A nice way to start the day

This morning I looked out my sewing room window and saw my first iris bloom of the year.  I went outside and took a picture of it and two other bloomers.

First Iris bloom this year

White Iris up close

Deutzia 'Charonnay Pearls' in bloom

Petunias in bloom

It was over clouded this morning with a cool breeze and the bloomer flowers brightened it up.   

A nice way to start the day.

~Sonia

Pretty colors...

It has been rainy for most of the day, but it was a good sign after the fires that were going on yesterday.

When we left Paris yesterday, there was smoke everywhere.  It looked like it started south of town and I wondered if it was on the mountain.   We drove out of the smoky area by the time we were in Charleston.   A few hours later, Fort Smith was filled with smoke.   I caught this picture on our way out of Fort Smith heading back home.  The sunset clouds through the smokey haze.

 I saw where this smoke started from, it was south of Charleston.

 By the time we were back in Paris, most of the smoke had cleared, though the mountain still had a smokey haze hovering.

With it being rainy today, I guess you could say I was a little lazy.  I didn't worry about much make up, just put on some mascara and a little lipstick and took a selfie showing my new haircut.  I lost about three inches in length.  As you can see, I'm in my favorite room of the house, my sewing room.

After that I took a picture of this partial pieced quilt top.  I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with it.  This is another pieced item I acquired from someone else in years past.

It has a lot of pretty colors but isn't very big,  So, I will most likely square it off and add a few borders to give it a little more size.

That gets me caught up, I think.  :)

Wishing you a great day!
Sonia

Unsettled... settled

Have you ever had one of those days where you felt unsettled?

That's how my day was.

I finally settled down and decided what to do.  I'm caught up on any quilting projects I had, so I decided to do a watercolor.  Actually the watercolor idea came to me this morning, I just wasn't sure what to do.

Because of it being Easter weekend, it finally came to me earlier this evening.  So, I did a sketch.  I will start with the watercolors tomorrow.

Hugs,

Sonia

Took what I had...

Today was a pretty day.  This morning I opened the windows and let the cool air into the house.  It was nice to have the breeze blowing in as I finished up this small quilt.  It measures 36" x 36".  It started out as two small quilt tops.  I cut them up then sewed them together, put a border around them and tied them in pink yarn.  It is backed and bound with a light floral print.

Yesterday I sewed this quilt top together.  It measures 36" x 40".

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Here are some muffins I baked this morning.   I didn't have a recipe, so I took what I had and made the batter.  They turned out good and I wrote the recipe down.

Apple Muffins

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 can unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugars, mixing well.  
3. Add egg, applesauce and milk to dry mixture and mix well.
4. Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.  Fill the muffin tins with batter to just below the rim of the tins (these will only rise to just above the rim of the tin)
5. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.  Test with a toothpick to check if they are done.

Hugs,
Sonia

Treasure finds

It has been so Spring like of late and I'm getting spoiled and hope a cold snap doesn't ruin it.   I caught this beautiful sunset two days ago.

Yesterday my husband, daughter and I enjoyed the afternoon flea marketing.

I found this planter and after getting it home and cleaned up I saw that it is a Anchor Hocking Fire King piece from the 1940-1960's.

$4.00

It has been repurposed and is no longer a planter but a napkin holder.

This little planter caught my eye too.  I like the floral print on it.  It is a FTDA ceramic planter from 1986.

$1.00

After taking the handles off of the planter, I added ribbon to cover the holes.  Then I planted a philodendron cutting from last autumn.

The plant will need a stake for support, so to begin with I used a large plastic knitting needle that I had and don't use.  I added a few marbles on top of the soil too.

I like to find broaches to use on tote bags and hand bags.  This little beauty caught my eye yesterday.  It is MFA yellow/green enamel, gold plated daffodil pin.  I searched online for a date but could only find it as "rare" and have seen dollar signs from $25 - $70 on pins just like it with the same marking.

$1.00

 

Those are my treasure finds this week from a beautiful sunset to a beautiful pin.

Hugs,
Sonia

Before and After

Hi, I walked into my sewing room this afternoon and thought "Oh my!"  In a week's time it has become chaos.

So I set about get it cleaned up.  I hung the wall hanging my friend Kathy gave me a few month's ago.  I had trouble deciding where I wanted to hang it, and then things kept getting in the way.  I finally have it hanging at home in my living room.

I got things put away and a little sewing done.

