Happy Valentine's Day, 2026

 

 

 

“If you go out looking for friends, you're going to find they are very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you'll find them everywhere.”
― Zig Ziglar

 

Happy Valentine's Day ~ and Zooey Deschanel, too

 

Well~ it's that time of year again! If you have noticed, I adore Valentine bling, old and new, I wait all year for January & February to come back around!!!! I don't give out nearly as many as I have in the past, but it's still a ton of fun =)  I made very small batch  of Sugar Cookies for the family (recipe here)... I confess I miss my old recipe from the Current Catalog...

💕Single or not, "...It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!"  

thanks, Zooey, for that monologue!  💕

Mini Pink & Aqua Valentine quilt/table topper

 How is it that if you sew something you have scraps, and if you commit to using them up instead of storing them---well, they just multiply!  I've used ever so much, but there is always more, LOL!

Back side ~ fabric from Sarah

I was excited to find Amy's easy instructions (HERE) - I do like my little quilt, but I think that hers looks better because her prints were all small.  (funny note: all the white fabric came from ONE sleeve of my "Civil War blouse"- the pattern was miss-written, and that was upsetting to me, so I never finished...I was finally able to throw away the pattern, and start using the fabric for something else!  How freeing!)  

Changes: my quilt measures 20"x20" - it is smaller than Amy's because I used leftover 4" squares from my big quilt project.  (after washing it measures 19 & 1/2"x19 & 1/2")

1/4" seam allowances
2" squares, 1&1/2" strips between, 2&1/2" borders

Amy's tutorial can be found here:
https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2012/02/nine-patch-mini-quilt-tutorial.html

Red Valentine Mug Rugs #2

I made 1 of Jacquelynne's larger Valentine Mug Rug/mini quilts as a New Year gift for a friend (find HER blog & free pattern HERE) 

 The fun thing about using 2 rows of blocks, is that after you sew them into blocks of 4, you can rotate them to have a better variety/look...if you remember! =)

 I'd never bound odd edges before, and was grateful for her tutorial: Binding Odd Angles Tutorial (HERE)  NOTE: I learned I truly do prefer to machine sew my binding on the backside, and hand sew it on the front, instead of the other way around, BECAUSE: you aren't blind, and can make the top fit together and look nice, and you can't do that if you machine sew to the front.

Next time: Sew the binding on the back, so that the front is neater!

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And I made a fun scrappy smaller Mug Rug: 

Pink Valentine Mug Rugs #1

I made 2 of Jacquelynne's Valentine Mug Rugs (find HER blog & free pattern HERE) 

NOTES:  

~If you cut the binding 2&1/2" it ends up being on the wide side (the blue one on the right) so the next one (green on the left) I cut 2".  

~I think that I'd have liked to only have 2 rows of checks instead of 3...next time!

~Also,  I cut 12 - 5" strips instead of 6 - 10" (for the checks), because the size & quantity of my scraps. 

Pink & Aqua Valentine quilt

My first large quilt project (Twin size) and my first Disappearing 9 Patch.  Very easy, and it looks much harder!  You just make a 9 Patch and cut it into 4 blocks, re-arrange them, and sew them back together...or wait and mix them up before you sew them back together! (that's what I'm doing)
I got my inspiration from Mary Grace over at "Hooked on Needles" blog : HERE 
(She has Red & White, Red & Aqua and one made of scraps.)

I cut around 330 - 4" blocks!  Should make 35 - 9 patch, and that will give me 35 big blocks.  I'm planning 5 blocks X 7 blocks.

 I like to lay out 2 at a time- they feel a bit more random that way.

 Sew them, then cut them, and rearrange them!  There are MANY ways to arrange the new blocks.

My trial block- I made it for my Aunt, I hope she likes it!

I'll let you know how it goes! 

~ a Kacey Musgraves/ Frozen 2 song for you: "All is Found" ~

Valentine ideas

A Few Facts on Valentine Gift-Giving

Did you know that to give a thoughtful gift, you need not spend a lot?

First you'll need to answer a few questions:
1)  Who is the gift for? 

2)   How well do you know them?

3)  What makes them smile?
4)  What do they like?

