What? It is July Already?

Hello!  I have been slacking on the blog side of things. But I have had so much other stuff to do. Some was much fun and some was none fun!  I have done some yard work, despite having air conditioning in my house, which causes me to want to stay in and sew sew sew!  This last weekend, my husband and I built a fence from the corner of our garage to the property line, where we joined it up to the fence there.  I sawed all the fence boards down to the size I wanted them. We did our best to keep them in line and spaced correctly.  I am rather pleased with the result. All that is left is for it to be painted and a little rake up underneath. Also, on Saturday was Eagle Fun Days, so no way to get into Eagle for my violin lesson.  It was a great opportunity for me to go to the dump with my husband.  We treated ourselves to a little java on the way back home, and we had a wonderful time.  We got more yard work done after we got home. 
     Last Tuesday, after work, I rendezvoused with my husband at the Idaho Botanical Garden to enjoy our take out pizza under the hot sun before the Prairie Home Companion show began.  The show was awesome. It was relaxing and enjoyable, however, the sun was very slow in going down.
     Did ride in the Idaho Blue Cruise; a whole 5.5 miles! It was delightful. I also got to see "Blithe Spirit" at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Sunday before the 4th, we drove up to Big Rattlesnake Creek and discovered a beaver dam in full swing.  It is beginning to erode the edge of the road! Getting out to the mountains, no matter how hot or dusty, is just one of my very favoritist things in the whole world. We had a picnic lunch and I found a nice shady waddy place to cool off my tootsies. 

Big Rattlesnake Creek is a rapid noisy creek, not usually a placid lake.

 Yes, I did get a dab of quilting done. I even spent some hours with my mom, at the assisted living facility, helping her piece some fabric for a quilt she would like for herself.  It is going slow, but winter is far away.  We will persist.  I did finish my 3D cubes quilt.  Although pink is not my favorite in quilts, I really like how this came out.

Result of the fun class in May at 'Room To Learn'

'For The Birds' Dining Room Curtains

Cube Quilt Top

I made a bunch of these cubes, but they were not completely unwonky.  I figured out how to make them even, but that was after I made a bunch that was not exactly the same evenness.  I will have to cover that in depth soon, and show how to piece them so they are perfect half hexes and easy to sew without frustration.  Meanwhile, I took the four cubes that did not belong with all the gray and purple cubes and made them into a quilt of their own.  The dozen purple and gray may never make it into a quilt at all, unless I want to rip a bunch of seams out and make them the right shape.  I found out how tough it is to line them up without trimming off half an inch in some places, but it was only four, so it was not that over taxing.  The pink I found to go with the little pink chickens on the pale yellow (light) fabric really worked out well.  I keep ending up needing pink every now and then, although I do try to steer clear of it.  I am quite happy with this baby quilt top.  It is 30" X 37".

Side-tracked Again!

I went to a class, last Thursday, and learned how to make a cube block. The class was at Room To Learn in Kuna, and my friends went too!  We had so much fun, then Caryl, Elverta, and I went out for Mexican lunch in Kuna at El Gallo Giro.  Then of course we had to go to a quilt shop, so we dropped my vehicle by Elverta's place and went forth in Caryl's Subaru.  We went to the Quilt Crossing and found the correct 60 degree rulers to make these cube blocks. Oh, while we were there we found some fabric, too!  Who'd a thunk it?  It was an awesome day out with friends.  I was the last one to finish one cube, at the class. Everyone was packing up to leave, and they had each made two cubes.  Well, here is what  my dandy cube looks like.

After I got home, I had to make some more.  I have made twelve all together, so far.  I had other obligations or I certainly would have made more than twelve.  There is always next week, but I have two other quilt tops waiting for my attention, and I got all side-tracked with these fun three-dimensional looking blocks.

These are not sewed together yet. They are merely suspended on my design wall. My design wall is a quilt I have hanging up and I just smooth my blocks onto it.  Right now, it is a red, white, and blue quilt, but I took a close-up so you would not see much of it.  Don't these blocks look awesome?

 

Jack Jeppson, a most excellent long-arm quilter, will be missed. He was called away from us on April 21, 2013.  Real Men Quilt is his blog.  You can still admire his handiwork at that site. 

Been quilting at the monastery again!

I had sew much fun at the retreat this week. I really did not want to stop quilting and pack up the rig to come home!  I worked on my Twisting Turning Twenty and I got the top all finished. Ta-Da! I will post a photo of the quilt top soon.  I have to get ready for work tomorrow. Blah!

Clean out and Simplify -However, some things are meant to be saved

I have been cleaning out closets and drawers around the house. I have saved some linens (tablecloths, doilies, handkerchief's, and other embroidered items) for a quilt in the future. Many of these things were my Mom's, but I have some from other places/people, too. There are some things that have survived clean outs from past decades and will likely to survive again and again.  Below is a photo of my size 8 silver Connie platform shoes from 1975.  I actually wore these as late as 1987.  I must wear sensible shoes now, but these are keepers!