Wonderful Vacation

Vacations are wonderful things … especially when the weather is fantastic, the food is great and the company is good.  We played golf in the western mountains of North Carolina and wore ourselves out.  This is one of my Smokey Mountain pictures from this year:

 And this is a little gazebo that the cart path goes past on one of the golf holes:

 And this is the bridge that was featured in the movie “Dirty Dancing”:

 (My golf ball is in that pond on the left before the little waterfall …)

 And I made my friends stop at every barn quilt that we passed!  Here are a few:

On a Welcome Center

On a Shed

At MeMaw's Produce Stand

More tomorrow!

What’s in the Works?

I have been busily making stars out of pinwheels for one of the larger Quilts of Valor again.  My QOV group uses a snowball block and I ask them to save the leftover triangles from the corners of those blocks for me to use to make pinwheels.  This is the start of how I am using the pinwheels:

 Every other star will have a red frame and star points.  Fortunately, I was able to get some nice red fabric at an excellent price recently due to a friend that told me of a good sale!  More photos to come as the top progresses.

And of course, I always have to have more than one project in the works.  This top uses fabrics that were sent to me to make a quilt for Wrap-Them-in-Love, an organization that sends quilts to children around the world.  I’m going to call it “Rogue’s Gallery”:

 It’s also coming along nicely, but I need some more orange fabric for the borders – oh well, another fabric shopping trip – too bad – LOL!

Grandparent’s Day

Last Sunday was Grandparent’s Day – one of those Hallmark holidays.  So my brother and SIL and their family came down to visit my mother, 86, who is in poor health.  My brother has three boys and two have wives and one has a 2-yr old baby girl (my mother’s first great-grandchild).  There was a real crowd and it made my mother very happy to see everyone.  They came to FL from Colorado, Illinois and Indiana.

 We ate at John’s Pass Village, close to where they were all staying near my mother at the beach.  They all got to see the dolphins swimming in the intercoastal waterway.

View from their condo

They have a boardwalk of shops there right on the water and the baby discovered the stuffed dog in front of the pet store – it’s hard to capture a picture of her since she’s a little perpetual motion machine!

Now You See Her

Now You Don't !!

 Of course, I couldn’t forget about quilting and when I saw the tile in the bath at their condo, I had to take a photo – LOL!

 But I did finish up a top this weekend from a great book called “Take 5” by Kathy Brown – I got this book for my birthday and will be making more from it soon, since it’s so good:

 You use just 5 different fabrics and can work up some great looking tops really fast with her excellent directions.  The stripes in this one don’t photograph well, but the colors are bright and vibrant and the print has little raccoons and mushrooms - perfect for a child's quilt:

And lastly, I noticed this little beastie sticking his head up from the grass in our yard:

He’s a snapping turtle that I guess wanted a little relief from all of the standing water back in our conservation area.  Even when they’re small like this guy, they can bite your fingers off, so I gave him a wide berth!

We Will Always Remember

All we have of freedom, all we use or know -

This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.

~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899

Happy Labor Day!

Labor Day is a traditional day of rest and relaxation...

That’s just what I intend to do!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful day, too.

I’ve Been Busy

Even though I’ve been busy, I only have bits and pieces to show for it.  I made a quick appliqué block to send to a swap group member that had a crisis in her family.  The blocks were to be any blue heart design on a yellow background and another member has volunteered to put it together into a quilt.  I hope it will be a comfort.

I had it in the envelope then remembered I wanted to take a picture

Then I finished up my round of our Round Robins that are circulating from another group.  The person who sent this center also included a piece of the focus fabric that could be used or not – the recipient’s choice.  When I received it, another person had already done the cute triangles with yellow for her Round 1 addition, so I went subtle and used the focus fabric a lot in my Round 2.  I wish I had had some yellow so the 4-patches would have popped out more, but red is what I had on hand.

