton. 

Eventually I did move to Canada but after a long recovery from Meningitis there, I returned to Tampa to recover my strength and worked there another 6 years or so before.... 

meeting my now husband at a contra dance. We decided to marry and within a year he had chosen a job in Baltimore so off we went.  Our labra-daughter Chelsea loved seeing snow the first time! We were there a long time before seeking the novelty and cold weather of Colorado. 

Jokes on us, global warming had made it hot here, virtually no winter at all this year. 

I have enjoyed all the places I've lived and visited.... my family owned a small Inn in NC and we visited often as I grew up. My sister lived many different states and I used to spend summers with her in each. 

we are interested in moving to France but I'm scared. I swear I've tried to learn the language but.... 

 

For Americans, our season of The Traitors started but I'm obsessed so I'm waiting til they accumulate more than 3 episodes to start! 

if you need me, I'll be sewing.... Project Quilting began, and Stay at home round robin too... I'll post my SAHRR center on Friday.... whee!

please visit these kind people to see what they like this week

 Knitty Quilter 

grammajudyb.blogspot.com

http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com/

http://littlepenguinquilts

princess bubbles creates   

https://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/

https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/ 

 craftscaviescontras   

 https://quiltschmilt.ca/

https://knittingquilter.blogspot.com/

https://faithtrustandbreastcancer.blogspot.com

https://lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com/

https://brianshomeblog.com/  

http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/   

http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com

https://llbinourbackyard.blogspot.com/ 

https://frenchethereal.net/

 

  

 

Project Quilting.... a new year, a clean slate, and another piece of art

Project Quilting  link has begun a new season... the prompt this week is "clean slate" and use of the color white,...

the unquilted top 

I love color. I decided to write the quote on a printed quilt label fabric letting those colors inspire me

the quote found on google, may be from "hunting Louise"

using brush markers I wrote out the words, and after borders were on, put paper behind the words and sewed in the marker area with sparkly black threads. Then tore off the stabilizer paper before quilting

 

at which point my janome gem ("I was never meant to use metalic thread" said the machine) seized up and the flywheel refused to turn. DH and I took apart as much as we could, dug around, kicked it like a soda pop machine who refused to drop the can NOT REALLY) and some how, with the help of angels, got it running again a day later. 

challenges....

it wouldn't even try until I changed the needle in last resort, but then slogs along with cotton threads

quilted with metallic sparkling threads plus 50 weight cotton ones, binding machine dong in a REALLY sparkly teal fabric, and,..

the quote means so much to me

I hoped to add beads but ran out of steam... maybe later maybe much later! for now it's finished and displayed on our entry hall table easel

12" X 14" 

I finished the machine quilting on a hexie landscape this week...

backing is felt

and looked for my dragonfly blocks to make a center for this year's round robin challenge

YEA! found them! 

I've been taking a lot of photos in anticipation of finding a class to teach me more about amending photos. 

Where is that class? the one that caters to the non- tech person? 

wow couldn't be easier to paint... could be done on fabric too...

I'll be working on my dragonfly center this week hopefully, God willing and machine don't fail

linking to 

https://www.kimlapacek.com/project-quilting 

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

patchwork Sunday   

oh Scrap Sundays

 slow stitching Sundays

https://melvalovesscraps.blogspot.com/

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

https://songbirddesigns.blog/

http://www.sewcando.com/ 

https://myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/inspire-me-monday-335/ 

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

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

finished or not

https://myblog-lunchbreak.blogspot.com/

https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

friday face off  

https://www.pamspartyandpracticaltips.com/2025/09/its-time-to-dare-to-share_0372312595.html 

I Like Thursday # 486 do you sing?

 

I am writing this post on Tuesday in case I can get into Chiro.... but it's been hot here, but luckily it might still be snowing in the high mountains. Going for a morning walk in CO shouldn't mean pulling off your jacket, then your sweater...

