Hello July!

Reality check! It's almost incredible to realize that we are already in July. July! How fast we find ourselves waving 'bye-bye' to half of 2025. But that's where we find ourselves. Reality check, indeed. 

 I have to say I haven't progressed as far on my list of goals as I had hoped. This means that I absolutely must get myself focused on these goals as we slide into the second half of this year. 

This past month posed more of a setback in goal efforts on two fronts: a 2-week sinus infection and the flooded basement. I am pleased to report that I feel better and the basement is dry. We have had extraordinary rainfall totals in the last 30 days - like nearly 12"!! These last two downpours (3.8") have not impacted our basement. Hallelujah! 

So yes, Goals. I'm gonna' get after it in these next 6 months. Seriously. 

Okay, let's take a look at the June wrap-up collage. Some sewing successes, sure, and happily a lot more family time.  

 TOP ROW: A super-proud Gramma Jayne with her two granddaughters, Reagan and Cate. We don't get too many opportunities to have them together, so this picture is one of my favorites. Early in the month, we discovered the basement flood, and all our plans suddenly were derailed. One big positive in the sewing room was having my Featherweight serviced. I am using it with lots of satisfaction since bringing it home. 

MIDDLE ROW: Late in the month, we were able to correct the basement flooding with a plumber who dug out a new drainage ditch and corrected the issues we were having. Just last Saturday, we attended an annual picnic and fireworks party at our friends' house. Little Reagan and her parents attended the same picnic, and of course we made the most of our play time.

BOTTOM ROW: My mother, 88 years young, cuddles Reagan on Sunday afternoon, when all of us went over to visit. The weather has played such a big role in our world this last month, I thought including a screenshot from the precipitation map was worthwhile. And, finally, the work on Cotton Ridge Farm has continued sporadically throughout the month. I am currently working on the outer border row of HSTs.

Looking ahead to what July will hold, all our home-oriented efforts will be toward prepping for the family reunion we will host at the end of the month. We do this every year, and I think this is #7 coming up. (Note to self: find the date for when we held the first one.) We've got our lists ready, and will be tackling small-ish items.

Sewing plans include finishing Cotton Ridge Farm and getting the long-arm going. I know. I've been saying that since the first of April, but I really will do it this month.

Okay, I'm off to stitch! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Hello July!

 

Three days into the month and weather-wise, we couldn’t be having any more perfect weather! These past couple of days have been the epitome of ‘chamber of commerce days.’ Comfortable temps, clear blue skies, pleasant breezes and low humidity. 

July, you’re looking good so far! 

I’ve compiled my June collage, so let’s recap last month’s highlights. A quick glance at this collection indicates that Cate time might just be more precious than quilting time. *wink*

TOP ROW: Our Cate just grows and grows! And she's adorable through and through. We kept daughter Erin's two cats while they were vacationing in Hawaii. Here, Betty is inspecting my quilt-binding skills. And the quilt I was binding, Paris Flea Market Find, is finished and ready for use.

MIDDLE ROW: Another quilt fresh off the long arm was Temecula Baskets. I am just now getting around to binding it; a good activity for when we are watching Tour de France. Next, remodeling. Can you imagine the BIG mess that currently exists in our upstairs as a result of this bedroom remodel? When one removes 31+ years of accumulations from a room, the fallout is gargantuan! I keep too much stuff! *waaaa* Third, a sleepy Cate models the wrap dress I made her; thank you, Erin, for sending many pictures from Hawaii!

BOTTOM ROW: Back in Ohio after vacationing, Cate was happy as can be to return to her friends and teachers at daycare. Next, I made great strides on Tiny 9-Patches, finishing the 4 corner triangles late on the last day of the month. Finally, one more picture of Cate from this past Sunday. We hosted both our daughters and their families for lunch. It was our 45th wedding anniversary! Low-key celebrating, but wonderful to relax with them all and enjoy their company.

Now, July is here and we have work to do! Getting our bedroom back in working order is the top goal, as well as removing all that has been stacked in the hallway, the guest bedroom and the long arm room. Believe me when I say we have stuff piled up everywhere! Even the shower in the main bathroom has luggage and boxes stacked inside. Navigating through some of these spaces is risky business, for sure.

