I Like Thursday #236

It's time for Thursday likes! Please visit LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color to link up to more bloggers taking part in I Like Thursday. My husband and I went out to dinner last weekend. I haven't had a Bloody Mary in ages. It was so good. It had just the right amount of spice to it. We had a nice dinner too!

I went shopping this past week and bought my shoes for my son's wedding. I've had my eye on these shoes for awhile now. Macy's had a great sale this past weekend so I grabbed them! I just need a purse to match. I think I'm going to try to wear pearl accessories also. The shoes are a bit lighter than they show in this picture. They're more similar to an ivory color. 

I got this cute card in the mail. My future daughter-in-law made it. It was such a nice surprise and so thoughtful of her. I just wanted to share!

Our prompt this week states that Memorial Day is known for cookouts, beginning of summer and the start of being able to wear white pants. I love wearing white pants. I have a pair of capris that I wear with a red and white shirt. Now that I'm retired, I don't really keep up with I should or should not be wearing. That's one of the perks of being retired! I do like wearing white, as long as I keep them clean!

It's cold and raining here this morning. I'm hoping the weather improves for the weekend!

State Fair Sampler Quilted!!!

I finished quilting the quilt for my son and future daughter-in-law! The State Fair Sampler is done! I've been taking my time on these last few blocks. They're 12.5" blocks and easily finished in one sitting. I've decided it's always better to have a plan before I go to the longarm. It's quicker and I think I work better when my plan is already known.  I think my quilting improved as I made my way through this quilt. It doesn't matter because it's all done!! 

I think the blocks speak for themselves so I won't include a narrative of what I quilted on them. I hope you enjoy my pictures! I think I feel lighter today.

I Like Thursday #235

 Happy Thursday! Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up to more happy bloggers. This picture is one of my latest blocks I've quilted on my son's wedding quilt. I love how this came out. It was a pretty fast quilt motif to sew out with minimal marking. However, I hope you notice that I am at the end of the quilt. This block is on the left bottom corner of the quilt. I'm almost finished! I think I've been quilting this for close to 3 months. This is the largest quilt I've ever made or quilted on the longarm. It measures approximately 92" X 96".

My husband has officially retired. His staff had a party for him last week. One of the employees made this cake. He does love to golf and should have plenty of time to enjoy his summer. He got so many gifts, mostly gift cards. I think his favorite gift was a mug he received. The mug has pictures of many of the employees on it. I told him he could still have coffee with his co-workers!

My husband loves working outdoors. He's already started the vegetable garden. We've bought a few plants but still need more. It feels like summer now that the garden is starting up.

I received a late Mother's Day gift. My husband ordered it a little late. It's my birthstone along with my 2 kids. I really love it! I remember we got my mother a mother's ring when I was younger. I wonder if they're still around. I haven't seen them lately. Trends change so often that it's difficult to keep up!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Alaska Borders X 2

I just added the second border to my Alaska quilt. I love the way the pattern extends into the border. It's a whole lot of more blocks to make but I think it frames the quilt in such a great way. Two sides left! Woo hoo!!!

Our temperatures couldn't get above 60 this past weekend but today is close to 90! I had to put on the air conditioning. Our second floor was close to 80. That's not the best temperature for sleeping. I'm spending the rest of the day staying cool inside of my house!

I Like Thursday #234

Boy, these weeks go by fast. It's time for I Like Thursday once again. Please visit LeeAnna to link up to more blogs taking part in Thursday posts. I got some wonderful gifts for Mother's Day. These roses were a gift from my daughter's boyfriend. He chose flowers that are not toxic to our cats. He's so thoughtful! I was pleasantly surprised!!

My brother was home visiting for last week. It was so fun having him around, There's always lots of food when he's home. He left the morning of Mother's Day so my mom did get to see him. I wish he would come home more often! 

I'm just starting the final section of my cross stitch dresser scarf. I was pretty awful at making French Knots and Lazy Daisy but I'm so much better now! I'm actually enjoying embroidery now. I plan on starting Christmas ornaments soon. I like that they're small and portable so I'll be able to work on them on the deck over the summer. And that will give me plenty of time to get them ready for the holidays!

