A Little Quilting Going On

It has been a while since I posted to my blogs with summer trying to show itself here there is a lot to do outside away from the computer, but the last few days are feeling a bit like winter again.  I guess winter just doesn’t want to go away this year.  So I got a little unexpected time to sew.  I have been spending my lunches designing a border for my summer quilt and I am working on putting it together.  I had to go back to the drawing board a few times, but that is to be expected when you don’t follow a pattern.  I always seem to make things harder than they need to be first, but I did a little simplifying and it is getting there.  I will post pictures when I get a little further since there is not much to really look at yet, but I will say that it involves a few bird houses and more flowers and lots of soft pink fabrics.  I opted to keep the colors of the border muted because there is so much going on in the quilt and this is just a frame for all of that.

I did take some time a while ago to try this cute and complicated paper pieced cow I saw on a blog while blog hopping one day.  ( the blog was Piecemeal Quilts and the pattern was designed by Sandy)  I don’t have the name of the blog on the pattern so if anyone reading this knows please feel free to let me know, the creator should get credit as it took a lot of thought to get this right.  Now just as often happens when I first attempt something complicated, there are a few mistakes.  Thinking all went pretty well I took a picture of the cow then started to wonder why he had such a pointed head.  Well, it seems I put a colored fabric where there should be white and I also didn’t get the fourth color in his snoot for more dimension.  I am going to try to remake this cow because it was a fun project.  I had no real project in mind for it and I still don’t, but sometimes I just do things for fun then it grows from there.  Today I saw a cute cowboy boot on a blog called Sew Take A Hike, she gave a link to a free pdf file with the pattern for a quilt using paper piecing.  Don’t you think they would really go together nicely for some special guy?  I don’t have a cowboy of my own, but if I did he would get a cow quilt for sure.

Besides gardening I also spent a day doing a little fishing with some fun guys.  This one had the right idea…kick your shoes off and sit a long the river with your pole in the water and enjoy!  This is my grandson, Nathan showing us the real way to fish.

Nathan and my son Andy came down and spent a week with us while my sons Andy and Rob added a shower to our tub and they did a fantastic job.  Now   when we have company they don’t have to use the shower in my room anymore.  They actually get a kind of spa treatment in the other bathroom.  It is so large and roomy in there and beautiful too!  Here is the tub before and after…amazing!  I am loving it!  Today I will take the first shower in it.

My vegetable garden should be taking up more of my time and I should be harvesting things by now, but the weather isn’t letting that happen here.  My flower beds are looking nice however!  Some tomatoes are in, but they are not producing yet and are only about 2 feet tall.  We’ll be lucky to have fruit by winter.  I did get my melons, cucumbers and pumpkins planted and they are starting to grow by leaps and bounds.  Hopefully I will get to make more Zucchini Relish this year, we sure enjoyed it last year, but our supply is gone.  I am also wanting to try making Pickled Watermelon Rind like my Grandmother use to make.  My Dad brought me a box of memorabilia of my Grandmothers and in it were a few journals with lots of recipes.  I am hoping to put some to good use around here then put them together into a book for my sisters, but that will be a project for the winter or sooner if the weather doesn’t change.

I broke down the other day and ordered an Accuquilt Go Baby and one set of dies.  It is a neat tool to help you cut pieces quickly and accurately for quilting.  Now I am waiting patiently for it to come in the mail.  Amazon says it shipped so maybe today will be the day.  I saw it on sale and my sweet sister gave me a gift certificate for my birthday so I snatched one up.  The only thing is I am not sure if it comes with a cutting mat so I ordered one, but I might have to wait to use it till the mat comes.

 …the sun will come out tomorrow…I am hoping…

Ferne