Can’t wait for the snow and ice to leave

This past weekend was the second one where we got bad weather.  It started with flurries after 6pm on Friday and just kept snowing through to Sunday morning.  We ended up with almost 14” of snow and ice.

Since my sewing studio is in the basement I have been unable to do any sewing…..even with our heaters it is just too cold. So there has not been any sewing since Friday.

 But I have been doing some knitting on a shawl that I am making for myself.

SoScrappy has picked dark green for the February color…..and hopefully I will be able to get my blocks for February done. I have my potato chip quilt about halfway quilted so that should be completed in February as well.

Stay warm and safe! 

 

Stitching during winter weather

 Here in East Tennessee we have been having a bit of crazy weather….cold temperatures, icy rain, regular rain, freezing temperatures and now black ice!

So, when you have bad weather you sew! I’ve been working on several things:

This is my potato chip block quilt. It is huge! I think it is like 102” x 114”.  So far I have quilted 1 1/2 rows out of the 9 rows plus border.  It would be fun if I could get it finished before our next guild meeting so I can show it.

These 16 patch blocks are part of my RSC projects.  I am working through my 2 1/2” strips to work them up.  When I can’t get two blocks I am trying to get at least one 4 patch from the leftovers.

This block is for a free pattern by Pat Sloan called “Traffic Jam”.  It is another RSC project. The pattern has 9 blocks but I may make it bigger.

This block is from a quilt pattern called “Twirling at the Disco” and is large…..16”. Since each of my blocks will be the same background with different colors I may not join the blocks the same as the pattern, but I’ll make that decision later on.

Today is a day off since the library and county offices are all closed.  So I’m hoping to get more quilting and knitting done to move my projects along.

Enjoy your day,

Sherry

T shirt completed and sent

This is the latest quilt that I have completed.  It was made from t shirts and polo shirts from the late stepfather of a friend.

One of the shirts had a pocket so I left it…..told her it could be a remote holder.

I don’t think I will be doing any more T-shirt quilts……they are a lot of work (at least for me) and I don’t enjoy doing them.

I have another quilt on the machine and will show that soon.

As for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks I have two different blocks cut but haven’t been able to stitch them yet.

But, since they are predicting bad weather this weekend (ice and snow….in TENNESSEE!) I’m thinking that as long as the electric stays on I can get some stitching done.

If you are in the path of this crazy storm coming through stay safe!

 

 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2026

 I am going to do my best to work through my scraps by taking part in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge hosted by Scrap Happy at superscrappy.blogspot.com.

The color for January is blue.

My first task is to pick a block or two that I want to make each month using her color prompts to use my scraps.

If you’d like to join in you can check out her blog…..she has been doing this for several years.

Happy New Year,

Sherry

Time just keeps flying by….

 My last post was done on May 1st…..and I can’t believe that it is now the end of June.

I’ve done more reading:

The first two are the latest books by Laura Childs.  They are cozy murder mysteries and I love her writing style.

Games for Dead Girls was on the “ new books” shelf at my library and it sounded interesting.  It is a thriller and while the beginning of the book was a little slow for me once I got to the middle of the book I couldn’t put it down.  The ending was not something that I was expecting.

I would definitely recommend this book.  And, of course, Laura Childs is always a recommendation.

This book by Barbara Bretton is part of a series that I have enjoyed. It is a supernatural romance and while I’m not usually into that I started reading it because it has knitting patterns at the end and the main character owns a yarn shop.  I’ve enjoyed the series.

This book, by Corrie ten Boom, was something that I read after our pastor talked about her during one of his sermons. 

I have not read a lot of history regarding the holocaust but am aware of the atrocities that took place.  Reading this book gave me more of an understanding of just how courageous the dissidents were.

I am glad I read the book and would recommend it.

This was an audio book that I read because it was on the reading list for a book group that I found.

It was an enjoyable read, but I’m not sure if I will be reading any other books by Kate Khavari immediately.  Not that her writing is bad, but it just wasn’t a book that I couldn’t put

Since the beginning of the year I have read 24 books and have several more in the works.

But, I did get some sewing in.

I belong to Stash Bee this year and June was my month to pick a block.  I chose the block called Antique Tile from quilter’s cache website.

This was my sample:

It is a 12” block. The members of my “hive” all make the same pattern.  I asked that they use a light and dark version of their favorite color and any shade of yellow.

