Quilting and More

I hope I remember how to write a post.  It has been so long since my last one, but life has been full with wonderful times.  My goal to be a better blogger seems to be experiencing a setback, but that works too.  It gets hard to retrace days when it has been so long.

Each month Sherri and Michele are our fearless leaders with the Minis and More quilt parade.  I have been less than stellar in my participation this year, but I do enjoy their monthly projects and ALWAYS have the best intentions.  This month I made it happen.  The pattern chosen was Strawberry Social Mini from The Pattern Basket.  I did a bit of a variation on the pattern to make it my own.

My sister has been visiting so we have had so much fun hanging out with each other and enjoying sharing some quilting time together.  She brought three of her beautiful quilt tops down to quilt so the machines were humming.

On Ringo Lake

Storm as Sea

As well, we took one day to visit Quilt Con in Pasadena and share time with other quilting friends for lunch and dinner.

Monday was my mom's 95th birthday so it has been a week of parties for her.  She has always wanted to put a purple streak in her hair so she got that done too.  Now she wants to do her whole head of hair in purple!

Our February has been an exceptionally warm month until this past week.  We have suddenly plunged into a deep freeze here!  I think my sister packed it in her suitcase and brought it down from Alaska.  I hope she takes it home with her tomorrow.  They even canceled the grandkid's baseball practice yesterday due to snow flurries!!  What is that all about?  One thing for sure, it is making my temperature quilt very interesting.  Just look at the recent week of color.  It is now three full rows and after today I get to add the March block.

I know I must be crazy, but my sister has talked me into doing the Postcards from Sweden QAL.  My fabrics are all ready to start cutting.

Last weekend we attended our granddaughter's horse show up in Fresno.  It's hard to believe this young gal (with our DIL) will be off to college later this year.  Her younger sister will take over the riding while she is gone.  

Meanwhile...... since my lap has not been available this week, this little pup has adopted a pillow for his perch.  Life is so boring when quilting is going on around here.

Fun Busyness

It has been a fun and busy week.  In between it all, I have managed to squeeze in a lot of quilting too.  That's a win/win in my books.

The grandchildren's school auction is coming up in two weeks.  Since last year's quilt was such a hit, my DIL asked if I would do another kindergarten quilt this year.  The room moms helped the children with the blocks and they are now in a finished quilt.

Another great project that I got to work on this week was a Thomas Fire quilt that my sister had sewn.  This will go to a special recipient - the current owner of our parent's old home that burned down in the fire.  We have named the quilt Horizon Sunsets as the home was on Horizon Drive and had views of spectacular sunsets over the ocean.  The backing that my sister made is as beautiful as the front and could easily make the quilt reversible.

My temperature quilt continues to grow as February moves along.  It has finally cooled off a bit, but as you can see, there is another red square meaning it went over 90*.

I had an e-mail from Cher who has also been following along with the Temperature quilt project.  She does not have a blog so I asked her if I could share her photo on my blog.  Look at the difference between our two temperatures.  She is more like my sister's.  I love how she did her 2018.  Thanks for joining us, Cher

A few months ago Gosia from Quilts My Way had a QAL with circular quilting patterns.  It was such fun to play along and it really gave me more confidence in sewing circles.  An extra bonus to joining the sewalong is that I was a winner of one of the prizes.  A special package arrived this week.  Can you imagine how excited I was when I opened this?

The lovely supply of threads will be put to good use and the fabrics are amazing.  Not only are they gorgeous, but they feel incredible.  These will have to be in a special project.  Thank you so much, Gosia.

It will be a good week ahead too.  My sister is coming from Alaska for our mom's 95th birthday and we have lots of quilting plans while she is here.  We are also planning a day at Quilt Con.

Temperature Quilt QAL Update

Month one is down and we are now well into the second month of our Temperature Quilt QAL.  I hope everyone is keeping up AND enjoying the process as we move into February.  We have had exceptionally warm temperatures in our area and my month of colors definitely reflects that fact.  I even had to move into the real reds this past week.  I was able to add the second row to my first and I am really enjoying the secondary block that appears when the two rows come together.

We do need a bit more winter and definitely more rain before our rainy season ends next month.  If you are sewing along with us, how are your colors?  Be sure to check out the other participants on IG at #sistempquilt18 #tempquilt2018 and #temperaturequilt2018

Slowly, but surely, my On Ringo Lake quilt has come together.  I had it all spread out on the living room floor as that was the only place big enough to put it all down.  Thus, I HAD to work on it to clean up the floor!  Good planning, right????  Sewing in bits and spurts, I finally finished it yesterday.  I really love the way it turned out.  Now...to get it quilted.

Of course, all was not easy sailing with a pup who thought the new flooring was quite interesting.  Need I say that there were many pieces displaced in a short amount of time?

The weather has been so warm and inviting all to enjoy the great outdoors.  The roses, despite still blooming, needed to be pruned and sprayed for the year.  Three days later over 100 bushes are done.  Doesn't it look "wintery" now???  lol

A few more blooms from the garden...

We took a stroll on the beach and were amazed at all of the debris that has washed down from the recent rains and slides post fire.

The tide was out and Toby enjoyed the tide pools.

A bit more emergency sewing went on here.  A special little one lost her first tooth.

Our Gridster Bee Queen this month is Elizabeth and her request was for food basket blocks.  She provided the food fabrics and we made the rest with our choice of fabrics.

I've had some really fun mail lately.  The first comes from Sherry.  I had remarked about the darling Mah Jongg fabric that she was using to create cute little origami coin bags.  I was completely surprised and delighted when one arrived in my mail.  The little purse is like a puzzle!  She placed a shiny copper penny in one pocket and it ends up in BOTH pockets when they are opened.

Five of us formed a group called Sewing With Friends a few years ago.  We have done row robins and round robins in the past and this year we are swapping fabric postcards.  This one arrived from Lynette.  The colors are so pretty and the construction is perfect.

Is everyone looking forward to the Olympics?  What is your favorite event.  It's a tough choice between the ice skating and skiing for me.