End of June....

Which means the car had to be inspected today.... it is now all set for another year.... 4 hours after we got to the mechanic. Thank goodness they had a van I could use so I could take the kids somewhere else for a few hours. We swapped the car seats (note to self, remove them and vacuum under those things.... lots of snacks on the seats) and I took them to the gym so I got a workout and a break and they got to play with the other kids, then grabbed some subs and took them to a local school playground for a picnic and to play until the car was ready. They went up for naps a good 1.5 hours later than normal so who know's when they will wake up.
I've been working on my yellow and blue blocks and have 30 completed. I was planning to start working on the last 18 this afternoon but the above car work changed my plans a bit. I'll try to get them done by the end of the weekend and put them together into a top. Let's hope I'll be showing a completed top in the next post. That will make 3 tops completed that I really need to create some backing for and get all pinned for machine quilting. I'd really like to get the pinning process done while I have my nice island in the kitchen to do that on. It is the perfect height and using the Sharon Schamber method of rolling the top and backing onto the boards makes the pinning process really quick. Keeping the house 'neat' while it is on the market for sale is really cutting into my sewing time. I am so looking forward to getting into the new house though... my own sewing area where I can work in my 'mess' to my hearts content and having the kids play room right next to it so they can be playing a bit while Mommy does a little sewing each day.
I'd better go get dinner ready to go and then I think I'll pull out the yellow and blue fabrics and start on those blocks.
Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.

VQF

I was able to take a few hours without the kids on Friday and go through the Vermont Quilt Festival. It was wonderful... and not just having some time to myself without 'Mommy, Mommy, Mommy....'!
There were some lovely quilts but there seemed to be a lot of 'art' type quilts. I guess I just prefer the tradition quilts but the art ones are nice to look at. I did a bit of shopping and decided to do the Booth Hop. I have 11 of the patterns in my possession and the last will be sent to me. They didn't have enough kits... I think she was a little overwhelmed by the number of people doing the Hop but she was going to cut them that evening and mail them out. On the positive... it sounds like a lot of people did the Hop and generated some good business for the vendors.
This is one of the kits for the quilt..... blue, green and yellow..

I also saw this vendor from Maine called Rainbow Dyes - as I am unable to get their website to link you can go directly to www.rainbowdyes.net to check them out - with hand dyed fabrics. I got 2 sets of fat quarters with 7 in each. They are much more vibrant than in the photo. As Mindy asked for bright pink, red, orange and yellow for her graduation quilt next year... I saw these and now need to find the pattern from the Quiltmakers Gift... I think it is End of Day. I think these will look nice and the colors are so 'her'. My son loves fabric and had these out and unfolded as soon as he saw them... I have hopes that my 3YO will turn into a quilter. My daughter... no interest at all but then again... she's only 2.

strip log cabin blocks

I found the link! Over at Maryquilts.com she has some neat patterns and I just loved her log cabin one. Mary, thanks so much for sharing this technique and pattern on the web. The key.... no 'measuring' and cutting strips... just use what you have. In playing with the yellow scrap happy challenge for June.... I used some of my blue scraps too and came up with about 10 of these cuties.
And tomorrow..... I'm going to VQF! I called my sister and she was available and able to watch the kiddo's for a few hours while I go drool over some very pretty quilts and maybe do a little shopping damage. Saturday.... assuming it doesn't rain, I'll take the kids with me to Morrisville,VT for their 'Lacing up for Cancer' walk. I dropped the black/red stars quilt to Kelly last weekend and she will be doing a raffle there for chances to win the quilt. Who knows... maybe the above yellow/blue one will become next year's raffle.

Midget Block #6 Palm

I'm back and hopefully I can start knocking off one of these a week again. I have to say.... once I got back to the paper piecing it wasn't too bad...... so the 3 month break was enough I guess!
This one has four parts and 14 pieces in each part..... so 56 pieces in this little block finishing at 4.5 inches. Sorry, I didn't get the iron out so this one is not pressed as yet.

I've been looking for a pattern for 2 weeks now... I didn't save the site to my bookmarks like I thought.... and in figuring out where the above picture was to post it (yup, still getting used to the Mac.... I love how fast it is but am still working on where things go...) I found it! It is a scrappy log cabin block with no 'real' measurements. I'm off to pull the yellow and blue scraps from the closet and try to make a block and see how it goes. Let's hope the kids continue sleeping for a bit so I can play a bit.
I need the fabric stress release..... after the gym this morning one front tire was low and the other was close to flat.... filled one with a little air and off to the car repair who fit me in... nail in one and a leaking valve in the other. Not good with a 3 and 2 YO in the car with me... and I had to get home for a 2PM front windshield replacement.... newly paved road on Saturday, car pulled in front of me and a rock kicked up and caused a pop... which quickly led to a crack....about the size of my arm... so it needed to be replaced. Both are now fixed and we are back into a safe car to drive.
Hope your day went better than my morning!

Scrap Happy Saturday..... finishing pink!

I know it is June and that is the month for yellow..... but being a little bit behind I am posting my nearly finished pink scrappy top from May. I just need to finish the borders and then piece a backing and get this pinned for quilting.