TOTALS July 2013

July was a busy month... but, aren't they all!

I spent 3 weeks working on a customer quilt... custom work, twenty 15inch blocks, with each block uniquely quilted... and some simple feathers in the sashing and cornerstones.  It seems each summer I have one big free-motion job, and this was it!  I stressed over getting everything perfect, but it was worth it in the end, as the customer was very happy!  My biggest disappointment is that I have been unable to take a picture that shows all the quilting that went into it.

Once that was done, I was free to get Easy Street quilted, bound and entered into the FCE Cultural Arts Competition... winning a blue ribbon!  I will be entering it into the County Fair this coming weekend and it will progress to the Regional FCE competition in September.

I also completed the quilting on Matthew's Puppy Quilt... it will also be entered into the Fair competition.  Then he will decide if he wants to sell it, or not, and how much to ask.

And, as if I didn't have enough UFOs to work on, I started another new project... POTC.. (I forget what the letters stand for.. will have to go back to yahoo groups and check)  It is a hand-pieced elongated-hexie block swap!  The swap doesn't officially begin until September, but I am working on my first one as a practice!  So far, I am enjoying it!

                       I think I like the right side setting better... I need to make more pieces and decide which way to stitch it together

I made a bit more progress on my Spring Wall Hanging.... fusing the daffodils and some hyacinths onto the background.  The tulips and narcissus and more hyacinths are still in progress.

WORK COMPLETED IN July
 .....03.....customer tops quilted (YTD 39)
.....01.....customer quilts bound (YTD  11)
.....00.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting (YTD 13)
.....02.....quilted flimsy (YTD 11 )
.....20.....hand-work hours (76 YTD )

MY PROJECTS COMPLETED THIS YEAR:
Lucky Charms wall hanging (1/21/13)
Basket Sampler Welcome wall hanging (2/15/13)
Knitted afghan  (3/20/13)
Scrap Mania quilt (3/19/13)
Orange/Blue Jelly Roll quilt (3/18/13)
Hope Academy Banner (3/27/13)
Jaxson's quilt (3/22/13)
Baltimore Album (4/5/13)
Civil War Snowball (4/5/13)
Big Brother Quilt (5/7/13)
Easy Street (7/22/13)
Matthew's Puppies (7/25/13)

Projects Waiting to be Quilted
 Sloanie Christmas Star Swap
 Floribunda


Projects in Progress 
  Spring Wall Hanging....backing prepared.  preparing flowers for applique, some fused to backing
  Disappearing 4 patch...blocks are completed, ready for assembly
  Sweet & Sassy.....9 blocks completed, sashed and quilt corner assembled
  Becky's Barn basket wall hanging...4 blocks completed, assembly to be decided
  Novelty Quilt... blocks cut, need assembly
  Happiness Key...background complete, needs applique/embroidery
  Floral & Pinwheels.... made 4 pinwheels then renamed.... Florals&9patch
  POTC... a hand-pieced hexie swap project.
 
Bonnie Projects in Progress
.....01.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD  1  of  81)   ...  (81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
...done....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 49  plus 21 in 2012) total  70 of 112 
....done...Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (completed in 2012 )
....done...Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 55 plus120 in 2012)  total 175
.....done..Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 08 plus 24 of 32 in 2012) total 32
.....done..Orca Bay Step 5 cut 350 triangles and stitch to part 3 to make winged triangles (175 of 175)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 6 cut 2.5in squares and assemble Ohio Stars (0)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 7 make flying geese (0)
..done.....Floribunda Blocks assembled into flimsy and ready to quilt!
..............Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
..............Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..done....Easy Street is now assembled into flimsy and ready to quilt

Lakeside Get-away

Last week we escaped for a week to a rented lakeside cabin in the mountains of East Tennessee.   Once off the highway we left all of life's stresses behind... as well as cell phone reception!  I drove up into the mountains on roads that were, at times, so curvey the 25mph squiggle signs didn't do them justice.  Often times I couldn't see what was around the bend.  The area borders on the Cherokee National Park and the views as we climbed were gorgeous!

 


Our first stop was to unload and launch the boat where the guys could then cruise across the lake to our cabin.

  I set up my sewing machine by the sliding glass doors with a view of the lake off the covered porch.  The weather was beautiful most of the week and I was able to slide open the screen door and listen to the birds and get the fresh air without all the bugs! 

The early morning view with the "smoke" rising off the lake and mountains was phenomenal!

 

I worked on several projects throughout the week... 
         

First... and most important to him... was Matthew's Puppy quilt.  He spent the past 8 months embroidering these puppies and I promised to help him get it assembled into a top and quilted to enter into the county fair in August.  I've got a white with black dots for the backing to match the white dots on the blue sashing and red cornerstones (I'll have to try for a much better picture later).

I thought I brought along fabric and parts (HSTs) for Orca Bay Step 5, but all I had was the fabric.  So I cut the 350 triangles...and the sewing will have to wait until I find time at home.

I did bring along my Easy Street fabric and parts.  I had the square-in-square pieced borders almost ready to attach to the center, and a few extra pieces to fill in the corners.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it all fitted together...there was minimal tugging or easing to fit.  I love how it turned out! 

 
















 
After adding the final border, I forgot to take a picture out on the porch deck.  Now that I'm home, my floor space isn't big enough to lay it out, and it's raining outside today, but here is a picture of one corner showing all the borders.

There was only one day that the weather didn't cooperate, so we went for a long drive and ended up in Elizabethtown where we did  some grocery shopping and enjoyed a nice steak dinner out to celebrate Father's Day.  

I also stopped and picked up some fabrics to work with.  Back at the cabin I cut and stitched some pinwheel blocks but wasn't happy with the results.  I think the pinwheels are too strong and overwhelm the floral print.   Plan B is to make 9-patches using some white on white and the matching green I was going to use for the backing and use the pink and blue as the center square... hoping it will all play together better.

The water was a bit on the chilly side for me, but that didn't stop Matthew from going for a swim.

  
The fishing wasn't exceptional, but we did catch a couple of bass... enough for dinner one night.

This guy came swimming by nightly looking for bread scraps.  He and three others were brought to the area when a gentleman from Florida relocated nearby several years ago.  His companions are gone and he refuses to stay in the pond he was relocated to.  So the locals and tourists feed and take care of him.

It was a very relaxing and much needed vacation.