Friday, June 20, 2014

Busy,busy...

I am finding myself with so many excuses...so much is clamoring for my attention this summer.  Do you all feel the same?!

So what better than to tell you of the many fun distractions I find myself with!!

First off, I was so lucky to be able to participate in this hop, so much fun to show my picnic and even more fun to see everyone else's...and guess what, I got frosting with my cake...I won a gift certificate to the lovely shop of Shannon, Fabrics N Quilts  from the blog of generous Pat of Life in the Scrapatch  Thank you both so much!!

 I chose some patterns that have been on my want list as well as a template and a square of wool...why wool?...well, I have been playing with a lot of wool lately   :)  Thank you so much for these wonderful gifts!  It was a pleasure to shop, with such friendly personal customer service and I couldn't believe how quickly I received my wonderful package!  I will definitely be purchasing from this shop in the future!!
 This doll I mentioned before in a post is getting closer to finished...
 And my adopted aunt Sharon has told me I can share her gorgeous doll above...she's actually my Hubs' aunt but she is kindred spirit to me and we often egg each other on...she should have a blog as many of her projects are just so much fun! 
 My doll still needs her dress finished but she doesn't chastise me as loudly now that her legs are attached!
 This is Primitive Gatherings wool SBOW that I am starting on...
 And this was a birthday present...Sue Spargo's Bird Dance book, I am using my own wools, threads and material to make a version of this and the light blue wool was dyed by my friend Marie during a recent field trip to her house...it is the prettiest wool I own, she is a natural!
These books I am finding very valuable as I start learning to applique and embellish my new wool projects!!

I am also following along with the organizational posts here from Sherri at A Quilting Life as I try to bring my sewing room to order.

Hope you all are enjoying the season and finding time to stitch!!

And be sure to check this out from Madame Samm...Sew we quilt

Friday, June 6, 2014

My Day for A Picnic!!

Today we are going on a picnic...thanks to Mary and Mdm Samm...

I chose to make my picnic blanket using one of my all-time favorite blocks...churndash!  And, as this last winter has been very long and snowy, I thought I needed to work in a bright color for this project.  This is made using Kona School Bus and Kona White.  The mini blocks finish at 6 inches and the big ones are 24 inches.

I may have made a slight error though as our bees seem to enjoy it as much as I do...hmmm...no stings yet, lol!!
I chose to minimally quilt with straight lines using an Aurifil white 50 thread.

I decided to have our picnic at our place as we have acreage and plenty of space to spread out! My favorite peonies are in full bloom along with some beautiful poppies...








I put Hubs in charge of the grilled salmon and he performed perfectly.   We grill a large portion in order to enjoy leftovers on salad the next day...yum!

I hate to share our recipe because our Costco has stopped selling the dressing we use for marinade and I have come up empty handed so far at sourcing it elsewhere but if you all are lucky enough to find it(and let me know if you do!!)...this is what the bottle looks like and it is wonderful as a marinade for the salmon or just as a dressing on a simple green salad...
We also had some yummy fruit to go with our meal along with the simple green salad mentioned above...
I do not have the good fortune of owning one of the sweet Peterboro baskets from our Hop sponsor (oh my, this is my favorite of theirs) but I do have this green handwoven one I purchased many years ago which has provided many years of faithful service.
We had peach pie for dessert...my favorite!!  I am not a pretty pie baker...no pinterest shots here... but oh, I promise, it's yummy...so good!


Or maybe you prefer strawberry rhubarb?


Please be sure to stop by and visit the others who share this day with me!!
Friday June 6