 I have been trying to keep up my walking in between the rain storms.  I took these pictures of a Gardenia that has been shaped into tree form last week and when I walked by today (without my camera, of course), the tree is full of blooms and you can smell the lovely gardenia fragrance before you even get to that house.

gardenia flower

gardenia tree

 And the rains have made this beautiful Bleeding Hearts bush burst into flower also.  Guess the plants around here were thirsty and are now grateful for the quenching!

I just like this giant elephant ear plant.  I don’t recall seeing any at the stores or plant nurseries, but I think they’re cool.

 And last, but not least, I sent off a box to Wrap-a-Smile with 6 quilts in it.  I still have 2 of the 8 yet to quilt, but thought I was taking too long and just wanted to get these out the door.  One more is on the frame – so maybe tomorrow (I say that a lot…).

So maybe I do have a little something to show for where my time went!

Today is National Dog Day

A great day to celebrate the dog and to promote dog rescue!

I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well. Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes. I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY​

And this is my rescued Australian Shepherd Mix:

What a sweetheart!

Places I’d Like to Visit

I read in a book recently about an event that is held annually on Martha’s Vineyard.  It is called the “Grand Illumination” and I looked it up and apparently just missed it (like I could really go this year, but a girl can dream ...!).  It was held this past week on August 15^th.  All of the gingerbread cottages around the Martha’s Vineyard Campgrounds and Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs take part in the event.

The cottages are adorable and a sight themselves, but when they are all strung with oriental lanterns and lit in unison at dusk, they are truly a sight to behold.  What a great family outing this would be.

 

The event begins with a concert and community sing prior to the Illumination, a tradition that has been upheld since 1869.  I’ve heard that the cottages have been handed down from generation to generation and if, heaven forbid, one of the cottages should come up for sale it is immediately snapped up just through word of mouth.  Apparently, the lanterns stay with the cottage!

Wouldn’t it be cool to make a house-themed quilt using the Grand Illumination as your inspiration?  Just think of all the great embellishments …

Here’s one block pattern for a cottage (with tutorial) from Nanette Merrill at Freda’s Hive:

http://fredashive.blogspot.com/2008/09/cottage-tutorial.html

And here is a more typical house pattern (easy peasey) from Janet Wickell at About.Com:

http://quilting.about.com/od/blockofthemonth/ss/house_quilt.htm

Just had to add this to my long list of quilts to make!

What's in the Works

Nothing earth-shattering - I have been working on bindings … lots and lots of bindings:

Remember that I was shocked that I had 8 tops stacking up waiting to be quilted?  Well, I’ve whittled that stack down to only 2 still needing to be quilted.

the finished stack is growing - 5 down, 3 to go

And this one is quilted and only needs to be bound.

I’ve had to start and stop since we’ve been having electrical storms in the area.  The clouds looked beautiful in the sunset, but parts of our area have been pounded with rain.

Today alone, we had 2.96 inches.  Can’t say that’s not a good thing, but I hate unplugging my sewing machine when I’m on a roll!

Speaking of rolls … did I tell you that I picked up a wonderful Jelly Roll with the last of my birthday gift cards?

Just look at these great colors!  I have a pattern in mind – watch this spot for an update sometime soon …

I Must Be Crazy ...

Yes, I must be crazy.  It is 95^◦ in FL this time of year (with a heat index of 102^◦) and I went out and played golf again today.  I was doing great on the front nine and fell apart on the back nine.  It wasn’t my fault … no, really!  I was totally demoralized when a big black crow stole my favorite Kashi crackers right out of my cart.  I was going to bite into their crunchy goodness right after that hole …

They were unopened and I even had them hidden under a golf towel, but the little bugger found them and flew off with them.  Bummer.  At least this Roseate Spoonbill didn’t laugh at me – my husband certainly did.  This Spoonbill might be young since its head is still very white.  It was the only one on the course and they usually hang out in groups.

 

Then on another hole I hit a very excellent shot off the tee and another very excellent shot that was going right for the flag – wait – wait for it – until it hit the edge of the concrete cart path and bounced like a rock back at me, hit the top of the golf cart by my side and landed 50 yards behind where I started.  Again, my very supportive DH nearly laughed himself sick.  These Coots were hiding their heads in shame for me … or were they laughing, too?!

