OPAM, FNWF, Pin Cushion Parade!

Today is Labor Day, the unofficial last day of summer here.  We've had an exceptionally hot summer, so I'm not sad to see it go.

Do you have any pin cushions that you would like to put on parade?  Our friend, Ida, over at My Sister Made Me Do It  is starting the parade today, and everyone is invited to join in the fun.  Pop on over to link up some of your pin cushions!  And maybe get a few creative ideas for new pin cushions.  You know you can never have too many.  I've also heard that there will be prizes....

Last year, I had my chicken on parade, and shortly after that, two more chickens joined my flock as gifts.  The smaller one travels in my bag to meetings and classes, and the larger one helps out at my quilting machine.

Another gift is a combination pin cushion/thread catcher made especially for me by a friend who hosts me once a week in her sewing room!  It was hard to get a good photos, but it's a nice chunky cushion, and the detachable bag hangs down for threads and small scraps.  I love the colors she chose for me.

For August OPAM, I actually finished four small projects.  Two were from premade blocks that I acquired.  The blocks coordinate, and I'm sure there was a plan for them to be used together, but I couldn't decide on a layout, so chose to make a doll quilt and a baby quilt.  There was even yardage with them, that was plentiful enough for both backings!

My third quilt was a baby quilt for an eagerly awaited addition to our family.  He/she should be arriving in about three weeks.  This was a free pattern from Moda Bake Shop.

I also finished crocheting a little afghan to send along with it, but forgot to take a picture.

FNWF found me quilting away on my RSC15 quilt.  I only have the outer border left to quilt, and then bind it.  It's my UFO project for a small group, and it's due in two weeks, but I'll be on vacation then, so only have a few days to get it finished.  Pictures to follow soon.  This is my largest quilt to date, and I'm loving it!!!!

For our nature outing this week, DH and I have actually made two trips to a nearby sunflower field.  The farmer will harvest the seeds later, but his real purpose for planting the field is just for people to enjoy.  So please enjoy.

 Now, back to stitching...... Sunny

Out and About

Surprise!  Two posts in less than a week.  Our heat wave finally broke, and I've actually been out of the house, so I have something to blog about.

Last Friday, America's 9/11 Ride passed through our little town.  I had witnessed this one other time, and wanted to see it again, as this is probably the last time they'll be holding the event.  What a moving tribute to those first responders who lost their lives on that horrible day.

The official escorts

I read that there were 1200 bikes participating this year.

Most of the bikers waved and honked at the onlookers.

Bringing up the rear.

These pictures were taken through the chain link fence on an overpass, so if you see shadows in the corners, that's why.

On Saturday, I decided I wanted to go out of town to a favorite restaurant, and maybe get some ice cream, too.  We added in a short shopping trip, and an even shorter ferry ride to round out the day.

Notice the markings on the upper part of the building from past floods.

You can see the cable in the foreground, that pulls the ferry across the river.

Today, Monday, was kayaking day!  We hadn't been on the water in about a month!!!  We had the river to ourselves today.  I saw a couple of ducks, and one Great Blue Heron, but couldn't get a picture of any of them.  But you know I took some pictures of the water and clouds.

a HUGE hitchhiker!

paddling in the clouds.

FNSI:  I've even found some time for stitching.  On Friday night, while stitching with friends around the world, I finished the binding on this baby quilt.  These blocks were in a giveaway pile at a friend's house recently, so all I had to do was add some sashing and borders.  She was even giving away yardage for the backing.  One more pretty little quilt for the donation pile.

Not much happening the rest of the week.  DH and I have another short outing planned, and I have a lot of sewing planned.  Stay tuned.....

Be kind, always............Sunny

Mid month Review

As usual, I had every intention of posting last week, but the days just slip away....

Last Monday, 27 guild members piled into several cars, and we took a road trip to 7 quilt shops in Lancaster County, PA.  Several of them were new to me, and I don't think I left any shop empty handed.

Fabrics for a Gail Pan project.

I tried to resist, but I broke down.

A pattern for some of my leftover Kansas Troubles fabrics!

I also found backing fabric on clearance for two small quilts that will be finished soon.  And I picked up a few Row by Row patterns.  I'll probably never make a quilt from them, but you just never know.

This beautiful postcard arrived in the mail from Fiona.  It is the palest of pink, and so beautiful.

If you've never joined one of Sheila's postcard swaps, you should consider it.  They're so much fun to make, and you might even make a new friend.

I continue to make progress on my stitching project for Gifted Gorgeousness.

All of the stitcheries are now finished, so I just need to find time to assemble the quilt.  I'm sewing with a friend on Friday, and this may be the project that I work on.

We've been watching the Olympics each evening, so there has been a lot of hand stitching happening.  I finished this cross stitch that was started a few years ago.  Working to finish those UFO's.

What else?  Scraps and gifted orphan blocks.  But I need to save something for the next post.

Be kind, always.......Sunny

OPAM, RSC, etc.

