Happy Summer

Last year we swapped summer themed 5.5 inch squares over on the I Spy Yahoo Group. I used the swapped fabrics for the centers for a happy block...

 ... and now I have them all sewn and quilted into a quilt for the camper called "Happy Summer". I'm sure the DGKs will love to sit on it under a tree and play games with their cousins at the campground.

I don't have (and probably never will) a longarm quilter but I got a little adventurous and tried a free motion quilting beginner design from Leah Day's website called "spiral knots". Backing shows as white on my monitor but it is actually a light green. 

And now I'm linking up to Pigtales and Quilts  because she is having a linky party - I Love a Good Swap Party because I do! 

There will be more to come because I have lots of blocks in drawers and wips because I have participated in swaps for years on all the lists I'm on.  Next up will probably be my Buckeye Beauty quilt that just needs a border, quilting, and binding. 

In the Good Ol' Summertime, In the Good Ol' Summertime

I participated in a summer time swap over on the I Spy Yahoo Group. I sent and received a lot of cute 6.5 inch squares of summer themed fabric. I added some of my own squares and 2.5 inch sides of other summer themed fabric around the blocks and made 56 10 inch blocks. Then I sewed them into a quilt top 7x8. What follows is the top and some of my favorite blocks. You will probably notice that most of my fav blocks include food! This is another quilt to put in the camper when we take the grandkids camping.

I Spy (Summer Theme)

At the beach

In the camper

At the circus

Take me on a cruise!

Yummmmm!

J-e-l-l-o!

Popsicles. Hmmm, reminds me I need to show DGKs how to make them.

Bad pic...but, I just love the sticks with marshmallows on the ends. And I had some s'more fabric to add to the sides! (Those things taste so rich to me now that when we were camping I had a DGD just roast me a chocolate marshmallow and stopped there.

Watermelon.

It will be a while before I get this quilted, I think. It's hot outside. It's hot inside. There's a heat wave here that just won't leave. Heat indexes in the last few days have been as high as 118. I have no air conditioning. We live out in the country and don't normally need it because normally there is a nice breeze. It will cost a sweaty arm and a leg to put duct work into this big old house just to have a/c for a few weeks a year. In the winter the house is heated by a wood stove and that's the reason why no duct work.  (Can you hear me whine?)



Four Finishes

I have been taking a creative writing workshop for the last 6 weeks so, in addition to a 10 hr per day job and the grandkids, I've been busy. But it seems there is always time for stitching. I've fallen behind on my Civil War Quilt blocks, my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt blocks, my Fairy Crazy Quilt and all other sorts of things for myself; however, I've kept up on my CQ RRs. And that is mainly because I can sit and veg out but still be busy and stress free while I stitch.

Unfortunately, the TV shows many people in many countries in distress; the news tells of children missing and abused; a cousin has been diagnosed with cancer. Sit, stitch, watch, listen, learn, give, love, pray...the mantra of the day.

This is for an English Garden RR. This is Rita's block and I have included foxglove, deliphiniums, lavender, roses, pansies, poppies, clematis - some of my favorite flowers.

Next up is Peggy Sue's Tea Time block for another CQI RR. I wish the sugar bowl showed up a little better. It was difficult for me to know what colors to use on this block so I used mostly purples to go with that little patch on the upper left.

This is Helina's Summer block. All of her blocks have now been mailed home. This was the last one for me to work on for this RR. Summer to me means tomatoes, lemonade, watermelon, ice cream, pinwheels and flowers. I hope it means the same to her.

And, finally, I have Lorries Winter/Christmas block. Her theme was "Jesus is the Reason for the Season."

Dreaming of a Summer Tea

This is my work on Lorrie's Summer block -  a cheery bouquet of flowers. And that is just what is needed during the dark days of winter. Even stitching flowers can lift the spirits.

And here's my work on Ritva's Tea Time block. You can't really tell that almost all the stem stitches are overwrapped with some type of sparkly sulky, but it is. A couple of seams have teeny-tiny rick rack. Another seam has teeny-tiny cast on stitches.

So, I'm ready for a Summer Tea Party. But first the snow has to melt a little.

Sick and Tired and Crazy

As I mentioned yesterday I have been drinking Pepto Bismol cocktails, doing the bathroom dash and taking catnaps the last few days. I hope an end to the misery is here soon. The stomach cramps are horrible. I haven't been sick in years. I'm thinking it comes from having two granddaughters who started school this year. Otherwise I don't know where the cooties came from. In between I have managed to go a little crazy and get some stitching done.

"For the Birds" DYB (Do Your Block) for Cathy K. This block made me laugh when I first saw it. I think the birds were searching for a statue down below; however, all I could manage was a cat who is oblivious to the birds since he is chasing a butterfly.

And this is my work on Lorrie's "Spring has Sprung" DYB. Fans and butterflies and roses seem pretty Spring like to me. I can't wait for my garden to show signs of the same.

And, finally, my work on Margreet's Summer DYB. I guess I keep dreaming of butterflies and roses.

Margreet included a button with each block and requested us to use it on the block we stitched. I think it is fun to see how everyone uses the button.

Here is what Beryl did with it.

And below is how Ritva used the button. Sorry, the flash makes it look yellowish but it's not.

And below is what I did with the button. I added a crocheted flower under it and drizzle stitch through the button holes.

To Everything There is a Season

An Autumn wreath for Margreet. Margreet included a button and some trim that she wanted each person in the RR to add to her block which was a fun exercise.  This was a RR over on CQI Yahoo Group.

Summer DYB RR for Ritva - another RR at CQI.

And this is my Season to Season wallhanging. I am trying to decide whether to keep it for myself or to put it into the Family "Dirty Santa" drawing. Each of these blocks were from a swap on CQ for Newbies Yahoo Group. In this RR we made a block and embellished half of it and swapped with a partner who embellished the other half and then it was returned to owner. Gina embellished Spring, Violet did Summer, Gerry did Fall and Lauri embellished half of Winter. I added binding like a quilt and added a rod pocket on back for hanging. For purposes of this picture I added a yardstick to the rod pocket just to see how it would hang.