Sunday Cloudy Sunday

 Woke up to grey, cloudy skies this morning. I don't really mind. It doesn't mean rain, living here in southern California. We are in a drought right now. That is one of the hardest things to get used to here, is the lack of rain. Back home, a cloudy day was usually the precursor to rain. Not so here.

These beauties are blooming in the back yard on the patio. These pictures were taken on a sunny day.

When fully open, they are as large as my open hand. And if you don't cut them to bring inside, the blooms last for days.

Even this sweet little cactus plant is blooming right now. Spring is spring, no matter where you are. It's just different here than what I am used to.

The Meadow CAL is pretty much done. Now I have to work the 6 rounds of the border. I am currently on round number 4.

This is the tomato embroidery I did for my daughter from the garden embroidery book. I had been doing these with an eye towards her framing them, but now, we are considering making a quilt out of them. It will be awhile before all of the one I want to do get done, though.

Another picture of the Meadow blanket. The picture really doesn't do the colors justice. They are just so pretty.

And here are my tiny houses through yesterday. Only 4 more to go. I am starting to auditing sashing fabrics for this. I am quite excited to get it all put together. Soon, I will be able to show it to you.

Have a lovely Sunday friends.

In the Pink

 I don't really know why, but I have been super into the color pink lately. After I started my tiny house project, I thought about making a bunch of pink tiny houses. I had to stop myself. But one day, when I did make a tiny pink house, I left the pink scrap bin sitting out and it kept calling to me. I decided to make a foundation pieced pink strip block.

And since that day I have made one every single day after I make my tiny house block. I now have 30 pink string blocks on my design wall.

They are 8 1/2 inches square and I have no idea how many I am going to make. I guess I am waiting to see the quantity in the bin go down before I decide to stop. There are so many of my favorite fabrics in this project.

And now I am itching to make a pink and white patchwork quilt because in the bottom of the bin, I found a ton of 2 1/2 inch squares that I cut when I was sorting and cleaning my scrap bins. I trimmed things to usable sizes and they have been sitting in there for years. Am I pink crazy? Maybe, but it is calling to me.

Here is the pink bin after 30 string blocks and after removing the 2 1/2 inch blocks. There is finally starting to be some room in the bin again. It was crammed full before I started this. Maybe eventually my other crammed full bins will call to me and I can use some of them up too. And don't even get me started on the yardage in the closet. I need to start sewing faster.

Talk to you soon.

Sew It's Sunday

 I sew a bit every day. I still have not gained back my momentum for hours of sewing daily, but I chose the tiny houw project just to keep my hand in the game and it seems to be working.

This beauty is finally pin basted and ready to be quilted. And I have a quilting plan for it as well, so yay! I am waiting until I finish the tiny houses to start quilting it. I don't want to have to reset the machine every day, as I know that will put a wrench in my daily sewing.

This quilt top is also finished and the back is made. I don't have enough pins to pin baste it too, so I will wait until a bunch are out of the penny sampler to do the pin basting. I think I finally have a quilting plan that I like for this one. I doodled around on paper to come up with one.

And then there is this beauty. This is the Meadow Blanket CAL with Lucy of Attic 24. I am just starting on the borders for this and the colors are divine. I like crochet because I can do it anywhere and I can watch TV while doing it. Lucy's blankets are all just lovely.

Well, now I'm off to make tiny house number 90. This project is winding down. Can't wait to show you the whole thing. Have a lovely Sunday friends.

What's Going On Here?

 There are many projects and other things going on here. I go walking every morning for just over 2 miles, but that is the only time I leave the house pretty much. I go weeks without going anywhere at all. So in order to feel "normal" I have a routine. I have my tea, I make my bed, I have breakfast and then I sew for a bit. I bake, occasionally. I paint rocks,  do puzzles, crochet and embroidery. Not all of this every day, but it helps to have a routine.

The two images above are some of the embroidery I am doing for my daughter the gardener. I found a great book of embroideries of vegetables on Amazon.

I made a bunch of knit headbands at my daughter's request and she distributed them to friends and family. I am getting ready to do another batch of them soon.

I made dolly diapers for my granddaughter for all her babies and stuffies that she treats as babies. I used an unused flannel pillowcase and some velcro. The cute cutouts I stitched on them is to help her tell which is the front.

This is a 1500 piece puzzle my sister and I completed. A neighbor gifted it to us for Christmas to thank us for all the rocks we paint and put out in a basket for people to take if they want. We have done hundreds of them since we started last June.

And this is a new pillow cover I made for a throw pillow that lives on my bed. I love the 3-D circles on this one so much. I used some of my favorite pinks. So that brings us up to date on some of the many projects I am working on here. Have a great day.

Tiny House Update

 So I am still working on my Tiny Houses 100 Days project. I am getting very close to being finished though and I have to say I am still truly enjoying the process. I am actually looking forward to assembling the small quilt when I get all 100 houses done.

This is all the houses together on the design wall. There are 86 of them as of February 24. Only 14 more to go! The white house at the top doesn't count in the 100. I made it at the urging of my daughter, on Inauguration Day. But it will be included in the final project. Here are a few other houses:

These tiny houses measure 2 x 2.5 inches. I will be back to share the progress once they are done and sashing begins. Have a lovely Thursday friends.

Here I Am

 I know it has been a whole month since I have been here, but I have really not felt like working on any quilting projects. I still mostly don't. I have been working on my tiny house project.

When I started losing interest in quilting, I wasn't worried. My mojo will return eventually, I know. It has happened before. That was when I started the tiny house project. 100 houses in 100 days. No pressure at all. It takes me 15-20 minutes to make one each day. I am using only scraps and I don't think about what to do ahead of time. I select scraps, press, sew and done.

On inauguration day, I made two houses, because my daughter suggested I make a "white house" and I had already selected patriotic fabric scraps. I have already figured out where to work this in to the final quilt.

Other than this, I have been doing some embroidery and crocheting. I am doing the Meadow Blanket CAL with Lucy of Attic 24.

And I am embroidering some veggies for my daughter who has taken up gardening in a big way in the last year. I do have two quilt tops made and I did finally make the backs so when my mojo returns, I will be ready to quilt them.

Stay safe and I hope to see you here again soon.

Marshmallows and Tiny Houses

 Two things I have done in December and am excited to share is my first attempt (successful) at marshmallows. The second is my Tiny House project. Lots of pictures so get comfy. First, the Marshmallows. I used Alton Brown's recipe and it was super simple. You do need a candy thermometer though. Here is the process in pictures:

Gelatin and water, waiting for the syrup

Pan prepared with powdered sugar and cornstarch

Syrup in the pan, waiting to boil.

Pouring hot syrup into the gelatin as the mixer is going.

Out of order, but the syrup cooking to 140 degrees

Again, dammit, out of order, thanks blogger, covering with powdered sugar

Whipping until stiff peaks form

There they are! Stiff enough. Don't want to set them up too soon.

Into the pans they go.

I used 2 8-inch square pans instead of the one 9x13. It was easier to deal with.

Again, all out of order for no apparent reason. but they were delicious and amazing and I will do them again!

Now, tiny houses. I have kept up at one per day. Here is where I am after today...

Actually, this was Monday. I am having so much fun with these, and keeping at it is easy. You can check my Instagram for all the pictures of this. I am @grammie_q and I post the house there every day.

Have a Happy and safe New Year's eve and here's hope for better things in 2021 for all of us.