Wraping it up!

How appropriate to be ending with a turtle!  Slow and steady gets it done.  They're all together and ready to quilt.  My patterns could be tweaked and improved but I didn't stress over them.  They are uniquely mine.

I prefer to stay home most days but last week I ventured beyond the local grocery store and the city limits.  It was the southern Indiana shop hop.

The first purchase. A new embroidery project, since I've been loving that so much lately.  Designed by Meg Hawley of Crab-apple Hill.  Love her stuff but thought the colors in this pattern were a little too "country" for me, so I've chosen brighter colors.  Planning on ditching the ruffle as well.   Love the fireworks!  Meg's halloween designs are particularly charming.

Fell in love with this new line of fabric.  Emmy Grace by Bari J. Ackerman.  My oldest daughter is named Emmy Jane...I'm sure that has nothing to do with this purchase..ha! My Emmy loves to fish too but she would never fish in a dress!  I noticed this line is also available  at Hawthorne Threads.  I'm making a travel bag for my trips to Wisconsin and Wyoming later this summer.  I've used this pattern to make a bag for each of my daughters and would really recommend it. 

linking up with Lee at Freshly pieced 

Potato chips

Long time coming!  All 86 by 98 inches of it.  I saw these tiny, as in crazy tiny nine patches on Crazy Mom quilts last summer.  For 2 days I kept thinking about them and finally thought, I gotta make one.  And that folks is how you end up sewing on 5 quilts (or more) at one time.  I spent alot of last summer making these.  I enjoyed sewing them more than I've enjoyed sewing in a long time.  When I remember last summer, I think of a trip we took to the ocean, the pick-up truck we bought and these nine patches I spent so many quiet nights making.   I call this quilt, potato chips because apparently I couldn't make just one.

linking up with crazy mom quilts
Thanks Amanda Jean for the pattern and the inspiration

Almost there!

It's here where I'm torn between, "I'm really enjoying doing embroidery again and don't want this to end" and " I can't wait to get these squares all together and see what the finished project is going to look  like."  Not unlike a really good book you get lost in and feel yourself rushing towards the end even though you so badly don't want to say goodbye to the characters.  Next week the last square and the ta da finished quilt.

There are a couple of quilt alongs out there that I've come across lately that are so tempting!  Faith Jones at Fresh Lemons has the Summer Sparkle Quilt-along.  Traditional stars with a fresh modern pop.  Its beautiful and classic.  She really got it right.

Molly Flanders Makerie has one that is really singing to me.  Flowering snowball, isn't that the best name?  Its vintage and scrappy. It also has curved seams but is so wonderful....I just don't know.  Deep breath in...exhale slowly.

Pinwheel Stitch PDF
Butterfly Stitch PDF

Lightening Bugs and Lemonade

Should I share this?  Its a bit awful but as kids we didn't think so.  On summer nights we use to pull "the light" off of lightening bugs and set them on our ring finger and pretend it was a diamond.  There, its out there now.  No tv to watch, I suppose.  
I put the Summer Stitches all together for the 1st time.  Till now, I just had my fingers crossed that it would all come out ok.  I'm kind-of thinking cute, cute, cute.  3 more to go.

Lightening bug PDF file here
Pink Lemonade PDf file here


linking up with Lee at Freshly pieced

No where to go and all day to get there

I haven't abandoned the mini swoons. I really haven't.  There are 4 more and all together I think they are a little bit wonderful!  Although I have some ideas,  I don't know where I'm going with these...just slooowly moving along and enjoying the process.  

I made this "summer time" table runner years ago and sadly just put the binding on yesterday.  Gotta stop doing that.  This table runner says watermelon and fresh tomatos, green beans cooked with bacon and warm cornbread.  Ahhh, it always comes back to food.

Summer Stitches.. Once Again

Sweet little home, just big enough for you and me!

When my children were in grade school, we had a goldfish in a bowl just like this one.  Blub-blub lived for 2 years, (yea!) and I cleaned that bowl every week. I wasn't as sad as they were when he died.

Get the house stitch PDF here
Get the fish stitch PDF here