Creativity and Creative People

I was wishing I could spend the entire weekend at

my sewing machine but I only managed to squeeze in 

a little bit of sewing.

First and foremost on my list of things to do was

to catch up on my Bees Knees Sewing Bee blocks!

I get so behind on these blocks... and I don't know why!

They are so fun to play with!

This block was for Kimberly W. in our Bees Knees group.

I have been wanting to make this Lori Holt pattern! 

And now that I have made one for her... I definitely need

to make an entire quilt for myself!

You can find the tutorial on Bee In My Bonnet blog.

It was a project she posted last summer.

This is another block I caught up on. It is for Cactus Needle Quilts...

Nedra! The Kona cotton fabric was wonderful to use and of course

Kaffe fabrics are always fantastic!

That's all I got done before I ran off to the "city" (Fresno)

where my sister had a book signing for her newest book at Barnes and Noble.

She writes children's books. Mostly. 

There was another author there as well.

I had to explore her books too!

I also have a quilt sample I made for FQS to show!

Here is a little photo shoot I did at my favorite "hanging tree"

in the back... or rather side of the house.

It is a new quilt by Fat Quarter Shop It's So Emma patterns.

I love this fabric line! 

It's by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery Fabrics and

it's called Curiosities.  

Jeni's blog is In Color Order.

I think it was really fun to make. I have been wanting to make a "Plus" quilt.

This is my new favorite!

Jeni had a printable on her blog last week...

it seemed perfect for me...

here is a link to it.

I printed it out and put it on my wall at work.

The timing was perfect.

I made a sample up for this quilt also, for Fat Quarter Shop,

 I  don't think I ever showed this quilt.

I'm not even sure I have a picture of it.

Sometimes things happen so fast... I barely remember making it!

It just was mailed back to me

and I have already found it a new home.

My SIL is a new grandma, so I gave it to take to her new little grand daughter.

She is going to the Bay Area to see her this weekend.

I am hoping for a good week this week.

Sending you good wishes for a good week also.

I  want to thank everyone for all the sweet comments

regarding the passing of my dad last week.

I appreciated each and every one of them and the

words stayed with me and helped me to get through last week.

I am keeping "Just Today" in mind.

Losing two parents in such a short amount of time

is hard but I will focus on the good memories

and the good things that life brings.

There are a lot of blessings to be counted!

Midweek Mosaic

A very functional tool in the garden.

Each one has lots of character.

Beautiful, even with rust and chippy paint.

Using A Boxing Term

As you might have read last week, my dad was in the hospital 

after falling and breaking his hip socket. Actually it was shattered.

In a blink of an eye a life can change.

It can take away someone you love.

I am so sorry to say that it did.

He had been a feisty man... his entire life.

Yet he had a huge soft spot too!

I have to call it a T.K.O.

(technical knock out, in boxing terms)

Yesterday there was an intense storm in my area.

There was thunder just rolling above for a half an hour and

wind so strong it blew the rain sideways.

There was even hail.

Hail in July!?!

I thought to myself...

awe, my dad made it to Heaven!

I knew he would make a ruckus when he got there!

I also knew these things about him...

he was a dreamer.

he told stories... often and repeatedly. (smile)

he made me laugh.

he loved his mother.

he was a good man.

A Little Chicken Feed

I sent this one off to the LAQ a couple of months ago.

It's Chicken Feed by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.

The fabric was by Thimble Blossoms.

It was one of the projects from AYOS 

(Another Year of Schnibbles... from last year).

I thought it would be a great picnic quilt

for this summer.

I just received it from my quilter this morning.

I have the checkered fabric in blue as the backing and

I will use the same for the binding. Maybe. 

Unless... I find the rest of my leftover fabric from this collection

and then I would consider making a scrappy binding.

Kind of cute, huh?

The only problem is... is that I thought it was so much bigger.

I went back and found the first photo of the completed quilt.

It seemed larger in that picture too.

I guess that just means I need to make a super sized version

of this Chicken Feed pattern!