Did you know that if you put some thought into a gift, it will be remembered for a long time? (and hopefully fondly)  Below I have listed a few ideas, but there are many more- coffee, ice cream, candles...you name it.  
(I have even found vintage Valentine's for MILK!)
You will find more Punny Food ideas HERE!  If you are looking for more vintage Valentine's just do an internet search "vintage pun valentines" or "vintage valentines"....  =)

 Nuts anyone???  One year my brothers bought me a can of Cashews for a Valentine--- what a nice treat! (For modern nut valentine ideas visit HERE!)

Chocolate...do you know what kind she/he likes?  While some people want ANY chocolate, some of us are more particular...or actually allergic to the fillings/flavorings, colors or sugar free sweeteners.

Dark, Milk, Candy Coated, with or without Nuts?  Organic, Fair Trade, Practical (think chips), FUN (think "Pound Plus" bars from Trader Joe's), Sugar or Sugar-Free?  American, European, Filling/Flavors or NO filling/Flavors?
Hint: Did you know the best Milk Chocolate is from Europe, NOT America.  Aldi & Trader Joe's are the best.

A Juicy Valentine?  I don't know about you, but I think that I the Grapefruit Juice & Pineapple Juice found in the REFRIGERATOR section makes a LOVELY gift, no matter the occasion! (Aldi has some VERY nice Pineapple juice right now.



 Balloons are ALWAYS wonderful-- no matter the occasion....or maybe that's just me...hmmm...
(Dollar Tree is a very good place to get one. Or more...they are only $1!)

And last of all, I just HAD to share these rather Funny Valentine's with you!  I hope you enjoyed this post, and maybe it helped you???  =)

(If you are looking for more vintage Valentine's just do an internet search "vintage pun valentines" or "vintage valentines"....)

Clue & Dinner for Valentine's Day 2018

Again (for the second year in a row) I had SO much fun!!!  To those of you who came: thank you SO very much for coming and joining our fun! To those of you who could not- we missed you, and can't figure out why you would not want to come!  (See 2017 here) We had TWO Clue games going this year, so that meant two guilty parties!  =)

~the whole gang~

~The Table~
(we ate green salad, minestrone soup & cheese bread)

Mrs. White did it!

~The Favors~

Mr. Green

Professor Plum

Colonel Mustard

Mrs. Peacock

Miss Scarlet did it!

Professor Plum

Mr. Green

Mamie Eisenhower’s Cheesecake (here)

Clue & Dinner on Valentine's Day

Fun times...thank you all so much for coming!  I had a blast!  =)

 White Chocolate Cheesecake (recipe HERE)

Notes: 1) I put all 3 oz of melted chocolate into the cheesecake. 
AND 2) Sprinkled a fine layer of white chips between the crust & the cheesecake!  
3) I baked it in a 9" spring-form pan. =)

The Table

~the whole gang~

Professor Plum did it!

Mrs. White

Miss Scarlet

 

Mr. Green

Mrs. Peacock

Some of the many faces of Colonel Mustard...  =)

Some interesting info about Clue (according to Wikipedia): 

1940/1950's game

"...In 1944, Anthony E. Pratt, an English musician, applied for a patent of his invention of a murder/mystery-themed game, originally named "Murder!".  Shortly thereafter, Pratt and his wife, Elva Pratt (1913-1990), who had helped in designing the game, presented it to Waddingtons' executive, Norman Watson, who immediately purchased it and provided its trademark name of "Cluedo" (a play on "clue" and "Ludo"; ludo is Latin for I play).  
Though the patent was granted in 1947, due to post-war shortages in the UK the game was not officially launched by Waddingtons until 1949.  
 It was simultaneously licensed to Parker Brothers in the US for publication, where it was renamed "Clue" along with other minor changes.   There were several differences between the original game concept and that initially published in 1949, In particular, Pratt's original design calls for ten characters, one of whom was to be designated the victim by random drawing prior to the start of the game. 

1960's game

These ten included the eliminated Mr. Brown, Mr. Gold, Miss Grey, and Mrs. Silver.  The characters of Nurse White and Colonel Yellow were renamed Mrs. White and Colonel Mustard for the actual release.  The game allowed for play of up to eight remaining characters, providing for nine suspects in total.  Originally there were eleven rooms, including the eliminated "gun room" and cellar.   

  In addition there were nine weapons including the unused bomb, syringe, shillelagh (walking stick/cudgel), fireplace poker, axe, and poison...."

 Anthony Pratt and his wife Elva, in the early 1940s.
Image by Marcia Davies.

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 Our party was nothing like this ONE, but it was fun to look at the photos HERE!

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(I'll share this post on "Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson")