Slow Stitching

I had to lay aside the spider web quilt because it is too heavy for summer quilting.  Since I didn't have anything basted, I looked in the UFO closet and found this old beauty.  I made the top in 1988!! and started quilting it.  For some reason, I got tired of it, put it in the closet, and forgot about it.  I have been working on it steadily for about a month, so I only have the border left to do.  This is really sloooooooooooow stitching!

Baby Boy Quilt

Our nephew and niece in Indiana are expecting their second baby, a boy, this month.  They have already been blessed with the beautiful Vivian for whom I made this quilt.  I love sewing for girls!  Much to my dismay, my granddaughter hates pink and it is one of my favorite colors.

For Vivian's brother, I decided to use my recycled shirt bin.  I found the pattern here. Click on Shirt Quilt at the top of the page.  It was fun to work with the shirts because they're soft and many of them had belonged to my husband and son. 

 

I need to get this in the mail this week.

 

 

 

 

Better Late than Never

When preparing for quilt camp in late May, I wanted to bring some hand quilting but didn't want to bring a full size quilt.  I went through my WIPS and found these two quilts nearly completely quilted.  Why, I wondered, did I stop when I was so close to being done?  They were then put in a closet (you know, out of sight, out of mind).  It really only took a few hours to finish both of them.

 

This first quilt was a Jo Morton Little Women's Group quilt from 2006.  The hand applique and 95% of the hand quilting was complete when I rescued it from the closet. 

This next quilt was also hand appliqued and hand quilted.  It was probably 80% quilted when rescued.  Hopefully you can click to enlarge the pic to see that the background is closely stippled. 
This quilt was started in 2001.  It came from the book Once Upon a Season by Piece O' Cake Designs.  It was one of my earliest attempts at applique. Stay tuned for more "closet find" finishes in the future.  It's a great feeling to have them done.

On the home front, we had to replace my raised garden beds this year.  They weren't ready until June 1 and I was worried it was too late to plant (we have a very long growing season here in California).  Below are pictures taken June 1 and August 1.  It is unbelievable how much the garden has grown in 2 months.  I've already harvested more zucchini than we can freeze, eat and give away.  The tomatoes are just starting and the green beans are producing enough for dinner once a week (1 plant).  The eggplant and peppers have fruit starting as well.  We installed drip and the regular watering has made a huge difference.

Where the Heck Have I Been??

No posts since early May.  I tell myself no one really misses them but I know how much I enjoy other people's blogs so I'm determined to keep trying to become regular in this endeavor.  Since May I've been to Quilt Camp in Lake Tahoe, made a trip to Maine, Boston, and Cape Cod in June, visited Lake Tahoe again in July, and did lots of sewing and quilting.  I'll post quilty things from these trips over the next few posts.

Today I finished the latest Westering Women block from Barbara Brackman.  As you can see, I'm digging into my pink and brown stash for this sampler. 

I'm really enjoying the history lessons that accompany these blocks.  Even after teaching the westward migration for many years, I didn't realize how crowded the trails were.  We never stop learning, do we?

I've also been spending as much time as possible with these two darlings.  Here we are at Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose.