Summer holidays

It has been a busy two weeks. Wedding weekend and today finds me returning from DH family reunion. So not much has gotten done on the quilting front. Although I have been knitting and that is what I did today on the 5 hour drive home!
Sending thoughts and prayers out to my dear friend and her brother. These flowers are for her to let her know I am thinking of her.

Wedding Weekend

Well the weekend has arrived and the quilt is done! yes I fell short on my deadlines. In trying to get both quilts done, I only succeeded in getting the one finished. Luckily I have a little more time to finish hand quilting the other one, as I won't be seeing that bride and groom for a bit!   Not bad for     1 1/2 weeks!

Wedding Log Cabin

Easy Street Mystery Quilt

Also have been working on the last pieces of Easy Street. I have been giving out clue for one of our guilds and this month is the last one and putting the top together.Don't mind the kitchen floor, it was the only bright spot to take a pic this late at night. 

Well off to bed it will be a busy morning getting ready and off to the wedding. Hoping and praying for no rain...it is all outdoors!!

Count down is on!

It is one week to the weddings well it will be all over by this time next weekend! Yes two...although I won't be attending both as they are far apart(one is in a different province than I live) I do want to get both quilts done. Now having said that I will have a little more time for the out of province quilt because I am not sure when I will see them to give them their gift in person. But the other quilt I have completed the top(log cabin) in under a week and I am whimping out and sending it out to be long armed quilted. Hope I won't be binding it on the way to the wedding.I will post a pic later in the week once it is back from being quilted. So today I will continue to work on the hand quilting of the other wedding quilt.

Looking very summery

 Now somewhere in there this week I also have to finish the last clue in Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery. I  was asked to do a mystery quilt at one of my guilds. So I chose that one and we have been doing it since January.Along with the last clue, I want to put the top together to give the ladies some incentive to finish their tops for our September meeting.

Love these pink lilies

SQUIRREL!!!... funny saying around our house for completely changing the subject. I was out mowing the lawn and realized my lilies were starting to bloom. Now this is the flowerbed that was almost destroyed earlier this summer when we removed some trees. It has come along nicely I think! Check out Kathy's Quilts  and see what other hand stitching is going on today!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

this is how it looked before quilting

Well the hand quilting is coming along. Although I am not going to meet my deadline, I am lucky that I will have extra time to finish it before I give it to the bride and groom. I won't be going to the wedding and may not see them till the Fall. But people have told me I have one year to give a gift....so well...I have lots of time!!! I was asked last week, what I was quilting in the squares.

feathered star block from the back of the quilt

 So here are the pics...on the feathered star blocks I am outlining the star and added a heart in each corner. With a center octagon to help hold things.


On the plain alternate blocks I have  used a quilting stencil.

alternate block from the back of the quilt.

The set in triangles, also got the stencil in part. All the quilting is being done with chocolate brown thread. So I am making sure there are no oops, and stitches are evenly spaced..so this means removing stitches and redoing them sometimes!
Today's job is log cabin blocks. This is for a wedding in two weeks. I have a couple of days to sew the top and get it to my friend the longarm quilter.Cutting it a little close..yes...but I lost track of days and this wedding has snuck up on me!! Wish me luck!!! We'll see how fast I am, hoping to have it done by Wednesday!! YIKES
Linking to Kathy's quilts a day late...but check out what everyone is up to!

Hot Slow Stitching Sunday

Just before I started quilting

It is a warm one today. I have opened and now closed the windows to keep the heat out and am trying to figure out how to hand quilt my queen sized quilt on my lap. This is just the wrong time of year to be doing this but what is a girl to do?!?! I set a schedule for myself...two blocks a day. I started on Monday this past week  and by Tuesday I was behind already!!!!!oops!! I am using a nice 16" almost square hoop borrowed from a friend. It is nice, I can almost do a whole 12" block without moving the hoop!
Linking up today Kathy's Quilts and doing some much needed catching up!!Let's see what everyone else is up to!

Beautiful summery Sunday

Almost ready to quilt

It is slow stitching Sunday with Kathy and I will definitely be there as soon as I finish basting this quilt top that I plan on hand quilting. Got it half pinned last night and run out of pins...have to locate more today or I will be thread basting it.OUCH!!! With the warm weather we have been having our new to us Gazebo is proving very useful. I think I may find myself out there quilting a lot.









 Also got a couple little projects completed this week while not working or ignoring the wedding quilt (cause I couldn't find the right stencil to do the quilting design)I just know when it is the right one somehow!!
 The bag we made at our summer ending guild banquet. It was a tea and tote party.We received kits and created the bag and we served a light tea and finger foods supper. The needle case I received from the Guelph guild for helping with a workshop they put on. I was visiting my friend Barb who belongs to the guild. What a fun day!

Settling into Summer

peonies just before a rain

Even though it is summer I am trying to get things done...maybe a promiseI should make to myself. The weather has not been the best but not bad enough to have to complain. My flowers are growing. These peonies are in full bloom and I took this pic just before a rain that made them all fall down!

It is also strawberry season . My sister, niece, and I all went out the other day. Don't they just look delicious.

feathered star pattern...so many tiny pieces

Fons and Porter Sept 2012

I have been steadily working on a quilt for a wedding gift. I have got it to the border stage, so I thought I would show you how far I have come from that one block. I am hoping to baste it this week and start hand quilting on it.



I also completed another top. It was a pattern I found in a magazine and created a mystery quilt out of the pattern. Now if finishing these tops was as easy as doing the tops. argggg!!We also gained an addition to our yard. Behind this quilt we have moved in a 16' square gazebo. Yes we moved it from about a mile away to our yard. DH will do anything if it involves using his tractor. I for see many hours sitting out there next to the creek, hand quilting in the shade with no bugs. Ahhhh!!!
This has been a long entry so I will say good bye for now.