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.

Goodbye June

It's hard to believe that the year is now half way gone and summer is in full swing in many places.  Although our foreseeable future is still forecast to remain cool, I hope to see some summer temperatures appearing here in July.  My Temperature Quilt 2018 is looking quite boring!  Every day is the same color.  We had only two days in the entire month that went over 80* - an 84 and 85.  Our January and February both had warmer days, and more of them.

June has been my month for being the Queen Bee in our Gridster Bee.  I had requested Scrappy Heart blocks.  I am loving the secondary effect that the beautiful hearts are creating.   This is where they are right now, but I see on IG that more are arriving shortly.

Now that July is almost upon us, Leisa is our Queen Bee for that month.  Her request is for the Starry Sky Quilt blocks.  I love this pattern and have wanted to make one myself.  I think it will be gorgeous to see all of the stars together.  

We've had several birthdays this week in the family.  One of the granddaughters loves to cook so I made her a vintage apron as one of her gifts.  

The afternoons have been warm enough to enjoy a little pool time with the grandchildren.  

One of the gals in our quilt guild always shares the cutest cartoons.  This one struck my fancy and I am sure many can relate.

Welcome Summer.

While many of you are enjoying the delightful warm days of summer, we are heavy into our June Gloom days - foggy, cool mornings followed by partly sunny afternoons.  It is always a great time to escape and enjoy the warmer temperatures.  So....for the last two weeks we have been away and enjoying ourselves.

We have traveled my many modes of transportation - planes, trains and automobiles, just to start.  We flew to New York and spent time eating our way through by visiting Chinatown, Little Italy and many restaurants in between.  lol

From there we boarded the Queen Mary 2 and cruised for seven days to Southhampton, England.  It is such a great way to bridge the time change as you loose an hour each day.

We left New York Harbor on a cloudy day, but had spectacular views of the city and Lady Liberty as we set sail.

We had an amazing crossing and, again, ate our way across.  Afternoon teas with warm scones, finger sandwiches and delicate desserts is a habit that I could really get used to.

Each evening we enjoyed a cocktail in our lounge and they brought small bites to enjoy.  This was one of my favorites, a small jar with creamed potato and a bite of bacon along with a spoon filled with prosciutto wrapped melon and a rolled anchovy.  It was different each day.

Once in the UK we stayed in London and traveled around by bus, taxi, underground subway and trains.

Love the streets around London as we walked to our underground station.

We visited Cambridge and walked for miles while enjoying the sights of the city on a warm and sunny day.

We also spent time with our friends in Finchingfield.  Their village is just charming with beautiful thatched roof cottages and wonderful walking paths.

Coming home is always fabulous too.  It's great to be around family again.  There was happy mail waiting for me since June is my month for being the Queen in the Gridster Bee.  Marsha sent me these two wonderful heart blocks.

 I am looking forward to reacquainting myself with my sewing machine this weekend. I was able to start the Christmas stocking for the newest grandbaby while on board the ship and I got a good start on it.

 I had the perfect setup in our room where I could stitch and watch the ocean pass.

Mystery Time

It's that time of the year again when we get to sew along with Bonnie Hunter and her Mystery.  On Ringo Lake is being done in the colors I love so I am thrilled to be sewing along.  The first clue came out last Friday.  I could hardly wait to start, but we always celebrate our Thanksgiving here on Saturday.  Setting tables, cleaning and cooking for 50+ took precedence until Sunday.


I decided to do just a couple of 9 patch blocks on Sunday before the cleaning started.  Somehow, once I started it was like eating potato chips and I couldn't stop.   They went up quickly and I had them all done before I knew it.

After that, I still did not want to face the cleanup so I sewed up my Gridster Bee block for December.  That finishes up the bee blocks for this year, but I am so glad the bee will continue next year.  I'll be linking this up with Quilt Fabrication's 100th Midweek Makers celebration.

Yesterday was a day for cleaning.  All....day....long!!!!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving with the kids all home from college for the long weekend.  The weather was unbelievably warm too.  It was in the mid 90s on Thanksgiving and still in the mid 80s for our celebration on Saturday.  It felt especially good to those students returning from the Midwest.