Goodbye walls of  Tuscan-inspired 'Cider Toddy' and hello calm and restful 'Agreeable Gray.' We have used Agreeable Gray throughout our downstairs, and we still love it, so deciding to use it in the bedroom was a no-brainer. Yesterday, the new floor was laid, and soon I hope to be sharing a completed look at our re-do. The rug is scheduled for delivery on July 11, so it will be at least another week before I share. Stay tuned!

And here's a sneak-peek of Tiny 9-Patches. Since the bedroom was unavailable, I had to bring it outdoors for a photo. The corners are on there, but they haven't yet been pressed out. My decision now is whether or not to add borders, and if I do, how many? The inspiration quilt (bottom of link) is what I'd like to continue imitating, but I am not yet fully committed. While I work on completing our bedroom project, I will be considering border options.

Gotta' get going! Things to do! Hope you have a great day and a fantastic July!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Hello July!

Here we are firmly established now in July. It hardly seems possible to me, but the calendar is proof enough, I suppose. And if we cannot believe even the calendar, then we must believe nature. Our flower garden currently features the showiest crop of lilies ever. Every morning these past few days we have been greeted by new bursts of color.

DH asked me to take pictures of all the varieties, which I did, and then created a few collages. Here's one that is representative of most of our colors.

When last I left you, we were preparing to celebrate our 44th anniversary. The thoughtful Mr. Right had arranged a surprise evening, and because he's done this for the last few years, I have learned to be patient and keep my questions to a minimum. It's fun to be surprised. 

Our destination was Lindy's in German Village, an up-scale restaurant in a quaint Columbus neighborhood, and our kids were there for the surprise. Son-in-law Jeff reminded us that this is our first anniversary as grandparents, and we sure are happy about that! Little Cate was an absolute angel all through dinner. This photo clearly illustrates how smitten the two of us are with everything about her. I like to think that she's equally taken with us!

My June highlights collage contains several Cate pictures. She changes so much with each visit. Crawling is the latest milestone achievement, but she's also holding her bottle and eating more solid foods.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's take care of the top row rather than jump straight to the middle row. *grin*

TOP ROW: I quilted two blue Kaffe Fassett quilt tops in a burst of long-arm energy. The front porch has a barn quilt hanging above the settee. And we made a trip to Peebles to see my Great Uncle John, my mom's uncle. A peaceful afternoon on the porch gave those two time for shenanigans in addition to lots of visiting and reminiscing.

MIDDLE ROW: Now for Cate's row - She's wearing a little dress I made for her in the first frame; she's cheesing for the staff at daycare in the center frame; and she's "immersed" in her introduction to applesauce in that third frame. She is such a smile-y, happy little girl.

BOTTOM ROW: I definitely wanted to include a reminder that I'd spent a lot of the month cleaning the quilting room, so the display jars of my grandmother's vintage sewing notions represents that major effort. The one and only flimsy finish of the month was Alpine, the pine tree quilt. And to top off everything, here are our two daughters, son-in-law and Cate (hidden in the shadows of Emma's arms) at the anniversary celebration. Just outside the view are Emma's boyfriend and my Mr. Right. The whole evening was just wonderful.

Now I need to think about what my goals will be for this brand new month. I have many from which to choose, if I continue to refer to the list of "found projects" I shared here. At least a couple will be priorities, for sure.

The Tour de France started yesterday, and will allow me lots of time to quilt on Fall Foliage. I will be working to finish Polka Dots and Posies - two "for sure" projects. That Kaffe Fassett panel is really calling to me, so perhaps it will see some action, too.

We have several family functions scheduled for this month, so I will have to be mindful in allocating my time.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

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!

Hettie Retires and Goodbye, June!

The time between my monthly collages seems to get shorter and shorter. I cannot explain this phenomenon!

Before I get to the June highlights collage, I want to share with you our Frienzie Hettie, who as the 'baby' of our group, has at last retired. Congratulations, Hettie! We made Hettie's retirement quilt ages and ages ago, but since Hettie kept teaching well past 30 years, we were never quite sure when it would be needed! Finally, this spring, Hettie made her decision to retire, so we put the finishing touches on her quilt.

