Spring Into Summer

It appears that we have skipped spring and jumped right into summer here.  The last two weeks have been so warm and so unusual for us.  They keep making promises of rain, but Mother Nature is having a field day with those predictions.  I am considering doing a few rain dances on the rooftop.  ;-)  I was out working in a flower bed today, but once the temp hit 92* I felt that was enough gardening.

The pear trees have burst out for a quick bloom and are already filling in with the green leaves.  I had to grab a picture from my mom's neighborhood when I was visiting this week.

As well...right by her front door a little hummingbird has made a nest and laid two of the tiniest eggs.  It will be so much fun to watch.  I can't wait to see how small the babies will be.

The weekend was so delightful that we decided to head to the beach.  Our daughter and her children came up and joined us on Saturday.  Although the water was chilly, it did not stop the little ones from venturing out into it.  The surf was huge and the surfers were loving it.

Sunrise walk

Monday was a day off of school for the grandaughters.  They have an upcoming event at their school and needed to make some costumes for it.  We had so much fun and a lot of giggles too.  They did a great job and even left wearing their outfits.

Block Lotto this month is the Snails Trail block so I pulled some of the brown fabrics out and stitched a few.  Seven of the blocks will stay here for my Old MacDonald quilt.

I'll be linking up with Midweek Makers this week.

Is anyone going to Quilt Con in Pasadena this week?  I am heading down and meeting up with several fellow bloggers while I am there.  I have not attended one before so I am looking forward to the event.

A Crazy Week

Some weeks are just a bit more crazy than others and this past week was one of those.  I had little ones here off and on while one of our grandsons was in the hospital and had four days of IVs due to dehydration from a bad virus he picked up somewhere.  It is tough to see little ones so ill and it broke my heart when he so politely asked “no more needles please” as they were starting the third IV.  Geesh!  The good news is that he came home last evening and is doing great. 


As time permitted through the week I worked on finishing my Japanese x&+ quilt.  I rearranged a few of the blocks from the last photo of them and am quite pleased with this arrangement.  I’d better be happy because I am not taking it out!!!



We were suppose to send a name label with our blocks, but not everyone did so.  With the ones I did receive, I added a few more blocks and made scrappy blocks using the name labels for the back.  I really like the total scrappiness of this quilt.

I love the sun coming through from the back.

  
With the spring season the hummingbirds have returned in mass.  I’ve had several that have flown into the house (thanks to small children and open doors) and have needed rescued.  They seem fearless and grateful to be free once again.



Onwards with the week……….

TGIF

Gosh....remember how Fridays were always such a big deal when you were in school?   Working in nursing there really was never that Friday joy since hospitals are open 24/7.   Now that I am retired the Fridays aren't that unique either, but it is a TGIF day.

Since it is also Flag Day, I will show you my red, white and blue finish.  I love the way this came out and will look forward to decorating with it over the many patriotic holidays.  Since it was my scheduled project for finishing this month I will be linking it up with A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Another project that I have been working on was a pattern tester for Emily.  I finally have a completion to share with you.  I just love Emily's border idea and I know that I will be using this technique again sometime.  Sorry about the indoor picture, but it was too big to hang on the line.  Isn't it a great pattern? You can see Emily's version HERE.

I had a dear friend, Peg, come visit for a few days.  We've know each other for over 40 years and always enjoy each other's company.  Her granddaughter had drawn a quilt design and and Peg wanted to know if it was possible to sew it out.  She arrived with her fabrics and we sketched it all out.  She does not sew, but I think she really enjoyed the process and also did all of the FMQ on it.  She was very adventurous with her FMQ designs, including special names, hearts, flowers, stick people and a Grandma signature.   The backing is Minky so it crinkled up nicely and had such a nice drape to it. 

Drawn quilt and finished quilt - the colors matched perfectly.

My Japanese x&+ bee blocks continue to arrive and my layout is growing because of it.  I really like the way it looks - so scrappy and bright.

Isn't this a great card?

It seems like I spend a good amount of time these days filling up my bird feeders.  I now have seven 4-cup feeders for the orioles and hummers that get filled AND emptied every day.  We have two different types of orioles at the feeders - a Hooded and a Bullock oriole.  The Bullock orioles are much more talkative.  The babies are also now at the feeders.

In closing I will show you what happens when you give sidewalk chalk to little ones.  I'm not sure whether the sidewalk or the bodies got decorated the most.

