I finally am satisfied with the center compass for my LE.  It took several tries as I was trying to make this a true reproduction.  Then it occured to me that I was trying to use fabrics that really were not to my liking.  It is much more fun now that I have decided to use my batiks, mostly in jewel tones.  I have the compass ring almost completed and today I will finish tracing the center design.  I am trying to get some prep done so that I can do the applique while we travel from here to Florida.  We plan to leave here week after next and make the travel into a couple of mini-vacations, stopping in Las Vegas, San Antonio and New Orleans for a couple of days each.

 I am anxious to get home to Florida and my quilting machine.  I have been quilting here on my regular machine but it is ever so much easier on my HQ sweet 16.  I have several charity quilts that need quilting so they will be my practice pieces to get me back into the swing of using that machine.

Today, I am remembering my husband Mike,, on what would have been our 48th wedding anniversary.  We were blessed to have 34 wonderful years together and I still miss him everyday.

Until next week, happy quilting

Here's another graduation quilt!  This is number 5, so I am almost halfway there.  Just 6 more to go, but I have a few years on a couple of them.  This one is made entirely from my stash.  I decided a couple of quilts ago that I needed to remember that these quilts are headed for college dorm rooms and will probably take a beating, so I am not investing a lot of money or time into them.  Although, I have to say this one did take a lot of time.  But it is done, just waiting for a label.

Next project will be getting back to Esther's LE quilt.  I have had little time for it this summer.  I have made two of the center compasses and have not been satisfied with either one.  So this afternoon I will start on compass number 3.  Not sure why I am having so much trouble since I have actually made a full size mariners compass quilt a few years ago and it came out perfectly fine.  I think that maybe I was rushing it, trying to play catch up since I am running so far behind.  As a moderator on Esther's group I tell people "this isn't a race", but I don't practice what I preach, lol.

That's it for this week.  I hope you all have a great one.

These are my starter fabrics for my Love Entwined coverlet.  I plan to start it today, paper piecing the compass.  I really think it would be better to hand piece it, but I am already spending a lot of time with the hand work on my Baltimore album.  I am not a big fan of paper piecing so we will have to check it out.

Not much going on here.  It is hard to believe that August is almost here.  We will leave to go back to Florida on September 1.  The summer has gone by very quickly.  I wish I could say I accomplished a lot of quilting, but that just isn't reality this year.

Off to start the journey with my LE.  I hope you all have a great week.

Back home from a mini vacation to eastern Washington.  We just loved it and had beautiful weather, hot and sunny every day.  Lots of relaxation.

Now it is time to get down to sewing.  I have a graduation quilt for Allora that I want to finish while I am here and not drag it back to Florida and then back here next June.  It is a simple design and I will post a picture as soon as I find the camera.  It is a scrappy quilt, made entirely from my stash.  The blocks are done and need to be assembled and then borders.  If I work hard I should be able to quilt it next week.  I plan to use EQStitch (finally) to make machine embroideries of my quilting designs.  I have had the program since April, I have done all the lessons and know what I am doing with it, but I have not yet stitched a design with it.

Next project will be a kit that I bought in Alaska last month.  It will be a Christmas gift for my younger son.  It is a simple design and shouldn't take too long. 

OK, back to sewing.  Have a great week!

I am ready to assemble my wallhanging and put the borders on today.  Being a Jinny Beyer design, the borders are cut from a striped pattern and need to be mitered so it might take me a while.

I am still undecided about tackling Esther's newest BOM.  It sure looks intimidating.  I
 don't have enough fabric at this house, it is all in Florida, except for a stack of fat quarters that are here with me.  I have never been happy with the local quilt shops, they are very different from the shops in Florida.  The fabrics reflect the weather I think, they are darker and much more subdued than the ones I am used to using.  So I will most likely not be starting it until at least September, unless I find a focal fabric that really speaks to me.

Meanwhile, I have lots of UFO's with me.  My quilting machine, the HQSweet 16 is in the other house so I will go back with lots of quilting to do.  I plan to finish the tops and put the batting and backing on them, then I will be ready to quilt.  I want to put this Jinny Beyer quilt into a show in October so that will be my first quilting project.

I am going to link to Esther's blog and then get to those borders.  I hope you all have a great week

4th of July

Back from our cruise.  We had a good time, but the weather was pretty awful.  7 day cruise, first 6 days were rainy and cold.  We sat on our balcony for the first time on the last day!  But we had fun and the good news is I pretty much stuck with my diet, gained just a pound, which I have already taken off.  Dieting on a cruise is not easy  Because of the weather we didn't do a lot of walking in the ports and even though I started out good on the treadmill, I fell off the routine really quickly.

In the sewing room for the first time since we left Florida a month ago.  The above block is for a small wallhanging from a pattern from Jinny Beyer.  The technique is called "soft edge piecing" and let me tell you, it is very challenging.  This 12 inch block took me 3 days!  The technique is to fussy cut a motif and then applique the edges to the background fabric.  I need to do four more of these blocks, but I am hoping that they go a bit faster.

I haven't shopped for fabric for Esther's new BOM yet.  I think I will go very tradtional with it, probably using up a lot of my large stash of fat quarters.  I have some WIPs that I need to get under control before I start this project.  I also want to wait for the preview of the 2nd BOM before I finally decide which one I will participate in.

I am off to fussy cut the rest of my blocks so that I can hand applique while watching the baseball game with John.  It's a quiet day here, a holiday in the US,  and John has a nasty cold so we will stay in today.  I love a chance to just hang around and sew!!

Well, it sure has been a hectic 2 weeks since we left Florida.  We arrived safely here in Tacoma on Tuesday and I have spent a lot of time setting up my sewing room.  Not as much storage here as in the FL house, but I have managed to organize everything that I moved here. 

Our time in New York was just great.  Here is a picture of my family.  From left to right, Matthew, my younger son, Meg, my daughter, Christy, oldest grandchild, Alex, the graduate, Ireland, Michael, my older son, Jackie, Tanner and in front, our youngest, Aidan.  That's me on the right.  It is hard to get everyone together, so we only manage it about once a year, but I do so treasure those days.

Not a lot of sewing time and won't be until we return from a short cruise to Alaska on the 30th.  I had to chuckle when I was unpacking, I have enough projects with me to last a year instead of the 2 months that we will actually be here.  And then of course, I am anticipating Esther's new BOM.  Right now, I am working on a Baltimore album wallhanging that I designed in EQ7.   That Jinny Beyer kit that I bought a couple of months ago is calling my name too.  And then there are the graduation quilts......  so little time, lol.

I am off to link up with Esther's blog and to read the blogs over there.