I sewed this bag for left over yarn balls.  It is made from an old rug I made out of washcloths a long time ago.

Then I took this remnant, left over from a throw size quilt I made a few years ago.  This top was half hand pieced and the other half serged.  I used the serged pieces for the throw, feeling they would last longer for the person I gave the throw to.   This half was hand pieced and I have been wanting to cover a pillow I use on my couch, just to change things up.  So I took this piece and made a cover for the pillow.   It can be thrown in the washer and dryer to clean and is an easy change out.

Before

After

I shared two small quilt tops, made from 6.5" blocks a few blogs before, but this week I made a decision and cut those tops up at an angle and sewed them together.  Instead of two ordinary tops, I now have one interesting top.  I will border it with the dark blue and back it with the light print.

It has been a rainy week, but I was able to get a couple of cool pictures. These two pictures were taken the same day as the sun was going down.  In the west the sky was orange and in the east there was a rainbow.

Hugs,
Sonia

Decked out

As the wind moves in,  I write hoping I get this done before the storms hit.

This morning was beautiful.  It was partly cloudy and I couldn't resist taking pictures of the blooms near my home.

I zoomed in on this white tree across a field.  I noticed it through my front window. When the sun would break through the clouds the tree looked like it was shining.

While outside taking that picture, I noticed the jonquils blooming in my front flower bed.

I even took a picture of a wildflower or weed, whatever you want to call it.  It too, looked pretty in the light this morning.

I finally took my valentine decorations down and am now decked out for spring.  Here's some of what I did.

In the dining area, I used some of my vintage pieces, like old mason jars and my Fire King pieces, and made floral arrangements.

In the living room, the piano, my side table and a wall hanging.

Are you decked out for Spring or Easter?

Hugs,
Sonia

Light shows...

Took a little road trip yesterday and took some photos.

This old building use to be the New Liberty School house.   It is a few miles east of Midway, AR.   I believe it was opened in 1900 and closed in 1949.










 Continuing east, this pretty scene came into view and I took a shot.

  

I stopped at a Hobby Lobby in Russellville and there were a lot of water birds in the parking lot.  I was able to get these few in a photo.

It's been awhile since I've seen one, but they looked like sea gulls to me, and I'm guessing they are migrating back to the south coast.

'

It got pretty breezy as the day went.  On our way back home in the afternoon I snapped this shot of the U.S. flag and the Arkansas flag flapping in the wind.

The Arkansas flag is lowered in honor of Antonin Scalia.

As winds grew in speed, clouds rolled into the area and out again... but there were some beautiful light shows going on.

These sun rays are just beyond Dardanelle Lake, but you can see some are hitting the lake too.


I stayed in today, just chilling out.  Read my Bible and my morning devotional, had a few cappuccinos, braided some cotton twine for a necklace idea, but then decided against using it for a necklace, watched a little t.v., baked some cookies ... yeah that's pretty much it... just chilled out.

Until next time...
Hugs,
Sonia

Getting out of the safe box...

What a great way to start a day...

A chocolate cappuccino and a devotional.

Today, I decided to step out of my "safe quilting box" and work with some blocks I acquired last week.  The measurement on the bag, the blocks where in, said they were 6 1/2 inch blocks.

I could tell they were more or less than that.  Each block was roughly cut and there were different types of material used too.  But I decided to use them as they were.  I'm trying to break free from the rules of making sure each piece is the same size, same type of fabric blend, etc.  I want to do a scrappy quilt for my daughter and though I know I will use the same fabric blends throughout her quilt, for the type of quilt she wants, I need to be able to not get hung up with the sizes of the pieces used.

Here is a close up of a block to give you an idea of what I was working with.



Here is the center of the quilt top. You can see it is a little wonky.














I took several of the blocks left and sewed them end to end making a long line of blocks and will trim them down to border the piece.  I'm not going to try to match the seams as I border it, to help with the wonkiness of the piece.

I know this is a baby step, but I've been in the "safe quilting box" my entire quilting life (since 2001)...  Except for the one time I went home from work totally put out... that time I sewed a lot of strips together, cut them up, sewed them together again, cut them up again, and did it all one more time. My frustration and anger was gone and it turned out pretty.  You might remember it...

It was done with a lot of high emotion and not much thinking.  But I honestly don't want to have to get mad or upset to get out of the "safe quilting box" each time.  So, I will continue to integrate broken quilting rules in my quilts, until I get the hang of it.  :)

Sonia