Another month has passed.  It's been a good month here at QD.  Last time I mentioned that I inherited a stack of homespuns and a bag of scraps.  Last week, I was the recipient of another large stack of unwanted fabrics, as a friend is doing some deep cleaning.  And.....we had our drawing for the UFO challenge and I won!  The prize was all the thread that we used for our buy-in, and if we didn't finish the chosen UFO for a particular time period.

Woo Hoo!  Look at all that thread.  30 spools to be exact.  And a couple of them were large spools of Aurifil.  Most were neutrals, but there were a couple of pretty colors included.  I won't be buying thread for a long time.

After seeing this tutorial on Anthea's blog, I decided I was going to make a cover for my traditional ironing board.  My brother works with wood, so I asked him what I should buy, and he offered to make the wooden cover for me!  It was delivered on Friday night, and DH and I covered it with batting and fabric on Saturday.  I've been working on small projects the past few days, but I can't wait to iron yardage on the beautiful RECTANGULAR board.  No more pointy board!!

Another project I did to make my life easier was to make a couple of mini design boards.  I love them!  I'm working on a couple of projects with small blocks, and these are so handy.  I can put the pieces on the board and move it around rather than picking up small pieces and moving them all around.  Mine are a little smaller than Lori's because I used plain cardboard that I had on hand rather than foam core.  And I covered the back with fabric since it was ugly cardboard.  I grabbed the binding from my basket of leftover bindings.

This was my UFO for the most recent challenge.  I started it several months ago, and then it got put aside for some reason.

This and the brown scrappy quilt from my last post are my projects for OPAM.  I also made two fabric postcards for a swap, but I forgot to take pictures. of them.  They've both been received now, so perhaps pictures will show up in blogland.

Hot/dark pink was the July color for RSC.  I had to beg, borrow and buy fabric this month.  I love pink, but my fabrics are light pink.

I'm getting a nice selection of these blocks, and I'm starting to think how I might put them together at the end of the year.

Until next time.....Be kind.......Sunny

Dog Days of Summer

It is HOT here.  Much too hot to do anything outdoors.  So that means I have plenty of time for sewing.  Or Cross stitching.  Or planning a nice fall vacation.

We started the month by attending the first birthday party of my great-niece.  She lives in Florida, so we don't see her often except on Facebook.  I don't often like to share pictures of myself, but her daddy grabbed my phone and got a few pretty good shots.  She's so precious.

On another day, I accompanied DH to a doctor's appointment in Baltimore, and he suggested we visit a nearby Quilt Shop.  Sure!  I picked up a Row by Row pattern and a couple of fat quarters.  My stash of dark/hot pinks is seriously lacking, and that's the color for RSC this month.  I'll be finishing those blocks later today.  While out and about, we had a delicious lunch at a deli in Baltimore, and then drove slightly out of our way to try ice cream at a creamery that we had just learned about.  It was well worth the trip.  Try the coconut ice cream if you ever get there    <3 p="">

The owners of the Creamery have planted a large field of sunflowers right next to the building, which was another reason for our visit.  The sunflowers were facing away from the sun (?) so the pictures aren't the greatest, but that didn't stop us from trying.

Bribed with the promise of a stop at Cabela's, DH also went with me to the Kutztown Folk Festival earlier in the month.  My primary reason for going was to look at the quilts.  They advertise over 2000 quilts for sale.  A few of our Guild members have entered quilts and done quite well.  The quilts are judged and the top 24 are selected for auction on the last day of the festival.  One guild member had two quilts in the auction, and one of them was selected as one of four Best of Show awards.  Simply amazing.  Unfortunately, the way the quilts are displayed was very disappointing.  They are folded so that you only see a small portion of each quilt.

After seeing the quilts, we wandered around the rest of the festival grounds.  There were crafts, demonstrations, and plenty of food.  I will go back again, and next time I'll spend more time looking at the displays and folk art.

a mule-powered ride

now that's an ice cream maker!

Yes, we're in Pennsylvania Dutch country

Have we been kayaking, you ask?  Why yes we have.

Because technically this is a quilting blog, and that's the real reason you're probably here, here are some token stitching pictures.

another scrappy quilt for our Sheriff's Department

My July stitching for Gifted Gorgeousness

I've also been doing some secret stitching, and continue working on some long term projects.  I plan to finish my pink blocks for RSC today.  A couple of friends donated some pink scraps to me in addition to the fat quarters that I purchased.  I also came home with a bag stuffed with assorted scraps that I've been playing with, and a large stack of homespuns that nobody wanted.  WHAT?!?  Okay, I'll take them if no one else wants them.....

And I almost forgot!  I attended Quilt Odyssey in Hershey PA over the weekend.  While sitting at a table selling raffle tickets, I had the opportunity to meet one of my blog followers!  How fun.  Thanks TR, I've sent you an email, and I hope we're able to get together sometime soon.

Be kind, always.     Sunny