Happy Anniversary..... June 15

Just wanted to wish the best parents ever a very Happy Anniversary. This was a photo from their anniversary party a few years ago....

And my last picture of them with the kids March 2015. We will have to remedy that next month when we are up in Vermont. Hehe...they both have gotten a lot taller in the last year. (The kids, not Mom and Dad! Those jammies are now high waters on Aidan) 

I have been up to VT to see them in December and in March but the kids have not seen them (other than Skype) since this photo. They can't wait to see you both.

Hope you both have a wonderful day.

Slow stitching Sunday.....

I have been lucky to get  a lot of slow stitching in this week while the kids were at an evening camp. I  got one of my 1857 blocks done (well, except for the peel borders) and another nearly done. I just have one green peel to finish turning on this one. I thought this one was very fitting with the cross in the middle to be stitching in the church while waiting on the kids this week.

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts today for a look at slow stitching around the globe. I have a short stint at the pool store working today (It has been months since I have had to go into work there!), then I hope to come home and have dinner all made for me. A nice change I think. It will allow me some nice and relaxing slow stitching time this evening.

Saturday houses in aqua....

I finally got a little sewing time this morning and worked on these two houses. They are pressed but I guess the iron was not hot enough.... those wrinkles did not come out! Yes, these fabrics were pulled from the bottom of a bucket all nice and wrinkled.

Linking up with the RSC Challenge. In that bucket... I found a slew of blues. I am seriously considering making another scrappy blue and cream log cabin quilt. I sold the one I had made with this challenge back in 2013 earlier this spring. Must finish off one or two UFO's first though.

I think I missed my walk and weeding opportunity. 9AM and way too hot and humid to be outside. Guess I'll just stay inside and get my quilt top from last week  ready for pinning. I cut the batting. Just need to make a backing and then clear off the sewing table for pinning..... ok, that will be a task in itself. I was hoping to quilt it today too... but we'll see how the day progresses. A few phone calls to make for Avon delivery and a little programming work to get done. Kids had an overnight at Grandma's yesterday but she'll return mid afternoon so we can all go rollerskating. Me..I'll be in sneakers but the kids will try it. This is a summer girl scout event but they opened it up to families so Aidan will skate for the first time. It should be interesting! Tomorrow, I have to remember pool things and actually work in the store for the short day. I don't think I have been into work there since February... the last time my manager had time off. Greg picked the short straw for today (he did not want to do the rollerskating with kids!). So much to do... and so little time. Hopefully next week will go a little easier. I have the kids scheduled for a STEM camp. It should give me time to actually work (programming)  in peace and quiet while they are away and hopefully will tire them out. The following week is a swim camp for them. I'm off to shower and get moving with my list of 'to do's. I hope to check in with the linkup later this evening.... assuming we survive the roller skating!

Mid week appliqué....

Well, TS Colin just dropped a few inches of rain on us at my house. The kids got a little stir crazy and it was interesting to try and work with them...... but I finally had an idea after lunch and had them make Kool Aid play dough. Advise - use a zip lock baggie to make this and start with 2 cups of flour not 1 1/4. That kept them busy for a while in the afternoon making 'cookies' and opening a restaurant. Yesterday I dropped them off to Grandma early in the morning and got a nice 6 hour day in and completed a project so it moved up for testing. She took them over to the gulf coast and said there was a lot of erosion on the beaches over there. They got home in time for Vacation Bible School at the church where they do scouts. A first for us... they had a good time. That will be a couple of hours each evening this week as their activity.

While they were doing activities I enjoyed quiet in the air conditioned sanctuary and got some stitching time in. This block got completed and I also finished the diamond star this weekend.

Slow Stitching Sunday....

I prepped this appliqué with back basting last night. I must have been tired since I back basted the whole thing instead of one part at a time! Oh well, it made it easy to pick it up this morning with some quiet time.

Looks like rain is starting in the afternoon.... some slow stitching time will happen then. For now... time to head out and weed a bit before the heat gets too intense. On the way home from The Crayola Experience last night around 6 and the thermometer in the car went from 99 to 100 briefly about a mile from our house. Crazy hot!

I looked out the back slider window and saw this one on the ground.... then he flew off to the trees. There are a pair of hawks in my back yard! This one perched on the pool for a little bit.

Better go out and help Emily in the garden. She is out getting the tools ready for us.

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts and her Slow Stitching Sunday link party.

RSC Saturday.....

I am so happy aqua, lime green and Caribbean Ocean colors were selected this month. I hope to pull out those scraps next week and play with them. This week I have been concentrating on my UFO I selected for the month. I made a bunch of 16 patch blocks last year with the challenge. Around this time last year I had a thought to set it in a 'goodnight irene' pattern. I'm happy to say it came out better than the picture in my head last year! This is now a top and hopefully it will get quilted in the next two weeks. I see a nice scrappy binding to finish it off. A big Thank you to Grandma H for taking the kids Thursday morning and keeping them until Friday afternoon. It allowed me to get my work done, enjoy some sewing time and have a nice dinner with the hubby.

Linking up on Saturday with the RSC Challenge. Head on over and get inspired.

I'll be hanging out in Orlando Saturday at the Crayola Experience with my girl scout troop. A slew of 5,6 and 7 year olds...thank goodness all have a parent going with us. I think we wanted to go as much as the kids did!  It should be a fun time.

Progress on my UFO for June....

Grandma took the kids to the movies yesterday and then for an overnight at her house. After working.... I got to sew! A little more progress was made. I also found and cut out the few remaining colored squares I need while I was digging in the scrap bins. I just need to cut more of the white background and then start sewing things together. I must say..... I LOVE how this is coming out. I already know the quilting pattern I want to do... hopefully the FMQ will not give me fits when I get to that point. Right now.... it is looking like 64x64 for a size... unless I add some borders. I think it will stay at that size...easier to move through the machine for quilting. A very scrappy binding will finish this off.