Dilly Dally Day

Finally, I'm quilting again.

Yep, pulled out the Dilly Dally I got over a year ago.

Just couldn't resist the colorful

flowery fun.

Combine them with my favorite block...PINWHEELS.

And pair 'em up with white on white dots.

Block #1, done.

 Whew, my "creative block" is broken. YAY

Hope your weekend is sew successful too.

UFOs, NewFOs and Neither

I'm gonna start with NEITHER!

While I haven't been in a quilting mood lately,

I always seem to keep some sort of stitching going.

So here's a peek at a new "side" project...more about this in a minute.

I can't believe April is already here and I never posted my progress:

UFO finished and framed...

I hung my 15 year old finally finished Lighthouse Cross Stitch

above my little fireplace mantel...it makes me smile!

Linking to Finish it First.

And the progress on my NewFO is short but sweet...

One Raggedy Ann Redwork block finished!

Linking to NewFO's.

And finally back to the NEITHER.

I started to get tired of all the red I've been working with lately,

and with April here I needed some colorful Spring cheer.

So last weekend I came across a cute, light floral embroidery pattern...

 ...rummaged through my embroidery floss stash...

...and have been happily stitching away the last week.

Without Rhyme nor Reason, no UFO or NewFO pressure

Just pure enjoyment working with a variety of color and stitches.

I recently contracted the cold I've been avoiding for many weeks, 

but at least I have something to keep my mind occupied.

Best Wishes for your Easter!

Also linking to



P.S. My camera is not cooperating and giving me fits!

California Poppy on Macro Monday

~spotted Saturday on a day trip to the ocean~

~peeking out among the grey and wind~

~struggling to open~

~along this path~

~among these~

~and this~

~leading here~

~and finally here~

~ahhhhh....~

All work and no sewing makes a girl grumpy

 but not enough that a day at the beach couldn't cure.

Ready to face another week of work

and hopefully some sewing time.

Linking to

The Great Thimble Debate - Part 2

First let me show you the two flowers added to my GFG quilt.

Pink and Green!

Right there next to my blue dotted flower from last week.

That's two completed rows now!

Don't forget to check out the other gardens at

One Flower Wednesdays.

Back in April, my search for a suitable thimble

lead to The Great Thimble Debate.

That was Round 1 and I'd settled on this one:

But I wasn't completely satisfied and based on

commenters suggestions ended up trying a few more.

First up...

Pros:  Disposable, non-bulky, similar to Round 1's winner

Cons:  plastic surface is too smooth, needle slides off

Next...

Pros:  snug (not tight) non-slip, comfy fit, no sweaty fingers, metal tip

Cons:  Slightly bulkier than adhesive disks

And finally...

Pros: comfortable leather grip, lets finger breathe

Cons:  Absolutely would not stay in place.

(package claimed it was adjustable but no

instructions on how to adjust it)

Drumroll please....

Yep, this is the one I finally chose.  Once I got used to the bulkiness,

it was SO comfortable and SO functional, now I don't even realize

I'm wearing it.  Honesly, I almost ranked it a tie with the leather disks

from Round 1, and may end up switching off, depending on the project.

But for now, I'm hooked...thanks to Valentina at Valentina's Corner

 for the suggestion and also to Linda at Stray Stitches for

suggesting the little leather discs from Round 1.

My flower garden is much more manageable now!!

 I'm on a roll...

"Holy Hexagon"!

Ha, I actually heard that line in a movie.  Ok, it was a nerdy animated movie about polygons living in Flatland who dare to dream there was a 3rd dimension (above and below them).  I showed it in my geometry classes last friday introducing it as a 3D movie.  The students kept asking where their 3D glasses were...imagine their disappointment to learn it was a math movie! Anyway, my point was...one of the polygons yells out "holy hexagon" and I seem to have adopted the exclamation!  Thought it was fitting for my One Flower Wednesday post.  I've started attaching rows using my white stepping stones.

It's so fun to finally see it taking shape!  Although it is going to be quite a process.  I did a complete layout and organized the rows and have been stitching away.  My fingers are a bit sore...mostly from the cute little white dots...those are kind of tough, sticky bits that make it hard to slide the needle through.  So I avoid them wherever I can but sometimes I just have to push through.  I'm not comfortable with a thimble so I'm constantly removing it and putting it back on.  Other than that, I'm enjoying my flower project.

Hope your garden is coming along too!

How my garden grows....

Last week I had 2 flowers left to finish stitching and guess what?  I did it!  So, that makes 120 flowers.  I anticipate making a large lap quilt with 10 to 11 flowers across and the length a bit longer than width.  Here's a snapshot of my garden layout. 

My design wall is a small board, not large enough to show a complete layout but the stepping stones, or pathway between the flowers will be white so you get the idea of how it will look once those are sewn inbetween.  The layout is random, just trying to have an even distribution of color. (Harder than it seems!)

I fought with my camera to get these pics.  I just couldn't seem to get the right lighting to show the colors (they're brighter) as they really are.  And I'm still under the weather with a nasty cough/cold so I lost the battle.  I did a few close up shots (trying to get rid of the carpet background ;)).

I kind of focused on that yellow and red flower right in the middle.  That's the last flower I made!

So, I'm feeling quite accomplished having finished the flowers and ready to move on through the next phase.

Hope you're making progress and keeping well!

See you next One Flower Wednesday!

Somewhere over the...

Seriously, writing this as the rain continues to pour and the wind blows outside.  We could use a rainbow!  But, til we get a real one, here's my hexie flower count for this week...yep, you got it...10 hexagon flowers!!  I have been in the mood to sit in front of the T.V. and that means a lot of sewing gets done!  I only have 17 to go for the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt in the works.  Of course, then I'll get back to finishing the white borders. Eventually it'll come together but I'm in no rush with this one. Just enjoying the process.

Be sure to visit One Flower Wednesday to see more hexie progress!

Red Flower for Rudolph

Can't remember when, but I must've taken time out one evening over the past hectic week to relax with some hand stitching to produce one red hexie.  The perfect "collar bling" for my Rudolph!  And glad to have something to share for One Flower Wednesday.

Wishing everyone Christmas cheer!

One

One.Flower.Wednesday

Just.One