I took the above pic because of the pretty reflection that morning

Dogs i met along the way

Burito... He was so dapper in his forest green sweater and pretty harness

His dad chatted a long time with us, rare for young 30 year olds here. He got Burito in the marriage as his wife had him a while. This pup doesn't like a lot of people but unlike chihuahua's doesn't bark, I talked to him but didn't reach for him, so he came over and greeted me! His dad was so interesting... his whole family moved here from CA, and he prayed for me. NICE! ( he asked if that would be okay, and I said I don't turn down prayers) 

this dog usually goes haywire when we walk by but not this time.  Just sat and looked at us. So handsome, maybe he's getting used to me, I do talk to him every time we meet

Glad the holidays are over, am I the only one? 

speaking of New year's resolutions... happy or skinny?

the night sky was gorgeous one evening...

these lights were so cool, shape and colors 

I watched the British Traitors Celebrity edition on Peacock to get ready for the US version 

starting Jan 8th. SO fun the British Celebrities are so polite and funny

Tried a new puff pastry appetizer, with feta, egg whites, and green onions.... Yum! Came out perfectly despite the freezer burn on some of the dough...

recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13509/feta-cheese-foldovers/?print=

New year's resolutions made realistic

if you need the link

how easy is this?!

https://youtube.com/shorts/OWQ64xG_hg0?si=L-_DkxPFkV37h7Fy

 conversation starter this week...

Do you ever sing in the shower? ( do you have a go to song you sing a lot?) 

Not usually in the shower  but I sing fairly often.... show tunes from productions I was in, 

or made up songs about something that happened on the walk to some familiar tune 

Wearing a mask helps because people can't see my mouth moving, LOL

please visit these kind people to see what they like this week

please follow these folks to see what they liked this week

 Knitty Quilter 

https://wordweaverart.blogspot.com/

grammajudyb.blogspot.com

https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/

http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com/

http://littlepenguinquilts

princess bubbles creates   

https://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/

https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/ 

 craftscaviescontras   

 https://quiltschmilt.ca/

https://knittingquilter.blogspot.com/

https://faithtrustandbreastcancer.blogspot.com

https://lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com/

https://brianshomeblog.com/  

http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/   

http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com

https://llbinourbackyard.blogspot.com/ 

https://frenchethereal.net/

ohhh, ahhhh.... sweet!

 watch to the end.... 

gentle

love

love is patient

 

love to all my fellow adoptees out there

just because...

 

link

Let's be kind to each other this year..

.if you have a choice to do a good thing, take it

If someone needs something, you could provide it now and then I think

Good is circular,  you'll be glad you were able to choose good I bet

I'll be right there with you doing what I can to make things better... not all the time because well that's how things are, but I'll be nice when I can.... Love to you all

creatively speaking.... a new year and an old finish

 

happy new year to all.... 

I machine quilted the small mat for my friend Pat and love how it looks in person. Simple design, gray thread, hand dyed felt backing

I hand sewed the hexies to look like a wee scene. Pat likes nature and gardening so I have sky, grass, flowers and water represented in fabric prints. 

After quilting I cut the felt to just beyond the turned fabrics

it feels so nice, can be machine washed, and I hope she uses it and likes it too

Then I pulled out one I made recently, hand pieced hexies, odd border lines, fresh! I layered the hand dyed felt on the back of mine too, and started quilting with

the most annoying metallic thread I own.... pretty blend of blue and golds but gutterman regular metallic is a BRAT

so it's broken so many times, I rethread the machine and now there may be some caught in the works

OMG

(give me patience)

I love a bit of sparkle but this trying to use up threads thing isn't working... 

I can see what is NOT done.... 

I need to stop clearing up studio stuff, stop quilting this, and focus!!!

Focus on a center block for the Stay at Home Round Robin starting soon, and OH heck! Project quilting starts tomorrow! yikes! 

Wanted the studio to be tidied up and ready for creating.... 

why does it seem that all the things I like to do happen at the same time? 

Haven't firmed up how to format my soon to be prompt challenge either

still trying to walk but it's been hot during the mornings...Hot in Aurora CO in January, 

sweating hot

but life is a balance of activities 

happy creating y'all

linking with

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

patchwork Sunday   

oh Scrap Sundays

 slow stitching Sundays

https://melvalovesscraps.blogspot.com/

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

https://songbirddesigns.blog/

http://www.sewcando.com/ 

https://myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/inspire-me-monday-335/ 

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

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

finished or not

https://myblog-lunchbreak.blogspot.com/

https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

friday face off  

https://www.pamspartyandpracticaltips.com/2025/09/its-time-to-dare-to-share_0372312595.html