Way back in early April, I had the quilt to applique the label to the back. This one has Hettie's name above the year of retirement. When I shared it earlier, I was in stealth mode, thus the reason for the crossing out.  On the other bottom corner of the back are three additional stars to signify the extra years that Hettie taught. She almost made it to 35 years! Here are pictures of the Frienzie party celebrating Hettie.

Hettie looks happy, doesn't she? This pillow was made from extra quilt fabric; Sherrie was practicing something and this resulted. I am short on specifics because I missed attending the party! We were vacationing when the gang celebrated. (Thanks, Pam, for the pics!)

The June collage has three main themes - long-time friends, quilting, and vacations. TOP ROW: A few friends from HHS class of 1975 gathered for pizza and beer and, most importantly, fellowship. What a fun evening. The pumpkin quilt top and the Pioneer Dreams quilt top were both completed early in June. MIDDLE ROW: The vacation this month included a picturesque trip on the Skyline Drive in Virginia, a sobering visit to Gettysburg battlefield, and a stop at the historic home where Lincoln stayed to perfect his Gettysburg Address. BOTTOM ROW: My work on Lake Effect found me completing the vines on the appliqued borders; I finished off a set of 4 pillows for the family room sofa, and last but by no means least, I enjoyed hosting both Sharon and Dee for a day of sewing yesterday!! What a lovely day! I will share more about it in the next couple of days.

I'm making plans for July! So much I want to make and I'm chomping at the bit.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hello June!

 

My gosh, it certainly seems impossible that nearly half the 'new year' is already behind us. How does time seem to fly by so fast? Since I certainly will never be able to answer the question adequately, let's just get on with greeting June and making the most of her!

Big plans for this month? Well, I did make a list, and several quilting projects rank pretty high on that list. And I continue to add new things to that list, so I might have a impossibly long set of goals, but - hey - one can aspire!

First, let's look back at the May collage. I found that vacationing took up quite a bit of my 9 entries into the collage. Not a bad thing, and it will likely continue now that the lock down for Covid is lifting around the US.

Top Row: First, another glimpse of the flimsy finish for Scrappy 4-Patch. I love how my made-up pattern and quilt turned out. Next is the little mantle runner I made using positive/negative Ohio Star blocks. Third, a quilted finish - Seth's very late wedding quilt, quilted by me on the Tin Lizzie.

Middle Row: First, I spent a day refreshing three pillows on our bed; the pieced one shown is so much nicer looking than its predecessor. We had a guest for about 10 days - Erin's cat Rocky; looking quite ferocious here, always loved coming to enjoy the wide-open space of our home in the country. The passport shown in the next picture illustrates our first "official" US National Parks visit; while touring the low country, we hiked in Congaree National Park near Columbia, SC. We are looking forward to seeing more US National Parks on future vacations.

Bottom Row: An evening walk around Savannah, GA, was delightful; the mansion shown is just one of a gazillion pictures I took there. On our way home, we drove on a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at some look-out points for vistas like the middle picture. And, finally, back home, I began another quilt, which you read about in my last post.

So, those quilting goals for this month...some of the same ones I've had in previous months. 

First, finish the Spring Dreams Sew Along that my friends and I have been enjoying. I have hopes of quilting at least one of mine, and of course, finishing the current one to the flimsy stage.

Other goals (not all!) include finishing the red/white stars I began earlier this year. Reminder pic below; it's been ignored for awhile, so you may have forgotten it. In order to finish, I have to make 9 more blocks with the dark red star in the center. Then, just sew the blocks together. I'm close! I just need to re-establish my focus.

I need to be returning to that Kaffe Fassett quilt with the blue stars. Gosh. It was really high on my priority list back in January and here I am in June with only 4 trial blocks done. Again, focus, is the key word here.

As for new quilts I've added to the long list of quilts I want/need to make, first, the Frankfort Girls are planning not just one, but two fun little projects. One is long-term - 9" Ohio Star blocks that we will exchange at Christmas time. The other is a Halloween quilt with pumpkins. My details are currently sketchy, but I will certainly get it all straight soon.

A new baby is expected in September for my nephew and his wife, so a baby quilt will be rushed into production.

Of course, there's more, and I will share them if I start them. 

Have you got a big, long list of things you want to accomplish this month? I tell ya, putting the plans 'out there' for people to see helps in holding one accountable! *smile*

Have a great month!

Happy Quilting, Friends!