Winter Solstice Sew A-long…first round…

If you are a regular reader than you have already heard that we have started an informal Winter Solstice Sew-A-Long!  Today is our FIRST Show and Tell…our goal was to finish the big barn and the small barn in the month of July!  Both were fast and easy blocks…

Starting off the show is Seattle Judy’s (no blog)!  LOVE her finished blocks…Judy ALWAYS does lovely, precise work…and these are no excepts!

Next up is Sandy L. (no blog) who did her barns in wools with a cotton background!  Love the textures!

Here’s Sandy L.’s big barn…Sandy did a great job.  Her choice of wool for the red barn are perfect!

And both blocks together!

Glynis (no blog) made her barns out of flannels…and they are gorgeous…and she appliqued a blue wool star over her big barn!

And here is her small barn…love the browns!

And here they are together!

Claire (no blog) made hers out of Homespuns….

Wonderful, aren’t they!! 

And together…

And here’s mine…I wish I had picked a small print for my backgrounds as the plaid went wonky around the chimney…I used wool for my star which I really like!  I also haven’t trimmed my blocks.  I like to do that just before I sew the blocks together.

I made mine in homespun fabric which isn’t very forgiving but will be fine when all of my blocks are complete…or at least that’s what I am hoping!

And all together…

I’m hoping by the time I add all the other blocks you won’t notice the wonkiness of it all! 

Here are the participating bloggers…SEW mosey on over for a gander at their barns!! 

Bev~44th Street Fabric

Pam~The Queen Bee, Stitching Between the Lines Blog (scroll down two posts)

Karen- Laugh Yourself Into Stitches

Sandie- Crazy ‘bout Quilting

There are a few other quilters participating but I haven’t heard from them yet, so they may be late arrivals…but it’s all good!  There is NO pressure here…if you get it done, you get it done!  If you don’t, well there is always next month or the month after that!

I’m off visiting…can’t wait to see what they have made!!  Hope you enjoyed seeing our barns…make sure you come on back at the end of August to see what we have been up to!

Have a Thrilling Thursday and happy stitching!~P

This and That…

Very little has been happening around here that pertains to quilting…except for some handwork in the evenings…

Three blocks are finished of Summer Blooms by Primitive Gatherings…

It’s nice to have all the blocks prepped and ready to stitch for when that special moment happens…usually at the end of the day!

The wool pieces are so teeny that I am using a finer needle and ordinary threads…

It seems to be working well…the stitches can’t be seen except from the flash from the camera.

Tomorrow is our FIRST big reveal of our Winter Solstice Blocks for our July Sew-A-Long…We have a fair size group involved!   Stay tuned for our Show and Tell from the following quilters…

Kris B~no blog

Karen Walker~Laugh Yourself Into Stitches

Bev~44th Street Fabric

Seattle Judy~ No blog

Pattie N.~ no blog

Sandie~ Crazy About Quilting

Pam~The Queen Bee, Stitching Between the Lines Blog

Claire~no blog

Glynis~no blog

Sandy L.~no blog

Julie~no blog

Paulette~ Sweet P Quilting Blog

Maggey~ The Quilting Couple

Kathy S. --  New2quilting.blogspot.com

Karleen- no blog

Think BARNS…big and small!!  Can’t wait to see them all!

Have a wicked Wednesday and Happy Stitching!~P

A Busy Bee..

I know a busy bee who has been hard at work, tending to her Garden blocks!!  My friend Claire sent me these pictures yesterday and her magnificent blocks are starting to add up…slow and steady gets the garden finished!

Claire is using Japanese yarn dyed fabric for the background and lovely, soft, hand dyed wool for her flowers and hive!

The pattern is from Heart to Hand and is called The Garden Quilt.

Now this is MY kind of gardening!! I even love the bees…and this garden requires no watering or weeding!!  Bliss!

Thanks for sharing, Claire!  Keep these blocks coming!  It’s fun to watch your garden grow..!

Have a Sunny Sunday and happy stitching!~P

It’s a HOOT!

Yesterday while hiking Cobble Hill Mountain, my hubby and I came across these two Barred Owls casually sitting up on a limb…calm as two cucumbers watching a circus act! 

This picture was taken by an iPhone so the quality isn’t great but you can see how pretty are!

And because this IS a quilting blog and the only thing cuter than REAL owls is an OWL QUILT…go here for your FREE Owl Pattern!!  Many thanks go out to the designer, Jackie Clark for providing us with this wonderful baby quilt pattern…

  The pattern is full of different sized owls with different facial expressions…NOW if this isn’t a HOOT, I don’t know what is?!  The pattern is called ‘Border and Bind Baby Quilt’ and can be found HERE! 

Have a Fun Friday and Happy Quilting!~P

Christmas in July…continued…

Now HOW did that happen?  It was Monday just yesterday and then BHAM!…it’s THURSDAY!  Geeze I have got to move a little faster…or maybe I need to S..L…O…W  down?  Regardless, August is just around the corner!!  Our Summer is going too fast!

Summer bummer…it’s time for Christmas…Heritage Christmas that is!  Everyone was suppose to bring Christmas projects, hopefully current…to share on our special Christmas Day! 

So sit back, pour yourself an eggnog and enjoy the show…

It was fun to see a few of the BOM countdown quilts that Heritage is sponsoring this year!  Check out the different versions…

 

There were lots of runners…

This is Glynis version of Jan Patek’s Donner Blitzen runner…very sweet!!

Everything looked very festive!

Sandy and I brought the wool projects!  :o)

There were lots of casserole carriers…which was demoed later in the morning…

Love this Christmas tree…

…decorated with vintage buttons and pins!

The detail on this McKenna Ryan quilt stopped me in my tracks! 

Just gorgeous!!  I wasn’t surprise to later find out that it was one of Glynis’ beauties!

Check out the detail…see for yourself!

Christmas Tree napkins were also demoed!

 

There was even a display of lovely Christmas pillowcases!!  Wouldn’t it be fun to put these on your bed over Christmas?!

I would love to make this Tree Runner to put up for the whole of Winter…

And I LOVE cardinals…is this not gorgeous!

There was even Christmas baking…Christmas shortbread and fruitcake was enjoyed by all!

Ahhh…don’t you just LOVE Christmas!! 

Thanks ladies for the wonderful show and the good eats… proving once again that Christmas lives on…even in July!

Have a thrilling Thursday and Happy Stitching!~P