Spring in the Air

 I know that a lot of people do not care for Daylight Savings Time, but I am so excited for this weekend and "springing ahead" an hour.  I love the longer hours of daylight.  

With several new babies in the family, I needed to get started on some baby quilts - my favorite kind of quilts to make.  I dug through some of my red fabrics to create hearts.  The pattern is With Love from Gigis Thimble.  It is currently in the process of being quilted, but I grabbed a few shots of it on the line before I started the quilting.  I am terrible at following directions these days.  Instead of sixteen hearts, I made twenty five.  I may just have to make a second quilt. 

Lots of time has been spent in the garden lately.  Plants have been divided and transplanted with the arrival of spring.  Meanwhile, the cymbidiums are all starting to bloom.  Many of these are plants were my dads at one time.  It's always nice to see them continuing to bloom.  He had quite the green thumb.  

The roses are also ready to burst open.  These little Angel Face roses were eager to be among the first blooms.

The Gerbera daisies are also prolific right now.  I love this wall hanging vase that was a gift from a dear friend.  

I saw this on the internet the other day and thought it sadly humorous.  While out today the cheapest gas I saw was $6/gallon.  Ouch!  

e...e...eeeee

So.... how many of us are making the Elm Street QAL quilt?  This week the first sewing started and I had such fun choosing fabrics and putting my e's together.

My computer got sick this week so it has spent the last week in caring hands and has finally been returned.  I'm still trying to navigate around all of the new applications since it was all updated.

Meanwhile, I have had a little more time to spend in my sewing space which was great.  I managed to get my Round Robin quilt finished.  

The signature blocks were used on the back.

When our British friends were here in the spring we made her beautiful zig zag quilt.  There were a lot of leftover bits that were cut off the edges.  I squared those up and made usable blocks with them for a donation baby quilt.  

Then I backed it with the sweetest plush fabric.  It is so soft and cuddly.

I also finished my bee blocks for the MCM bee that I participate in each month.  These blocks were such fun to make and I think it will make a spectacular finish.  

We are forecast for a heat wave this weekend.  I am looking forward to it as it has been such a cool summer for us so far.  We were at my nephew's wedding last Saturday evening and people were wearing their ski parkas or were wrapped in blankets to keep warm.  It was crazy.  

One More Week

In just one short week, many of our homes will be filled with the smell of turkey cooking.  It is a great time of the year, but I must say that I enjoy the leftovers more.  I suppose it might be that we are too busy entertaining to think about enjoying the food.

With Thanksgiving being so late this year, Christmas will be right behind.  I managed to finish the latest Christmas stocking this week. 



When I do the cross stich stockings I like to use a fusible interfacing on the back to make sure that all of those stitches will stay in place over the years of use.  As well, I like to line my Christmas stockings.  Since this one had such a vintage feel to it, I found a fabric that also had a vintage feel to it.



This past week Kelly at I Have a Notion had a blog hop featuring Patsy Thompson’s embroidery designs.   Kelly was doing the most beautiful table runner.  Well…..I won the designs in her hop and I have been playing with them.  I have stitched these out on silk and I love the way they have stitched out.  The colors are a bit off, but I hope to get a better picture of them once I get the piece finished.  Aren’t the feathers stunning?
 





My mom, sister and I went to visit the Reagan Library this week.  They have a couple of new displays going on right now, one being famous cars from films, presidents and Heads of State.   It was fun to see them up close.  Here are a few of them.

Herbie

Owned by Elvis

Batmobile

Greased Lightening

The other display was California Christmas Trees.  These were fabulous.  They reflected all of the different areas of California.  Each was so unique and fun.  The room was a little dark for pictures, but this is one of them.  Love the surfboard!



In my quest to quilt my stack of finished tops, I have managed to get one more off the pile this week.  The pile, however, still remains tall.

Taking Advantage of Time

We are on baby watch for our newest grandbaby this week so I am taking advantage of time spent close to the phone.  I've tried to keep the week cleared of schedules so it has been a productive week around the house.  Cupboards have been sorted out,  lots of deep cleaning, a little gardening and some solid hours of sewing for mending and fun.  It all feels great.

Summer temperatures have finally arrived - at least warmer temps than what we have had so far this summer.  The air conditioning has yet to click on, but it feels toasty warm outside. 

My hummers are still at the feeders all day long, but we also have our orioles making appearances to share their food.  We always enjoy their cackling sound which is so distinctive.  They arrive in March and will migrate back in late August or early September. 

I'm continuing to plug away on my Just Takes 2 blocks. 

I made a quilt for the new baby.  I still need to put a label on it, but I always add a photo label with one of the first pictures of the new baby.  I love this jelly roll for a child's quilt.....such cute fabrics, so bright and cheery.

Minky was used on the back of this quilt.  I really like the look of the quilting with the minky fabrics. 

The 5th star is added to the Summer Star QAL at Temecula Quilt Co.

I've started my swap quilt for the ALQS7 swap.  I have mentioned before that I just love this swap.  It is done perfectly in the fact that you must have a completed quilt to enter.  You then get to view the completed quilts and choose your favorites from which you will then receive one of them.  The quilts I have received in the past have all been gorgeous!!!  A sneak peak.....

It's been fun to sit and hand stitch in the evenings while watching the Olympics.  I am going to be sorry to see them close.