I have almost all my blocks and there were blues, purples and oranges.  I have cut more fabrics from my own stash to make a larger sized quilt but I haven’t sewn them yet.

They are still having card making classes at the library and here are the latest ones that I have made:

When I lived in New Jersey I had a pretty large African violet.  There wasn’t room to carry my plants with us when we came down so I got this one at our food store.  It took a while for it to bloom and this is much more full of blooms than any other plant I’ve had. I’m thinking it likes the window I have near.

This is a quilt top that I made for a charity quilt.  It used fabrics that were in a kit from my quilt guild.

Hopefully my next post won’t be as delayed as they have been, but it all depends on what goes on with my life.

In peace and pieces,

Sherry

WOW, April just flew by!

 April was a pretty busy month…..hence no blog post.

Part of my month was spent in Cadiz, KY attending the AQS Paducah quilt show.

It was the first time for both hubby and I and the quilts were drop dead gorgeous.  I don’t have any pictures, but you can check out YouTube for videos from the show.

I did get to Hancock’s the day before the show started. Oh my goodness……so much fabric!  We wandered around the store and did pick up some pieces….mainly “junk food” fabric for me and truck and farm fabric for hubby.  I want to make a “junk food” quilt as a contrast to the fruit and veggies quilt that I made for hubby.

We also went to the National Quilt Museum.  Again, this was a first for both of us.  There was an exhibit of quilts made by “the quilting astronaut “, Karen Nyberg, that was really interesting.  

The gift shop had several patterns that she designed available for purchase.  I was tempted, but the one that was marked “beginner” level was appliqué….which I am not a fan of. And the other patterns didn’t interest me.

But I did get a magnet and a book from the gift shop.  The book is a murder mystery, Quilt City: Panic in Paducah, by Bruce Leonard.  He was there and was signing his books.

I didn’t realize that I had gotten the 2nd book in the series until I got home.  But, luckily, my library has the first book, Quilt City Murders, and I am waiting to read that one before I start the one I bought.

He also has a cookbook….and we had a sample of one of the biscotti recipes and it was very tasty.

We also went on a train ride in Stearns, KY on the Big South Fork Scenic Railroad.  Here is a picture from their website:

The history of the area was very interesting and it was a nice ride.

After the train we visited the museum there and several of the little shops.

 

There was a Sinclair gas station near where we stayed and I had to take a picture of the dinosaur 

There were several antique shops in Cadiz and while we were walking through the town there were painted piggies everywhere! So, of course, pictures of some of them had to be taken.

I’d also done a fair amount of reading in April….

This was the next book in the series from Barbara Bretton.  It was a fun read and I have the next book in the series to start reading this month.

This is the ninth book in the series….and I am glad that I have gotten the books in order now.  It was a bit weird with the books I read out of sequence because events were happening that I hadn’t gotten the “backstory” of yet. Again, I am really enjoying this series and will continue it.

This was an audio book that I got through my library.  I had seen it hyped up somewhere and I thought it might be a good alternative to the books I have been reading lately.

I can’t say I liked it and I can’t say that I didn’t like it.  It was okay.  The writing seemed good….at least from hearing it.  I was a little put off from the main character right from the beginning because of his description of himself. 

This is the first of a series but I’m not sure that I will be reading any of the others.

I had seen this book in one of the antique shops we stopped at but hadn’t purchased it. Once we were home I thought about it again and checked out the ebook from my library.

I vaguely remember this story, which is heartbreaking, from when it was going on.

It was a good read, and you definitely need tissues by the end.

The writing is very conversational, almost like she is talking to you.

I had worked with a Filipino woman and she had told me stories about the need for bribing to get things done so I understood that part of the story.

There was also some sewing done!

This is the block I sent for the April StashBee swap.  It was a fun block to make and I definitely have it on my bucket list for a scrap busting project.

This quilt top was turned in as a charity project for our guild.  The background and first border fabric was mine but everything else had come in a bag from the guild.

I think it came out pretty well.

So, that wraps up April. I’m not sure what I will be getting into for May.

Hope your days are fun filled.

Until next time,

Sherry V.

Sewing and more reading

 Since my last post my husband finished painting the basement floor on my side so we were able to start setting up my sewing studio.  I’ll show pictures once it is a bit more finished.

