Vacation...

...a period of rest from work or school! 

More like a near drowning!

Three dives a day for 5 days straight...coming up to replenish fluids and carbohydrates and then back down we would go.  And who said that the sun going down had to deter us?

DD goes back to school today and I plan to get some rest...that is after I catch up on all the blogs I like to read and check out how big the Decorah eaglets have grown.

Quilts of Valor

My daughter finished piecing this quilt top Sunday made from Marcus Brothers QOVC fabrics.  Very patriotic with vibrant reds! The center is a panel, which makes the quilt look complicated, but it was rather easy to piece.  It measures about 62"x82".  A nice lap size quilt.

It is available at TOWQS.

And besides keeping an eye on those adorable eagles in Iowa...did you see how big their feet are getting!...I pieced another block for my 1880 Barbara Bucher Snyder Sampler quilt.

Goose in the Pond Variation

It may be my favorite so far.  I had to resort to paper foundation piecing it though, and will spend some time in the next few weeks figuring out how I can transfer the pattern to followers.  Others have done it, so I know it can be done.

I am off to a tropical location next week, so I will catch up with everyone in a few.

1880 Barbara Bucher Snyder Sampler Quilt Update

It has been a few weeks since I posted about what everyone has been up to over at the 1880 Sampler blog. 

Bettina has already started setting her blocks:

Satu has been keeping up as well:

Both Mary L. and Bettina have pieced their Kite's Tail blocks:

...and did a fabulous job!

  Today I posted the pattern for Greco-Roman Tiles, another very intricate block.

Remember that there is a flickr group here if you feel like sharing your blocks with everyone.

I know I sure would like to see what everyone is doing.

If you are following along, please introduce yourself as well.

This weekend I will be sewing with my DD, piecing a shop sample made from Marcus Brothers' American Valor fabrics collection.  I'll also try to catch up with my CW BOW blocks. 

What will you be working on?

Haste, Makes Waste!!

I am diligently working on checking things off my UFO/WIP list.

Hopefully, this darling table topper from Kim Diehl's book, Simple Seasons, will be done in time for Easter next year if I just work an hour a day on the applique. 

However, when I rush to the finish line, it gets further and further away.

My Album Quilt, from Kathleen Tracy's new book, Civil War Sewing Circle, was this close to a finish when I noticed I had placed three VERY similar blocks all together (they are on the right side and all 3 blocks use the same brown fabric and 2 blocks are identical.)  Yikes! Time for a little unsewing.

Good reason to see what the Decorah Eagles are up to and work on a little hand applique!

Making Progress

I spent the last two days challenging myself and striking another project off my UFO/WIP list!!

I machine quilted this top for a friend to help raise funds for breast cancer research.

The challenge was to replicate the quilting that had already been done.

The pre-existing quilting was little ribbons with roses in the middle of them. 

I used freezer paper to draw a replica, made several copies and then ironed them randomly over the quilt top.  I then free motioned around the shapes, connecting them with a little flourish. This is a technique I have adapted from Mary Mashuta.  She uses freezer paper templates and a walking foot, but why not use the templates to make my free motion shapes more consistent.  This isn't the first time I have used this technique and it will not be the last.

I made one more CW block, but I am still behind!  My friend, Doreen, from Aunt Reen's Place, placed my past blocks in a quilt block grid for me.  I'll have to get it posted to my sidebar.

Next up is to set all the blocks for my album quilt.  

I'm making progress...and the list is getting smaller.  

Argentinian Giants

The first bloom on my Argentinian Giant Cactus.

This bloom is almost 7" in diameter and will last only one day.

Luckily, there are over 20 blooms on the plant this year.

Several years ago, I attended a seminar by Ruth McDowell.

A picture of these magnificient flowers was the inspiration for the quilt I designed during the week long seminar.  I called it 'Argentinian Giants Tossed with Swiss Chard.'

 

The flowers range from my white one to some very intense magenta colored ones. Examples of the full range of colors can be found sprinkled among the gardens in our neighborhood.

It amazes me the delicate beauty that can be found in this harsh environment.

Temperatures over 100 were recorded this last week downtown.

It is getting close to time to head north!



A Day at the Beach

Every once in awhile I like to do something out of the box for me.  This weekend's project with my DD, who has very different fabric tastes than I do, was a simple landscape scene from the book, Accidental Landscapes, by Karen Eckmeier.

Here is a close up view of the seed bead embellishment in the sand.

And some thread couching in the surf.

Still have a little more embellishing to do and then it will be framed.

Looks pretty realistic to me.

Just need to park myself on a lounge chair in the sand, read a good book, and listen to the waves lap up on the shore...I wish.