Sunday.....

Well, it will be a slow Sunday from 11-1ish while I watch the USA Womens' Soccer team play in the World Cup. I think the graduation quilt might finally get a little of the binding sewn down during that time!

Yesterday was an electronics free day for Emily and I. She did allow me to link up my hexagon flowers post to the RSC Challenge (I need to go visit today) and I checked the radar while at Walmart with Aidan..... after waiting 10 minutes we deemed it 'slowing down for the thunder and torrential downpour' to run to the car with a cart full of bags! We got soaked... and 15 minutes away at home there was NO RAIN! It was quite a storm with the thunder booming in the store and the rain hitting on the roof. Did I mention Aidan really dislikes thunder storms?

Emily was watching me knit a little yesterday and wanted to learn. No photo - obviously as I use my phone for photo's! I cast on 21 stitches and showed her how to knit. She did pretty good... much better than I did while I was learning! 21 stitches was enough for her yesterday!

While looking for needles for her..... I cleared out my pink bag that I just grab to go with me. There is a medley of things in there to keep me busy while waiting - at soccer practice, car lines, dr appts....

There were bits of dish cloth yarn hanging around so they will make a colorful dish cloth or two!

The bag needed a clean out. I found some extra parts cut for the hand pieced quilt along. So I hand stitched them up yesterday! 4 flying geese (I do believe I mixed up the color and white when cutting this set out!) and 3-  4 patches.

Not sure why the 4th one was different colors - but one square got stolen to be used in Emily's who is finally starting to work on hers. We have done a couple of 4 patches this week for her first block! I'll show hers next week hopefully as a completed block 1!

My office and sewing area are being redone (the floor in the office will finish going down this afternoon..... the walls needed a 3rd coat last night. Note to self - don't have the kids help with coat 2 as it will be blotchy!) So everything is out of the office and tucked into the sewing area. Hopefully the office will be put back together tonight and tomorrow... then I can start on the sewing area!
I did pull all the fabrics off the storage wall and some of the bins of scraps and placed them in the bedroom..... so I dug and pulled out some pink scraps for the umbrella's this month. One of these might get finished during the soccer game as well! I use back basting for my applique. I started with the handle and top to stitch from the back and then will use needle turn to stitch it to the front.

First -  I need to clean up the messy kitchen. The kids were baking yesterday. Aidan made biscotti (yummy) and did a good job cleaning up after himself. Emily made crinkle cookies - she did not do a good job cleaning up after herself. It is a process.......

Linking up with the other slow stitchers at Kathy's Quilts.

Friday finish!

Well, technically it was a Thursday evening finish! All the hexagons are hand appliqued to a 6.5 inch black background. 167 is the total count! If I do 12x14..... I just need 1 more! I do have one more that was paper pieced that is ready to be added to a background to finish it off.  It is in the lower left hand corner. (the first one I did before I decided I disliked paper piecing so hand pieced all the other ones!)

Sorry for the bad lighting.... thunder storms again this afternoon in central Florida. If my calculations are correct this top will eventually finish at 72x84! A few years in the making..... and probably a few years to go!

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday morning. I think there were 21 pink ones in the mix that got stitched off last month! You know... for the Pink month of July!

Time to slow down..... and stitch for a bit!

So many choices....

There are the light blue hexagon flowers that are so fun and relaxing to stitch onto their black background. These are the last color - all the others are done and waiting.... 14 to go and the one on the right is a finished one.

Binding..... That graduation quilt of chevron blue and yellow got quilted this week and is waiting for binding to be hand stitched to the back... might be a wee bit hot so this one might wait for later tonight.

Linking up with the slow Stitchers over at Kathy's Quilts.

The reason it is time to sit back and relax? The office area (10x10) got painted a nice summer yellow this afternoon. I have a few blue quilts to hang and some paintings I did at 'Painting with a Twist' hanging in my office and they will look great against this sunny yellow.  Mom - reminds me of my yellow spare room in my Colchester house =).

We also picked up my new flooring (honey oak look) and a few painting supplies late morning. I plan to do the sewing area and all that open room that is really a finished 2 car garage (20x20) under AC but I have tons of stuff in there and it was easiest to start with the office paint. Coat 1 is on. Coat 2 will be applied later tonight. I'll have to uncover my desk for working this week but.... that carpet will get pulled up and the flooring will be laid down probably next weekend. I am so excited! Then.. I'll move onto the rest of the room for painting then flooring in there. The painting might happen sooner... with help from the kiddo's some afternoon this week.

RSC in blue....

The fourth blue umbrella was completed this week for all 4 blues completed in June! I do believe I am all caught up until the July color is announced.

I went ahead and got the brown hexagons stitched to their backgrounds this week as well. That leaves me with just a stack of light blue to go! I pinned them to the black Wednesday night and they are right by my recliner ready whenever I have a few minutes to stitch.

Linking up with the RSC Challenge on Saturday morning.

Graduation quilt..... ready for binding!

It was a successful day in the sewing room! The graduation quilt got quilted, there was a long break as the kids wanted to create stuff and we had lunch out. Aidan made a fabric coaster (there was lots of muttering and I had to help a lot). Then Emily was working on the pillowcase... I think we pinned that thing 5 times before getting the first sewing right. Lunch may have been the break we needed on that one.

Once their projects were done.... I finally got the table and machine back and made and attached the binding to the front by machine. I have a lot of hand stitching to go but have plenty of time to get it done.

I also played bobbin chicken and won! It finished right at the end of a row! The other part..... broke a needle but was able to find it all. Some tweezers to get it out of the bobbin area and a new needle and I was off and running again on the last part of the binding. I may have also used a whole gutterman thread that ran out on the third side of binding the quilt. 

It feels good to have that part done and just some hand stitching to go! I'll post the photo of the quilt once it is finished and washed.

Hand piecing curves????

Ok, I know I need to finish up a project (or 3!) first... but I am thinking ahead to a new hand piecing project. I am tempted to try curves... hey, if you are going to hand piece you might as well make it interesting.... right?

Apple Core Quilts..... should I or shouldn't I?

I found this link of how to make your own template.

Hmmmm then what colors..... I'd want to do a bigger one so the curve was easier....

I'm sick of green....the tumbler quilt last year and the log cabin earlier...

Not sure there is enough of the Kansas Troubles Fabrics.... have to go check out that drawer. That would make a pretty quilt.

There is always lots of blues hanging out on the wall....


There is also the drunkards path as well. Hmmmmm. The apple core is appealing more (sorry for that pun!)

I'll keep thinking while I finish up those other 3 projects.....

Tiny Tuesday...

I could use some snow.... it was feels like well over 100 yesterday with a heat index warning hitting my phone in the morning. This fabric will have to do!

Hoping all who are in a heatwave across the world are able to slow down, stay cool and be safe.

I just have one more blue umbrella to stitch and I will be all caught up! Next Tuesday will be a new color... I do wonder if it will be pink, purple, light blue or browns and black?  Whichever color comes up there will be 5 weeks of it in July!