Our prompt this week is what lessons learned from childhood have impacted your world view. That's one big prompt!! I think I always tried to be nice and treat people how I would want to be treated. It helped me through my professional life. However, I'm not sure that's enough anymore. I feel things are different now. Before I left work, I found people aren't as nice as they used to be. I hope this isn't the case and I just worked with an odd bunch of people. No matter how nice and accommodating I was, some of the newer employees remained difficult and unfriendly. I think the world is a different place than when I was in school! 

Feathers, Flowers and Wishbone

My brother was visiting the area last week so I didn't get much quilting done. I got this block done yesterday. I quilted lots of wishbone and arcs. I'm trying to make the quilting different in each block but it's almost impossible. I have my favorites but try to keep each block individual and a little unique.

I realized I hadn't quilted too many feathers so I thought this block would look great with feathers to dress it up. I love the flowers in the corners. This block was very quick to quilt. I wish they were more like this! I finished this one up this morning. 

I'm cutting my pieces for the next 4 blocks for the Alaska border. I'm glad I'm finally catching up after my busy week!

I Like Thursday #233

 It's I Like Thursday time! We post happy and uplifting content every Thursday. You can visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up to more blogs taking part. Our Spring has been typical for New England. We have some warm days only to be followed by cold days. It's like the weather just can't make up their mind! We're finally getting some color blooming around our house. 

I received this gift mug from an old pharmacist friend. When we started our careers, all prescriptions had auxiliary labels to remind patients on how to take their meds. I don't think they're as popular anymore. I spent most of my career working in hospitals and we didn't use them very much. This mug reminds me of my early years in pharmacy. 

This is nice example of the rulerwork I've been quilting on my son's wedding quilt. The center block has a star in it. You may have to click on the picture to see it. I love using rulers for quilting. I can't afford a computer for my longarm so rulers are as exact as I can get. Rulerwork and free motion quilting always looks nice together. 

Our prompt this week asks us how we celebrate our birthdays. My family isn't very large so it's always my immediate family, my children's significant others and my mother. We make a nice dinner, usually whatever the birthday celebrant prefers. I always try to make a homemade cake. It's nothing fancy but it seems to work for us. When I was younger, we used to have family parties also but not every year. Some years, we would have a bunch of my friends over for the afternoon. Birthdays sure change a lot as you get older!

I hope you have a great weekend and Mother's Day if you're celebrating.💖

Alaska + Border

I was a little nervous about this border. I wanted it to look like Edyta Sitar's border but there were no instructions. I'm happy to say it came out just as I had hoped. I have alternating beige and off white squares to create nice 4 patches where the border meets the body of the quilt. I've already started making more blocks for the remaining borders. 

 I've had a busy couple of days but hope things will calm down soon. I had jury duty yesterday but was dismissed late morning. So glad that's over!

 

I Like Thursday #232

 It's time for I Like Thursday! Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more bloggers. I'm making steady progress on quilting my son's wedding quilt. I just finished this block yesterday. I love the look of straight lines with free motion quilting. I quilted some pebbles and ribbon candy along with the ruler work. It just adds so much depth to the block. I love it!

I've been shopping for a dress for my son's wedding. I found a lot I liked but they just weren't the right one. A friend of mine dropped by and gave me this travel mug. I haven't used it yet but I'm sure I will! It was such a thoughtful gesture.

This is the dress I ordered for my son's wedding. I tried on over 20 dresses. I liked a lot of them but this one was my favorite. The wedding has an Autumn theme and I love the eggplant color. It will be a nice complement to the bridesmaids' colors. It's all ordered and should be here within 3-5 months. In the meantime, I'm looking for heels and a clutch. I may need some sort of shawl also since the ceremony will be outside. 

This week's prompt is discuss our name. My mother had a favorite aunt named Rose but my paternal grandmother was named Maria. My parents thought Rosemary would be a nice way to honor both of them. The Italian version is Rosamaria. My mother wanted it to sound more American so they opted for Rosemary. I always thought the name brings to mind an older person. Most of my friends called me Rose when I was growing up. I've come to accept it after all these years especially now that I'm getting older and the name seems more appropriate.