Hot Streak

I'm back! It's been a while, but I didn't want to miss out on this month's

 NewFO Party over at Cat Patches!

 

 I have been pretty busy, so I'll just get right to it!  

First, I took a class at the end of June at my favorite LQS, Country Quilts and Bears, with my Sister-In-Law. She had never used a sewing machine, so it was fun to share the craft and knowledge with her. The quilt is called "Color Splash", and is made from a package of charm squares and a solid fabric.  Actually it will be two quilts, a big one and a small one. The small one is made from the scraps of the first. Pretty cool!

Here are a few of the big squares laid out. I think there were 64 in all, so I will have much arranging to do, sometime in the future. The photo makes the fabrics look darker than they truly are. The main fabric is a bright green.

Here are the leftovers that will be made into a smaller quilt. 

 

 Back in May, I signed up for my very first Quilting Bee. My friend was telling me about how she had done it several times and maybe I would like it. As if I needed another project! Ha! It actually was enjoyable, as all sewing and quilting should be! Well, that is after it took me a month to decide which block I was going to make.  The way the Bee works is that each of the 7 "Bees" in your Hive share which 3 colors they would like in their block and their fabric likes and dislikes. Then each Bee is free to make what ever block they want, the same block for all six fellow bees, in the colors they asked for. You have 3 months to make them and there is a deadline for everyone to mail their blocks out.  I started off with over 50 blocks patterns and it took me over a month to finally pick the one I wanted to make. I actually went out and bought all the fabrics before I even had the block picked out. One of the bees asked for "rainbow colors, in order", which at first made the task of choosing the block extremely daunting. Finally, I had a breakthrough and here is what I ended up making. It is called a Dutch Rose (click the name for a link to the free pattern)

 

 

 

 

 

These are the blocks I received. My colors were Bright Green and Pink. Pretty aren't they?

  

I also started a quilt for my niece.  I have promised her and her two brothers that I would make them each one, and now I'm on my way to fulfilling that promise. She's kind of a tomboy and her favorite colors are blues and purples and black.  I just went with the blues and purples.

 The pattern I'm making is Hugs & Kisses by Jaybird Quilts and can be found here 

Here's their version, just to give you an idea of what's coming. 

I've been neglecting my cross-stitching for a while, and I've been missing it, so I started (and finished) my first Black work project. 

Oops! When I first drafted this post, I accidentally posted the above picture, which is actually the back of the piece. I decided to leave it up, just to show you how proud I am that I kept the back pretty tidy. Hiding tails in a cross-stitch isn't very difficult (well, I've been doing it for over 20 years), but this was new to me and I gave myself a little "atta girl" for my efforts. I still have to wash it and iron it, and frame it.  

 That's all for the crafty stuff.  In other news, Bruce made these adorable little awnings for the front of the house. We get full afternoon sun and with the old windows, it gets mighty warm. The window on the left, is my cat / craft / office space. I can testify that the awnings have cooled it down and kept me from having to close the blinds and hang curtains over them to keep the temperature and glare down when I'm sewing after work. And they added some much needed character to the front of the house. It still needs some fresh paint and landscaping. One thing at a time!

 

 A few months back, I went to my first ever Green Thumb Festival. Apparently it's been going on for years, and several of my neighbors go every year, but no one bothered to tell me about it! It was actually the wonderful man at the nursery where I bought the flowers for around my Palm tree, who told me about it. I loved it. I purchased three of these adorable "Desert Rose" plants and this one, just got it's first flower! I am very excited about it.

 

At the Green Thumb Festival, they also gave away free plants. I was given a tiny little thing, and was told it was a "Spider Plant". I potted it a hanging basket and look at it now! I wish I had taken a picture of it when they gave it to me. It was a scrawny little thing with 8 or 10 leaves sticking up. All the rain has got it off to a booming start. I can take the little bunches off the stringers and plant them to propagate it. Very cool, self replicating plant! 

Whew! That was a marathon post! 

