Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

I Like Thursday #381

Snow on Sunday into Monday...


but the grape hyacinths are determined!

They were snowed on, but still there after it melted.

I really like Kristin Hannah's books, but they are not easy reads.  I always learn from them, though, and that is definitely the case with The Women.  It's about the women nurses who served in Vietnam and what life was like for them after they came home.  Recommended if you like historical fiction, and can handle hard storylines.


On a softer note 😊 I finished the March heart I was embroidering, and love the look of it!  Here are the three hearts so far this year.




LeeAnna's question of the week is about what baby animal we would like to have as a pet.   I googled miniature sheep, and came up with these little guys - called Shetliot sheep.  They're known for their incredible multicolored fiber!  Also small, and good as pets.  You can read more about them here.

So cute!  And soft, too, I bet!

Happy Thursday! 
Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday 
hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.












Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Midweek Update

Having nothing important on my sewing To Do list this week, I decided to play with the 2.5 inch squares from my Little Penguin Scrap Bin.  I started making four patches out of them last fall, and have used some of those in other projects already.


I realized right away that I have mostly run out of pairs of matching squares, so this time I pulled out anything that was gray, and anything in the purple/pink/orange-ish colors and some aquas.


I ended up with this piece, 12.5 x 16.5, using up 48 squares.  


A piece of a fat quarter for backing, and a scrap of batting, and it was ready to quilt.


It won't be long until I have a finished placemat sized tabletopper which will be fun to use!

Sharing at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.









 

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Spring Stitching

This week I finished up the Spring Stamp from Melisa so that I now have one for each season!


And since it is Easter next week, it seemed like just the right time to start working on a bunny design.  This is Bunny Love from Kathy Schmitz.  It was a February 2022 pattern from her One Stitch at a Time Club that I never got to.  


Last year about this same time I stitched up "Watch My Garden Grow," and it looks like these two could be sister designs, so I'm going to stitch this year's bunnies in the same floss - DMC 4066 - Amazon Moss.

Can you guess what color the hearts are going to be?

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.







 

Friday, March 22, 2024

A little more with purple...

This week I finished up the alternate nine patch chain block in purple to go with the patchwork heart.  I had made the nine patches earlier in the month as leader/enders, so it was pretty quick to cut the background pieces and sew the whole thing together.


These are starting to look like something fun!  


Then with a little extra time in the sewing room, and just wanting to play with scraps a bit, I decided to sew a few string blocks.  I found a few in various colors that showed up in a box of crumb scraps, so I'm adding to that collection. 


I made a purple and an off-white, just because that's what I happened to have out.  No plans for these - I'm just making them now and then when I've got string scraps to use up.


Linking up with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!
And at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.



 






Wednesday, March 20, 2024

I Like Thursday #380

 Good Morning!  Happy Spring!  Last Thursday we got about 8 inches of heavy, wet snow.  Mostly melted now, but still a little bit left.  This was how things looked on my Sunday afternoon walk.

Lots of water running down the street.  
That will green things up!

In spite of that snow, buds are coming out on the trees.  I spied these lilac buds on my walk, too.


Snowy days are good for reading!  Do you follow Nann at With Strings Attached?  Besides being an amazing quilter, she is also a retired librarian, and I count on her for great book recommendations.  Here is one of Nann's recommendations for me that I just finished and loved!  I enjoyed the two women who were the main characters and the unexpected connection they made with a younger woman in the story.  Plus, it made me want to visit Maine!

Here is the Goodreads blurb about it.

We made a yummy and easy dinner the other night - calzones made with Pillsbury pizza dough.  I didn't get a good photo, so I'm sharing the photo from their website, plus the link.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about what kinds of wild creatures we might see around town this time of year.  At our house it's always birds that we're looking for.  There have been lots of finches, chickadees, and flickers who are year-round residents.  We're also seeing the downy woodpeckers and nuthatches again.  What I'm looking forward to seeing are the goldfinches.  It's always a treat when they visit our feeders in their bright yellow Spring feathers!  This photo is from April last year.  


Hope you're having a great week!
Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday 
hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.
















Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Stay at Home Round Robin 2024 - my finish!

It has been another fun few months of sewing along with the Stay at Home Round Robin group, lead by Gail of Quilting Gail!  Thanks to Gail and the other hosts for lots of ideas and inspiration throughout the weeks of the QAL.  

This is my fourth year participating, and the third year in a row starting with an embroidered block as my center.  Since my 2023 SAHRR was made in all cool blue and white,  I decided to do something completely different this year and use warm reds and yellows, with a white for the background, as my color choices.


Week by week, incorporating the different border prompts, I slowly came up with this design.


This week, I sandwiched the layers, did the quilting, and finished everything up!


I decided to quilt in a diamond design, starting with one long, curving line going diagonally from both the top left and right corners, and then echoing that about every 1.5 inches.  I love the texture and look this gives to the finished piece.  (Also it goes edge to edge and doesn't require any marking, so it's fast and easy!)


The backing is the last of the Tumbling Blocks wide back that I've used on several recent quilts.  It seemed like it went pretty well with the front!


I'd say this is a bright, summer-y looking finish - just what I was planning for!


Thanks again, ladies, for a very fun quilt along!

Sharing at QuiltingGail for the SAHRR 2024 Quilt Parade,
and at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts.
































quilt-along always challenges me in a variety of ways, and this year has been no different.   

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️

I'm not Irish, but I do love green!   Today seems like a good day to stitch with green, so I'll be adding leaves to the tree on my March heart design from PinkernPunkin.


I've also been working on another PinkernPunkin design called "Shamrock Blessings."  It's really appropriate for today!  After the letters are stitched, there is one more shamrock and then the word Blessings.  I changed up the shape a little bit because of the size of my piece of fabric.  It will be more square, and may not have the same border.  But it will definitely be stitched in green!  ☘️☘️☘️



Have a wonderful Sunday!
Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.