Week 32 - Finishing

This past week has been one for Finishing.  Finishing project started a while back.  And finishing ones started a short time ago.  

Row by Row started back in 2011 but I wasn't aware of it until 2014.  The following year, 2015, I got really involved in collecting kits and patterns. The theme that year was water, or H20.  I had flown out to Arizona to see mom and then spent a few days with a friend down in Phoenix. Since we are both quilters, we hit a few quilt shops to get row kits.  This one is a personal favorite - Arizona Rainforest from Sun Valley Quilt.

I love the colors of this row.  And the piecing wasn't terribly involved; it just involved being totally focused on which way to put each piece. This row will go into my Arizona quilt - don't ask me when it will be done, I simply do not have a clue!  

I also finished a Bucilla kit this week.  Holy Family is one that called to me from the very first time I saw it.

This is 18" long.  There weren't a lot of pieces to this one.  I'm already working on another.  Kitty's Christmas is one that only has about 60 pieces so it won't take long to complete.  

The following picture came up on my Facebook feed the other day.

That smile has always enchanted me....it's just the right amount of sweet and tender mixed with a pixie glint.  This past week, this lovely young lady had her braces taken off, after 2.5 years as a brace face.  

There's that sweet, tender, pixie glint I've always loved.  

And a final finish for this week.  The pattern is called May Flowers but I used autumn colors to make this Autumn Flower Bench Pillow.  I spent all day Thursday at the monthly clinic making this one.  I got all the embroidered applique done there and came home to make the ribbon flowers and put the whole thing together yesterday.  I'm particularly proud of this one!  

Now on the more bench pillows....I'm thinking the next one will be Gather Together - just in time for Thanksgiving.  Or maybe I'll work on Boo - for Halloween.  Depends on what mood I'm in when I go to choose a pattern for the next one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Week 30 & 31 - Sewing Along

I've spent the last two weeks just sewing and sewing and sewing some more.  And stitching and embroidering.  I like a lot of needle arts, as you can see.

This lovely row is from Floyd & Lizzie's in Salt Lake City. It was from 2016 but will go quite nicely in my Food & Drink quilt. That is, of course, once I get cracking on that particular quilt.  

This next set of 2 rows are from 2015.  The top one is from Minnesota and the bottom one is from California.  The California one has intimidated me for a long time.  One day last week, I woke up and just knew how to accomplish it...it went together very well, I think. 

The bottom row is from That's So Debbie in Groton, CT.  It is from 2016.  She always does a maritime row since Groton is the home of the Submarine Service branch of the US Navy.  While we weren't part of the Sub Service, I still was drawn to this row since it features Homecoming at its most beautiful.  I will be using this row in my Silhouettes quilt - I've got a lot of them done already and might be ready to put it together really soon.

The garden is producing this year, thanks mostly to the fact that John put an electric fence around it to keep the deer and other nighttime creatures away from our produce.  This was almost a 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes...yes, it's only 7 quarts, but that's more than we got in the last 2 seasons - which was NOTHING!   John picked again this past weekend and we will probably get another 4 quarts out of that batch.  And there are even more tomatoes ripening on the vine.  

And finally, another cute picture.

Yes, that is kitties sleeping on top of the tall laundry cabinets.  That's my tall washer and dryer on the bottom and the top cabinets above them.  And kitties sleeping in their baskets at the very top.  Keeps them away from Kai Bella, you know.  Kai really does not care of kitties - she hasn't attacked yet, but she growls a lot when one walks by.  The cats give her a wide berth in the house and prefer to sleep far away from her so they aren't taken by surprise when she comes in to the laundry room for water.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 29 - The Week Went Like the Wind

This past week went like the wind!  We drove to Tulsa to pick up one of our granddaughters who flew in from Salt Lake City for the week.  We'd been trying for a couple of years to get her out here for a visit.  This year we got lucky. 

I tried NOT to schedule stuff to do every single minute of her visit.  She had Sewing Camp from 9 am to noon on Monday thru Friday.  Mom and I took her to lunch on Tuesday and then the three of us went to paint pottery.

Mom painted a mug with daffodils on it....I'm looking forward to seeing it when it comes out of the kiln and I pick up our items Thursday.  

On Wednesday, C and I drove to Branson after her sewing camp.  We had lunch at Mel's Hard Luck Diner - the waitstaff take turns singing to the customers.  Here is our waiter, Chad, singing to us.

For dessert, Chad recommended a Single Scoop Sundae....you can see why he told me NOT to get a Double Scoop.

After lunch, we went to see the Acrobats of Shanghai.  Oh, goodness, they were excellent!  Both of us were mesmerized.  This is just a sample of what we saw.

Each segment began with a story to explain what the routine entailed.  They were so limber and talented.  The costumes were crazy colorful.  I highly recommend seeing them if you ever get to Branson.

We had promised C she could learn to drive John's mule - no, she didn't even need a saddle!  

She did so well.....so proud of her!

We were able to get a group picture before we left to take her back to the airport.

And this is what we had to drive thru on the way to Tulsa....scary dark clouds and wicked blinding rain.  

But, we got there and here is proof we sent her back.

We are already planning for next summer.  C and her brother, W, will both be coming to visit next year.  We can't wait!