I hope everyone has a great Father's Day weekend.  We will have the whole gang here on Sunday.

An Excuse to Sew

I have had a perfect excuse to spend a few days with my sewing machine.  I have a shadow that will not leave my side and makes cleaning the house impossible. 

I can't imagine why he thinks the world revolves around him.  He is incredibly curious and has his nose in everything.  Cleaning the windows on the glass doors is also senseless so I might as well sit and sew.  I just have to be careful when I move from the sewing machine to the ironing board as there is a GREAT BIG detour.   His family returns home tonight.

The Great Granny blocks have peaked my interest and I joined in on them.  I had a jelly roll of Nature's Notebook and this project is perfect for the 2 1/2 inch strips.  They go up so quickly and are really fun to make.  I think I will probably make mine 4 X 5 blocks which will make it about 63x76" when it is finished with borders.  Only eight more blocks to go. 

I also caught up on the last couple of blocks for the Temecula Summer Star QAL.  These are such cute little stars and I am using some of my Civil War fabric scraps. 

Sharon at Vrooman's Quilts recently had a giveaway that I was lucky to win.  There are so many wonderful prints and colors in this  Petite Odile jelly roll and I am excited to make something with them.  Thank you so much, Sharon.  I love it.

The hummers still continue to flock to the feeders.  It seems like there are more than ever this year, but it won't be long before they head off for the winter. 

One last picture that I thought was cute.  Can you tell that this little guy's sister wants to take care of him and share her dolls?  He looks a little distressed and is wondering where his baseball is instead.  ;-)

I think my shadow and I will work on my Just Takes 2 blocks today so I can get caught up before the next blocks come out on the first of the month.

The Joys of August

I have decided to count count the many joys of having and endless winter-summer.

1. A greatly reduced power bill when your air conditioner has gone only for less than one hour all summer.
2. A much lowered water bill when you do not have to keep everything well moistened.
3. An early appreciation of the autumn colors when the trees are already changing into their gorgeous yellows and reds.
4. A full on turkey dinner with all of the trimmings so you can heat up the kitchen.  Trust me...it smells and tastes wonderful in August!!

    5. A garden that is so slow in coming around that we will still be enjoying tomatoes in December.

    6.  Weather reporters having lots of statistics to share with us and endless reports on our record cool summer. 

Can you tell how happy I am that we are having such a wonderful summer this year?  Can you sense my happy face?????  I am rejoicing because we do have a forecast of highs in the low 70s for the next seven days.  We haven't seen a 70 in the forecast for weeks now.

 Certain things say summer to me and one of them is sunflowers.    DH always plants a row of sunflowers for me to pick and bring in for bouquets during the summertime.  Don't they just look happy? 

They are always wonderful to have inside the house as well.

We are really enjoying the orioles this year.  We have had so many of them and between them and the hummingbirds we are going through five pounds of sugar a week.  They are at the feeders from sunrise to sunset.  Next to one of the feeders we have a wind sculpture.  It is hysterical to see the orioles sit on it as it goes around and around.  I wonder if they ever get dizzy.

The colorful male.

Two females.

Several of the males have now left for their long journey South and the females will be following shortly.  We will miss them when they are gone.   Some mornings I will have more than a dozen hummers at each feeder as well.

We took some more of the grands to see Toy Story 3 in 3D.  I enjoyed it as much this time as last - maybe even more.  I apparently missed a few of the good lines last time.

Sewing this week has been one of those frustrating events.  I would love to sit and sew for hours at a time, but it seems this week was more sewing in bits and pieces.  It is just a good thing that I have a room designated to sewing so that I don't have to clean it up each time I sew.  I finally tackled the large mending stack and finished that off.  As well I managed to get the last block finished on my Jelly Roll Quilt Along.  After putting all the blocks together I decided to change a few of the blocks. 

I absolutely love this quilt top now.  The colors are so perfect for our home and will be a welcomed covering for the cold bones.

I have also been working on my seemingly endless pile of blocks for this months Schnibble quilt.

Then there is also this little pile of pinks for the newest granddaughter. 

Blogger is not allowing me to center some of my pictures on this post so I apologize for your eye having to wander here and there.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers regarding my cousin.  They seem to have come to the conclusion that it was a heart attack.  It is a shame and such a shock that an athletic young man should be struck down like that at forty four years of age.