Isn't June gorgeous?

     One thing I love about being a retired teacher is that I get to experience June. I am able to garden and literally smell the roses. This year, thankfully, gratefully, the back yard is getting put back together after last year's garage addition, tree removals, and wall destruction. The pond still needs replacing. The wall was all rebuilt, a columnar oak planted in place of the pine, a couple of tall arborvitae, and groomed. The front yard is blooming different things at various times, the way I like it. 

Last year

Today

Wall all fixed all around

      The deck is all adorned with flower containers which makes outdoor dining great.

     The front yard is sporting the first phlox, astilbe, the last of the foxglove, and other little gems.

Lots of trys

     One thing I cannot show that has taken much time is the mystery quilt I designed for our guild. I have most of it sewn but the border and I can't show it in case some guild member looks at my blog. It uses green and blue batiks and a white on white print. I have to tweak the last clues and type them out. They get the next clue in September. By then they should have everything cut. 
     I have been adding to the quarter floral log cabin and it is growing slowly.

     There are scraps from my last OBW and I tried them in a wonky star, but I think it is too much. I am trying to sew them in 2 corners of white squares to make a butterfly effect next. The scraps are too beautiful to throw out, but a weird shape.

     I don't often buy kits, but I saw this at Fort Worth Studio for under $50 with gorgeous fabric and the Big Star pattern from Hunter Studio. I was so surprised to see the super cool way it was sent- plastic bagged with a treat of lemonade, guitar buttons and a thank you! Makes me glad I bought it!

Next squares explosion

     I hurried to finish quilting this exploding squares top as a comfort quilt because I received a phone call from a friend whose daughter in law has breast cancer and had a double masectomy Wednesday. She has two young children. I was able to finish it in a couple days, pack it up in the bag with a book and card, and get it mailed to Winston Salem, NC by Friday. I used Graphite Glide on top and prewound Cream PremoSoft in the bobbin. 

In the sun

In the shade

The back

Back detail

One monkey off my back

     It is no secret I have many quilts in line to be quilted. What made it worse, is I loaded a quilt in February on the longarm and had a heart attack two days later. It seemed an insurmountable task to work on it. Besides fatigue, stamina, and not knowing if I could do it, it sat and sat and nothing else could get done. I had to do the baby quilt for my daughter, so this quilt, Split Decision, had to be completed. I said a lot of prayer, girded up my loins (Biblical reference) and gritted my teeth. It got done in time to do the baby quilt I delivered last week.

    Finally, I was able to take it outside to photograph because there was some sun today. I need to bite the bullet and buy lights and do it properly inside. I have the stand.

FINALLY!!

Detail

Back

Detail

Also- Blogger has been unkind lately to comments. I just got a lump of them. It strips out the email addresses. I will be more vigilant to search and answer. I have the email addresses of those whom I know, but if you are a non-frequent commenter, please leave your email. This has been very hard as you, my readers, are my quilt community!

Curtains are not Quilts

     Quilts I can make- curtains, who knows? My daughter asked me to make curtains for the baby's room and picked out the home dec fabric. I had to press my friend, Elizabeth, into service to help me. She had worked professionally making curtains and upholstery. She guided me oh so many weeks through each step from all the measuring and assembling. I also delivered them the same time as Sidney's quilt. 
    One big tip- always have the rods when you are making curtains. My daughter had the rods in PA and I'm in Buffalo, NY. The back rod of the double rod was a bit higher than the front, so the blackout curtain on tabs, was slightly longer and shows behind the bottom edge of the curtain. They are done and hung and I hope I never have to make lined curtains and blackout curtains again.
    Sorry for the poor photos as the sun was bright outside and the room was not.

Sidney's Star done and delivered

     On Saturday, I was able to take the finished quilt to my daughter and Sidney has not arrived yet. I was able to get it quilted and bound and washed, but I forgot the label. The ADK theme and colors go with the room they created. I used fabric from Hawthorne Threads, mostly their Redwood collection. It was digitally printed and the only problem I had is the fabric wide, but the printing was narrower, so squaring up was tricky. I am so relieved it is done.

Front

Back

 

 

Home waiting for Sidney with Mom

Awaiting the quilting

     If you followed the baby star quilt I am making for my grandson, you can see the center process. I was not happy with a square quilt, so I added four patches across the top and bottom which of course meant that I had to add to the top and bottom of the backing. I think the back will be ok as I did not have enough fabric to make the same top and bottom borders. It is on the longarm waiting to be quilted. The colors are flat in the photo.

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