Whew! Back in business!

Last night, as many others did, I got kicked out of my own blog in the middle of composing a post.  It was very demoralizing, but after feeling very alone and helpless for an hour, seeing the same "Bad Request Error 400" everywhere I tried to go in Blogger, I discovered bunches of others around the world were experiencing the same thing.  Fortunately this morning everything is rosy.  Or lily, like this beautiful volunteer plant on the side of our building: 

Look how many buds and blooms are on this lovely thing!  I like its shadow too, and it smells divine.

That was third in a row for unfortunate happenings in my world.  Tuesday night I came out from Big Lots and found a flat tire (#1 incident).   AAA came to the rescue and changed it out to my spare.  I drove by my brother Kevin's auto repair shop on the way home and he happened to still be there at 7:30 p.m. (the joys of owning your own business!)  He said he could fix the tire but there wasn't much of a tire left as it was so worn--the reason the nail got into my tire in the first place.  So now we have to get new tires for my car.  Cha-ching!  (#2 incident)  That means driving 10 miles to work on city streets for another day instead of taking the freeway.  Good thing I asked, because Kevin told me that if you read a spare tire, it says not to go over 50 mph or travel more than 50 miles.  Somehow in my mind I knew that, but it is always good to ask!

Design Wall Monday

On my design surface today are the strip sets for the wedding quilt for DD Elaine and Chris.  I sure like fast methods like this--simple width of fabric strips.  The batik narrow strip makes a nice stable center for these so no problem with curving.

These will be cut into 3.5" sections arranged around large 8.5 squares for the Natural Beauty quilt from Quilts and More Winter 2010 issue.  I am increasing the size of this throw to make a queen sized quilt and have redrawn part of the pattern to eliminate a lot of seams in the white setting squares.  It meant cutting three different sized pieces instead of just 3.5" squares, but everything is cut out and ready to go.  I also decided to only use one fabric for the narrow strips rather than two as the pattern calls for.  Makes for fewer strip sets for me to mix up when rearranging!

Finally, finally, I got a Leader/Ender project started.  I have only been meaning to do this for a year or two, sheesh!

These adorable little rectangles will become the Baby Boxes tablerunner from Heather Mulder Peterson's book, On the Run.   See more Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times.

Set Decorating

Doesn't that sound like a great job?  I've always thought it would be great fun to go into a giant warehouse at the studios and pull furniture and props, especially for a period piece.  My version of set decorating today involves red, white and blue for the upcoming Independence Day holiday.

This mini was made from leftovers from the Kitchen Sink quilt.  I sat outside and stitched the binding down in my new lounge chair. I'm afraid I exceeded the 10 minutes' sun tolerance for my pale skin and got myself a slight sunburn.  Oops!

A little bling for the center of the pinwheel.  I've had this button in my button box so long it is almost vintage. 

Some leftover binding was fashioned into a hanging sleeve...

...to fit on this stand.  The mini is almost too big for the stand and in fact I pulled the binding towards the back a little extra to get another 1/8" clearance.

The Broken Dishes tablerunner fits perfectly on my sideboard.  You'd think I planned that or something!  The mini garden flag adds some height to my arrangement.   Now if I can just get my Patriotic Fields Doll Quilt finished this week, I'll be all set for the big weekend.  It has been waiting a year already to be hand quilted, so we'll see!

Summer's here

The June Gloom, our usual summer weather pattern, has been hanging around all month so far, true to form.  The marine layer drifts in and out morning and evening but we have been having some sunny afternoons, even at the beach.  I only need to wear my sweater at work half the day, ha ha.  Lots of folks in blogland are showing their flourishing gardens.  I have a harvest to report as well:

Yup, we're farmers!  A neighbor gave us two tomato plants and they are producing.  This plate is about five inches across so it is not a bountiful harvest--these are cherry tomatoes! 

I finished this Broken Dishes tablerunner a while ago and really should have waited for morning to photograph it as this is a bit dark.  I posed it on DH Grant's new lounge chair.  Today I went out and bought another chair for me; mine is red.  There was about 20 minutes of lounging time before the dog went ballistic because someone was knocking on the front door, so I had to get up to see what that was all about.  The neighbor boys told me their ball went over our fence so I plodded through the thigh-deep weeds in the side yard to return not one, but four of their balls that were back there, all different sizes.  Someone keeps missing the pitch-back, apparently!

