Labor Day Week

The week slipped by so quickly.  I think the long weekend really snuck up on me.  I find I am still thinking I have a lot more of the week left.  Hmmm.  Anyone else feel that way?

Summer has finally hit with a vengeance here in So. California.  I really don't mind the heat, but I could live happily without the humidity.

With a stack of unquilted tops a mile long, I have been playing around a bit with some longarm quilting.  It has been really fun and it is nice to have some finishes so I can start more quilts!!!

A simple pinwheel design for our guild.

This is actually from Christa's String of Pearls QAL.  It looks completely different in the colors that are used in it, but I am happy with the results.

I had the best time last week meeting a fellow blogger. Beth made her way through the L.A. traffic and out to visit. We had the most wonderful time chatting and the day went much too quickly. She is every bit as awesome as she comes across in her blog - talented, creative and charming.  She has a picture on her blog.  Look at all of these goodies that she brought along with her.

I love them all, Beth, especially the wonderful tote and dishcloth which I am using all the time. 

Do any of you follow Rhonda?  Every Thursday she gives away one of her mug rugs that she creates.  The details on them are amazing.  I won last week's shoe mug rug.  Isn't it cute?  If you haven't joined in on the fun yet, you need to pop over for a visit with her.

I also won these wonderful Windham Fabric Scrap Bag from Debby during the Hexie Blog Hop that was happening.  She also has the most beautiful new header on her blog.

We are in the process of redoing the front landscaping.  After 25 years, things have died or gotten so overgrown it looked tired and unappealing.  We have had a bench on the front deck that was also tired looking.  This week, I stripped it all down and water sealed it.  Then I made new cushions for it.  It is definitely an improvement, but what a job that was!

Reversible pillows

I managed to get my Friendship bag off to my swap partner in our Sewing With Friends swap.  I think she has probably already received it or will shortly so will show it now.

The last of our babies also hatched.  We called him Tiny Tim because he is small and feisty.

So .... that's been my week.  How was yours?

Still Alive and Kicking

I hope I can still remember how to do a post!  It has been so long since my last one.  There hasn't been a lot to SHOW these last few weeks as my camera messed up on me. My trusty camera got dropped, breaking off the battery/memory card door.  Thus it would not work so I purchased a new one.  I took pictures over the July 4th holiday and all that weekend.  Initially I could view the photos, but then it just showed giant question marks for each photo and then flashed "memory card error".  To make a long story short - the camera was defective and there was no way to recover my photos in spite of their best efforts with different recovery programs.  Such is life.  The party pictures are now etched in my mind - never to be shared.

There has been a bit of sewing done over the last two weeks.  I finished piecing my String of Pearls for Christa's quilt along.  It looks blue, but it is actually a mottled gray color.

I also quilted and bound my Halloween Schnibble that I pieced several years ago.  I needed a finish this month for the monthly tally at A Lovely Year of Finishes.  Slowly, but surely, these tops are getting finished. 

Mary was my swap partner for our mug rugs this time around.  She made me the most delightful mug rug and her work is just glorious.  The card that came with it matched perfectly.  As Mary said ... guess which came first. 

Aren't these such happy flowers?

Extra goodies she also sent are fabulous!

This was the mug rug that I made her for the summer. 

Trying to stay ahead on my Japanese x&= swap blocks, I made my August ones which are now ready to mail off.

As the U.K. (and the rest of the world) is on baby watch, we are also on baby watch here.  Our daughter is due to deliver any day now and we are all waiting to see what sex the baby will be.  I love being surprised - the old fashioned way.  They have two boys and a little girl right now. 

You may remember that a few months ago I got to play around with some Happy Town fabric from Jacquelynne Steves.  She is now having a wonderful giveaway over on her site so be sure to check it out and sign up to win. 

We've had such a delightful summer this year and the garden has been so prolific.  Needless to say there has been a lot of using and sharing going on around here.  It always requires a lot of time, but is so worth the efforts once winter sets in. 

Birthdays and Goals

Not having my computer has really been a rather nice break.  I do have it in a temporary fix mode for now, but I am sure it is on its last legs.  I just hope to keep it running until they come up with a fix for the Win*dows 8.  I've heard such nightmares about the one out there now.

I got to test a cute little finger puppet from Little Black Duck.  These are the cutest little critters and the grandchildren just love them.  The mouse is the newest addition.  They go up quickly, are beautifully packaged and have plenty of needed supplies in the kits.  These would be perfect for a beginner hand sewer.

We've been celebrating birthdays here this week.  I love it when the girls ask me to make something for them for their birthdays.

The blouse looks distorted with the hanger inside...sorry.

For this one it was all about princesses.

Everyone enjoyed the cake.

I have played a bit with some different fabrics for Christa's QAL, String of Pearls.  Although the colors did not come out well in the picture, they really look pretty together. 

Goal setting time...... I think this month I am going to try to finish my Halloween Schnibbles from a couple of years ago.  I wanted to do this a couple of months ago and didn't get to it.   Let's hope I can accomplish it this month.

It's time to finish preparing for houseguests and a big celebration of the 4th of July tomorrow.   Happy birthday, U.S.A.!!!

The Crash

The better part of the week has been spent in a slump.  You see....my computer died ;-(  I still have the old desktop, but everything is so slow going on it and the laptop is where I have my computer programs.  I had been trying to learn to use my embroidery software more efficiently and I think my fried brain burned up the machine!!

It just makes for more sewing time....that's the good side.  Right???? 

There are lots of little ones starting to loose their teeth around here so Tooth Fairy pillows were needed.  I actually made four, but forgot to take pictures of the blue and green one before sending them to their new owners. 

Pockets on the back for the teeth and what the good fairy leaves in exchange.

I FINALLY finished piecing my Easy Street.  I love this quilt and it is huge.  I laid it out on the grass, but the wind kept blowing up the edges.  It ended up at 94" square.   I know it looks like a rectangle in the photo, but it is square.

There are so many fun quilt-alongs happening right now and it is hard to avoid joining in on them.  I started working on the String of Pearls and have my steps 1 through 3 completed.  This one should go up quickly.

Since a lot of time is spent in the garden these days, I thought I would share some of the flowers with you.

My gardenias are blooming prolifically right now so I love to bring them into the house.  They fill the room with the most delightful fragrance. 

The hibiscus are also pretty right now.  As you can see, they grow well in our climate.

My favorite bush.

My job this week is canning the apricots.  They are at the point of needing to be picked before the birds beat me to them.  A day in the house and they will be ready to go.

Have you ever enjoyed a "donut peach"?  Ours are also just getting ripe.  These are flat little things (thus the name "donut") and they are white in color on the inside.  Their flavor is amazing!

Lastly....our baby quail have grown up and are now as big as their parents.  We just love listening to them and having them come to the feeders. 

Have you been enjoying the Super Moon this weekend?  It is really pretty.  Makes me want to put on the old record album of  Henry Mancini - Concert for Young Lovers.   I think I'll go see if I still have it! 

Have a great week and I will be back visiting when my computer gets sorted out.