Memorial Day Weekend Recap

I was very happy to get back to my machine today and do a little sewing after a brief hiatus. Mr. Romance had a four day weekend, so I promised him no sewing and very little blogging for the four days. We had a fun weekend. We saw two movies, Midnight in Paris and Bridesmaids. Don't judge me on either movie. We enjoyed both for different reasons, but I have to say  I laughed myself silly watching Bridesmaids and I really enjoyed the scenery of Paris in the Woody Allen movie, the storyline not so much. We ate out every night and basically had a "staycation". My mom was in Albuquerque with my brother for my nephew's wedding, so we were empty nesters for the weekend. We swam, did a little gardening and just relaxed. So, I really didn't miss NOT sewing at all.
I also did a photo shoot with our son and his beautiful wife and kids. I'll post photos of that after I get some of the shots edited.
So this afternoon I got one 4x4 block of my Circle Me Back to Amsterdam quilt pieced and then had my first attempt at QAYG (quilt as you go for my non-quilty readers). I must say I am pretty excited about this project.
Here is the first block.

Now if you remember my inspiration was this bag

http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2011/05/stitch-magazine-summer-2011.html

Imagine my shock and surprise when I came across this pattern today.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/73988302/dot-party-quilt-pattern-by-jaybird

And after I posted earlier about copying from someone's blog! But, really, I did not copy this quilt. I used Ayumi's bag as my inspiration and hopefully there are no lawsuits in the works. Ha! Ha!.

 So one block is pieced and quilted, another is pieced. There are a total of 9 blocks made up of 16-6 inch squares. I think this should go pretty fast now that I have time to work on it.

To be continued...
I'm linking up with Lee's WiP

Protecting your Creativity

Sew Happy Geek is having a 3 part tutorial about how you can protect your blog and photos and tutorials.
Check it out and spread the word. There are unscrupulous people out there who steal from your blog and claim it as their own. All it takes is a simple link to give credit where credit is due. I heard about this from
Spontaneous Threads blog, who by the way, has made the most beautiful sewing machine cover. I will be putting a watermark on my photos from now on.

Sunflowers

I'm playing along with Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday again.
This is so much fun.
This time the theme is In the Garden.
Here are some sunflowers from my garden a few years ago,
I used Kim's Yesteryear texture and Grey Day Vintage texture.
I've got to learn how to do that rollover thing so you can see the before and after photo. But maybe by next week I will have learned how to do that.
so here's the before photo

and the after 

Memorial Day

I'm reposting this quilt in honor of all those who have served our country. 

Let's take a moment today to thank those that have served and remember those who lost their lives protecting our freedom.

New Fabric

Drool...

Don't have a plan yet.

Need to add some more to this colorway.

Love it!

Michael Miller fabric

 This screams kitchen accessories to me!

I'm thinking embellished dish towels, pot holders and aprons!

Sew Cherry

 A Good Stash Addition

Simple enough to look like a solid but still make a statement.

Houndstooth by Westminster Fabrics

All fabrics were purchased from The Fabric Shoppe

Limes

see more shadow shots here

Prayer Request

My son's girlfriend's cousin is in need of your prayers.
Please keep Lyndsey Harhay in your prayers. She is fighting leukemia and had to return to the hospital for another lung biopsy.
This blogging community is so vast and if we all get praying I know we can stay strong for each other, whether our prayers get answered or not.
thank you,
diane

Help the Tornado Victim

Old Red Barn Co.

Oh look at the quilt Dana made and is giving away for a donation of any amount for the tornado victims.

I've donated and hope you can too.
Every little bit helps and 100% of your money will go to the American Red Cross.
Just click on the link and jump on over to Dana's site and make a donation!

This is when being a blogger warms your heart. The blogging community is so loving. Please help.

Playing with Textures on Photoshop Elements

Playing with Kim Klassen and Florabella textures. I really should be making dinner, sewing or taking a nap (up at 4:30 this morning to take my mom to the airport), but instead I played a little with these fun textures.

Jack's Quilt

I have been posting every few weeks to introduce you to the quilts I've made before I started blogging. 

After the last post I did about my sister's quilt, I received this comment from my friend, Annabella,

"Just like the colours of the spice market here... I`m really enjoying your quilt chronicles."

So, based on her comment, I have decided to call this segment of my blog my "Quilt Chronicles". I think that is a great title and I love that Annabella, being British, used that word in her comment. I can almost imagine her saying it with her proper British accent.

So let me introduce you to Jack's quilt. I made this in 2005 for my grandson's second birthday gift. It was a block of the month pattern that I ordered when I went to my first ever quilt show. It is machine appliqued and then embellished with buttons and embroidery to bring the little monsters to life. I still love this quilt and all it's bright colors.

I learned how to sew half-square triangles when I made this quilt and I also learned, too late, that you are supposed to cut out the center on the bonding material so you don't end up with a stiff quilt. Luckily, after several washings, this quilt softened up quite a bit.

red border on the left side missing in the photo

Wow, how time flies!

Ready to Assemble

I have sewn all the circles for my Circle Me Back to Amsterdam quilt.
Do you remember my inspiration from Ayumi's blog?

