Our Anniversary

Hubby and I are celebrating our 39th anniversary today. Weren't we cute? 

We just returned home last night from a week in California visiting our son, daughter-in-law and grandson. No photos yet. 

Since we were traveling across the country, I needed a craft to work on during the trip. When I wrote this post....before we left...I had yet to decide whether I should bring a small whole cloth quilting project. Only one thread to deal with, but a 16.5" by 16.5" pattern. 

Believe it or not, this photo is after I gave it a good, dry ironing. The pattern is water solulable so I can't steam it. 

My other option is to work on a Prairie Schooler Santa cross-stitch project. I'm planning on stitching the top one with the quilt. I think this was probably what I choose to travel with.

I had started on the border blocks of the Log Cabin Star (Judy Martin's Timberline) quilt before we left. Each block has seven logs and each log has two pieces. These do not sew up as quickly as I had hoped. I decided to work on all 28 of the "W" block at once to ensure that all the fabrics are random. 

Since this phote was taken, I have added that fifth log to all 28 blocks.

We are now in the month of July, so it is time to start working on my grandchildren's ornaments. I will be making two of the felt ornaments in this kit.

I think the gingerbread man and house will be made this year. Or maybe the candy cane instead of the house. I haven't decided yet. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Second June Stitch Along Update

After several days of no air conditioning on our second floor, it was finally fixed on Tuesday. I sit on the second floor landing, in front of a large window, when working on Three Boats. It has great light and I can place the lap stand on the loveseat to work on my stitching. 

 Needless to say, it was way too warm up there to work on Three Boats for any length of time. This is where I was with my stitching three weeks ago. 

I tried to make up for the lost stitching time this week and added quite a bit of stitching since Tuesday. Of course I was able to stitch in the week before the A/C went out. I like my progress so far. The fronds on the palm tree on the left are almost finished.

I hope to be able to finish this page by the end of July. I think that should be easily doable. 

This Stitch along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders. 

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. We are welcoming Helen back after a brief break.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

 Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by! 

Two finishes

What a week this has been. First, we finally got the central A/C for the 2nd floor fixed on Tuesday morning. It turns out that the on/off electrical control switch within the unit was corroded and had blown apart. Thank goodness it didn't go on fire. It was a quick 15 minute fix and all is well now. 

On Wednesday night there was another thing that broke....the water main in the street in front of our next door neighbor's house. A man walking his child in a stroller stopped to inform us that there was a small river of water flowing into the drain in front of our house and coming up through our street. Hubby contacted the local water district and they came immediately to assess the situation. Work started within the hour, but then had to stop due to a hour of thunderstorms coming through. 

Our water was turned off for about 3 hours or so. Work was completed around 11pm. The hole is filled, but the road still has to be repaved. It has collapsed a little around the repair site as of today.

I do have two finishes! Several of you guessed that my crochet project was a little lamb. Isn't it adorable.

It has been given to my friend to pass on to her infant grandson. Those books you see in the background were my own children's board books from 30+ years ago. They are nice to have when the grandkids come to visit.

I also finished Pumpkin House. 

I have ironed it since this photo. I think I will make it into a small pillow.

Hubby and I took a break on Thursday and drove to the North Fork of Long Island to enjoy lunch at a local vineyard - Terre Vite Winery & Vineyard. There was a pretty patio with a great view of the vineyard. 

Hubby had a glass of chardonnay and the Caprese panini. I enjoyed a glass of the Mercato Red Blend and The Figgy panini. 

The weather was beautiful and the food and wine were delicious. 

I have a bunch more flowers in bloom now. My coneflower is putting on a show.

The lavender is in all in bloom with the butterfly bush behind it soon to follow.

The hydrangeas are flowering also. One pink/purple....

and two blue.

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

This and that

 Last week's blog post was written early in the week as our daughter and granddaughter were visiting from Wednesday to Sunday. There was absolutely no crafting completed during those days. We went to the local park and to the LI Children's Museum. There was a Thomas the Tank Engine room, music room, bubble room, and more. Outside there was even a sand area that our granddaughter enjoyed digging in.

We had a whole lot of fun together the whole week.

This week I have slowly gotten back to crafting. I am still working on Pumpkin House. I have completed part of the top border and am working on filling in the final motifs.

Can you guess what this may be? I have been working on it on and off for several weeks and now just have to assemble it.

I will post what it is when it is completed.

I have now finished quilting six of the nine Overall Sam blocks. I am still looking for a couple of novelty buttons to put in his hands. I have a baseball and a pencil. I wanted a watering can, but all those that I have found have the orientation backwards from what I need. 

