What's Doing!

Rain, rain, and more rain! The humidity  is high and wearisome but the Sunshine Club continues to roll on making quilts. Here is Sue quilting her Kansas Troubles strippy quilt.

Meb  is working on piecing her nine patches and fence rail blocks.

Meb is using some Nancy Gere Shiloh fabrics that are just glorious!

Good going,  Meb!

Yesterday I took a day trip into Maine to meet up with Grace my old friend who is visiting her Mom in Maine.

We went to Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster in South Freeport and enjoyed the ambiance.

It was great fun to see them and hug them!

Hope that you are surviving the muggy weather, too!

Happy quilting!

High Heat And Humidity!

An unbearable wave of sticky humid weather has hit us here in New Hampshire. But the Tuesday Sunshine Club met with resolve to stick to our projects. Here's Mary cutting backing fabric.

Meb was working on a nice pile of blocks.

They are so pretty!

Bev K joined us after a long absence and had a beautiful quilt to show us.

Sue has been working on her strippie quilt and was pressing it.

Sarah got a good deal on these blocks at the Salvation Army and is wondering how to match the dark indigo to make  more of them.

The Friday Quilters at the Golden Gese Quilt Shop had a special guest visiting us from Illinois.  It was none other than Nann,  from "With Strings Attached"  blog.

Nann had hand work that was easy packing for her travels on the long drive east.

It was great to give Nann a hug in person!

The owner of the shop, Nancy Gesen,  had a special project that she shared with us now that it is finished. Wow, what a beauty!

Wool applique on top of cotton piecing makes this quilt a masterpiece.

Here's a close up to show you the details.

Sue was working on a pretty panel quilt.

We had fun and dreaded leaving the air conditioning at the end of the day!

Stay cool and happy quilting!

Starstruck Quilt

Today was a one day respite from the high heat and humidity and it was very welcome relief! On Wednesday, the 4th of July, Ellen Peters helped me by  loading Starstruck, a Bonnie Hunter pattern.

It was relatively cool  in the studio but the physical exertion caused sweat to run down my brow into my eyes, ugh!

It is a big 90" by 90" and I quilted my big  loose spirals across the width in rows.

 In today's cooler drier air I felt inspired to trim the excess batting and backing off the edges of the quilt and machine sewed the binding to it.

Now it is ready for hand hemming the binding which will take me some time.

On Tuesday, the Sunshine Club met and we enjoyed a good time sharing our various projects. Here is Mary's quilt.

Sue finished up her pretty strippy quilt in light aquas and cocoa browns.

Great job, Sue!

Hope you can stay cool in this nation wide heat wave!

Happy quilting!

Baby Log Cabin Progress

Two or three cooler days really fired me up to do some quilting. I found a string of eight started log cabin blocks and decided to finish them up. The result was this little Sunshine and Shadows baby quilt that measures 36" by 62".

I prefer to make "baby" quilts without fabrics that are juvenile prints, using regular quilting fabrics and lots of Civil War reproductions. This makes a quilt that isn't dated or too baby-ish for when the child grows up.

After I spray basted the sandwiched layers on my bed, I let the quilt rest overnight and then began the quilting. I did free motion quilting using a darning or quilting foot with my machine set to zero stitch length to drop the feed dogs.

My simple loop-de-loops are a little herky-jerky but the overall effect is pleasing. You may click on any picture to enlarge it.

The cream colored borders will be bound with a chocolate brown floral which won't show the dirt if the edges get chewed or dragged around by a tot.

The binding is sewed on by machine already but I have only just begun to hand hem the edge.

Happy quilting!

Staying Cool

Despite a day or two of very hot and humid weather, our AC units in the windows at either end of the house kept us comfortable and sleeping well. Now the blessed Canadian air has swept down and brought relief.

Today at The Sunshine Club, Mary was working on crafty foam pockets to hold and protect cell phones.

 Last week Mary was proud to show us her sashing on the accuquilt go cutter applique blocks. Looks great, Mary!

Each block is different and most of them she has embellished with stitching.

Meb stopped in and stayed for breakfast with us but she did not sew this week. Here is a peek at what she was working on previously.

Meb has great color sense and her blocks are beautiful!

The reverse of this cute table mat is a cheater fabric that looks fabulous!

Sarah has stayed busy with sewing machine mechanics.

We were all horrified to hear that Sarah's Dad had suffered a very serious brain trauma on a motorcycle accident when he hit a moose on the road. Our prayers are for his recovery.

Sue was hand quilting an outline around each of the cute little owls in her quilt.

The quilting makes each owl pop out but it is hard to see it in these photographs.

As for me, I was happy to finish sewing charm packs into giant 4-patches today. Next I'll be pressing them all nice and flat.

Happy quilting and stay cool!

Charming June

The weather here has been most enjoyable with temperatures in the cool 70's and very low humidity.

But the mower has been awaiting parts to be repaired so my former lawn is now a meadow, LOL! This morning the new parts came in so perhaps there is hope in sight for getting it mowed.

But my  lupines are gorgeous!

My Tuesday Sunshine Club was working hard on various projects. Here is Sue using spray baste to sandwich her cute owls quilt.

This is a smaller quilt but so nicely made.

Mary was busy cutting sashing strips for her appliqued blocks. This red is full of fun!

I brought in some extra fabrics from a Marden's purchase that was from over three years ago and everybody took some to use.

On Friday, at The Golden Gese Quilt Shop, Maureen had finished her patriotic flag top from Missouri Star Quilt Company.

Just in time for the 4th of July!

Sue had two quilts that she quilted herself with lovely loop-de-loops.

The extra blocks were sewn into the backing so it's extra special!

The brights quilt was done from the Three Dudes pattern on Missouri Stars many videos. Nice work Sue!

As for me, I've been sewing up mindless charm squares for a simple charms quilt top in a pretty floral.

Happy quilting everybody!