Goodbye June

It's just a hop, skip and a jump until July 4th! I love this holiday!

Summer is here officially now and that means: BBQ's, ice cream, being at the lake with family... and friends.

It also means it's time to clean up the boat and get it "sea worthy" so-to-speak. When you have an older boat (or even a new boat for that matter) it is always important to make sure that it is going to be problem free once it's in the water! Don't ask me how I learned that one. Hehe.

(Please note: I help with the cleaning, the hubs does the rest).

So I have my office decorations up and I got a package from my swap partner for the "Very Vintage 4th of July" swap that Foxgloves, Fabric & Folly hosted. Thank you Michelle! I especially love the Barn Banner! I have everything here for my first picnic of the summer.

I did manage to put the binding on the little wall hanging I showed you yesterday and I also finished a binding on another quilt... I showed you it last week. I had to stop in the middle of doing it to get the binding on that shop sample.

I will have to take a photo of my Dresden's. I am making progress with those. I just have to put them on the background now. I am so excited about those blocks... they are just so cute and easy to make. I am trying to get those things finished up before I start sharing my sewing room with Jillian. We can make such a mess when we are having fun in there. Jill and I like making summer bags together. I have been trying to get to the new purse pattern by Pam Kitty Morning, so that one is now first on my list.

I

I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of the buck in my yard this morning, so here is a Bambi photo my friend took in her yard. Aaahhh!

The Highlights of a Sample Quilt Drop Off

Mission accomplished! I got the binding on the Fig Tree Turnover quilt and went in to Cottage Quilts on Saturday to drop it off. There was a local quilt show in Madera... I was hoping that they might be able to use the quilt in the display for the show. While I was at the store with the hubs I snapped a few pictures for you!

Opps, what is this... must be the Fig Tree isle! And next a little "Bunny Love".
This is a quilt made by Sarah, one of the sweet employees of Cottage Quilts.
I just love the red with the black and white.

Oh lookie here... they have the new wools in! (I wish I was that far along with my block of the month).

I think this whole display would look good in my sewing room.

And at the back of the store... there are always treats! Carolyn knows all of our week spots!

Then... it was back to finishing up a little this and that. No, I didn't remember to make the sewing basket out of a Moda tin, darn! But I finished up this and need to get the binding on it so that I can give it to Jill. Todd and Jill will come tomorrow for a visit. She has warned me that she is bringing her entire sewing room with her... sounds like maybe this will be a long visit?!?

My Weekend Stimulus Package!

The weekend is almost here! I don't know about you but last weekend was busy with Father's Day and went by so fast I didn't feel like I had a day off from work at all! So, fingers crossed, my plan for this weekend is to go visit my sewing room and see what I can get accomplished. I do get distracted in there and I can't get through one project fast enough before my mind starts thinking about the next one. That seems to be an on-going problem.

Am I alone with this?

Today I decided to pick a favorite blog of the week. A Quilting Life is a blog that I have followed for quite some time and Sherri is an endless source of inspiration for me.

When I started my blog I was more than thrilled when she started commenting on what I was doing. Sherri is such a talented, enthusiastic and a very creative quilter.

... and a look at my Fig Tree "turnover" quilt that is waiting for me to finish hand sewing the binding on it. Then it's off to the shop for display! I am anxiously waiting for the next FT project which will be the sample for the Fig Tree Club's "first" project (it's going to be a lap quilt)!
Have you seen the picture of it yet on Joanna's blog?

This photo is for Angela, who was my pincushion swap partner. I made a matching pincushion for myself.
Along with it is my steal of a deal that I found while on vacation last week. A Brenda pattern... and it was on sale... I can't even tell you how much I paid, just in case they change their minds and come after me!


Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

For the life of me I cold not get a good photo of the anniversary couple last week when we were up in Portland. The problem was that there were windows all around the banquet room... pretty views... but the lighting issue, ya know.

I meant to mention this before, but today is a good day too I suppose. So, this is my Uncle John and my Aunt Barbara. This lady is an absolutely wonderful Lady with a capitol L.

She is like an Eleanore Roosevelt. A combination of grace, style & strength.

Below is a photo of the quilt that my aunt made for me when I was born... that was a while back! I still cherish this little quilt every moment. Of course the silky binding has long gone but it really is no worse for the wear. I just love these little animals on the quilt. I hate to confess how many hours I spent looking at the little patterns in the fabric of the cat and bunny, bear and dog when I should have been sleeping.

Seriously, I started out with this problem!
While we were up visiting in Portland last week, my uncle had me get in his car and drove me from my cousins house to his house (just minutes away)... to show me the quilt that I had made for my aunt and sent to her as a surprise last year.
I thought it was the least I could do for someone, who unknowingly had influenced my life so much. The lap quilt was beautifully displayed, draped over the back of the couch... and actually went with the color scheme they have (which was a pleasant surprise).
I don't seem to have a picture of that quilt but it was a braided row quilt, done in beige's, shades of blue to indigo to brown.
What is nice about this is the special connection the two of us share over something so simple.

Pincushion Swap & A Father's Day Recap

Well... in case you can't wait, you will have to scroll down to the end to see the pincushion.

I had to save the best for last... I heart pincushions!

We had a wonderful but short Father's Day weekend. I somehow didn't manage to take any photos of the day. I guess I was to busy in the kitchen etc. We were a smaller group than normal but still managed to fill up the table with 8 people at it. One of the boys stopped at a garage sale on the way over and picked up a board game of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader".

It was our entertainment of the day!

My dad and his wife joined us also, which was very nice. Actually it was incredible. There are a lot of kids and I am the one who got him!!! Happy Father's Day dad!

While I had him as a captive audience I showed him my blog. Suffice to say, he won't be starting up one of his own anytime soon:)

This is a photo taken during the dead of winter... again, no pictures taken Sunday! Darn.

If you haven't already found the Minnesota Blog Hop you might need to go and check it out. It started yesterday at Gudrun's World blog. It features 10 Minnesota bloggers/designers. Each day one of the site's will be featured and each one will have a pattern/tutorial for you to have. There are prizes involved too!

I meant to post about this yesterday but the day got away from me. I got a wonderful pincushion in the mail from Jenny at Missouri Star Quilt Company. We were participating in Sandra's Pincushion Summer Swap '09. I love this pincushion Jenny! It is just my colors and complete with little butterfly pins in it! I really like the lanyard and scissors also. I never thought of making a lanyard... humm, well, now I don't have to. I have one!

Jenny enclosed a note with her business card in it so I checked out her site. You might want to click on to it! They have a Daily Deal that is awesome!

Eye Candy (In No Particular Order)

Well, how could I go on vacation, show you a few photos and neglect to give you the good stuff... do they refer to it as the "money shots"... hmmm, I wonder why!

So here you have it. In no particular order: the irresistible Patisserie group and a couple of new patterns by Miss Fig Tree. The one with the little dress form is a small wall hanging that I am making up to advertise the Fig Tree Club. (I think it will look good in my sewing room also). Carolyn, the owner of Cottage Quilts, is also making a real life version of it to go on a wire mannequin in the store! That is going to be so cute!!!

Here is a couple more fabric "samples" to go with my Sultry stash. In the corner of the photo is the pattern that I recently won at Pigtails and Snails from Lizzie Anne Designs! Who doesn't love a purse pattern! I am getting behind on making purses... summer bags are so much fun. What I need is my (almost) daughter in law to come over for a sewing day. We seem to get a lot accomplished when we do that.

This is my little souvenir group, Arcadia, from the Pine Needle Quilt Shop in Lake Oswego, OR.
Did I mention that I was born there? Of course it was a little town then. I am so sorry that I didn't take any photos of the shop... I cracked under pressure I guess. I had a car full with me when we stopped here and I was the only one that had any interest in quilting. Yikes! I tried to be fast... but I doubt anybody thought I was fast enough... ya know what I mean? I also found some sweet Michael Miller. See, I expand a little... I had written permission from Moda...
okay, I'm just kidding about that part.

Don't you just love this little bird?
That ends Friday's Feast of Fabrics. Have a good weekend!

My Little Trip Recap

Hi there... I am back! Well, barely. I just have a quick minute to give my "what I did on summer vacation" recap. But first I want to show you my Very Vintage 4th of July Swap. This is my gathering of goodies that I sent off to my swap partner. The pieces with the ric rac are dish towels that I made. I added candles, candied berries, a flag and some vintage Independence Day tags. I also put a flag in a picture frame for Michelle... oh and of course some flower seeds to plant!

This little guy is called a Zonie. We took this little side trip. And low & behold... a variety of exotic animals including this fellow that is half ponie and half zebra!

We made it to our destination and had a great time while we were here in Portland. I did get to go to Lake Oswego and do some monetary damage at the Pine Needle Quilt Shop! Woohoo!

These girls are related to me... girls, people to go shopping with! I was in heaven!

Here is a photo of the wedding cake topper that was at the anniversary dinner. The cake was wonderful and the topper is the same one that they originally had on my aunt and uncle's wedding cake 60 years ago! They were as adorable as this little cake topper and just as sweet as the cake!!!

More to follow tomorrow.

A Quick Note & Then A Little Trip

Boy the day is flying by! I wanted to show you a quick glimpse of

my lunch with the Material Girls. We brown bagged it at the local quilt shop.The food part is all over... but we had our kitchen towel exchange. Their were only 8 out of the 12 of use there to do the exchange.