This is the layout I have decided on.

Does anyone see anything that needs tweaking?
Now I have to teach myself how to "quilt as you go"...
Please suggest a tutorial.
thank you,

a heart for Mary Lou

Here is the heart block I made to send to Mary Lou, whose son died suddenly this morning.
I hope it reassures her that I have her and her family in my thoughts and prayers.
All I know about Sam is what Mary Lou wrote on her post this morning. He was 17 years old, likes music and he would rescue stray cats. He had a huge heart and everyone loved him.
My block is a pieced heart made with fabric I printed which says "a little bird told me you could use a hug today", some red bird fabric, a musical notes print all set on a red heart and then blanket stitched on to a cat themed background. I fussy cut one of the birds and appliqued it onto a little branch.
I hope she likes it.

Purple and Green Challenge

Inspiration Avenue is having a purple and green photo challenge. These are two of my favorite colors and when found in nature they are just stunning. I took this photo in our garden last week. 

In this photo I played with textures to create this soft, ethereal look.

I used Purple Prose from French Kiss  and Artiste from Florabella.

Thinking of Mary Lou

I awoke to a very sad email this morning from a bloggy friend, Sarah...

Hello, ladies!

I just wanted to pass on some news about one of our group members - Mary Lou Casada, who blogs over at Cheaper Than Therapy Quilting, posted today that their 17 year old son Sam died unexpectedly in his sleep this morning.  Her post is a great testament to Sam's life, and his (and her) Christian faith.  I am absolutely stunned by her news, but wanted to be sure that you all knew so you had an opportunity to do whatever you feel led to do.....  

Sarah

Mary Lou is my Hands2Help charity quilt swap partner, so I was extremely sad for her and so moved by her strength to write a blog post this morning.

Several bloggers are making heart blocks and sending them to Mary Lou. I am sure these blocks will bring her comfort as she opens them one by one in the mail from people all over the world.

If you would like to participate in this please leave a comment on my blog and make sure to leave your email address so I can get in touch with you if you are a no-reply blogger. I will send you Mary Lou's address in a separate email. The blocks can be anything you want, applique, pieced, painted... just 8" square.

What a beautiful treasure Mary Lou will have as she sews each of these blocks together into a quilt.

10 Things That Made Me Happy Today

1. I returned a broken Shark Vac then Steam to Bed, Bath and Beyond without a receipt and they gave me a brand new one. No questions asked!
2. I picked herbs and flowers in the garden to make a cute, fragrant bouquet.

3. When working on my circle quilt I used a glue stick to hold the circles in place and it works fantastic...
no pinning.

4. I can trust my sister with my email password.
5. I was able to buy a new dog food today recommended in an email from a friend. (See above)
6. My Mr. Romance  is a very understanding husband.
7. Sew, Mama, Sew is hosting a great blog hop today and tomorrow.
8. I am entered to win in hundreds of giveaways. (see above)
9. I feel like I got a lot accomplished today.
10. I won the Easter cake bake contest!

Sew Cherry

Such a cute new line of fabric. Sew Cherry, love it! So retro 50's cute.  You gotta enter RaeAnn's giveaway and check out the cute aprons on this blog.

The Garden at 6 Weeks

Our garden is getting off to a good but slow start. The weather has been unusually cool for Southern California and I think that is keeping the growth steady, but slow. The squash and beans are really affected by the cooler temperatures, but everything seems to be growing ok.
We covered the potatoes for the 4th and last time today and I planted another section of green beans, beets, radishes and a few more French melon seeds.
We are supposed to be getting warmer weather this week so that should help with the heat loving plants.

love the color of the eggplant's flowers, aubergine!

these sunflowers have grown a foot this week!

And be sure and check this blog tomorrow for a huge list of bloggers who are having Give Aways this week.

Blogger's Quilt Festival Favorites

Here are a few of my favorites from this past week's Blogger's Quilt Festival.
Thanks to Amy's Creative Side for hosting this inspiring event.
I am still making my way through the 631 entries. Some of the quilts were so innovative.
I have to say the one that Jean made as a tribute to her parents called Fading Memories brought a tear to my eye. It is so wonderful to read all the inspiring stories that quilt bloggers share and this one is truly a loving work of art of her parents' lives.
Enjoy some of my favorites and take a look for yourself when you have a chance.

sorry I couldn't figure out how to give credit to each photo!

A Thrifty Stash and a Circle Quilt

While visiting my son and his family this week I did my first thrift shop shopping for linens. I bought several pillowcases, a men's shirt and 2 sheets. I will cut the pillowcases and shirt into fat quarters and save the sheets to use as backing for a quilt. Isn't the handkerchief print fabric perfect for a little boy's quilt?

I know I need many more pillowcases, but this is the beginning of my stash for a quilt using all recycled linens.

Today I did a little more work on the Circle me Back to Amsterdam quilt. I am using the glue method to stick the circles to the squares before I raw edge applique them to the squares. It's going really quick. I am waiting for one more Kona solid to arrive so I don't want to get to many done so I can be sure to balance the colors.

Here's a few construction photos.

I hope you are all having a good weekend. We have beautiful weather today.