Dot says it's time to stop and relax, and who am I to argue with her? 

 I hear my recliner calling my name, and there's a new black work project nearby..... but that's for next month's NewFo post.

  Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

Sunday stuff

 This weekend was less productive than I had hoped.  I did finish the ends of the quilting on my niece's quilt yesterday.  I am currently trying to get the blue chalk lines out. Keep your fingers crossed....

Late yesterday afternoon our air conditioning quit working, which kind of sucked what little energy I had out of me. Thankfully, Bruce had a small window unit that we used to get through the night. The thermostat said it was 85 in the rest of the house and man was it sticky! Thankfully, we know an A/C guy and he came out this morning, a Sunday, and fixed the problem. And it was relatively inexpensive and easy. I don't think he was here 15 minutes.

Last Sunday, when I was mowing the lawn, I came across this a few feet out from my neighbors tree. I guess it was blown out of the tree by Debby. It doesn't look like it even got to be used. I thought it was extra cute with the blue plastic embellishment. Sad after all the obvious work some poor bird made, that they never got to use it. I'm thinking it was Mockingbirds, because there is a family that has been nesting in that tree for years. 

I did manage to get some laundry done and gave Diamond a bath. She's a Dalmatian mix, and spots are a given. When she's dry you can see some through her relatively thin coat. 

When she's wet, you can see a lot more tiny spots! 

Oliver decided that since I wasn't using the chair, he would hold it down for me, so it didn't float away.  Isn't he thoughtful?

When Diamond was dry enough, we went outside for a little while. I noticed a large, bright pink, bulb on my neighbor's plant just above the fence. Being the nosy neighbor I am (several of them appreciate my attention and for watching over them and their property), I had to get a closer look. It's about the size of a grapefruit.  Next time they are out, I will try and ask them what it is. I'm also curious to see if it opens up or not. Either way, it's neat looking.  

I see a lot of people post recipes on their blogs. I'll be honest, I don't cook. Not that I can't cook; I used to cook for myself all the time, but now that Bruce is here, he does it.  Here's one of my favorite, easy snacks. Cheese Nachos..  Just need a bag of cheese, or if we have the blocks, I grate it myself. I prefer the Mexican mix. I just sprinkle some on tortilla chips, and put in the microwave for 25 - 30 seconds. Voila!

Yummy!

 Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon

This being sick stuff is getting old.  I have so much stuff I want to do, but I have no energy. Plus there's the coughing and nose blowing and hand washing / sanitizing.... Ugh. And the meds every 4 hours.  I will be calling the doctor in the morning.  The consensus is that I've got a sinus infection.  I've resigned myself to sit in my chair, surrounded by the furbabies and watch the tube or read.  I have my computer and I have some small projects to pick at if I feel so inclined.  Guess I could frog the cross stitch I goofed up.  That is simple and not very labor intensive. Tedious, but sometimes I enjoy that kind of stuff. Color me weird, like that. 

While I was in feeding the cats this morning, I noticed that one of my Plumeria has finally gotten some blooms on it!  I was upset because one of the neighbors down the street had tons of flowers on theirs already a few weeks ago.  I hope that means they will all bloom soon!

 

I love this perky little Purslane I bought a while back. I wish I had a better landscaper (ha! I AM the landscaper).  My yard is not even worthy of the word "yard", really. It's mainly weeds.  I've been fighting them for years.  Our soil here is very sandy and the sun is quite brutal most of the year. I have not had much success with anything I've planted in the ground. The Plumeria are all in large pots. Plus I drag them all in the garage when we have our rare freeze warnings. 

Thought I'd play with the new camera a little. I was going to take some pictures of my miniatures to post, but decided it was too much work right now. Some of them need to be dusted, some need to have the cases removed so the flash won't reflect, etc.  Anyway, while I was looking them over, Oliver decided he would check out the dollhouse.  It's empty and still waiting to be finished (It's only been a 20+ year project) and some of the cats love sleeping in it. Dot is most often found sleeping in the master bedroom of the dollhouse.