Summertime Memories Swap

I participated in a Mug Rug swap this summer hosted at Quilting Gallery.  We had to make 2 mug rugs with the summertime memory theme to swap with our assigned partners.  My partner was in Wisconsin and it was a lot of fun working on these!  

I did the sunflowers, because my partner said they were her favorite flower.  They also make me think of summer and all the times I've watched the Tour de France in July.  The days when they ride through all the sunflower fields make me want to go visit them in person!  I cut all the petals free hand and used several stitches to raw-edge appliqué them on.

The second one is a city skyline with free-motioned fireworks across the sky.  What screams summer more than 4th of July fireworks or concerts & fireworks in the park?!  Finishing these up means I made my August goal for ALYOF and I'll be linking these up at Fiber of All Sorts.

Here's what my partner sent!  The box was part of the package and zips shut. I've got a pair of fun mug rugs to use, new patterns to try and some fun quilty themed napkins.  Thanks!   :)

the one where I sewed a dress

I'm really not much of a garment sewer.  I've made pj style pants before, but only when I can ask Momm a hundred questions about how to actually put them together.  :)  However, a couple weeks ago a good friend asked if I'd help her in making a dress for her new baby girl and naturally I said yes!  She had a picture of the style she wanted and so I 'researched' Pinterest for some good tutorials on a pillowcase dress.  So. Many. Tutorials! 

I read through a couple of them and then practiced with some other fabric just to get the idea of construction.  That turned out fairly well so I went ahead and cut into some sweet pink prints and got stitching.  This one turned out great and I could hardly wait until daytime to take it over to H!  She seemed to love it so that's a relief.  I'm so proud of myself for figuring this out on my own and hope baby loves it too.

Of course, once the dress was finished, I was on a roll so I pulled out the micro-fleece I'd picked up while buying ribbon for the dress.  I had a plan for it as soon as I saw it on the bolt and didn't try to resist.

I made one for baby girl in purple and one for my friends son in orange.  I backed them with prints from my stash, added in some quilting using the wavy line stitch on the machine and machine bound them.

 Ready for snuggles!












Don't you just love the joy of gifting handmade?!

Linking  these up @ finish it up Friday (even though it's already Saturday) at Crazy Mom Quilts.

:: Vacation

ready to go!

More updates from the land of summer dear readers - it was nice to go home for a week and relax.  There was lots of sunshine, hugs, home cooked food, biking, picking cherry tomatoes, quilting, skipping rocks, clarineting and Doctor Who.  :D

Momm & I took a day trip with C & P, two quilty friends, to a great shop!  Apparently I talked up the new curved piecing book, A Quilter's Mixology, and we all ended up with a copy.  :)  We decided to do a curves challenge and each picked a project from the book.  We all had a blast choosing fabrics and browsing the stacks of bolts and all came home with small stacks of fabric, naturally.  I went with the clamshell looking Table Runner and will be pulling fabrics for this shortly.  I also worked on my mug rugs for a Summertime Memories swap.

bocce with dad

siblings

J came out for the weekend too and we got to celebrate Kids Day in style!  A holiday staple in our family since forever, we got to enjoy the great outdoors.  M&D went kayaking while J & I went paddle boarding.  This was my first time on a paddle board and it was fun.  I thought for sure I'd wipe out but didn't - hooray!  Slower paced than a kayak but I'd do it again no question.

We  are all hooked on Doctor Who as well, so most of our nights were spent watching more episodes together.  In lieu of finishing the 5th season and being together, we had a themed dinner to celebrate.  So there were fish fingers & custard, fish tacos (for those not adventurous enough), Cool salad - with bow tie pasta and a red pepper fez, bananas and a Sonic Screwdriver cocktail.  

Loads of fun getting everything ready and every bite was delicious.

Momm & I also took our twin Kaleidoscope quilts and my Swoon to the beach where we have our winter retreat.  It was sunny and warm - a nice contrast from January - on Lake Michigan and perfect for our photo shoot.

It's always sad to pack up the car and head south again, but it was a good visit! 

Summer ::

I finally had a couple days off after Quilt Camp and enjoyed a long 4th of July weekend with Momm who came to visit!  With no specific plan, we made our usual stop at Hancock's of Paducah (yay fabric!) and enjoyed lots of quilty talk - upcoming projects, patterns & books to try, stopped in to see the new exhibits at work and caught up on MasterChef.

We crossed the river into Metropolis to visit the TARDIS which is at the local comic shop.  Lots of Doctor Who collectibles, posters, etc. and the owner is really nice.  He unlocked the TARDIS and the inside is painted and designed to look like the version with the 10th Doctor.  Very cool!  Of course, one  must take a quilt along when traveling through all of time & space. ;)

Then we hauled out other finished quilts and ran amok around town to get some fun photos! 

psalm quilt

quilt back

Typically, my finished photos include me spreading the quilt out on the ground or small hill and trying to get some decent shots before the wind interferes.  With a second set of hands we got creative - thanks Momm! :)

I have plans to take Swoon and my Kaleidoscope quilts home with me on later this summer for photos at the beach - stay tuned.

happy 4th & four year anniversary!

Friday evening we celebrated the 4th by heading down to the river for the fireworks show.  We stopped for dessert at Whaler's Catch ( a local restaurant).  Once we were seated, we realized it was the exact table we'd sat at 4 years earlier while in Paducah so I could interview for my current job!  We ordered the same thing we ordered the first time - the beignets.  So delicious.  My actual start date is approaching this weekend, so I'll be sure to mark that occasion as well.  

Then it was lovely to sit by the river, listening to the community jazz & concert bands until dark.  The barge arrived as scheduled and the fireworks were great.  I love fireworks, and Paducah does an excellent job with their celebration so we weren't disappointed.  I love the reflection on the river as they explode.

After the finale as people were leaving, there were 'bonus' fireworks - Mom & I figured they missed a row on the barge - so we stood in the street to watch those before heading home again.







Saturday was an early start as we drove east to Lexington - on the four hour drive we crossed about 13 counties and the Eastern Time Zone line!  Our destination, Quilters Square shop for a lecture by Mr. Aurifil himself - Alex Veronelli!  It was a fun shop and a fascinating lecture about the production of the thread.  He had great visuals and plenty of thread and quilts to pass around at the end as well - fantastic.  Definitely brought home why it's such a joy to sew with Aurifil!

All in all a quilt-filled weekend with Momm!  And a great celebration of Summer.
Linking up at anything goes monday!

August Goal

Welp I didn't make my July goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes, but I'm ready for August.  My goal this month is to finish up 2 mug rugs I'm making as part of the Summertime Memories swap at the Quilting Gallery.  

details

I had fun coming up with ideas and figuring out how to make my ideas work for these.  I did some machine appliqué with different stitches, thread painted fireworks and just need to get the bindings on before shipping them off to my partner.

Linking up at Fiber of All Sorts for August and then heading to the machine!