Summer Winding Down

Only a week and a half till the end of Summer. Well OK, maybe not the end of summer officially, but for me classes start up on August 25th so it definitely feels like the end of summer. Surprising how few items on the summer 'to do' list got done this year, but with great excuses like 'it rained just about every day' there is not much you can do about it. The priorities before it gets too cold is to do some touch up painting on the house and see about weatherizing as best we can for the winter.

In line with staying warn and getting things done. I finally finished one of the community service quilts I started months ago. That is it in the photo. It is a 9-patch pattern using scraps of blue and white fabrics.

New York Beauty Block

The New York Beauty quilt block is a really stunner. I have seen several NY Beauty quilts in shows the last few years and they are always the ones I am most drawn to. Especialy the multi-colored scrappy versions. So I jumped at the chance to join some fellow quilters this past weekend to learn how to construct the block. The process involves both paper-piecing and sewing curved seams. I have minimal experience with both of these techniques but as you can see from my first blook (I usually have great beginners luck) it turned out really well. To make the block we are using a Karen Stone pattern.

Oh Look, Its Raining Again.

After a June with only 6 days without rain, and a July that was officially recorded at the 7th rainiest, can't say we are surprised that the first weekend in August is also filled with rain.

Instead of worrying about the garden growing we are now worried about it rotting. While the pumpkin is loving all the rain, the tomatoes are starting to get blight. The peppers seem to be holding their own.

On a brighter note we have a few 'volunteer' sunflowers growing in the ditch out front. Volunteers are what our local gardeners call plants that sprout up on there own (you didn't put out seeds or plant.) So the photo for this week - to battle the gloom of the rain, is one of our little sunflower volunteers. I did put a few sunflower seeds in one of the beds, and while they are now taller than me, they have yet to bloom - once they do I will take a picture and post it.

Summer Guests

Damon's Aunt Sandy and Uncle John came up for a visit this past week. While it was a soggy trip up, the nice weather kicked in and we went over to Burlington, VT for a day on the slow boat (i.e. the Port Kent Ferry). While several of us were shopping, John ended up being interviewed on the local news the video is posted at: http://www.wptz.com/video/16903984/index.html .

Another first time visitor for us this past weekend was a deer. Yes, there are deer all over the place it seems, but this is the first time in the 8 years at the house that I have seen a deer in our own yard. As you might expect the dogs went nuts and were barking like crazy, but as I had already shut the windows for the day they did not scare it off. It stayed in the yard for a few minutes and then headed toward the woods at the back of the property.

Vermont Quilt Festival - 2008

As usual the VQF was great. I took 3 classes, attended the Saturday night lecture and even won a door prize.

The first class I took was Susan Cleveland's 'Piping Hot Curves' which included learning how to make pipping and applying it to curved shapes and making block. The first photo is the book and a few of the blocks I made in class.

I also took Judy Mathieson's 'Twilight Star' class. The star is a 20-point sort-of paper pieced project. I say 'sort of' because it really isn't the traditional paper piecing method, but I found it easier and very accurate so I am sure I will use it again. The second photo is a copy of Judy's book and the part of the star I got done in class.

Finally, I also took Susan Cleveland's half day 'Bold Needle Threads' class, which was great because it was basically a time to play with different threads and stitches on your sewing machine, and I hadn't had a chance to play with all the cool stitches since I bought the machine last year.

Minding the Gap

The problem with blogs (or any type of journal or diary) is that if you have a busy life you have no time for blogging, and if you have time for blogging your life is not busy enough to have anything to write about. As you can tell from the date of this posting there is a considerable gap - this was due to a conference and a vacation back home for quality time with the family.

Among the exciting events was the annual trip to a Toledo Mud Hens baseball game - that is Aubrey with Muddy in the photo. There was also the traditional shutney (checking the spelling later). And as an extra bonus this year Damon's dad Tom (who is a licensed taser dealer) let Damon tase him as product research - the video is on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBCdELqIiDo

WIPs and UFOs 2008

For you non-quilters out there WIPs are 'Works in Progress' and UFOs are 'UnFinished Objects'. Every year in the fall my quilting guild encourages folks to select a WIP/UFO or two and then requires folks to bring the finished quilt in at one of the spring meetings. The photo above is my WIP for the year. Last fall all I had done was the four center blocks. The quilt is a 'Hawaiian applique' the shapes are created using the same method that you used to make snowflakes as kids - folding and cutting. Its difficult to tell from the picture but it is a pretty large piece - about 47 inches tall and wide. The red and white make it look a bit Christmasy to me.

Along the holiday lines I also finished a small Christmas themed wall-hanging. I bought it as a kit at the Vermont Quilt Festival a couple of years ago. I started it at a quilting retreat this spring and finished it last month. It was a quick and easy project.

Damon and I are looking forward to coming home for a visit, I just hope we are well enough to enjoy it. Damon came down with a sore throat about 3 days ago and it has developed into a full-blown cold. I started with a sore throat last night.