I Like Thursdays Oct 3

Greetings!

It's 61 degrees this morning!  I have been waiting almost 6 months to go walking around my block and got ready to go out the door and instead saw this:

Two Wild Coyotes.  I ran in the house and grabbed my camera and took this shot.  At one point they turned around and looked at me.  Needless to say I walked in a different direction- not on my own street. Dang it all.  If we call Game and Fish to come pick them up the coyotes will be long gone. I don't know what to do about it. This is the third time in a few weeks that I have seen a coyote. UGH.

However, I do like this cooler weather and some other stuff:

1.  Fall shows returning- This is Us., The Resident, New Amsterdam.That was last week; then, this week,  I found The Durrels and Poldark  on PBS:

They are such a fun family.

Isn't he beautiful? Just sayin.

2.  Donated quilt tops done and ready to go to the church:

The first one was "Briar Rose" charms from Wilmington with Kona Snow charms .  I ordered the first charm pack (twice) and didn't like them when they arrived years ago but with the white, they turned out all pretty. The second top is a 4 square from stash fat quarters.  I'm still trying to destash.

3.Local  Firefighters.  My daughter was talking to some firemen shopping for groceries and asked them what was the procedure to get Thomas a visit to their firehouse. She explained Thomas' miracle birth, his disabilities and interests (sports, monster jam  and firefighters) . They were SOOO interested and made an appointment for the following Saturday for their little family to tour the station.   She, her husband and Thomas were there for 2 hours.  The firefighters took him for a ride on the ladder truck (which meant he had to be carried out of the wheelchair and onto the truck), gave him a firefighter t-shirt, a Phoenix Suns basketball game, a Phoenix Suns shirt, a firefighter's cap and a real firefighter's helmet from the captain.  Unbelievable.  They all had such a wonderful day and returned the next day with home made cookies for the crew..

4. Thomas' firefighter pants for Halloween. So, of course Thomas wants to be a firefighter for Halloween.  My daughter got a pair of pants (twice his size but cost $2) at Goodwill. :

I hemmed them, cuffed them and  added green felt to the cuffs. He is so excited for Halloween.

5. Net Zero produce bags.  So, I saw them on the internet and was pulled right in,. They are a thin, airy, nylon for use at the grocery store and in the fridge.  "  You can fill them with produce at the store , wash the produce and store in fridge"  Well, I received them in 2 weeks from Shanghai!  I didn't read the fine print when I ordered them. but was surprised on their long journey.  I received way too many so I washed a few right away and put them in the car.  I have shopped for produce 2 times since I put them in the car  and still haven't remembered to use them.  What's even funnier is I thought they would be so convenient at the store because the store  frequently runs out of produce bags.

They come in 3 sizes.

Between household chores, runs to the store/doctors and all this sewing, I'm tired.  Oh- I also have  a bladder infection so the meds are tiring me out, too.  Today we go for my brothers pre-op tests at the hospital  for his upcoming surgery next week. I'm too tired to stress out on that, too!!  HAHA

Anyway, hope you all are having a great week and welcome to October- at last!  Joins us at LeeAnn's site for more "likes" at Not Afraid of Color.

mary😊

Things I like Thursdays Sep 26

Greetings!

Happy Fall! Here is my list of "likes" for this week:

1. My new Fall painting:

The  leaves tutorial from Shayda Campbell on you tube was very helpful.

2.  Big Band music station from England on my Pandora app.  I was raised with Big Band Music and loved it.  I appreciate all kinds of music-Jazz, Classical, pop, rock (not heavy metal or rap).  But, I was reminded recently (by Julierose, I think) of the Big Band music so I searched Pandora and found it.  Cool.  I just can't listen to it while painting cause it's too fast! LOL

3.  My Happy Happy Joy Joy painting.

This tutorial was from Maremi Small Art on You Tube. I've decided to start a series on various colors. I would not normally have chosen these colors (beige and blue)  together so it was a stretch.