Here is a pillowcase that I made.  My brother in law likes Florida sports teams.  So when I went on a FART (fabric acquisition road trip) with several of the ladies from my guild I found this fabric for the Florida Gators.  I thought it was fun and tried to reach my sister to see if she thought it would work.

I didn’t hear back from her until after I had the fabric cut……Gators is one Florida team that is not liked! LOL

So, brother in law won’t be getting this…..it might go to my husband’s grandson (he lives in Florida).

As for the rest of the Gators fabric……well it will probably go into a charity quilt.

I don’t know if you can see it when zooming in on the picture, but the accent band has the word, touchdown, on it repeatedly.  I thought it was a fun touch.

Out guild had a class for making X and + sign blocks.  I wasn’t able to attend the class due to a bad back.  But since I had the directions I started them on my own.

So far I have four blocks done.  I am thinking that I will make 20 blocks for a nice size lap throw.

I am a member of the StashBee swap group this year.  The block for March was a log cabin variation.  Here’s the block that I sent out.  This was a fun block and I may put it on my “to do” list.

It seems like it would be a great way to use up scraps.

I am still reading up a storm.  I’ve finished three books since my last post.

All of them are from authors that I have read this year…two more from Joanne Fluke (I’m up to book 9 in the Hannah Swenson series); and one from Barbara Bretton.

I have enjoyed these books as well.

I was also notified that I won something through the Villa Rosa Designs blog hop…..AND….. I have two entries for one of the Grand Prizes!  How exciting is that!?

Have a great day and a blessed Easter tomorrow,

Sherry V

Oh my, where has the time gone?

 Well, so much for blogging more regularly!  Ha ha ha

However, I have not been idle at all.

Since my last post I have read EIGHT books!

This is the first in a series that my librarian referred me to. It is another cozy murder with a supernatural twist, plus a love story.  It was easy reading and the characters are very relatable.

Since the main character owns a knitting shop there are knitting tips and tricks included at the end of the book.

I have already gotten the next book in the series to read.

I could definitely recommend this series….plus the author has other books so I plan to check them out as well.

Again, a cozy murder series, this one has the main character owning a couture dress shop in Victorian era England.

This was an audio book and the reader was very good.

I enjoyed this book also, although the back story for the main character was hinted at without actually explaining it.  That caused the interaction between the main character and one of the secondary characters seem a little weird.

I would recommend this and plan on reading more books in this series.

Surprise! Not a cozy mystery!

This is the sequel to The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society that I read earlier this year.  It is Christian fiction written by a minister.

I enjoyed both books but feel that the first book was more cohesive than the second.  This book felt a little rushed and not as well written as the first.

When I looked to see if there was a third book in the series I didn’t find any.  However, it seems that both this book, and the first one, are being republished with different titles.  That seems a bit of a “cop out” to me.

These five books are all from the same cozy murder mystery series that I have gotten hooked on.

These were all great and I love how good some of the included recipes sound. I have copied some of them so that I can try them.

I would definitely recommend this series, but I would suggest that they be read in order.  Because of availability I read some of them out of order….and it was a little weird since it felt that I was doing “flashbacks”.

Lest you think that all I have been doing is reading…..

This is a bookmark that I made as an entry for the first challenge from Project Quilting (Kim Lapacek). The challenge was birdhouse.  Since the entry had to be completely finished I had to do something easy since my sewing room is still not done.

These are soap sacks and prayer squares that I have been working on for donation through the Cosby Community Stitchers.

This group is the group that started as a knitting class at our library, Cosby Community Library.

Since the beginning of the year I have made 15 soap sacks and 41 prayer squares for donation.

I have also made 55 granny square blocks.  These are joined into lap throws or blankets for donation also.

This is a sample of a project that will be used in October at the retreat we attend at New Like Island in Frenchtown, NJ. This year the theme is about using up your scraps.

The design was a tutorial that I watched on YouTube….but I can’t remember the name. It is a fun pattern.

The woman who runs the knitting classes also provides card making classes through the library.  These are two of the cards we recently made.

I have loved making the cards and could definitely see myself getting hooked on card making….but since I already have a couple of expensive hobbies I am resisting the urge.

Hopefully my next post won’t be so delayed.

St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and the first day of Spring are right around the corner….hope you enjoy them.

Take care,

Sherry V