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.  

Summer Fun

With the arrival of August my thoughts turn to the end of summer.  School will start soon for the children and it seems as though they just got out.  Guess that is the "old" in me coming out.  ;-}

We've been taking advantage of the sunny days with a little family beach time.  The water temperatures are still quite chilly (around 61*) which is giving us our cool and foggy summer this year, but the sun feels great.

I'm still plugging away on my Takes 2 blocks.  I am now ready for today's set to come out.  I finished the one applique that has been nagging at me too.  Gosh, I really hate am not good at needle turn applique?  It's a learning process, but my mind is not processing it very well.

Therefore.....it was fun to turn to my mindless sewing of Great Granny squares.  I finished my 20th block, put the borders on it and it is ready to be finished.  Yeah.  The colors do not show up well, but this is such a soft and pretty quilt.

The fourth star to the Summer Stars QAL also got done.  I love these little things.

If you want to see a fabulous idea for a quilt block you need to go visit Sandi's blog today.   Tell me......does that not make you want to make one for each day of the week?

Pets on Quilts

Have you checked out the wonderful Pets on Quilts Parade?  This is such a fun show as people show off their pets, pet quilts and all else.  Be sure to pop over and visit Snoodles and all of the fun links.  You will not be disappointed. 

My entry is in the "other pets" category.  The only pets we currently have are our wonderful tortoises.  They are really more like "half" pets since they sleep all winter.  ;-}

Please meet Joshua and Sagura on my Civil War mini quilt.

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.

Take Me Home Country Roads

Before I go there I will show you some of my plumeria that are blooming.  I just love walking out into the wonderful smells of the plants in bloom.  It makes me think of the warm air and beautiful colors of the waters of Hawaii.

As with all big families, there are celebrations of all sorts.  This week was a celebration of a life well lived - my aunt and mother to eleven beautiful adult children.  I traveled back to Iowa and to the country roads.  It was a heartwarming time to see all of the children, the numerous grandchildren and many great grandchildren all together to honor her and recall their memories of her. 

I managed to experience the heat that many of you have been writing of in your blogs.  Many of the cornfields are in sorry shape with the heat and lack of rain.  The future forecast does not look great either.  We will all pay the cost of this with the icrease in the price of foods and meat over the next few years.

I hope to get back to my regular blogging this week.  See you then.

Another Week Along...

Wow!  The summer is just zipping past.  I should be used to it by now, but it never ceases to amaze me the rate that time flies.

The Fourth of July in the middle of the week just really played with my mind.  I kept thinking that Friday was Monday since DH took Thursday off and it got worse from that point forward.  I am glad that it is back to a normal Monday today.

I enjoyed the jam and bread making with the grandaughters, followed by some good games of jacks.  Does anyone else remember playing jacks by the hours when you were young?  It's a lot little tougher to get down on the floor in the right position at this age.

We got 6 batches of strawberry and one batch of peach jam made.

This past week we've had birthdays and a wedding - all fun family times filled with happiness. 



Such fancy red boots!



We had a terrific celebration on the 4th with the families all here.  Our crowds are quite large, but everyone pitched in, brought food and helped to clean up afterwards.  Our youngest son and his family were here for a few days so that kept life jumping.

While many of you have had terrible heat, we have been exceptionally cool.  Notice all the sweatshirts at the party on the 4th of July?  This was our forecast for the week and I have to say that we were thrilled to actually see a couple of 70s in the forecast.  Our high on the 4th was 67*!!

The weekend was rather quiet and allowed me time at the sewing machine.  I'm still working to catch up on the Takes 2 blocks.  I have put off the applique long enough and the last two blocks that I needed to catch up were both applique.  One is now finished and one more to go.

Yesterday we went to see the new Coke machine at our son's restaurant.  It is called a Freestyle machine.  Have any of you seen it before?  It is like a smorgasbord of selection for your drinks.  You can get well over 100 drink choices all from this little machine.  It is whatever your mind can imagine.  He was telling us that people are coming in to the restaurant just to try it out and to take pictures of this fancy machine.  Fascinating!

This is a crazy week ahead for us.  Our son and DIL are off for a few days in Hawaii and we are helping out with the ten children.  It will be fun and busy at the same time.  Let's pray for no broken arms this year!!!

I'll leave you with a picture of the baby quail waiting to jump down and devour the garden sprouts.  See what a good daddy the babies have?  He watched until each one had managed to get into the garden.