Finishing Up Long term Projects

 I know that we all have UFOs in our closets. I have decided I need to stop making new tops and quilt up what I have here. So that's what I am doing. I decided to start with the smallest and work up to the largest.

I pieced this top last summer. I had been wanting to do some beach umbrellas for some time. I figured out the angles and rummaged through my stash. I had to buy some background fabric.

My daughter had given me a twin size flat sheet to use for a someday quilt back, and what's better with beach umbrellas than mermaids?

This was N's sheet and the bottom fitted sheet was old and very worn. I quilted wavy lines to mimic the ocean waves.

And of course I used one of my newest batch of woven labels. I got these from Dutch Label Shop.

These next few are close ups of some of the umbrellas in the quilt. You can also see the batik fabric I used for the background to mimic the sand.

N was here this week and saw this and she really loved it, so guess where it's going to live? She even remembered the sheet with the mermaids.

The other thing going on here is gardens full of flowers. So much is blooming right now. You can get local farm grown flowers at the farmer's market or I get some from my daughter's garden.

She grows tons of sunflowers. This is just a small representation . She has, I think, at least 6 or 7 different kinds of sunflowers.

And echinacea and zinnias too. Her garden is a profusion of color right now and it's beauty is so awesome.

That's it for now.

Odds and Ends

 I have been pretty busy with all my projects this summer. Here is a round up of some things that have been going on that I may not have mentioned, or maybe I did. :) So, in no particular order...

We go to the local farmer's market on most Saturdays. I have taken to getting a bouquet of flowers and they have been amazing this summer.

This bouquet came from the grocery store, as we didn't make it to market that week. I chose one with a fall theme.

This is my initial fabric pull for a temperature quilt I am thinking about starting in 2023. I have long wanted to make one. We'll see if this pans out. Anyone else want to make one?

This is 30 of my 36 blocks for the perfect pineapple QAL with Gigi's Thimble. Almost done. Since this picture two more have been done. Only 4 more to go.

Sunday I decided to use my home grown chives to make cheddar chive biscuits. They were amazing with fresh tomatoes on top of them.

I used some leftover fabric from my daughter's Sandhill sling to make her a thread catcher for Halloween.

I am slowly, slowly stitching this pretty piece. There is a photo below of the whole thing from the website.

Some lovely gifts I selected with my birthday gift certificate from my daughter. She got me a gift certificate to Snuggly Monkey who has the best stitching supplies ever. You can finder her on line, although she does do curbside pick up for locals.

Two more thread catchers for my daughter. Can't have enough of these and I have to use some of this fabric up you know.

This is the picture from the Lolli and Grace web site for the stitchery above that I am working on. You have a choice of words for this piece. Mine will say Home Sweet Home when it's done.

And, finally, I had to purchase more batting. It's quite the investment, but so worth it in the end to have what you need on hand. This will last me several years, and I take all the scraps and sew them together for smaller quilts, so nothing goes to waste either.

Well that's all for now. Happy fall y'all.

Welcome Home

Home is many things to many people. It is often said that home is where the heart is. If that's true, I guess home really is North Carolina for me. When I drive down the back roads, I feel home. When I hear the thunderstorms, I feel home. So many moments that make me feel home. Sights, sounds and scents all evoke that feeling of home. Every time I get that feeling, I think "welcome home".

Fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market, made into sandwiches with mayo salt and pepper.

Local strawberries. Nothing tastes as good as a local strawberry, grown on a small family farm.

Fresh peaches. This was the first weekend there were fresh peaches at the farmer's market and I can't wait to cut into them later today.

The market also has bundles of fresh wild flowers at several booths. The colors are stunning and so many more fun types of flowers than at a florist.

Look at these gorgeous multi colored carrots. I could have stared at these all day long they were so pretty.

And I bought some cucumbers, again some of the first of the season, and made some bread and butter pickles. They should be ready to try tomorrow. I am so excited!

We have had several thunderstorms this spring and we love watching them roll in. The clouds seem so low you can almost touch them. The smell of rain in the air, and when it hits the hot pavement, is so evocative of summer to me.

This is my daughter's garden. She is in year three, and the garden is transitioning from flowers and veggies to mostly just flowers now. It is a delight to watch these interesting plants grow and change and develop.

And the bees and other pollinators are in love with all of the flowers and so fun to watch. There are also so many varieties of birds that come by for the bird feeders, but they are really waiting for the sunflowers to start producing. Then they will be in their hey day.

And for me, all this means home. My heart is happy. Life is good.

Talk to you soon.

Stuff That's Not About Sewing

Not too much sewing at the end of last week. My daughter and son-in-law went out of town for a couple of days and we went to stay with the kids. We had a bunch of fun. They are such good kids.

Saturday morning, the littles wanted waffles for breakfast. I thought, what the heck. It's not any harder than pancakes really. And after checking for all the ingredients, this is what we had. N likes lots of little containers of things to dip hers into. She was very interested in the making of whipped cream. Her brother tried to convince her that you just shake up the cow, but she didn't fall for it.

These are a few of the flowers in my daughter's garden. The lilies are stunning! I have never seen any like the ones with the dark centers. Right behind them is the Nasturtium. No flowers on that one yet.

Here, the Gladiolas are just beginning to open. They are such a bright beautiful red.

And this is the first Dahlia of the season. It is opening slowly. It seems to unfurl only a few petals a day.

And lastly, I baked some whole wheat bread. I found a really good recipe on line if you google it, look for "the very best whole wheat bread". It makes two loaves and this wat the best whole wheat bread I have ever made.

It rose high, and stayed soft on the inside. Very much the texture of store bought bread. Also had a very nice flavor.

Now, the recipe calls for vital wheat gluten, which helps with the rise. There is only one rise, in the bread pans which is nice. If you bake bread and are looking for a good recipe for whole wheat, this one is a winner in my book. Have a great day. See you soon.