What I've Been Up To... (7/25/2013)

Hi hi!  When it gets hot outside, it gets hot in my sewing room - no matter that the AC is on.  Plus, when it is hot, it isn't raining so in Oregon, you don't stay in much.  I know I haven't.  I dumped my iPhone pictures and have a picture heavy post for you to catch you up on what I have been up to (mostly).  Warning: these are phone photos so they aren't the clearest.

Put in the irrigation for 9 raised beds and 4 half barrels.

Put together two Lifetime Adirondack chairs for the patio.

Molly helped.

Put together an applique I found at Marbled Arts.

Finished piecing the center for Little A's quilt - borders to come.

Made vegan samosa filling from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.

Made beefless stew from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.

Ran into Kat VonD at PDX on my way to visit my Mom.

Waited in line at the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley.

That line was for this.

And this was 5 minutes later.

This was dinner from the Cheese Board - 6 hours in traffic there and back, totally worth it.

Made an apple tart.

Had some Two Towns Ciderhouse "Rhubarbarian" while watching Game of Thrones - You know nothing Jon Snow!

Had a layover in Baltimore.

On our way to here.  Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

Played in the surf with the kiddos the first night.

Ate breakfast like this every day - for a week (ignore the beer cans the boys have).

Went to bed with this every night.

Made a retirement gift - messenger bag of my own design with the pony pattern from Regina.

Went to the beach (in Oregon) with Josh and the girls - they're waaaaaay back there.

Here they come.

Almost here!

Here we come Mom!

Oh wait, the water!

Ok, cold enough.

Throw the bumper Dad!

Sat while the dogs watched us eat lunch.

Ate ice cream while O passed out in our laps.

Made Veggie Ramen.

Picked 33 pounds of blueberries at Springbank Farm here in Lebanon.

Dug up a ton of roots and bark dust.

To put down sand and lay stone.

Shamed Annie - not even ripe yet!!!

Made a blueberry pie.

Made a glass paperweight at Jennifer L Sears Glass Art Studio in Lincoln City.

And more.  Just gonna have to find the pictures.  Here's a little bit of what Molly does when I work in the yard.

You'd think I put these chairs together for her.  She did help I guess...

woof woof meow!

Glimpses and a GIVEAWAY! (5/30/2013)

Hi hi!  Boy have I been busy! 

Here are a few glimpses of what has been going on here, but not all - I'll post more later.

Booty from Quilter's Safari Shop Hop 2013

Farmer's Market Haul - fresh beets and beef bones

Baby Jackson's Quilt almost done

Olive and Provolone Loaf from Cheeseboard Collective in Berkley

The big news is that I have a Travelling Stash Box to giveaway! 

Katie over at Snuggle Up with a Dish from Karma keeps tabs on all of these travelling boxes - THANK YOU KATIE!!

Here is what popped out of my box.

12 FQ, 8 half yards, 2 full yards, 1 yard+, 11 orphan blocks, 150 charm squares, 1 paper piece kit, 3 stamped cross stitch pillowcases, 2 types of lace trim, 1" elastic, 3 spools of navy fusible bias tape, straight pins, hand needles, measuring tape, seam ripper, 3 quilting patterns, 4 clothing patterns, 1 bag pattern, 1 Christmas trim pack, bag of DMC floss, 4 cross stitch patterns and a "learn how book"

Fabric

Patterns

More patterns

And here is what I took.

And here is what I added.

8 FQ, 3/4 yard, 2 quilting patterns, white marking pencil

Interested in some of this fun booty?  Here are the rules for the Travelling Stash Boxes - read them and if you're up to the challenge, leave me a comment telling me your favorite vegetable and I'll put you in the drawing!  My followers get an extra entry, just let me know in a separate comment.  I'll draw Wednesday June 5 at 6pm PST.  Good luck! 

Here's some Linda love for you from my trip home last weekend.

woof woof meow!

A finish - Baby Henry's Quilt (2/11/2013)

Yay - this was a fun project!  Josh's cousins had their second child - a boy - in October and when I heard they were expecting, off I went to find a quilt to make for them.  Then, Melissa Corry blogged about her Snuggly Squares II baby quilt.  I knew it was the pattern I wanted to try for this baby quilt.  I scrounged around on the web and found a (very hard to find) Lily & Will II layer cake at Christa Quilts!.  I ordered it and when it got here, I was soooo excited.  So excited, it sat. And sat.  And sat.

Then, when I got to it, the cutting and piecing went really fast.  Then, it sat again.  When it is nice outside, I usually stay at home, go hiking, take the dogs to the river, ride my motorcycle.  So, the quilt top sat on the bed in the guest bedroom for months.  Molly was nice enough to sneak into the room when I could catch her and hold down the quilt top for me.  Sweet child...

Before I finally got to Tigard to use the Gammill, I sketched out what I wanted to do - bunnies, flowers and vines, to mimic the fabric patterns.  I found a bunny outline at Pixabella and sketched them in the centers of the single-piece blocks. 

The flowers went into the pieced-center blocks.

The vines went around the outside of each block and around the border of the quilt.

It went on the machine really easily - normally my lines are crooked as sin!

If I didn't live alone I would think someone else sewed the top for me ;o)

After I took it home, bound it and washed it, I took it over to my MIL's and asked for her to take some photos for me.  The quilting shows up pretty well on the back, but it doesn't photograph very well in the sun.

The front turned out great and Liz's photography made it look even better!

I loved working on this quilt and working on my skills with it.  I hope Baby Henry loves it just as much!

woof woof meow