You are probably wondering if I have finished the 21 Log Cabin Star blocks. I am happy to say that they are all done.

Now that they are completed, there are still 60 more blocks to be completed for the borders. 

 

Since I had to refill the bobbin when I finished the last Log Cabin block, I decided to change the thread to black and sew a couple of sample snowball blocks.

I have had this soccer ball fabric for ages. Our school district's colors were red and black and both my kids were on the school soccer teams. I made water bottle covers with this fabric. I think it is perfect for the I-spy quilts. If anyone has any tips on making snowball blocks please leave a comment. I can see these are going to take some time also as they are made with four small black blocks attached to a 3 1/2 in block and then trimmed. I need 120 of them for each I-spy quilt. 

I have been spending a good deal of time at my sewing machine in our basement as our second floor central AC unit stopped working on Thursday and repairs will not be until Tuesday. The basement is nice and cool. Our first floor AC unit is working fine so that is cool also. It is just where the bedrooms are that is quite warm. Thankfully the temps have dropped to the 70s at night and we have scrounged up a box fan and oscillating fan for our bedroom. It also has a ceiling fan so we have been able to sleep decently at night.  It got to 89 degrees here on Friday. We are glad that we aren't having the 90+ temps that most of the Northeast is experiencing. 

My daylilies are blooming.

So is this pretty yellow tiger lily.

Well that is all now for the weekly overview. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting there

Hopefully those who read my blog consistently have guessed by the title that I am close to finishing the 196 Log Cabin Star blocks (Judy Martin's Timberline). Currently there are 175 blocks completed. It has been hot, humid and sunny out so of course I have been spending a whole lot of time in my cool basement where my sewing machine is located. I am steadily working on the final 21 blocks. 

I am set up to add the next to last log.

 Of course, once these are done I still have the border blocks to complete. I have yet to look at the number of those that I need, but they are composed of rectangles only. 

I have also made progress on the Pumpkin house. I am working on the top border which is all that is left to do. 

As far as quilting Overall Sam, I have 5 blocks quilted. This is the 6th one that I am currently working on. 

Now that I am "close" to having the Log Cabin blocks completed, I had to cut out some of the fabric for the I-Spy quilts. I think I have fussy cut 15 fabrics for each of the two quilts. That means I have cut 60 squares.

 Aren't those hampsters adorable.

I have also cut the binding, sashing and corner fabric for one quilt. 

There is a whole lot more fabric cutting to complete, but I feel happy that I got started.

Hubby and I took a walk in our local preserve. Although the walk was pretty, it was also very gnatty and the lake was quite smelly. 

We went to Jones Beach one night and enjoyed walking the boardwalk and looking at the pretty sky and ocean.

That is the Jones Beach Water Tower in the background with parts of the Wildplay adventure park in the front of it.

I have a couple of lilies in bloom. 

Not much else is new in the garden. The daylilies are budding. They usually flower around the beginning of July. Our landscapers put down mulch and a lot of my little begonias were ruined. I thought I was doing the right thing this year by planting before the mulch, but I won't do that again. Now I have to go buy some more cell packs and start over. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

First Stitch Along Post of June

I have been working steadily on Three Boats on a Tropical Beach by Artecy. This is where I was for the last post three weeks ago.

 This is where I have gotten to since then. 

I have filled in a lot of confetti blue in the sky and browns and greens (though they are hard to distinguish) in the tree limbs.

I think I will be getting to another place where there is a lot of one color. This page seems to moving along fairly quickly. 

This Stitch along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders. 

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

 Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy

Thanks for stopping by! 

Warm Weather

The weather has finally been fairly warm and sunny. The crafting has been going well despite enjoying the weather. I have added a bunch of motifs to the Pumpkin House.

There is a mistake on the counting of the tail of the left squirrel that I only found after adding the vase and the right squirrel. I left it as is, because it would be too much to take out. I had to make a couple of adjustments to the flowers in the vase, but I think it looks just fine. 

I have been working on quilting the fourth Overall Sam. I finished the stitching around Sam and am working on the stitching around the edge now.

I finished adding the last log to 6 more Log Cabin Star blocks.

I think there are 4 more blocks that need the last log and then I have 24 y-seams to sew.  My enthusiasm for working on these has wained again, but I make sure to work on them whenever I do laundry as I am already in the basement.

More of my garden flowers are in bloom. The coral bells.

A few Stella D'Oro lilies. 

The Kousa Dogwood is putting on a show. This is just one branch.

At the beginning of the week I got the baking bug again and made this delicious Blueberry Cake with Toasted Coconut Topping by bake or break. 

We loved it! I will make this again.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!