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I have been informed, by my very good friend Sara,  thank you very much!  that Google Reader will be disappearing on July 1.  Yes, like many others, I've heard about it here and there, but didn't pay any attention because I had no idea what it meant or how it would affect me...   I figure, ignore stuff and deal with it later.... not necessarily the best plan of attack... but good tech savy friends like Sara hit me over the head, scare me with what is to happen, and keep things moving smoothly for me by telling me how to solve the problem before it happens!

Sara explained to me that Google Reader is what we have been using to follow all the different quilty blogs we love....who knew???  Not me!
That list of blogs will no longer be available!  YIKES!  How would I ever find all my favorites once they disappeared??!!! 

Thank goodness, Sara has done the research for me (YAY!!!) She has tested several other available "programs??" and decided that Bloglovin' is the easiest and best available alternative.  She put a link on her blog, told me to click it, and set up an account there. Magically (automatically) my blog list will continue to live on there!

SO.... if you would like to continue following my posts (and I hope you do!) click on the Bloglovin' icon at the top right of the page, follow the simple directions and we can still stay connected!

Love Entwined



I'm not sure how I got there, but I recently found myself on Esther's Blog.  She is preparing an 18month long BOM reproducing her version of an antique applique coverlet, Love Entwined.

There is no clear picture of what this will look like yet, but there is a lot of chatting going on over at her yahoo group about it.  So I have been watching and waiting and trying to decide whether or not to attempt this, or not.    Esther does explain on her blog that this is definitely NOT a quilt for the faint hearted (or beginner). 

Today, Esther posted this picture of the chintz fabrics she is using.  I LOVE these florals, but I have nothing in my stash that would come close.  So,  I was still waiting to see the pattern before jumping in.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I stopped at Hobby Lobby today to get some Heat & Bond lite for a different project.  After locating it hanging on the wall, I turned around to find this:

My colors are a bit different, and I won't be sure they will work until the pattern is released, but I think I have now committed to do this project! 

I can still change my mind though. She will also be releasing a second BOM that will be simpler, which may be what I use these fabrics for instead. 

Hop on over to her blog and check things out. 



http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/

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.  

Totals 2013 May

The biggest and best accomplishment for the month of May was being there for my daughter and the birth of my second grandson.  Everything went better than expected and all are well.  I completed quilts for both the new baby and big brother... just in time!
I also helped her finish up the necessary sweat-equity hours with Habitat for Humanity and she will be closing on her new home in June.

My second nephew graduated high school last weekend in Baltimore.  The next day, the family drove over to Gettysburg to visit Pop's grave and see the stone in place.  The three grandsons presented a cross to the parish that my brother had made.  The cut squares on the cross depict the stations of the cross.  Father was so pleased to receive it and felt it would be perfect to carry during the stations ceremony next Lent/Easter!

 WORK COMPLETED IN MAY

 .....05.....customer tops quilted (YTD 33)
.....01.....customer quilts bound (YTD  09)
.....01.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting (florabunda)
.....00.....quilted flimsy (YTD 9 )
.....08.....hand-work hours (62 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)

Projects in Progress 
  Spring Wall Hanging....backing prepared.  preparing flowers for applique
  Sweet & Sassy.....9 blocks completed, sashed and quilt corner assembled
  Assemble Matthew's Puppies... blocks complete, needs sashing/assembly
  Novelty Quilt... blocks cut, need assembly
  Happiness Key...background complete, needs applique/embroidery
  Disappearing 4 patch

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)
.....49.....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
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 5 cut 350 triangles and stitch to part 3 (0 of 175)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 6 cut 2.5in squares and assemble Ohio Stars (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
..............Easy Street Steps 1-8 Completed in 2012
...done...Easy Street  inner border cut and attached
............. Easy Street  2nd border: square in square blocks  (108 of 116 YTD
............. Easy Street final purple border

Floribunda

Last year, with Bonnie's permission, I cut kits and stitched up a couple of quilt blocks using her pattern, Floribunda, to offer as a class for  FCE Craft day.  The extra kits and fabric I have been using as one of several leader/ender projects.  I finally have 20 blocks complete and assembled the quilt several weekends ago... I've just been too busy to get around to posting this.  Unfortunately, I didn't refer back to the pattern before assembling and I slanted all the blocks in the same direction instead of alternating to make an "X".  Oh well,  it's done and I like it anyway!

Now I must find fabric for a backing.