Gridster Bee Blocks

For the month of June, I was the queen bee our Gridster Bee.  It was such fun to see blocks arriving in the mail all month.  Having them all assembled together, I can now show you my finished top.

This was a free block from Wombat Quilts.  In finishing it, I created a border that completed the stars.  My beemates were incredible in that each member made not one, but two blocks each.  The quilt came together so quickly with the additional blocks.

We are now creating blocks for our August queen.  These were such fun to make and I love her block choice.

Another Try

I am excited about posting this new post because I have made some changes in my settings and am eager to see if it has worked.  I created a g-mail account and have heard from several people that they are now receiving my blog comments.  I hope that means that I will also be receiving blog comments.  Fingers crossed here.

My sister who lives in Alaska and I have been working on a secret project for our other sister's special birthday.  It was given to her last evening so I can now show what we have done.  We made her a Temperature quilt using the temperatures, year and location of her birth.  My sister sewed the first six months and I did the last six.  Amazingly, when she sent me her section to add to mine, they fit together perfectly.

The back of the quilt is an incredible wine bottle print and so much fun to read.  The back includes the label and the temperature key.  

The past week found us in the Sierras for our annual fishing trip.  The lakes and streams were so full this year after all of the rains.  Of course, with all of the snow this year, spring blooms are just now happening.  Ski season is still open in Mammoth.  It really was gorgeous.

Our daughter's family has been watching a cocoon for the last few weeks and today their wait paid off.  The little ones were able to watch the whole process.  She sent me the video and I am amazed at how quickly it happened.  Nature is incredible!

July!

June is now only a memory.  July has arrived.  I didn't get one post done in the entire month.  I have contemplated giving up my blog with the changes Blogger made.  I enjoy blogging and I really love the rapport between bloggers.  Many "friends" have followed me for years, and I them.  Without getting notice in my inbox of incoming comments, it has become so time consuming to reply to them.  Maria has sent me e-mails with all sorts of hints for settings, etc.  Nothing I seem to do will change the situation.  I can only see comments if I sign in to my account and may times I cannot retrieve an e-mail address to reply.  I just do not feel it is right to not reply to all of the kind comments that I receive.  Thus, Blogger has been a thorn in my side when life is busy.

I haven't accomplished a lot of sewing for the month.  I have one near finish that I will show when I get done, but my fun quilting this month was receiving the blocks from my bee mates.  June was my month to be queen bee and it was great to see exciting mail arrive along with all the adds.  The block that I selected for my month was a freebie found HERE.  I made out a master plan and mailed it to my beemates.  Although I only expected one block from each, every person did TWO blocks!  Our Gridster Bee has been an amazing group of gals.  My blocks finish at 12" so the quilt went together quickly.  This is where I was earlier this week.

July means there is a new queen and these are her blocks.  I love all the scrappy goodness.

The beginning of June was for family celebrations.  Our children took us out for a day of surprises, end with a lovely dinner for our 50th anniversary.

The same weekend we celebrated the wedding of our eldest granddaughter.   This is a phot of our son and his family.

What would summer be without preserving?  The apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums have produced a massive crop this year.  I have been lucky to have these two delightful helpers to assist with canning.  We have done it together for so many years and I am sure they could do it without any guidance, but we so enjoy our canning days together.  One day we just baked without canning.  Their favorite was a Nectarine Vanilla Bean Scone.

We've also spent many hours at baseball fields and equestrian cross country meets.

There was also Father's Day and a well deserved celebration for the six great fathers in our family.

Finally there was July 4th.  We had around 80 people this year for the festivities - lots of great food and laughs.  I didn't get many pictures so I hope others have some to share.