August OPAM

August was a good stitching month for me.  I set some goals for myself, and I'm doing quite well, if I do say so myself.  I have to quilt one of my larger UFO's for a UFO challenge, and I decided I wanted to clear my entire pile of  to-be-quilted tops before I tackled the UFO.  Two more small ones to finish this week, and then I can tackle the biggie. 

In addition to the quilts from my last post, I pulled out some blocks that I received in Block Swap Adventures many years ago. I'm quite pleased with the result!  I don't remember who all sent all the blocks, so if you recognize one, give me a shout out!  I had requested all basket blocks.

This next quilt is a baby quilt, made with leftover fabric from a similar quilt a couple of years ago.  After making the top, I still had some fabric so I cut it up for a scrappy binding. 

For our nature shots this time, I'll leave you with some 'sunny' sunflowers!

These are late-blooming flowers, so it means summer is coming to an end.  This summer has been so hot and rainy, that I'm not sorry to see it going.  Plus, vacation is scheduled for September!!

Keep on stitching.....Sunny

Peek- a-boo!

Quilting is Happening

I know, I know.  I just posted a couple of weeks ago, and I'm back already.  Much quilting is happening here.  I have to finish a quilt for my UFO challenge for our small group, and I deliberately put it at the BOTTOM of the to-be quilted pile.  I'm hoping to get the entire pile finished!  Cheer me on, please.

Unfortunately, things like this come along.  I saw this in (one of my) new books, and I knew I had the perfect fabric for it.  So what's a girl to do?  Clear a space on the sewing table and get busy!!  This is in Edyta Sitar's Patches of Blue.

And then there was this!  I saw a picture on FB, and immediately had to have one.  The one I was was in blue, and if I ever do it again, it will be blue.  But my little neutral fabric had specks of red, so I went with red.  The baskets are 2 inches!!!

The next two are charity quilts from the scrap bin.  I try do make a small quilt nearly every month in the RSC colors.  I give you Red and Teal.

The teal is a larger version of a Pam Buda pattern, and was pieced at my recent retreat.  The red is supposed to look like plaid, but my color selection was a fail.  However, it made a nice cozy little quilt.

Speaking of RSC, here are my orange blocks for August.  I'm sticking with lighter values this year.

There are two other quilts in process of quilting.  I didn't like the way one border was coming along, so ripped it out, and have to start over.  And I got too tired to finished another small quilt last night.

In other news, the wildflowers are still blooming, and there are a lot of butterflies to be found!

What's happening in your sewing room?       Sunny

July OPAM

I hate to complain, because many of you are in severe drought.  But we have had so much rain this year, that it's difficult to do much outside.  So I've been spending a LOT of time sewing and quilting.  In addition to the finishes that I shared in my last post, I completed 14 place mats for Meals on Wheels.  No photo, sadly.  I love having some of them to work on when I start quilting.  I use them as my warm-up exercises.

This next quilt has been in the works for nearly two years.  I put it on my list for the UFO challenge this year to make sure it got done.  And I LOVE it!!

I also finished the top for Kathleen Tracy's small group for small quilts.  It was a mystery that started back in January, I think.  I added the applique to the borders - it's not part of her pattern.

I plan to do some quilting over the weekend, but probably won't get to this one just yet.

We did have a few nice days last week, so I spent a couple of afternoons at the pool, and DH and I took a little wildflower jaunt one afternoon.

Have a great weekend, and keep on stitching!!     Sunny

I Love Retirement!!

Life is good.  Since my last post, there has been a Retreat, a short vacation, some kayaking, some wildflowers, lots of stitching, good food and good friends.  How did I ever find time to work?

I managed to make two small quilt tops at retreat, but I'll wait until they're quilted to show them.  I also worked on some blocks for an ancient BOM.  My plan is to have all the blocks finished by the end of the year, preferable sooner.

I tested this pattern for a quilter/designer friend, and as a thank-you, she quilted it for me.  It's the first time I've ever had anything quilted.  I've had the fabric for ages, and it went together nicely.

Finally finished my RSC17, yes, that's 17!  I put this top together as all one quilt at an earlier retreat, and decided the size was ridiculous, so I carefully separated it into two tops, and they finally made it to the top of the to-be-quilted pile.  They will be going to the Sheriff's Department for the deputies to hand out as needed.

Next up is my May Heart quilt.  The challenge was to applique one heart per day during the month of May,  I made a few extras and I'm very pleased with the result.  The sashing/binding/backing was a chunk of fabric that a friend gave me a couple of months ago when she was cleaning out her stash.  Perfect for this quilt!!

And these little pretties were made for the 4th of July/Independence Day.  Pinterest can be a dangerous place.  I have at least two more on my list for next year!

I'm back in quilting mode, so should have a few oldies to show soon.  One is my UFO for our next meeting, so I have to get busy.  It's not going to be quick and easy like most of mine.

Did I mention vacation and kayaking and wildflowers?  I'll leave you with a few of my favorite images.

Woodland sunflower

This was taken the day that the final group of boys were rescued from cave in Thailand.  So appreciative of blue sky, fresh air, sunshine and clean water.

Cincinnati skyline at dusk

Skylift to Natural Bridge in Kentucky

any ideas?  Natural Bridge Kentucky

Another view of Skylift on the way down

View from overlook in Daniel Boone National Forest

Fleabane and bug

And now back to stitching....... Sunny

Best.  Cheeseburger.  Ever!

Let the Commenting Commence!

Oh Happy Day - Blogger has fixed the commenting problem!  If you haven't read about it yet, you can go here for full instructions.  Shez also has the instructions if you're a follower of her blog. 

I have been so busy stitching while I wasn't responding to comments.  I've made 10 more name badges for retreat friends to put on their machines.  This has become a never-ending project.  Every time I say it's the last batch, someone else asks, or we get a new person at retreat. 

A couple of years ago, I made these 16-patches as part of a larger project.  Which never happened.  I can't just discard all this hard work of course, so I made a doll quilt.  This will go to A Doll Like Me, and they have a need for quilts for boys as well as girls.

Naturally, the remaining patches became part of a place mat for Meals on Wheels.  More place mats were made with the trimmings from the backing of a quilt.  Said quilt will be making an appearance here soon, as it is near the top of the to-be-quilted pile. 

I have been quilting like crazy this past week, and here is another one of my finishes.  This is the result of our block exchange at another retreat.  This was the first time I participated in this exchange, and I love the result!!  They always choose a scrappy Civil War style quilt.

Last and least, here is my Challenge Quilt for guild.  We had to draw our inspiration from a magazine page.   I had a lot of fun with it, but didn't win any prizes this year.  Already looking forward to the next challenge!

I've also quilted 5 other small quilts, and will be binding like crazy in the days to come. but first, I have to go on a little  weekend retreat.  I've been cutting and prepping and packing, and hope to accomplish a lot while I'm away.  I don't really know most of the people, so I plan to choose a nice quiet corner and just sew away like crazy.

Keep on stitching......Sunny