Here is a close up of the quilting. It's similar to a Baptist Fan.

My poor weekend started off by getting a call in the wee hours.

My dad had fallen and was being taken to ER.

The hospital is about 45 minutes from my home.

So the day was spent with my poor dad.

He indeed had fallen and got pretty banged up in the process.

The worst part is that he shattered his hip socket. He also is on blood thinners and

there is a very large hematoma pushing his bladder over to the right side.

They have their work cut out for them and

he has a long journey ahead of him. 

By the time I got Evie... I was so tired!

But we played and played and played some more.

I just didn't get to the art projects.

Oh well, next time.

Weekend Fun

Pinterest is such a bad influence on me.

I do have to do this to my glue bottles though!

This weekend my grand daughter Evie will

be having a sleep over with us. 

So I am thinking of a couple of fun things to make.

Maybe I can simplify this even more

but it would be cute.

I love Tinkered Treasures and maybe I could 

make this with the assistance of  E. 

My son is building her a playhouse right now, 

so I will go pick up some Popsicle sticks just in case.

I think I have to do this just for me!

I don't foresee any sewing getting done...

but we will be having BBQ's on Saturday and Sunday

with family and friends.

Awe, summer time is here!

(and the weather is a little bit more bearable)!

Little Revelations

First,

my hubby and I had our 21st "first date" anniversary yesterday.

Twenty-one!

How did that happen?

It was much like an "E" ticket ride at Disneyland!

Then, over the weekend... I made a revelation.

Saturday marked 90 days until my 60th birthday!

What the heck?!!

That is just crazy!

I should to do something... 

leading up to the big day shouldn't I?

I am going to have to think about that.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

Speaking of aging things...

I have a chair and ottoman very similar to this set...

that has seen much better days.

Unfortunately, I am just not ready to give it up.

I had always wanted to have white slip covered furniture...

I figured after my children were gone, I would be able to 

have that "look".

But, the realization was that I still had a dog...

who, mind you,  was very well mannered and never got on 

up on the furniture (except when no one was home)!

She especially liked my chair.

Our sweet Hannah passed away a couple years ago.

A reasonable time after that... I decided to get a 

kitten. But since I couldn't decide... I picked two

from the litter.

The delay for the white slip covers continues.

But as much as I like that look...

I love a shabby chic look!

Last week I stumbled onto

these...

and made a quick decision to go ahead and purchase them.

Them as in...

This and that.

They are slip covers.

With the pillows!

It's suppose to be a linen and rayon blend.

Home Dec weight.

I'm kind of excited.

I wish draping something over myself would help

my aging factor! te he

So, 

now

I'm 

waiting

for the items to arrive!

If that doesn't work... then, I will just have to throw in the towel and

get new furniture all together... because aside from having cats that roll

in the dirt, I have grand children... and you know those little cutie pies

are... well, 

messy 

little things!

I'm pretty sure that the white is just never going to work.

A Sweet Summer Star

 Hurrah, hurray! 

Today is the Summer Star Minis And More Parade!

I am so excited to participate this moth...

of the "new year"!

I loved making this sweet Summer Star pattern by

Sherri at

A Quilting Life 

But first I want to mention how cute the

 button for Minis And More is!

Michelle is going to be a perfect partner for Sherri,,,

she has been in AYOS for years and has always 

impressed me and inspired me with her quilts!

I couldn't be more excited to see her team up

with Sherri for this... because, you know...

the 

parade

must 

go 

on!!!

So here is my first entry into

Minis And More.

I don't use batik fabrics very often,

although I think they are gorgeous!

Since it's the first of July, I thought it would be

fun to have a tropical influence of the batik 

fabrics.

I thought about red white and blue also...

but I have made two already this year in that colorway 

and one that is blue and cream batiks.

I haven't shown them yet... because they are 

a secret magazine assignment.

Hopefully I will be able to soon.

I was playing around with my photo editor

and inverted the colors on the  mini quilt...

It was kind of fun to see it in another view!

You will see more Summer Stars at Island Life Quilts

and at A Quilting Life too.