ALL THE PARTS

Yes, all of the parts are now cut out for this quilt! 

 I finished all of the squares around the 'map' panel. 

 Today I will begin to stitch each of the rounds!!!

And I already have the next project planned out! 

 It will be a Christmas in July quilt!

 

JUST IN TIME

I didn't get the bowl finished for a post today,

though I have continued to work on it!  

BUT I did get the July table runner done  by the first!  I love the pop of patriotic colors when I walk through the dining room!

 

SNEAK IN A SPRING

David and I had a good adventure yesterday,

 we took a little hike -almost a mile down this trail-

to arrive at this beautiful hidden gem--a freshwater spring! 

 After a brisk swim and some 

underwater explorations, we headed back down the trail

 to beat the afternoon rain. 

This is a native hibiscus, called a scarlet rosemallow, 

which is always a beautiful pop of red when you spot some!

This is a bass--the way the light reflected it made it look like a ghost!

And a selfie just because we were having fun!

I was so happy to be able to take a hike, to breathe and have only my usual MS pain without all the extras like anemia and know that perhaps the worst of this chapter of health is behind me!

 

IT'S LOVE

Bill is great about bringing me a 'just because' bouquet at least once a week.  They go on my dresser in the bedroom where I can see them first and last thing each day!  

And every once in a while he will buy me this bag--all for me! 

 A secret (well, not anymore!) indulgence of mine! lol

The quilting is now finished; 

the table runner is trimmed and I will get the binding on it today! 

 I wanted it done for July  and I did it, just in time!

 

LEARNING

So way back in September when I got sick, I had this cool piece of wood loaded to turn into a bowl.  Ten months later, and I am finally getting back to it with some help from my grandson!

This is a knot of Live Oak and as hard as a rock!  It has cool grain and I could 'see' a very primitive bowl when I originally loaded it.  Unfortunately, it has languished.  Well, David helped me clean up the long unused lathe area but first-

he told me I needed a hand grinder with a carving wheel to help make this job possible!  Hooray for Amazon!

He carved out a lot of the unwanted wood and showed me how to use the tool.  I gained confidence as I worked and appreciated his strength to spell me as I tired a lot quicker than he did!

In no time, the bowl I envisioned began to emerge!

I then had the pleasure of teaching him the technique for using a bowl gouge to hollow out the bowl portion of the piece.  

He was used to working with a metal lathe and there was a little bit of a learning curve but he is a very handy young man and picked it up in no time--especially when this was such a bear of a piece to learn on!  I hope to have this finished for my post on Wednesday !  

Today we head to church and then will pick up some Chinese take-out on the way home!

 

A QUIET DAY

I pieced one side of the quilt---using two different 'frames' for the 6 1/2" blocks.  I also made several more of the blocks for the patriotic stars.

I noticed that the Lifesaver cactus is in bloom--this one is almost done blooming.

And this one is fresh;  the botanical name is Huernia zebrina. 

 

 

PREP WORK

I did a ton of cutting for the pieces for the Shop Hop quilt--I will post pics when I actually do some piecing. 

 In the meantime, I keep on knitting;  this is a waffle weave variation.  It is an easy 4 row repeat.

 

NOTHING LIKE A NEW PROJECT!

I am making a bunch of these blocks 

for Alycia to donate to her QOV group.  

I cut a pile of squares and then mark the lighter color to make the HST's.  The blocks go together very easily.

And I pulled out this year's SHOP HOP Quilt project and began to cut out the fabrics.  This will be the center!

And these will be the center of the blocks to surround the panel!  I do enjoy starting a new quilt!

 

CLOSE TO THE FINISH LINE

I figured out how I could add the diamonds for the reverse star points--the corners were a ton of fun but they did have a good finish!  I do need to do a bit of invisible thread zig-zags over the raw edges;  I used fusible to hold them in place.

The side stars were a piece of cake after the corners; 

 I hope to get the applique stitching done today!

I also forced myself to sew the borders on the Nordic Nights so I can add it to the quilting frame pile.  I do have fabric for the backing so there will be no delays, for a change.

So this is my healing wound where the doctor removed the suspicious spot.  It was indeed a basal cell carcinoma so I am glad he had successfully removed it!  The spot on my ankle was also pre-cancerous but I do have to go back in a few weeks to remove a larger area to be sure that is all the way gone, too.  Since the process and the healing were almost completely pain-free, I am not bothered about having to go back again.   

 And I did get the very good news that my iron count is up--we knew that because I am feeling more energy each day!  I see that doctor next week!  I like going and having good news!

 

BETTER THAN EXPECTED!

So I pieced the last block and sewed them together and cut the borders.  Then came the fun--I played with the leftover diamonds and look what happened!  I love it--it's like fireworks going off!  Now to figure out how to piece those into the border

 without driving me crazy! lol

I know it is summer when the pagoda plants flower!

 

STITCHES ADD UP!

I do accumulate a pile of dishcloths over the course of a month!  The top half of the pile is going with me to the lab draw today to drop off at the iron infusion nurses for their care!  I will find out next week, if I kept the iron boost up to normal levels. 

 If not, I will be doing some more infusions!

I know we've all made the corner to corner dishcloths but I wanted the same look without doing it diagonally so I figured it out!  It turned out nicely!  Good for my brain to have to solve issues like making a yarn over and remembering to also decrease right after so that I have a square and not a parallelogram!!! lol 

 I consistently forgot that step even after making 5 dishcloths

so eventually I will remember, I hope!

I have the pieces for the last block all stacked next to the machine waiting for me to come home after the lab this morning!

 

A SWEATER ON SUNDAY

It's been a long time since I have had a sweater for a Sunday post!  The 12" of the body is done so there is only the short sleeves to finish now--they will be quick to stitch up!  

(the pattern is the Sea Haven)

After church, David and I will treat Bill to a birthday dinner out!  An interesting fact, my birthday is one day before the Winter Solstice and Bill's is one day after the Summer Solstice! 

 We are a good balance!

 

CONQUERING THE LAYOUT

Bill and David bonded over a truck replace his differential cover.  All went well!

While they played, I worked on the r/w/b blocks 

and liked what the light stars do for the layout!!!

This was the fabric I bought earlier in the week from Michael's. 

 I had to cut out the diamonds myself instead of using the Accuquilt cutter.  Easy job.

I sewed one block together and am right pleased! 

 I will make four blocks for the table runner. 

I think I will use all of the leftover diamonds

 to spiff up the borders!

INSIDE AND OUT!

I couldn't find any border fabric the other day so I cut up the last 17" of white into 7 strips to make a plain border.  Sometimes done is the best decision.  But instead of then sewing it all into a top, I played with something else!

I tackled the FQ Club fabric to make a table runner.  I began by drawing some ideas using the Hunter Star die from Accuquilt.

I cut up a strip from each of the 6 fat quarters to play around. I wanted to go for a scrappy looking block.

Yuck!  It was too chaotic!

I tried reducing it to the two colors like a Hunter Star is known for and I am still not happy with it.  I might have to introduce some kind of neutral.  I walked away for now.

Instead, David took me out back for a ride on the golf card!  There were storm clouds gathering for the afternoon storm but we did have a good ride before it hit!  

The bananas are growing.

And I love my tunnel under the live oaks!  We came in and tuned in for another LOTR extenteded ediition movie--The Two Towers !  A good day!