Now you tell me how any of that could possibly be my fault?!!  I think I’m going to go take a nap …

But first, I’ll have to show you my finished Quilts of Valor Mystery Quilt top - this is #24 from Persimmon Quilts:

It is HUGE (72 x 72).  I’m used to making 40 x 60 child-sized quilts and this was a monster to work with.  But I think it turned out really well.  Another member of my QOV group was making the same Mystery quilt and I hope she brings it to our meeting tomorrow – I’ll be sure to snap a picture!

Quilting Progress and a Book

I had finally shamed myself into getting the pile of tops onto the quilt frame … and I have made great progress.  These are the three tops that are fully quilted, including their borders – now they just await bindings:

 And this is the back of the fourth one that has been quilted on the frame, but needs quilting in the borders (I do that on my tabletop machine).

I stopped for awhile because I want to mull over whether to change thread color.  Because the top fabrics have a lot of black in them, I quilted the center squares with black thread and it looks just fine.  But the top and bottom borders are rainbow stripes with no black and I don’t know how black thread would look on that … I’m thinking about what to do!

I did get some exercise walking up to the library even though the sky looked threatening.  The osprey sitting in the lower-left on this tree branch had sense enough to stop flying, but I went anyway.  I made it there and back before the downpour, thank you very much!

So, I’ve been reading a book called “The Age of Homespun” that has some interesting stories (although it is quite tedious reading – sort of like a college textbook!).

One thing I learned was that the history of textiles was often able to be followed using wills and probate records that included inventories of the deceased’s possessions.  In some of those documents, e.g., letters, inventories and probate documents, quilted petticoats were called simply “quilts”.  Wouldn’t that be confusing if you were looking for a bedcover?!  These quilted petticoats usually had some kind of simple crosshatching over most of the surface with more decorative designs on the borders.  One woman even quilted a full-masted ship in sail along with mermaids on hers!  This is one example from the Old Sturbridge Museum’s collections:

Tomorrow’s tasks include finishing a few more quilts, maybe get to those bindings and get those bug jar appliqués in the mail.  Just more fun ….

Battle of the Beetles

Well, that title should really read “battling the beetles”.  I have a live-and-let-live policy with bugs … I live in my house and they live outside.  End of story (for the bugs, that is).

That policy was violated yesterday when my DH discovered that his box of dried mashed potato flakes in the pantry had beetles.  Because he has been on a diet restricting potassium for awhile, that box hadn’t been touched in close to 4 months.  I guess that was plenty long enough for the critters to come out from somewhere and multiply.

Cleaning/emptying Pantry in Process

What IS all of this stuff?!  It expired WHEN?!!

Needless to say, we scoured the pantry, threw away lots of old stuff and examined and/or repackaged anything not in a can or tin.  I must admit, the pantry hasn’t looked this good since we moved in 10 years ago, but what a job!

Fortunately, the discovery was made after I had finished off a few things in the sewing room:

I called it Purple Posies

This top was made from some Ohio Star blocks I had made up a few months ago.  I had meant to put them on point, but I didn’t have enough fabric and I wanted this to come totally from my stash, so hence, another rectangle quilt from me.

And this is the border finished on the little cars quilt from my previous post:

The binding will be the dark blue

And this is the start of my swap project with The Scratching Post:

This swap is called “Collections” and the jars can hold anything that can be collected (e.g., bugs, fish, fruit, vegetables, school supplies, nuts and bolts, sewing supplies, … you name it).  Mine are butterflies, fish, turtles, etc. – the novelties were all from my stash again.  Each set has three different size/shapes of jars and three different fabrics.  They need their jar tops yet, but that was when I got interrupted for the Great Beetle Chase.

I knew I was behind on quilting tops, but I found out I now have 8 tops stacked up (I thought I had 3 or 4), so this is the week to get those done and in a box and out of here!

Little Basket 'O Tops is full

Sounds like one of those Best Laid Plans again ….