4. Donating Quilts and fabric

I chose 5 quilts I made  sitting in drawers to send to a church who distributes them all over the valley- food banks, women/children etc.  I also went through my fabric stash and sent along some fabric.  It felt good to finally accomplish this task.

5.  The Christmas mini quilt is finished and hanging in my bedroom

Here it is laying on a chair before I got around to hanging it.  The photo doesn't do justice to the jewel tone squares.

6.  My daughter's Christmas Valances for her kitchen and dining room.  I finished the kitchen one.  The fabric is from Robert Kaufman

It has a slight gold thread running throughout.
Here's the back and sleeve for the rod.

I  had the fabric in my stash and she loved it. It took about 3 hours to put this one together.  Next one should be easier since I know what I'm doing. LOL


As you can see, I've accomplished a lot this week and hope to do more this next week.  We finally got rain and the weather has cooled of so I'm outdoors more, also.
I hope you are having a great week and appreciate you stopping by.  Please join us at Lee Anna's Not Afraid of Color  for more fun posts.

mary

Things I likes Thursdays Sep 9-19

Greetings!

We are under 100 degrees!  Yay!  We had a little rain storm last night so it's 50% humidity but I'll take it. It doesn't take much folks.  I still can't go for a walk outside because of the humidity but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Also, I just want to pass on to anyone needing this info that my fingers are healing.  If you recall, my fingers have been seriously peeling off skin so I saw 2 different doctors. They both said it was contact dermatitis and to keep my hands dry. Really?Each gave me a different prescription.  Neither worked.
 I went to my lung Dr for my checkup and she suggested I smear good old fashioned Vaseline all over my fingers and wear cotton gloves overnight. I started seeing improvement on the third day.  I even went without band aids yesterday and sewed. Today,  I'm typing with no band aids and no pain.!
So, you can imagine my good attitude today.  Here are my "likes" for this week beside the above info.:

1. Fall kitchen decor.

I got out the fall decorations  to remind us it will be cool soon.  LOL  Anyway, that is my Bicycle Quilt, my tablecloth from stash fabric, placements with a  table top made several years ago.  I love it all.

2.  Veggie pasta. Yes, it's a thing.  I was at Frys (Kroger for some of you) when I saw this in the freezer section:

It wasn't bad. Not too great the next day.  I would buy it again. I need to eat more vegetables so this was a good idea. (made from zucchini and lentils)

3. Books.

The first is Shelter in Place which I finished last week:

A suspense novel with a little romance thrown in. Very good.

What I'm reading now:
Harry's Trees:

A quirky, uplifting story of love and loss. I do recommend this as well.

4. My Whimsical Trees painting:

Thanks to Lee Anna, I watched Leslie Writes it All  for a tutorial on these trees.  It is so fun to relax in painting and doodling for this perfectionist. Heehee

5. My brother's birthday card for next week:

This is from a tutorial by Ceecee Creations.  It was very easy and fun.


As you can see,  I've been busy but having fun. Between doctor visits, pharmacies,  house chores etc., I've been able to get some fun time. I hope you have too.

Please join us at Lee Anna's site Not Afraid of Color for more "likes".

Have a great day.
mary

Things I like Thursdays Sep 12

Greetings

I hope everyone is healthy and happy.  Welcome to my blog.  I so enjoy your comments.  So, here we go on my list of likes for this week:

1. My Hydrangea Dream quilt.  Over the 3 day weekend I grabbed a (11)fat quarter bundle from my stash

Aren't they pretty?  The light blue is a Bella Solid Baby blue  jelly roll for sashing and binding.
I wanted a larger quilt for my bed and love this fabric from Hydrangea Dreams by Wilmington .
I cut the fat quarters into 6.5 x 9.5 blocks and sewed them into rows .  I added the blue sashing between rows

Then I added a beautiful blue-green Tonga Batik backing from Timeless Treasures called Oceana Rip Tide for the backing. .