We did our annual group photo of the kids and grandchildren - missing just one grandchild this year.

Us with our five chidlren

Son #1, DIL and family

Son #2, DIL and family

Son #3, DIL and family

Son #4, DIL and family

Daughter, SIL and family

Now it is time to transform the house to a Christmas décor.

Mid September

Gosh...here it is - almost mid September.  Fall décor is everywhere.  It won't be long before Christmas decorations start appearing.

I had a dear friend come up for a much too short visit, but she brought some treasured quilts along with her to share.  One that particularly grabbed my attention was a stunning yo yo quilt.  It was made by her Aunt Tillie.  I think that the yellow background drew me to it instantly.  It was BIG and so heavy.  It was also in fabulous condition.

Look at the great fabrics that were used .... if they could only talk..... and the wonderful arrangement of the yo yos.  Oh...those tiny stitches.  I wonder how long it took her to make it.

That scalloped border.....SWOON!

Leisa (no blog), our Gridster Bee recipient for October, sent us some African fabrics that her parents had collected for her.   We were to make the African Queen blocks by Anne Batiste using the fabrics.  The fabrics really called to be used with fussy cutting and these are my blocks for her.

Our September started off super hot, but has mellowed out a bit as seen in my Temperature Quilt.  We had two days about 105* so I actually had to find a new color for it.

I'm also continuing to finish off the Confetti Star blocks from my Gridster Bee choice.  I needed a few more blocks to bring it to the size that I want it.   I am looking forward to having this quilt finished as I love the blocks that I received.

These cooler days will slow down the wonderful summer garden that we have enjoyed.  Our son is growing some of the giant pumpkins this year in his garden and they are HUGE.  I have no idea how he is going to move them from the location where they are growing, but it should be interesting.

The late laid eggs of the tortoises are now hatching.  I forget how quickly they grow, but seeing the new one next to August's hatchlings really makes me realize how fast they grow.

We had an exciting weekend as a guest of Stanislaus Foods in California's Central Valley and were able to tour their tomato processing plant and their Corto Olive Oil Co.  It was fun to follow the tomatoes from field to canned in under five hours.  The olive oil production will start in October.  The tours were just fascinating.  I would have loved to share some photos, but no photographing was allowed.  I am always amazed at the machinery that is created for each job along the line.  Machines play such a huge role in our lives and I am in awe of the people who develop machines to do the various tasks.

We have another busy weekend coming up as we are keeping five grandchildren and one dog while their parents are away. There won't be much computer time.  ;-)

Long Overdue Post

It seems like forever - and yet only yesterday - that I last posted.  The month has flown past but we have been busy with lots of wonderful family times.  The sewing has been slow and in bits and pieces, but that is fine too.

I've been trying to keep up with the Sew All Around QAL that has been running on Quilts My Way this summer.  I am enjoying doing all of the circles that Gosia has been challenging us with in her patterns.  This one was all about waves.

Other bits of sewing have been my Gridster Bee Blocks.  I have enjoyed being able to work ahead a bit on these.  These blocks are for Lisa on IG @nymblefyngers.  She requested little tree blocks.  The pattern can be found HERE.

I need to catch up on the Temperature Quilt, but this is what the year has looked like up into the middle of July.

We recently returned from our annual fishing trip in the Sierras.  It was absolutely gorgeous this year after the wonderful rains we had.  Of course, there is still quite a bit of snow in the area.  Our son actually skied one of the mornings before fishing!  The scenery was spectacular as we fished at 9700 feet elevation.  There is nothing like have a line in the water as you take in that sight.  

Our best fisherman with his 4#8oz. trout.

My favorite part is watching and enjoying the interaction of all of the grandchildren.  It's not as though they aren't together frequently since they live locally, but they aren't together 24/7 like they are when we are away.  

Part of the gang who attended.  

  

DD came over and helped me put up the pickles for the summer.  Everyone wanted to help so we found jobs for everyone.

As we say goodbye to July we welcome August.  Christmas will be here before we know it.  Happy August!