Scraps of Pink

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Here's my barrel cactus on the windowsill, blooming again.  The little flowers are such a cheerful shade of pink, just right for pink month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Thanks as always to Angela for encouraging us to use our scraps in all the colors.

I didn't get much sewing done this week, but I did manage to finish the hollow nine patch blocks for this baby quilt, and set them together.  Taking the photo outdoors was a challenge.  The sunlight is wonderful, but the wind kept inflating the top like a balloon. 

Here's the top indoors, where it can lie quietly.  I was inspired to make this quilt by Mari, the Academic Quilter, and the lovely banner on her blog.

My sashing fabric was a spring flowers print, which I bought as a remnant.  The blocks are 6 each of pink, purple, yellow, blue, and green.  You can see all the crazy novelty prints in the little scraps, like a ghost with a lollipop, bees, lady bugs, a giraffe, etc.

The border is this adorable Hoffman print.  Little bears, bunnies, and dogs are floating in the sky with balloons and kites.  It came from the wonderful basket given to me by my quilt group.  That basket just keeps on giving!

Would you believe I actually had to cut MORE 2.5 in. squares to make these blocks?  For once, that box is getting emptied.

Quilt tops have been piling up around here, and it's going to get worse.  Last weekend, I got this stack of quilts ready to be worked on.  There are 7 baby quilts to be quilted, plus a larger quilt to bind on the bottom.  Mrs. Pfaff and I started on the first one, but about half way through she suddenly seized up.  I think there's a thread mess inside, not sure, but I couldn't do anything with it.  Wednesday I took her to the repair shop, and they say it will be at least 2 weeks until she's fixed.  Quilt finishing just came to a screeching halt.  (Cue the record scratch!)  

I will find things to do, of course, while I await Mrs. Pfaff's return.  Maybe my basket of "some assembly required" blocks will get put together.  Or there could be a new project or two.

This year, the quilt group is doing a Block of the Month, led by Nancy, Queen of Scraps.  April's block was Hole in the Barn Door, with the colors done two ways.  All who are interested make the blocks, and bring them to the meeting.  Then we put our name on a slip of paper (one for each block we made), and a winner is drawn, who gets all the blocks.  I made mine in pink, since I already had the scraps out.  

Who loves chocolate icing?  This Little Guy!  I let him lick the beater for the first time, with happy predictable results.  It took a while to clean him up, but I know he'd say it was worth it.

I think April is the miscellaneous month for weather in Wisconsin.  This week we had snow, fog, rain (lots of it!) and wind, but there was one warm sunny day to go to the playground and walk in the park.

Whatever the weather, I hope you have a great week ahead.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

 

Thinking Pink!

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

We're celebrating pink all month long with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, courtesy of Angela at SoScrappy blog.

This little orchid is blooming its heart out, as usual.  I've had it at least 14 years.  This is my favorite shade of pink.

Ok, so I'm making a crayon quilt, and taking photos of these long rows is hard.  What if I hang it on the refrigerator like the kids' artwork?

The magnets are holding on tight!  I scrounged up pink pieces from EVERYWHERE for the pink blocks this month.

Next up, a UFO from 2021.  These half square triangles (hsts) were ones I made last year.  Deciding what to do with them was the problem.  In the end, I'm going with these blocks, four hsts set together, which is what I had originally planned.

Although this configuration is a strong contender!  I have the hsts done for all the other colors, so now I can start making them into blocks too.

My other RSC projects for this year are not going to have pink in them.  No objection to it, but just not what I've got planned.  So why not start some new baby quilts?  (It's not like I really need an excuse!)

Mari, the Academic Quilter, is hosting the Hands 2 Help quilt drive this year.  She has the cutest hollow nine patch quilt as her banner, and every time I see it I want to get out my scraps and make one too.  So now I am, starting with 6 pink blocks.  I love this one with the bunny in the middle.  Just in time for Easter.  Thanks for the inspiration, Mari!

A weird thing happened this morning.  We woke up to the power being off, which is not usual for this area.  Lots of the chores I had planned needed electricity (vacuuming, baking, etc.), so it was on to Plan B.  I made the bed, folded a load of towels, put away the clean dishes, and sat down to sew at the treadle.  Good thing I didn't need the iron!  Thank goodness I had several blocks cut and ready.  The day was overcast, but there was enough light to see what I was doing.

My Little Guy isn't used to watching TV in the morning, and he didn't really notice the lack of electricity.  We had fun working puzzles.  At 2 years old, he's moving on from the wonderful Melissa and Doug brand Sound Puzzles and starting on the jigsaw kind with big pieces.  Every time he gets two together, he claps his hands with joy.

It took til nearly 10:00, but power was finally restored.  Grandpa and I cheered!  He started the coffee maker, and I brewed my first cup of tea of the day.  Just a minor inconvenience in our lives, but it makes me think about the terrible situation in Ukraine where people are struggling without heat, lights, water and food, all while being shelled.  I need to write another check to the Red Cross.

In cheerful news, my kindergarten buddy took this selfie with the crocodile/dinosaur toy he got at the museum last week.  Yikes!  Check out the teeth on that thing!  The photo was a pleasant surprise after he borrowed my camera one afternoon.

Have a good week, everyone!  I hope all your surprises are pleasant ones!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap