challenge update

my challenge project for january was these blue circles....

a snowy, drab day seemed perfect to tackle them....

happy to see them ready to applique down....altho i avoid adhesives, i did use a tiny dab of roxanne's fabric glue to hold them in place.  all the while, was pondering ideas for the gold border.  have a couple of choices, now to try them out and choose.  *** about 18 years ago  (that long??) took an applique class with karen kay buckley and got some great tips.  so pulled out my trusty cheat sheet and worked a bit'o'magic to ensure a good result....

a little paintbrush and perfect circles template were all the magic needed.  getting this done gave me enthusiasm to formulate a final design for this piece.  thinking one more border after the gold--not too big for a wall display.  

another very cold day here but warm is on the way...a week from today predicting 61 degrees!!!  i'll take that happily!  

cave dwelling

After 2 years with no snow, its day 3 of the light and fluffy stuff, so far today about 4" with end mid-afternoon.  the snow and nearly every day gray and drab PLUS a few days of high winds makes the apartment--with blinds closed and drapes drawn--more like living in a cave.  mr. edison to the rescue!  plenty of channel surfing and sewing taking place.

now in the hoop (again) is the s'mores quilt.  with january's UFO done, hoping to get this one done by february?  this one is a keeper.

a few hours communing with the featherweight finished all 16 cat blocks.  ideas formulating with how to finish....stay tuned.  colors washed out but really bright as you can imagine.

for christmas bro and sis-in-love sent me a subscription to Smithsonian magazine.  no issues yet but this reusable bag arrived yesterday.  

so another day in the cave working on blue circles.  if i can get them all prepped today, perhaps then get them all appliqued before the february challenge is chosen.  with predicted warming next week, hoping winter is done for good.  yes, it's pretty, but with everything canceled and traveling treacherous, it's a big inconvenience.  

couple of recommendations.....

a bittersweet romp into the 1950s, the before of an ending we know....

the third installment of the kingsbridge series....

i'm a whodunit gal but the first book in the series was such an intriguing story, have continued.  this volume focuses on a cast of characters and an in-depth look at the catholic/protestant situation--mix of fact and fiction.  there is a new 4th book, but still 300+ pages to go in this 900+ page saga.

hoping you are warm and dry and have enjoyable pastimes to weather the winter.  consider myself quite blessed to have the same.

got scraps?

 indeed i do!  about breadbox size, the next size tote up from shoebox size.

january has been a scrap sewing month.  so when a reproduction, tiny, 9-patch sew along was proposed, well i caved in a nanosecond.  out came the 1.5" strips for blocks that will finish at 3"--that's as small as i can neatly do.  it's year long so should have quite a collection of them when 2024 says goodbye.  

a pattern provided calls for 480 of these little blocks...hmm, pretty sure i've the fabric but remains to be seen how many i make.  they are darn cute tho, aren't they?

and happy to report the first UFO finish of 2024...it's the bingo wall quilt...being donated to a local church for a bingo prize...pattern is moda love quilt. 

it's a nasty, snowy, icy and cold day here...tuesday as well....but started off this morning with a childhood fave--hot chocolate with a dollop of marshmallow fluff.  if you lived in massachusetts in the 1970s you know the tune....if you've got fluff, fluff, fluff, to make a fluffernutter, with marshmallow fluff and lots of peanut butter....haven't seen it here in MD but dear mom sends me a jar every so often.  

i use no sugar hot chocolate to lessen the sugar hit.  once the marshmallow is, ahem, gone, then i dunk my toast in it...yummy!