Windmill quilt by Moda

On Monday a few of us got together and started this quilt. It was a lot of cutting and then you really do have to trim the blocks later to make them exact (not my specialty;) so it takes a while! However, it is very easy to make and the blocks are 16 inches which makes a nice size quilt in a hurry. My fabric is called Holly Jolly and it's a lot of fun to use when it's 90 degrees on the 4th of July! Happy Independence Day! 15 more blocks to go!

Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Quilt...like I need another project:)

This is who I spend my summer vacation with!!  Penny and the new puppy, Lily!  We do some chores, go for a little ride, sew, and of course, we go swimming in the river every day.  Then the dogs want to be in the air conditioning!!

Little Lily is getting big!  She weighs like 28 pounds now.  She is such a good little girl who loves to give kisses and play.  What a great swimmer she is too.

I like to clean every day for the first two weeks I am off, but in between cleaning, dusting, washing everything, etc. I take breaks!! The dogs and I sit out here every half hour or so for a few minutes, then I am back to cleaning.

So here is the mystery quilt I just HAD to subscribe to.  The fabric is the Avalon line, which is so clean and bright looking.  It's really fun to get that package in the mail every month.  This is month one!  I didn't really iron it yet because it will go into its own box until I am done and ready to put it together. 

See you soon!  I have several projects in the works now and will post them in a day or two. 

Finally an organized sewing room/center

When I got rid of the huge computer setup I used to need for my embroidery machine, I had lots of space in this cabinet that needed to be organized better for my daily sewing.  Today Kenny put shelving in there to make it more user-friendly and so that I would not have to keep things stacked on top of each other.  When everything is stacked, you have to take it all out just to use one thing!  Not fun.

I am so excited about the shelves and the hooks on the door.  It looks like a mini-quilt shop when I open the doors!! YAY!!  I got a few more plastic boxes for projects and fabric and now it is organized by each thing I am working on or want to work on soon.

Doesn't it look great!?  It's awesome that once it is closed it looks like nothing is going on!  Now I am ready to spend the summer quilting and sewing curtains and stuff.  I have to get two quilts done for my kids (they are getting married next June in a double wedding!!)  Plus I have to make a baby quilt for one of my best friends at work who is having a baby any day now.  Once she has the baby I will make it since we don't know what the gender is. 

Batik lattice basket quilt and some hand embroidery

Well, it's officially summer and I am off for 11 weeks!! It was such a wonderful year, so it was almost a shame that it had to end.  On the upside, it's great to leave when it was still awesome instead of wanting the door to hit them in the backside on the way out! :)  So now it is time to clean, organize, read and sew my head off.  This quilt is something way outside of my comfort zone as far as color goes, but I really love it so far.  The jelly roll is called Dancing in the Rain by Edyta Star (I think that is her last name)  and I had to have it when I saw it last fall.  This quilt is also something that would not normally appeal to me, but it was intruiging, so I took the class.  It is all unfinished seams (until each row is attached) which is how you get the basket weave effect.  Not a big hassle, but tedious.  I will work on it a little every night instead of all at once. 

I just love hand embroidery!! Crabapple Hill is a lovely company that has gorgeous products, so I buy tons of them from my friend Janet at Farmhouse Quilts in Cutchogue.  We are doing a class each month to get the embroideries done, which is a good motivator.  This is one quilt I will never give away when it's done.  I could not bear for it to have dogs and cats or anything laying on it!!  It will be one of those things that someone will get once I am long gone. 

Close-up of the open seams on the lattice quilt.  This is actually easy, but there are threads everywhere as you go along.  I'll post it as it gets bigger.  There are 13 rows total and I think I have three done!  Today I started really cleaning the kitchen.  Cabinets empty, stuff thrown out and moved around.  Tomorrow I will finish it and clean the pantry. 

Square in a square quilt

We made this quilt in a class yesterday! So easy and fun! Love it.

Another happy engagement and a new puppy love!

About a month ago, we lost our funny little puppy Emma (she was almost a year old) when she ran out into the street in the dark and was hit by a car.  It was one of the saddest things to happen around here and our whole family (and our friends) were devastated.  That was one funny and super smart dog!  We still cannot think about it without feeling depressed.  When our breeder heard about it, she wanted us to have a new puppy right away so Ken could train and hunt a good dog again this fall.  She had someone with a great litter and two weeks later we had this little thing in our lives.  Her name is Lily and she is such a lovable, happy little girl.

Here is Lily meeting Evelyn for the first time!!  It was love at first sight.  Do you notice that ring Evelyn is sporting on her left hand?  Another engagement for us!!  Jon proposed to her on her birthday a few weeks ago.  We are so happy that both of our kids are in wonderful and healthy relationships with a person perfect for them.

The happy couple less than 12 hours after it became official!!  Their wedding will be within a year.  Evy and I are working on prices, locations, dates and all of that.  All will be settled by June!  It's going to be simple and small, so not too much stress on anyone.

Lily as of last night.  She is so easy so far.  She sleeps at least 6 hours in the night which means we get a little more sleep than we did with Emma when she was a pup.  Lily knows her name already and she knows how to sit and fetch.  We are having fun with her.  Of course Penny--our older lab, is not over the moon about another puppy with needle teeth crawling all over her, but she is enduring it! :)

Tumbler block quilt using accuquilt

This was a good long weekend of sewing! I finished a chevron top on Saturday and left it at the quilter's shop! Then I finished this tumbler quilt. The fabric was Salt Air which is perfect for summer. There are a few blocks from another fun collection that I like too! This will go in the guest bedroom my mom stays in. Hope you are enjoying a lovely Memorial Day. Thanks to all of our veterans and their families!