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PicSurprise!

PicSurprise! screenshot after I learned font styling, name, showing image of Maroon Bells, CO

For reasons not entirely understood, I undertook to program an app using SwiftUI and Xcode on my Mac. I succeeded! Having previously written a bot for Mastodon which, upon request, shares a random image from this blog, that’s where I decided to start. For the bot, I created a rich data source with image names,…

Spring Flowers

Red Tulip with Yellow Center

I took these photos in April and forgot to post them. My tulips are in their second year and doing well. The surprise was the hyacinths. This is their first year and they all bloomed! They hyacinths and the (not shown) peonies (which also bloomed their first year) are courtesy of Brent and Becky’s; highly…

Shop Hop Rocks!

Monument Rocks

April means it’s time once again for the annual Kansas Nebraska Shop Hop! We participated in our first one last year and have done two Shop Hop related treks so far this year. This is the story of our 2nd … When we visit Colorado we pass by many tempting signs advertising quilt shops. But,…

Fave Quilt Blocks of 22, part 2

Variable Star quilt block featuring pink kitties in the middle

Here are the 7 of my favorite quilt blocks from all that I sewed last year. (You can see the first 6 here in My Favorite Quilt Blocks: 2022, part one. All 13 blocks are on Flickr as well.) It was fun to make the pretty (in pink) variable star block with the fussy cut…

My Favorite Quilt Blocks: 2022

My favorite block from my first year of sewing is the 12" Blazing Star, designed by Eleanor Burns. It has a wonderful 3D effect caused by light and dark blues on the inner part of the star and yellow and green for the outer points. The background is black with white polka dots which really makes things pop!

Here are a few of my favorite quilt blocks from the ones I sewed in my first year of sewing, 2022. Larger versions are available on Flickr. This is part one of two posts. My favorite block from my first year of sewing is the 12″ Blazing Star, designed by Eleanor Burns. It has a…

How it Started; How it’s Going

20 year old Bernina 153 QE sewing machine, in standard white, on the left. 2022 Kaffe Fassett Bernina 475QE sewing machine in beautiful teal with painted flowers from KF's fabric.

I began my sewing journey in January of 2022, using a 20 year old (but basically brand new, for reasons) Bernina quilter’s sewing machine. By watching a variety of videos, and doing a lot of reading, I learned a lot in a year. The Bernina 153 QE is a fine machine and I’m planning to…

Fabric Pines Under Various Moons

Fabric Pine Trees in Moonlight Under a Starry Sky

Inspired by an image I saw, I decided to create my own version of a winter quilting block. The basic idea is to cut out various size “pine trees” from your favorite fabrics, cut a snowy background, add a moon in one of its various phases, appliqué them to a suitable background and you have…

Rough Diamonds Charm Quilt

Althea helping with the quilt border

This is the story of how I created a small, simple quilt using a charm pack (42, 5″ pre-cut squares). Eight months ago, when I was just beginning to learn how to quilt, I bought a charm pack of pastel colored fabrics. I had already sewed a set of floral charms to form a small…

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