It was a fun project and they turned out so nice! Sammie is not going to like this photo with her eyes closed... (sorry Sammie, both of my pictures with you had your eyes closed). Her kitchen towel has an orange kitty on it (because she has a whole heard of orange cats) and was embroidered on vintage cloth.

Dianne got a couple of beautifully embroidered towels. I have this pattern by Crabapple Hill Studios... I just love the scallops!


Peggy showed us what she made for her exchange partner since her partner wasn't at the lunch. Peggy is a tatter... can you believe that she embellished these dish towels with tatting! That is incredible work!

Here is a little group photo holding up our new treasures.

And lastly, my goodie box... Dianne had drawn my name and embroidered the cherry towel for me with a coordinating towel but, as if that wasn't wonderful enough, she added in a tea towel embroidered by her husbands great grandmother and one from his grandma too! HOLY COW! They are so amazingly beautiful! Thank you, thank you Dianne!

Today my coworker/friend and I took a little work break and went over to the local nursery so I snapped a few shots while I was there. I wish my yard looked like this!

I am soon off and running to start a little vacation. Woohoo! We are going to a place that is beautiful year round...like this nursery. The hubs and I are driving up through Oregon for a visit with friends and family. My Aunt and Uncle are celebrating their 60th anniversary! 60th!!! I am in awe...

So here I go! Final destination... Lake Oswego (and Portland). Lots of cousins to reconnect with, places to visit and memories to make!

A Graceful Garden & Dish Towels

I forgot to show you this book yesterday. I really really want to add this to my "gotta do" list. I am such beginner at applique, but this book has beautiful projects and pretty big pieces... it just might be right for a novice! I am sure it will be a Block of the Month at quilt shops very soon.

(It's hot off the press right now)!

It's by Denise Sheehan of A Graceful Stitch. It might be best to tackle it one block at a time.

I am having lunch today with my sewing circle, the "Material Girls". We will be having a dish towel exchange. Here are mine. I drew Lisa's name... I hope she likes them:)

Is it okay that I used the birds and design from Bunny Hill's a Tisket a Tasket BOM? I hope so, thank you Anne!

Tomorrow I will have photos from the lunch... oh, and a photo of the pattern I won from Lizzy Anne! Woohoo! I got my templates for making a whirliegig from This and That in the mail also!!!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (or more)

I taught a class at Cottage Quilts over the weekend. It was a lot of fun... nice people! One brand new quilter in the bunch... we did our best to be a bad influence on her. The newbe and two of the other girls even signed up for my retreat! Whoohoo!

I couldn't help myself when I found this pattern over the weekend! I had seen Sherri at A Quilting Life working on this and it looked like fun. I had some Aviry fabric in my stash and was able to get it all ready to go... because I am almost done with the Fig Tree Turnover project.

I just need to get these rows sewed together and the borders on and wha-la!
Here is another project spinning around in my head that I want to get to. It's Pam Kitty Morning's new purse pattern. I thought I would like to try it out in some of the vinyl covered fabric in Shangra-la and the coordinates to it. I can see that it will be cute in any fabric group!

I don't know what I am going to do with these yet. I started collecting the pink and just added a little to it with some fat quarters that were on sale at Cottage Quilts. I'm kinda of leaning towards basket blocks... what do you think?

Here's a little bundle that might work for the purse pattern too!

A plethora of directions to go in! I have this sweet charm pack of Bunny Hill fabrics that Cottage Quilt made up. A Snibble might be the answer but I am really getting into the Dresden Plates also... decisions, decisions!

So as the weekend ended... I was ahead with my Fig Tree shop sample project but I seem to have a bunch of projects to add to my list!

Time Out!

I should have seen it coming when I read this quote this morning...

"The illusion is to believe that COMMUNICATION has just taken place" George Bernard Shaw. Okay maybe not a direct quote but you get the idea.

But I've got one of my own for you...

"Negative people make me want to wash out my ears"!

I'm just sayin'

So after some prayers and a couple Aleve I thought some breathing techniques would help. And what is better than just breathing in air? Breathing in fabric! Let's go take 5 at the LQS!!!

These books are going on my want list I think I have all the Kim D. books. I haven't made any of the patterns but I love them!
There are some really cute things to make in this book. They have a couple samples in the shop... let's go take a look.

Look at these sweet little jelly rolls. Snippets is going on the want list too!

I already have the Sizzlin' Sixties book... and there's my American Jane quilt(the things you can do with a 60 degree ruler!)

Hummm, I like this quilt made from the Fig & Plum group. Easie peasie pattern that is a free one on the United Notions web site... theirs done in the Sultry group by Urban Chicks. I think this pattern might be fun to do at my retreat.

Here is another one of mine. I should have quilted this one!

Okay, I feel better now. Hope you do to:)