 

When I came back in from taking the tablerunner picture I found Mini holding down this WIP.  Thanks, Mini!  (Really need to get that one quilted.)

This photo should be titled "Why I should never buy ivy".  There is a sad twin to this plant in another room.  My record with houseplants that require frequent watering is pretty dismal.

But here is our healthy Golden Rain tree in the front yard.  We had it trimmed in late spring and it has filled out nicely and is thickly covered with yellow flower spikes.  The tree is only about half grown at about 15 feet tall though we have had it a number of years.  While someday it may be tall enough to actually shade the house, only part of the driveway and garage receive any protection from the sun now.   Not really reached goal on that one yet!   I love this tree because it changes all year--after the flowers bloom there are lantern-like seed pods that turn to golden and orange colors as fall approaches.  Finally all the leaves and pods fall off and the tree is bare until spring, when first red leaf buds appear that then turn green.  Nice tree!

Works in Progress

WIPs sound so much better than UFOs, don't they?  Getting my UFO Challenge for June finished early freed me to dive into some new projects.  The top to the "Sweet Escape" tablerunner started on the weekend is complete and I am auditioning binding choices.

The pattern designer, Heather Mulder Peterson, always uses striped bindings on the bias.

I have these two green stripes, but am leaning toward pink to continue my pink and blue theme.

It's always so great to have choices!  This pink print is my favorite so far.

This deep pink dot is reading more red but really is a lovely lipstick shade.  Opinions, anyone?

Also in progress, the remaining squares from the Boutique by Chez Moi charm pack are turning into the "Party Time Runner" pictured on the back of the On the Run pattern book, and some scraps are being turned into the "Baby Boxes" tablerunner, also pictured.  The latter will be used as my first leader/ender project once I get the white pieces cut for the box centers.  It has been really fun playing with these squares and strips in lovely summer colors.   

Tuesday's Orts

Another Tuesday, this one the longest Tuesday of the year.  I kind of feel like that already, and it isn't even noon yet!

• Father's Day BBQ was a pretty quiet affair--only one offspring of ours was here and I was the only offspring of my parents' present!  It sure made the noise level lower than it normally is for family gatherings at our place. There was plenty of strawberry shortcake too.
• Traffic rant:  This is of the restaurant sort.  How do you feel about people who leave sunglasses or bags to claim just-emptied tables and then get at the end of a long line to order food, far far behind you?  Yeah, makes me homicidal too.
• Its getting so I don't want to order soft drinks in restaurants due to the ridiculous prices--$3.00 for an iced tea is pretty common.  On top of a sandwich or salad it can quickly add up to $10 for lunch and I am not willing to do that more than about once a week!  Water is still free most places.
• I bought DH Grant a nice adjustable lounge/chaise for the backyard for Father's Day.  He has been wanting one for a long time.  I tried it out and now I want one too--however my blinding white legs can't tolerate more than about 10 minutes of sun so it would be a quick lounging session. 
• Mini the cat supervised me on Saturday morning as I was assessing the pantry:
  
  

She was just sitting in there looking up at me before I pulled the camera out.

Frosted Flakes appear to be a favorite.  See her question mark tail?  She nearly always holds her tail in that little crook when she walks.  Too cute.

Design Wall Monday

On my design surface today is a quick thank you gift for the caterer-to-be at DD Elaine's wedding.  This is a restaurant owner we have known and Grant has served in the foodservice industry for over 20 years, and she gave us a fabulous price per person, required no deposit, and will take very good care of all the many details during the entire reception. 

I had a partial charm square pack of Boutique that I won a couple of years ago, and pulled the pink and blue squares plus a couple of yellows for the layout.

This is the Sweet Escape table runner from the On the Run book by Heather Mulder Peterson.  The deep blue was a remnant I picked up at my local fabric store and I thought it would look great with these charms.

These blocks are only 4 1/2" inches.  Heather includes pressing directions to make the seams lock when joining, which I appreciate with these small pieces.  DD Elaine helped me with the final layout when she came over to see her Dad for Father's Day.

All the rows got sewn.

And a couple of rows sewn together before I finally went off to bed at 11:40 last night!   See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times.