Field of Sunshine

In August R & I adventured eastwards to Ruby Branch Farms to see their sunflower fields! It rained on and off, and of course started up again once we arrived but that didn't stop us! We almost had the field to ourselves, and it did not disappoint!

I took a ton of photos, and since R & I are creative types, we were looking up close at the details/shapes/textures.

I'd say that the stormy skies actually made the sunflowers more vibrant in color and contrast, and they were really cool once you were surrounded by them. 

I'd definitely go back and maybe next time I'll remember to bring a quilt to photograph!

Tide Pools of love

When one of your bestest friends is getting married you have to make a quilt, and at this point, my friends know it's my go-to for gifting because quilting is my superpower!

I started with their colors- sea green dresses and peach in the flowers- and ended up with this range of teal fabrics from the shelves with a pop of the peach. 

I used the wall hanging pattern from "A Quilter's Mixology" by Angela Pingel, and made it 4 times to make a larger sized quilt. I liked the modern feel of the design, and in the teal & peach it felt beachy & calm. Though I did tweak it a little bit to make it a bit more rectangular in size with a little breathing room around the edges.

The little curves in the blocks were fiddly, but not difficult, and I spent weekends and evenings piecing all the different shapes together. Watching each shape come together and planning to quilt different things in them had me thinking of tide pools, which inspired the name for the quilt. I chose quilting designs that were water-like, bubbles/pebbles, ripples, waves and swirls to emphasize the tide pool idea. 

The wedding was lovely, and it was so good to be there in person! I had the joy of gifting this in person and see their surprise on opening it. :) 

The background white is stippled with some hidden messages inside: bees, a bumblee tortuga, hearts, and their names, making a fun search & find for them.

I know it'll be well-loved & enjoyed by C&K for years to come - love you guys!

Summer Biking

Over the Spring/Summer, with more time at home/out of the office, I had more time for biking this year. It's a favorite activity in nice weather, and gives some much needed stress relief & mental refocusing.

 I spend a lot of time on the local Greenway trail, as it's close by and a good distance, with views along the riverfront too. Going further afield, I enjoy the Tunnel Hill trail in IL, and made it my goal to ride the whole trail this Summer - instead of the same sections over and over.

 It's a rail-to-trail, so has a relatively flat & well maintained path with minimal elevation gains. As an added bonus, it's very scenic through the trees, has trestle bridges and even some tunnels. Driving out to some of the parking lots had me exploring some new countryside views, and hitting some back roads too.

The trail runs 45 miles from Karnak to Harrisburg. I did it in sections, from one parking lot up to the next then back each trip, so I guess I've done a round trip of 90 miles overall! 

The namesake tunnel is roughly the halfway point, and runs 500+ feet, making it eerie to ride (or walk) through! The elevation is the highest at this point too, so it's beautiful scenery being up on the bluffs and tree tops. Though it means one part of the trip is uphill...ha!

My favorite sections were the scenic ones around the main tunnel. The sections nearer to Harrisburg were closer to the roadway, so there wasn't as much quiet while riding the trail. Exploring new sections of this trail and getting outdoors was a wonderful part of this strange year.

Trail Complete!

social 

 

Mai Tai anyone?

...pineapples are in my head...                    *lyrics from song Pork Soda by Glass Animals*

This quilt uses blocks I received in the #pineappleblockswap through Instagram last Fall and it's a perfect Summer time finish. Found the perfect backdrop to photograph this quilt around town & show-off these technicolor pineapples!

The backing is a fun travel themed print that even has pineapples on it too! 

 

  

quilting detail

My signature bee made it into this quilt as well! 

I'm calling this quilt Mai Tai and it's already been promised to a friend who loves pineapples as much as I do. :)  

This was on my Quarter 2 Finish Along list (original post here)so I'll be linking up with Charm About You with the finish! Also linking to CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it up Friday - with two finishes this week so be sure to check out my other post: Shatterpoint!

meanwhile...

This Summer I posted more to Instagram instead of the blog (find me there @bumblybzs) so here's a little recap of the Summer.
 

I run Quilt Camp here at work each June where we have four half day sessions over two weeks. There are three skill levels and we have 60 kids ages 7-17 learning to quilt! As you can imagine, it gets a bit chaotic with up to 20 kids per session but they have a grand time choosing colors & fabrics, using the machines and going home with a finished quilt (about 30"x30") at the end of the week. Our project samples this year:

Samples L-R: Disappearing 9 Patch (Advanced Camp) - Darting Birds (Beginner Camp) - Wonky Plus (Intermediate Camp)

Made it out on the trail for lots of biking, took a Bumblebee Tortuga trip to Lousiville, got to see Pentatonix in concert! Had fun visits home for fireworks, a trip to see the Terracotta Warriors at the Field Museum and surprise Dad with MD crabs for his birthday! Here, summer goes out with the smell of BBQ and good eats at the annual BBQ on the River festival. Ribs, BBQ quesdillas, chocolate-dipped key lime pie, more ribs, tacos & it's always delicious.

Bumblebee Tortuga at Churchill Downs

Terracotta Archer @ The Field Museum

 

If you visit me on Instagram you'll notice I'm participating in the #30daysofquiltdesign sponsored by Rachel at Stitched In Color and Gotham Quilts. We're in the home stretch and I only have 7 more to go. It's been challenging and creative to draw out quilt designs and I'm already looking forward to making a couple of them.

In September we had Victoria Findlay Wolfe at work to teach a Double Wedding Ring Improv class that I got to take too - so much fun! She was a fun teacher, had lots of great tips and really encouraged everyone. I cut into my long-collected stash of music-themed fabrics and love how it came together.

That should bring us up to speed so welcome back readers and stay tuned!