Mini and More

Many of us have participated in the Schnibbles and More QALs for the last few years.  I have loved every little quilt that I made and love to display them around the house.  Needless to say when it was announced this year that it was coming to an end, I was disappointed.  I was thrilled when it was announced that a new series was going to begin with Michele of Island Life Quilts and Sherri of A Quilting Life.  This first month our mini was A Summer Star by Sherri.   I had a little pack of Noteworthy charms and used a summery butter solid with it.



It finishes at 14 1/2” so is perfect to use under a bouquet of flowers.  I used some Riley Blake small gingham for the binding. 



The quilting is a simple stitch in the ditch.


I also finished the Elephant Parade quilt by quilting it and adding the binding.  I will apply the label once our newest grandbaby arrives because I enjoy putting their first photo on the label.  We are all excited to see what the baby will be, but my instinct is thinking blue.  We should know any day now.



I put soft minky on the back and it feels so great.



Recently I was awarded the “A Lovely Blog” award by two fabulous quilters.  I respect both of them so much for their work so I was thrilled to have been chosen by them.  The first one was by Soma who blogs at www.whimsandfancies.com.  Soma is such an amazing photographer and artist as well as a great quilter.  She is currently working on a Greek alphabet.  It is incredible and I can’t wait to see it when it is finished.

Emily is a quilter whom I have followed for some time now.  She blogs at Em's Scrapbag.  I have tested several of her patterns and have loved each one.  She is one of those quilters who can pick up scraps and create a masterpiece with them.  She is a great representative of a generous quilter with all of her donated quilts to Happy Chemo.
 
One of the things I am suppose to do is to write ten things about myself that people would not tend to know.  I’m pretty boring, but here goes.

1.)  I was one of those beastly hyperactive children.  My mom often says had I been the first child, there would have been no more.  I've always required little sleep and am always up before 5:30 a.m.

2.)  I’m quite mechanical.  I worked on my own VW bug before I got married.  I loved to take the carburetor apart and clean it to get maximum mileage.  I even taught several of the guys in the neighborhood how to clean theirs.  I also recovered the interior in a zebra skin fabric.  LOVED that little car. 

3.)  I went to an all girls high school and hated it!

4.) I broke three vertebrae in my back when I was 17 in a skateboard accident and broke two more about 10 years ago.

5.)  I made my first skirt for myself when I was 5 years old on my mom’s old Singer sewing machine.
 
6.)  I became enthralled with quilting when I saw a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt while visiting a friend of my grandmother.  When we got home she got some scraps together for me and I tried to stitch one just like it.  My hexagon shape was far from perfect and the endeavor did not last long.

7.)  My paternal grandmother was a knitter.  I taught myself to knit when I was in nursing school to occupy my time between classes and loved it.  Still do!

8.)  My husband and I both love to travel.  Our favorite thing to do is jump in the car and just take off for the back roads to see what we can discover.

9.)  We have lived in many locations, including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Hawaii and England in our married life.

10.) There are a million things that I still want to accomplish in this lifetime.

I am now suppose to nominate others to do the same, but I am just going to put it out there for anyone who would like to join in on the fun.  I would love to know more about all of those who follow my blog.  Please feel free to add your ten things. 

Block Construction

For some time now I have been seeing Block Lotto blocks appearing on various posts.  I finally jumped in and made a few of June's blocks.  These were interesting blocks to make and I am sure will make a really nice quilt for someone with all of the different blues they are going to receive.

I finished up the last row of my Hillside Houses blocks as well.  Now you can finally see the blue sky.  I'm not sure how I will quilt it yet.  I think I need to study it a bit before I attempt it.  An overall pattern will make the houses disappear - I think.  Any opinions????



We had a fun Father’s Day BBQ here.  The gals cooked for the guys with tons of good food and family.  Our daughter’s family was not able to make it because of sick little ones, but these are our GREAT dads – a reason to celebrate.



Here are a few pictures of the grandchildren enjoying our cockatiel from yesterday.





Today was cleaning!!  I have mopped the floor four times and I still feel as though I am sticking to it.  I wonder if it is my imagination at this point.  SIGH

Some Quilting Time

The last month has been such a blip on my calendar, but I have managed to squeeze in a bit of sewing here and there.

One of the great swaps that I participate in each year is the ALQS.  I shared the mini I made already, but I have to show you the one I received.  It is absolutely beautiful and has so many fun techniques.  The colors are amazing and I really love this little quilt.  I am showing it on its side as the photo appears more detailed that the upright one.

 You can read some of the techniques Joan used by reading her label.

As well, in my package, Joan included a brooch that she made.  Isn't it lovely too?

We took a little road trip up Hwy. 89 through Utah so I had some time to work on my second circle in my EPP project.  The curves were a bit of a challenge for this new EPP quilter, but I am pleased with the way it turned out.  I haven't trimmed them down to their 12" block yet so it looks a little ragged around the edges.

Elizabeth at OPQuilt has created the designs for these circles and the patterns can be found on her blog.

There were so many fabulous QALs this summer.  I would love to join each one, but the Hillside Houses (link on my sidebar) is one that I had to start first.  The little houses remind me of beach huts.  I have nine of the twelve blocks completed.

We spent a few days at the beach with my sister, BIL, brother and SIL.  Although June tends to be foggy most of the day at the beach, we had a great time. 

We had the last of the graduations of the year this week and have been enjoying a lot of time with little ones here too.  It's no wonder the weeks have slipped by so quickly.

Now.....I'm off to clean house after the weekend mess.

Catching Up.....

It seems like I spend a good amount of my time playing catch up.  This time there was a lot of catching up on the eight hour time change from our vacation.  (I tried to post this earlier with Live Writer, but it seems to have a mind of its own these days.  Thank goodness Blogger is working for me now.)

We flew to NYC and spent three fun packed days touring the city.  One of the highlights was the 9/11 World Trade Center Memorial.  It was a VERY emotional display.  To see the faces of all of those who were lost that day, the "missing" signs that were posted on the buildings and fences,  as well as items donated by the families (cell phones, watches, personal goods) really made you recall that day all over again.  They have done a beautiful job on it and I highly recommend a visit there if you get to New York.

Plane's point of impact.

Stairs used for many to escape.

Large quilt with photos of those lost that day.

Wall after wall of photos of those who lost their lives that day.

From there we bid farewell to NYC aboard the Queen Mary 2 for a very relaxing transatlantic crossing.

Eight days later we saw our first sight of land as we arrived on a bright, sunny, warm day in Southhampton, England.

Our dear friends met us at the terminal and we made the journey to their home in the English countryside where we would spend the next six days.

Their garden is beautiful and is just coming into bloom.  We loved seeing the flowers and all of the lush green everywhere.  We were graced with the typical British weather - rain, hail, winds and sunshine - all in the same day!

Wisteria

Pink Clematis

Of course the crazy Californians relished the sight and feel of water actually falling from the skies.

We took several day trips including a visit to Flatford Mill where John Constable's The Hay Wain was painted.  Does the sight look familiar?

We even rented row boats and rowed up the River Stour for lunch at the Boathouse.  Of course, we encountered a good downpour along the way and looked like drowned rats when we arrived!

The time passed quickly and it was soon time to fly back home for family events.  The day after we got back we had our first three graduations of the year.

Life is beautiful!  Since this post is long enough, I will do another post on a couple of things going on - including the gorgeous mini quilt that I received from my ALQS9 partner.