Recapping June and Planning July

With all the holiday weekend activities, It has taken me until now to finally pull together my June wrap-up, which I will combine today with my July plans. As you can well imagine if you follow regularly, very little sewing will be included in my June review.

Obviously, most of my collage is filled with vacation pictures. Our trip out west to see our son and to see this big, ol' vast country of ours was filled with wonder. I still marvel that we are so blessed to be able to call so many places "home" - America. From snow covered mountains, deep, clear lakes, the mighty Pacific coastline, and treasured landmarks, we saw so many breathtaking sights. 

The Tree of Life block is a nod to all the pine-covered mountains we saw on the trip. More on that below.

The bottom row contains two pics of our home refresh, which came about because of new flooring for the dining room and the front room. The final picture is a 14" block called Double 9-Patch, which I was able to work on near the end of the month. I managed to get all 20 blocks made.

Now, as I plan for July, the #1 item is to make a red and white Double Irish Chain. Sharon and I are doing this together, and since we did blue and white ones a year ago, we think we can accomplish red and white ones quickly.  My red fabric is a large amount retrieved from the boxes of my late grandmother's sewing supplies. I shared the box of red fabric in this post, and from it I made a checkerboard pillow for Sharon. The idea of using this fabric in a Double Irish Chain was decided soon after making that pillow.

I have several quilts that I'd like to put on the long arm machine and quilt - I could do a full week of quilting, honestly, and see how much I could get done. Baby quilts and other gift quilts - I have let things stack up on me.

I would really love to work on some of the new fabric I've bought lately. That scrumptious FQ pack of florals, especially, has been calling to me.

Making that tree quilt is also high on my list of July goals. It seems like a quilt with some urgency just to remind myself of the majestic tree-covered mountains we saw throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and California. 

Doing all that will be a tall order, because the entire 3rd week of the month I will be vacationing - again! - in Florida with a group of girlfriends. I will really have to buckle down in the rest of the month.

I have a big day planned today - the twins are coming to sew with Aunt Jayne! You won't believe how they have grown - they will be 9th graders this fall! I have not a clue what we will be working on. I'm letting them call the shots.

I will report! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!