Bring it on!

After searching high and low for a little wrap skirt/cover-up to wear over my swimsuit, I finally caved in and made one yesterday.

I've had the pattern for years (McCalls 2192) and had to modify it a bit (the waist was about two inches above my belly button).
I bought the fabric at Hancock Fabrics for $5 a yard a couple of months ago.
All in all, I'm very impressed with myself. (See those cute flip-flops?)
Sea and surf, here I come!

To the exclusion

...of everything else, this is what I did yesterday. No cleaning, no cooking, no mowing the lawn, no taking the dog's "you-know-what" to be tested before we leave on vacation, no grocery shopping.
Just this.

The photo sucks. It's kind of dark out there and this thing is HUGE. 7ft x 7ft. I had to get the hubby's photography ladder just to fit it into the shot.
I'll be quilting it in the fall when it cools down a bit. It will be only 69 degrees today though...
But, no - the dog poop awaits.

Summer Yum

On Friday I picked two and a half pounds of blueberries in the back yard! It took more than an hour. If you've ever wondered why blueberries are so pricey, I can tell you. You have to pick them one by one by hand. They grow in clumps but only one or two ripen at a time so, unless you want to lose half your harvest, you have to be very careful when picking them.
I think the cold winter agreed with the blueberry bushes. I've never seen this many berries.


My favorite summer salsa. The simplest thing on earth to make.

Corn&Bean Salsa
1 can sweet corn kernels, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
5 or 6 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
juice of one lime
salt and pepper

Mix together and enjoy. This goes especially well with Tostito's Hint of Lime tortilla chips.

All caught up - again

I've been a little busy with non-sewing stuff, but I did manage to get caught up on my quilt-along blocks again.

Week 10:

Week 11:

Week 12:

and 12 setting blocks:

Just one more star block to go and I can sew this puppy together, adding to my stack of unfinished quilts.

Does anyone have this fabric?

This is a special bulletin...
AJ has a problem I'm sure many of us are familiar with. She has run out of white background fabric for her quilt-along quilt.
This is the fabric she needs:

There are more photos on AJ's blog if you need to see the scale of the fabric.
Let's see if we can help. If you have any of this white fabric you're willing to part with, please visit her blog and let her know. I know she'll be very grateful.

Wordle

Off to buy the dreaded swimsuit today...

I saw this on Jane's blog this morning. A lot of fun! It uses words from your blog (or you can put it your own words).

It seems that "little" and "can" are the most frequently used in my blog. I like "can". I'm not sure about "little".
To make your own, go here.
(To see it BIGGER, just click on the image.)

I'm not doing nothing

In other words, I've been doing something. Mainly pre-vacation stuff like...
...making a grooming appointment for the dog
...double checking what needs to be done before she can be boarded
...rearranging guitar lessons to make up for the 3 to be missed
...finding a cat sitter
...finding a swim suit (AWFUL!)
...making an appointment to have my hair cut

On top of this I've also done many trips "across the bridge" into Seattle to drop Josh off at the UW for his summer camp. See that "Last Polar Bear" thingie at the top of their web site? The camp has to do with global warming and its effects on us. We saw the exhibit on Sunday and the photos are unbelievable.
Fortunately we now have the bus schedules worked out and I'm enjoying the benefits of having a 15-year old who can get himself to and from places. Woohoo!

I'm also in the process of deciding on the classes I want to take at the Houston Quilt Festival in October. I'm SO excited about this. Is anyone else going?

And I've been working on my setting blocks for the star quilt-along.

See? I'm NOT doing nothing.

Fat Quarter Frenzy

Last week I did a bit of shopping...

..and today my friend the UPS guy brought my goodies.

It looks pathetic in the photo but it's quite a stash, believe me.
Something for Fall. I know, it's a little early but I'm trying to be pro-active.

Something for Winter.

Something just because.

This is the first time I've gone this overboard, but you have to buy a certain amount to get free shipping. What else can I say?

Summer!

Wow, it's been a while! The sun is finally out and I've been spending every spare second outside. Please excuse me if I'm a little scarce.

Please take a morning walk through the garden with me...






The cats are taking full advantage of the weather as well.


In other news, there's a mouse in the pantry and it's VERY smart. Mouse traps have thus far been unsuccessful and all my food is on the kitchen table to keep it away from the mouse.

Here, mousie, mousie...

Noah's Ark

Last night I was home alone getting ready to watch "The Tenth Circle" and needed something to keep my hands busy.
I remembered seeing Lynette Anderson's cute Noah's Ark stitcheries all over blogland.

(Oops, I just noticed that I didn't put the little french knot centers in the purple flowers.)

Meerkats anyone?

I have NOTHING to report this morning but found this on this blog and thought I'd share:

There's a pdf with the instructions over here if you'd like to make some. I may just have to!

Raspberry Sundae

or "What I did yesterday"
I'm, once again, seriously contemplating keeping this one, but how many table runners does one person need? The pink is just tugging at my heartstrings.


I'm especially happy with the contrasting quilting on the brown fabric.

In my Etsy store right now. SOLD!

Did I mention...

...
1. that summer has finally (kind of) arrived here?
2. that we're going to Hawaii in a few weeks time and I may have to wear a SWIM SUIT?

This was on the last page of the latest Real Simple magazine.

Pretty much sums it up.
(Click on the photo for a legible version)

All caught up!

Star quilt-along

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9: (the contrast is not quite right here)

Redo:

And a little preview of what it might look like when I get the setting blocks made.

No sewing/crafting, but...

It's summer. My whole routine is out of whack. Last week was just a flurry of activity which included the last day of school BBQ, a whole day of quilt shop hopping, and getting estimates for the kitchen redo.

I've just had 2 cups of coffee for the first time in weeks, so excuse the scatteredness of this post.
I thought I'd just post a bunch of pictures today.

My kitty's (on) a tramp.

Decisions, decisions...

Yes, we're STILL working on the fireplace.
Remember before? (Probably not, since that was MARCH!)


Making progress...

I have a slight obsession with neatly trimmed shrubs.


The mess is a pain to to clean up.

How lucky am I?

A little while ago Rhonda had a 100th post giveaway and I WON!
Isn't it an amazing bunch of stuff? Rhonda took more detailed pictures over here.
I'm searching for a pattern to use all that wonderful red, white, and blue fabric on as we "speak".
Thanks Rhonda! Love it!

Bee-licious

I quickly whipped up my block for the Virtual Quilting Bee this morning. One thing ticked off my to-do list. Woohoo!

Citrus Punch

I made something yesterday. It's a minor miracle. I really, really like it.
I call it Citrus Punch. It measures 16½"x48" and it's going straight to my Etsy shop before I change my mind and leave it on the kitchen table.

Fabric!!!

Yesterday, the hubby and I went cooktop and cabinet shopping. Exhausting, I tell you. We're thinking of redoing the kitchen cabinets and we REALLY need a new cooktop, but it's a little scary to think about the cost of all of this. I have two little door samples sitting on the kitchen counter and I'm not totally in love with either one. What would the cabinets in your dream kitchen look like?

On a brighter note, I ordered some fabric for my Baby Jane quilt online. The teardrop fabric is so I can redo a block I messed up completely but it used up all the fabric I had. The others were experimental because I was doubtful about being able to match colors accurately online. I haven't checked them against my others yet, but they actually look like they might match.

These Midwest Modern fabrics are courtesy of Kathy at Pink by Post. She still has a few Stack Packs if you want to go grab your own.