Catching Up--Fair Entries

There seems to be a large lag once again between posts--ah, well.  Can I blame it on the heat and humidity?  Well, there has been a lot going on.  Let's see, I finished the quilt for my sister in law in time for entering it in the County Fair.  All together I have four quilted items entered.  Here's Laura's quilt--it needs a label when I get it back.

The loop quilting was simple to do despite multiple thread changes to match the ombre colors,and filling bobbins repeatedly mid row when I underestimated how much was needed.  I did have a bunch of thread tails to fix at the end.
 

The back of the quilt is this length of hand-painted batik from my sister Kathy's stash. She says I always pick her most expensive fabrics, lol.   I used the same neutral batik as in the squares on the front for the frame. 

Closeup of the quilting, binding and the batiks.  My sister in law was thrilled with the quilt in photos, as they went home to AZ before I got it quilted and she only saw the flimsy.  When I told the lady handling my entries that I quilted it in one day she said, "You did not!"  I assured her that I did :)   My other entries were a tablerunner, a mini quilt, and my Picnic quilt, all of which I've shown before, but here's a recap:

Sandy Gervais prints and some triple step zig zag quilting on the tablerunner. 

Snowman mini---12".  Adapted from a pillow pattern in the December 2013 Quilts and More mag.

Picnic quilt--Kim Brackett design, Scrap Basket Sensations.  This one was professionally and beautifully quilted by Mary Flynn of Quilt Hollow.  One quilted item didn't get finished which I wanted to enter, but I'm still working on it. That's the Pink Lemonade quilt from Humble Quilts' doll quiltalong. 

The colors are a bit bright in this photo but I'm using a hand-dyed Valdani Perle cotton to big stitch an echo of the churn dashes in the plain squares.

I'm taking it with me to work and getting some stitches in during lunch break.  I could enter it in the fair next year, ha ha, but will soon find out how I did this year--the Fair opens on Wednesday.

Of course there has to be a grandson Cove picture too.  He's just turned five months old and is spending a lot of time jumping in his jumperoo---and also anytime he's on a lap--as well as getting on his hands and knees and rocking.  That boy is on the move always.  His parents need to lower his mattress in the crib, he'll be pulling himself up before they know it.

Cove is here trying out some shoes. Cutest.Baby.Ever.  This pic makes him look a lot older than he really is, I think!  Mimi is filling in for the day care provider on Wednesday and is looking forward to it :)  More catching up, soon...

Quilting is Done!

I ended up going with simple loops. I changed thread color with the ombré design. The binding is made but won't go on until tomorrow--Mimi and Papa have a date with Cove :)

Where I'll Be This Weekend

This weekend, I'll be spending a lot of time at my sewing machine with this:

I've pinned the quilt for my sister in law Laura and started some tentative quilting, but didn't like the design and ripped it out.  Same as last year this time, I'm pushing to get a quilt finished to enter it in the fair.  I have another project yet to complete as well--that one is a doll quilt being big-stitch hand quilted.  The deadline for entering is 5 pm Sunday...wish me luck!

I'll also be spending time with this favorite shirt:

I've agreed to let it go so it will be a fond farewell.  I love this big linen shirt and have had it for at least 10 years since I bought it at a thrift store.  The upper collar I cut off years ago and it has been a "house shirt" since then.  My sister Kathy loathes it--she calls it a dishcloth-- and she and my sister in law bought me a replacement denim shirt.  Kathy is holding the new shirt hostage until I hand over this one, as I agreed. Bossy one, isn't she? :)

Some hours will also be spent with the newest male in our lives:

Here's the little stinker up on his hands and knees at 4.5 months old.  He's looking like an early crawler for sure--he's been rolling over since before he was three months old.  A first tooth is not far off either!

Mimi got to have him for a nap last weekend at our neighborhood block party, while mommy and daddy ate their BBQ.  I didn't mind a bit!  Cove's been having very short naps and waking up a lot at night, but otherwise he's durn near irresistible!  We'll be babysitting this weekend so his parents can have a date night.
Hope you all have a busy weekend planned too.

RWB Finish

I abandoned the alternate option of another colorway on the back of the RWB table scarf I started on the 4th, in favor of more of the same. 

Here's the original front. 

And alternate RWB back. Just a stitch and turn project, very quick. Glad I kept it simple :)

We did some shopping over the holiday, coming home with a new BBQ and some necessary grandparent furniture. 

Lucy liked the Pack n Play. I'm all set to babysit. That grandson of ours is already trying to crawl, at 4.5 months. On the move, Cove is!

4th of July

Yes, I know I'm late, but I do have a few pics from our 4th of July celebrations. I did manage to put out my few patriotic decorations for the holiday as well.

This is my version of one of  Humble Quilts' doll quiltalongs from a couple of years back.  Lori called hers Strawberry Fields Forever.  The runner is the result of scrounging through my stash to find a scrap of leftover RWB pinwheels I knew I had from a past Veteran's pillowcase donation project.  After I ironed the piece, I decided to add some borders and just make it a "scarf" rather than a quilted tablerunner. 

Then I began over thinking this by wondering if I should make it double-sided with another colorway.  Do you do that? Until a decision is made, here it is unfinished but still patriotic. 

Last year the Rotary Club that puts on the fireworks show for our city, practically in my parents' backyard, cancelled the show due to expenses.  The outcry was loud.  Luckily, this year it was back on and the traditional 4th of July family party as well. I made some carrot cake cupcakes to share for dessert.

They were delicious--dense, chewy, spicy, with walnuts and raisins, and cream cheese frosting.  Yum. Definitely one I'll make again and again.  I found the recipe here:

We had a lovely BBQ party with lots of family present.  I got a good dose of Mimi time too, whenever I could get Cove to myself :)

 Here's Cove with my nephew Andrew, his girlfriend Brooke and her daughter Chloe (19 months).

 

 Cove has discovered his feet.  Mimi doesn't mind diaper duty as it gives me one-on-one time :)

 

I sent this (not very good) photo to my daughter Elaine, Cove's mommy, with the caption of "Cove with Great Grands".  My daughter noted of Cove, "He looks skeptical".  Too funny!  Cove was not afraid of the fireworks and stayed up way past his bedtime.  He was so good about being handed around and withstood many many kisses. My 95 year old mother-in-law rocked and sang to him, which he liked. We were mostly all together again at another BBQ at another nephew's house last night.  Love that! 

One Word Wednesday

Victorian.