Lazy? Days of Summer...

I have been spending more time out than in lately. We are really dry, so I am hauling water all around our yard to keep my plants alive. ;-)

This is one of our hydrangeas. I just love these plants!

And if you think I have some miracle green thumb~ this will make you think again. ;-) Maybe i shouldn't show you this~

 My poor pitiful hollyhock. This is one that was chewed down to spikes by a rotten raccoon. I am happy to see it bloom~ but is isn't very tall, or happy being caged up. :-/

My sewing machine has been growing some cobwebs~ I need to get back to my projects! :-o

Hope you are having a happy summer. I'll be back when I have some progress to show you. ;-)

Happy Quilting!!

Quilting, Quilting, Quilting...

Yippee! I just finished the second of my Mom's quilt tops. This one was a Disappearing 9-Patch that we swapped blocks for a few  years ago. Here's a peek~

I love the variegated thread on this colorful quilt. ;-)

I've also been working on my mini baskets. A basket a day, keeps me in stitches! LOL This is the Temecula Quilt Co's Summer Challenge. These little buggers finish at 2 inches and are fun to play with~ and so addicting!  LOL

I hope you have been having a little summer fun too!
Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!!

Quilting and Gardening

I love to be outdoors when the weather isn't too hot, and this year I tried something different. I saw the ads on TV for making flower towers from one of the home improvements stores, but didn't really want to buy fencing and all the stuff they used. So I used two tomato cages and put them upside down in my pot with some black plastic garbage bags between them. I poked holes in the bag where I wanted to plant a flower and viola~

my own personal plant tower. LOL I love how it turned out! :-)

As for quilting~ on the cool days I am out in the cottage working on some of my Mom's quilt tops. I finished a big one yesterday but can't show you the whole thing, so here is a peek. I used an all over leaf panto and autumn variegated thread and it turned out really nice. I was really worrying about having enough thread, but I made it! :-) I love it when a plan actually works! ;-)

I hope you have been having a great summer with a little gardening and quilting too!
Until next time~
Happy stitchin'!

Ca~razy? Why Yes!

I think I am! :-) but maybe not as much as I could be! LOL 

When I saw the Nabby's Dowry Sew-Along, Pam Buda @ Heartspun Quilts is hosting~ I jumped right in! I love making mini quilts! But thennnnn... I saw that we needed 162 HST's!  :-o Say what??!!  Ok, it gave me pause, but then I thought about just printing off some Triangulations sheets and doing some mindless sewing. ;-)  I cut the sheets into smaller sections so I would get more variety in my scrappy HST's.  It was pretty quick work! I sewed the pieces and rotary cut them apart, then while watching TV last night (Rizzoli and Isles!) I finger pressed then apart and took off the papers. The secret to easily removing the papers is to set your stitch length small. ;-) It worked like a charm and all my HST's are finished and ready for the next step on July 12th.  {I just love using Triangulations, but this isn't an advertisement for them~ they probably don't even know how much I love their product!}

Since I was on such a happy roll, I thought~ hey! why not go really crazy and try them with the Temecula Quilt Co's Cakestand Basket summer challenge?  These little buggers finish at just 2 inches each!!  :-o  Yeah, I am crazy! But aren't they just cutest?

I'm a little behind as we need to do one a day for July, but with my handy dandy little triangle papers, I will catch up fast. And the best part for these little guys? The seam allowances are already cut down for me. :-)  Sewing them together was really easy!

I'm headed back to my sewing~
Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

June Vintage Schnibbles

The pattern for the Vintage Schnibble this month is Dulcinea.  It is a very sweet double pinwheel quilt and Carrie (of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.) has some really clever tips for making the blocks consistent~ they join together like a dream!

I used a couple charm packs from Connecting Threads for my version.  These are from an older line and the charms from CT don't always have 40 charms/pack. They are packaged as one charm of each print in the line~ so sometimes you have 20, somethings 17 etc. With the charms I had, I needed to make a little smaller version of Dulcinea, but I do love how it turned out!  I used a FQ to make my borders, which was just perfect as that was all I had of coordinating fabric. :-o LOL

Be sure to check out Sherri and Sinta's blogs on Monday for the parade.  I've seen a few popping up in blogland and I can say it is going to be a wonderful parade!

Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

Christmas Through the Year

Can you believe June is nearly over?  I can't!! But I've been keeping my hands busy and have a small pile of crocheted dish cloths to add to my CTTY basket. :-)  I love these things!

I think there are 10 in the pile and I've made a few more since the photo was taken. Next month I hope to have as much success making net scrubbies to go with all the dish cloths.

Many thanks to Anthea of Hibiscus Stitches for continuing CTTY for us!

Until next time~
Happy stitchin'!

A New Quilt~

Last week I spent some time quilting a top I had been 'storing'. :-o  I just quilted an all-over stars and loops design for this one, and I let hubby choose the backing since this is kinda 'his quilt'. ;-)

This is actually the 2011 HGTV BOM and we called it 'Stars in the Barn Door'. I drew up all the 6 inch blocks in my EQ7 program and presented them every month, then drew up the way I wanted to finish my quilt too.  I love how it turned out (and hubby does too) ;-)

The quilt measures 90.5 x 90.5 inches.
The backing is from Connecting Threads. :-)

This is my first patriotic quilt, but it won't be the last! I love decorating the house for holidays!

Thanks for stopping by~
Until next time
Happy Quilting!!