Here is the finished quilt.  I love it.  I made the quilt in 3 days but had to wait 3 days for additional binding to arrive in the form of another blue jelly roll. I finished it last night. I machine stitched the quilt on all four edges and then tie quilted with embroidery thread. .
It's 55" x 75"


2. My Blue Trees Painting. My colors for Christmas in the living room were blue,white and silver the last 2 years and I really liked it.  So, I wanted to make a painting to carry that theme.

They are not as delicate as I wanted but they do have the colors after much trial and error.

3. Christmas squares found in a drawer. I think I made many (like 40)  different design squares  2 years ago, got frustrated cause I couldn't make them work together and stuck them in a bag in a drawer.

closeup of the different blocks :

The deer is my favorite.

16 of the blocks were 4 squares  so I sewed them  into a mini quilt with a small gray border.  It's backed with a Riley Blake black and white holly print. The mini measures 24 X 24.  It just needs binding.

And the rest of these found squares I plan to make a Christmas door hanging at the end of my hallway.

Isn't that a cool idea?

As you can see, I finally found time to sew!  My brother who lives with me is now facing surgery in October to remove his cancerous prostate so I immediately turned to sewing to de-stress.

Please join us at Lee Anna's site:Not Afraid of Color for more "likes".

Have  a great day!
mary

Things I Like Thursdays Sept 5

Greetings!

My heart goes out to everyone affected by Hurricane Dorian, the California boat fire and Texas shootings. What a traumatic few days this has been for many people.

In keeping with the positive approach we try to bring to you all, I'm going to post this one "like" from a few days ago:

At Home Store.  I made a trip to browse and took some photos for my daughter and here's what I found:

     At the store entry-they are ready for Halloween:

The dragon moves -very cool.

These are yard sticks. How fun.
And now for Christmas:
They have aisles grouped in themes:

Elegant Woodland:

Deco the halls:

Hoedown:(I think I would have called it Old Fashioned Christmas)

Ethereal:(pink, gold and white)

This is a very soft fabric wreath!

Seas:

A lovely beach theme-who knew?


I walked for an hour and had such a wonderful time seeing all this creativity.

I hope you enjoyed this tour.

Have a great day.
mary

Things I like Thursdays Aug 29

Greetings!

I can't believe I just ordered my At A Glance Calendar Notebook for 2020!  I've been using this type for years, plus a pocket calendar notebook in my purse and a calendar on the fridge for my brother.  Sad but necessary.  August is just about done and not a moment too soon.  We are dying here from the heat and humidity. With that in mind, here are my "likes" for this week:

1.  AIR CONDITIONING!!!!  Here's a photo from my phone the other morning:

It is not a dry heat.  This is very unusual when there were no clouds in the sky. It's been like this a couple of days.  Our monsoon is now called a nonsoon.  We are down in rain received this year and we are having 110 + degrees every day.  Ugh. Whoever invented A.C. should be given a medal.

2.  New Easy Spirit Traveltime shoes.

They just arrived as I was typing this so I am excited.  I have several pairs of sandals, flip flops and tennis shoes for the summer but I prefer to wear these for the support for my back.  For me, they are expensive (around $69) but they last at least a year. And, for a slip on- they stay on.

3.  Clean floors.

This is the view from my recliner after I collapsed from washing all  the floors.  We have tile throughout. I vacuum every week but the mopping is a killer on my back every few weeks.  We take off our shoes from the outside but we still seem to drag stuff in and there's spills.  Thomas' wheelchair drags stuff in too.   Of course,  I sure like the look of clean floors, though.

4.  Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok. My current read.



I just started it 2 days ago and I'm almost  finished  because I couldn't put it down. It's a Chinese immigrant family story with secrets; recommended by Jenna Bush .  I like it.

Once again, no sewing this week or crafts for that matter- just sitting around keeping cool- hah! I wish.  The usual doctor visits, grocery shopping, chores, etc., wear me out. Maybe this quiet weekend coming up- I can play.

Stay cool and safe.
mary