Whew!  Another block done - this one had a jillion pieces (yes, a slight exaggeration....). There were a lot of little pieces to sew together, but it came out very cute! 

 

Block 6 is done - cute ice cream cones!  Three more blocks left....

 

I have Pat's quilt top done.  It isn't as large as I'd like, but I think adding anything else to it would just mess up the top.  It's a busy quilt top as it is, so anything else will just make it worse.

I won't get it finished before she leaves (next weekend), since I don't have backing fabric for it yet, much less the time to quilt it.  But, I will at least have it to top to show her when she comes over for dinner.

Block 5 of the Summer Block Party quilt is done!  This one is titled "Beach Finds" and is shells, sea glass and pretty pebbles.  I have to admit, these are what follow me home from the beach! 

 

I'm used to frogs being in my watering can, but when I watered my plants this week, I had a special guest in my watering can. 

 

I'm chick-sitting and dog-sitting for Cindy!  She left me Survivor to watch for the next week - the lone chick she is raising (hence the name),  She (and we are calling a her a "she" loosely, we won't know the sex for a while) is an Araucana Chicken, and has tuffs of feathers on her cheeks.  She's so cute!!

 

 

AJ and I got the bubble fountain pump replaced last weekend.  AJ did the "install" and I did the rest - digging out the rocks and covering it back up - he got the easy part!  It's been down for a couple of weeks, so I'm glad to get it back working.  Luckily it was a bit cooler by the time we got to the install, our weather has been in the mid-90's this week.  Much nicer than our 100+ the weeks before! 

 I have one more block done for the Summer Block Party quilt - a sea turtle.  Looking good so far! 

 

Finished!  I love this one, and now all that is left is getting it to Kendra and Baby Evan. 

 

One more block done for the Summer Beach Block Party quilt.

 

And another 'helper kitty"  This one is napping on the baby quilt that I just finished binding - it's ready for the wash (and then put away quickly, away from the cats!) and then delivered to Kendra for baby Ethan.

The grey quilt underneath is going to Debbie - it needed a label, since I didn't quilt it I hadn't put a label on it.  Both are ready (after a quick bath) for their new homes!

The Green Fire is locking us in the valley in smoke - it's north of Shasta Lake, and the smoke is drifting into the valley and staying there.  This is from my trip to the grocery store.

 

And I can't resist one more picture of my most faithful "helper". 

 

I wasn't looking for one, but a new project found me. Pat and Debbie are clearing out Pat's house for Pat's planned move to Arizona this month, and came across a fabric stash in her closet - a partially put together panel and coordinating fabric in need of finishing. 

 

I will, of course, need more fabric, as Pat would like a larger quilt, not a wall hanging. I started designing some blocks that match the patterns in the panel to put around the panels to make it bigger. I need some blues and greens to add to it.

 

 

 

Whew!  One more project off my to-do list!  It didn't move far though - it's moved to my quilting to-do list, but at least the quilt top is done.  I love how this turned out. Another successful Mystery Quilt!

This is from the fabric I got in Paducah, KY last year on vacation.

I left a cupboard door open, and the next thing I know, it's got two cats checking it out.

The same morning we went kayaking, I took some photos of the clouds at my house - beautiful! 

 

Remember the part where I said I was finishing up quilts instead of starting new ones?  This is one of the reasons - another mystery quilt - the Summer Block Party quilt.  I have two of the blocks done - there will be nine blocks in total, all celebrating summer at the beach.  

I think I'm addicted - I just bought fabric for another "Mystery quilt".....and I haven't finished the last two!  (Though, in my defense, one mystery quilt has all the blocks done and is in in the process of getting put together, and I don't have all the block patterns yet for the Summer Block Party quilt.  The next one doesn't start until Augut.)
 

I am working on getting some projects finished - I keep starting new quilts instead, so my focus for a bit is getting some completed and ready to quilt, and then getting the quilting done.  We'll see how that goes, as I'm constantly getting distracted with new quilt ideas. This one had the blocks done for a while, it just needed getting put together. Now....it just needs quilting.  

 

I've fallen behind on my posting!  

Cindy M and I took the kayaks last week - I took Monday off, just because.  It was beautiful on the lake, and since we were there around 9:00, still cool.  It was a bit cloudy and cool when we got there, but the clouds had cleared by the time we were off the lake, so it was heating up.

 

 

Not so much as a "break from quilting" but I finished a fabric basket for me, too.  I was busy sewing on quilt stuff, just really didn't get anything finished yet.

I have Kendra's baby quit sandwiched and ready to quilt, I worked on the RBD Block quilt (I think I have all the blocks done now) so it is ready to put all together, and I started the Summer Block quilt (another 'surprise' quilt.)  This is the fabric for it below - it's all beachy, summer themed blocks. and I get the patterns on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I'm a week behind already, but I got last week's blocks cut out at least.

 

I took a break from quilting (after the baby quilt top was finished) and made a fabric basket.  AJ claimed it, so I need to make one for me now. 

 

And the top is done - whew!  I don't have fabric for the backing, so it will sit for a few days, at least.  I think it came out nice!   

On a different note - I've been loving our temps lately - we've been having lows in the 50's and high's in the 70's - perfect! We are set to go back to closer to our normal temps this week - mid 90's with triple digits over the weekend.  It was nice while it lasted.  We also had red flag warnings and lots of small fires lately, even with the lower temps.  Cindy M and I were trying to find time to go shooting, but the winds made it difficult since the range shuts down in that scenario, and the pistol range isn't open every day either.  We did get one morning of practice in, and I passed my qualification shoot for my CCW renewal with an 18 out of 20 - whew!  

My latest unfinished project?  A baby quilt for Kendra, with Evan due to make his appearance in 2 weeks.....I'm in trouble.... I did get far enough to find a quilt I want to make, but I only had a picture of it, so I'm making the pattern up as I go.  Here's the picture:

 

 

And the colors I'm using:

 

 

There are 196 half square triangles (HST) for the blocks.....why did I decide to make this one???  I have over half the HST's done, but only 9 of the 49 pinwheels complete.  Evan will be here before it is done.

Finished - one long-standing item on my to-do list....Candy's quilt.  Candy started this while she was watching Alli in the afternoons, and got the top completed, sandwiched, and one pass quilted before she moved.  I finished the quilting not long after she left, in February.  It's been sitting and waiting for me to put the binding on since then.  The UFO (Unfinished Object) has been nagging at me - draining my psyche, so it was time to get it done.  It took me most of my Sunday sewing time, but....it's currently sitting in a box, ready to ship! 

And how does my garden grow???  We had fresh green beans for dinner the other night!!

I have a lemon cucumber....

An eggplant

Bell peppers

A tomato

And green beans

Luna is molting....more accurately, she's "throwing coat" - aka shedding everywhere!  Gotta love the husky in her......This was not a good time for my Roomba to quit on me.  I am sweeping up handfuls of hair every day, AND she's getting brushed every day (not be me - AJ does the brushing).   A new Roomba has been shipped, which will help tremendously in keeping the fur in the house down. 

But she's a good girl anyway.....

 

At the end of April I started another Mystery Quilt - a leap in faith as I had no idea what the finished quilt would look like.  I chose to do a 2-color quilt (my way of hedging - I'm not very confident in putting colors together, especially not knowing the finished quilt) using the batik fabric that I got last year in Kentucky.  I got the "finishing pattern" this week, and put some of my blocks up on the wall to see what the final quilt will look like.  (No, I don't have all the parts and pieces done, I got 5 of the 6 weeks done, still need to make another 30 blocks....)  I love how it will go together - super simple blocks that look like curved piecing when put together.