Visiting the Neighbors

Remember this quilt? I was so excited to have rOssie contact me about featuring a picture of the Anniversary Quilt and my tutorial of how  I made the blocks. If you haven't visited rOssie's blog yet...Don't Walk....RUN right over there now!  She is full of inspiration, I'm telling you!! I love visiting the neighbors, don't you?!

Marble sure loves visiting the neighbors.  It gives him a chance to practice his mole catching techniques! 
Have a great weekend.

Potpourri

I'm going to dish up a mix of eye-candy for you today!


First on the list......


I have several quilts hanging in my house and thought that I would show you another one today.


This simple quilt holds a special place in my quilty heart!




I bought the fabrics for it when I visited France eight years ago.  Some of the squares were made by cutting up Provincial print cloth napkins.  I stayed with my friend, Susan, in Germany during that trip and pieced the quilt in her basement sewing room. Ah, memories!

Every time I look at the wall hanging, I am reminded of the fun vacation in the spring of 2002.

I love hanging different quilts in this spot, but this one stays up most of the year.

Next up....here's my box of 1.5 inch hexagons.......over 300 made so far and closing in on the 400 I need for the  tablecloth I have in mind. I have yet to begin sewing the hexies together!

Next week the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild will be meeting and I have been busy making the blocks for a block exchange I'm in.  Andrea requested Plus Blocks and provided the aqua dot fabric. She also hinted that she likes red and grass green...hopefully these will fit the bill.

I also volunteered to make two 12 inch blocks in orange and blue to be included in charity quilts for a local children's hospital. I've been looking for orange fabrics for this project as well as another virtual bee I belong to where orange seems to be a very popular color!

The temperature has been crazy hot here the last few days, with the dew point out of sight!






The only sane thing to do is stay inside and work on quilts. Am I right?!

Joan had a contest on her blog, Wishes, Kind and True, a while back. I was so excited to correctly  guess the missing fabric in this Amy Butler Love charm pack.  She sent me two charms of each fabric in the entire line, so I am having fun ogling all this yumminess!!Lucky me, I also was randomly chosen by Heather of A la Mode Fabric to win another charm pack of fun fabrics by Heather Ross. These cute prints are perfect for a baby quilt I am getting ready to start on!

Here's the baby and her big sister, Lula sitting on their daddy's lap this morning. That precious 5 pound bundle of joy is my sixth grand baby, Jane Susanne, fresh from God.

              See, I told you that I was lucky!  No, not lucky.  Blessed beyond measure!!

Fitness Friday on Sunday

I've joined Jacquie and Kate in their efforts to encourage quilters to Improv(e) your Behind. (I don't let my grand daughter use the other word, so I better not either!) :) You can join the team in our journey across America.   Learn about it here. Fridays have been designated Fitness Fridays and a chance to post about our progress.....I forgot.  Not the best way to start!  But, I have put on my walking shoes. Yay! I reached my goal of 10 miles this week. Our team has logged almost 400 miles already! Part of the challenge involves a piece of fabric to represent each mile. I'll be  posting pictures of the project I have in mind for the fabric strips I'll be putting together.  Here's a picture of my inspiration.


Thank you to everyone for your kind comments on my celebration of 50 posts.  I got so hungry just reading about your favorite summer treats!  Here are the winners of the Hope Valley fabric. . . . .

First, the winner of four fat quarters, pictured above, is Joyce T. who shared that her favorite summer treat is "strawberry shortcake, no, wait, rhubarb pie, no, wait, blackberry cobbler, no, wait, sigh...."

Donna wins the charm pack of Hope Valley prints.  She loves to eat " raspberry sherbet in a waffle cone in the summer." Yum. Sounds so good! Donna and Joyce, please email me with your mailing addresses so I can get your prize to you. Congratulations!

Marble is growing fast!  He is still in training, of course. Haven and Maelie, my grand daughters, have been spending a lot to time trying to teach Marble how to catch moles.  But since we haven't actually SEEN any moles, just their dirt mounds all over my lawn, they have had to improvise on just what mole-catching might entail.

 Hopefully, Marble won't always want to be pushed around in a doll stroller when he finally is old enough to hunt for the real thing.  NO, Marble, that's not a mole, that's Maelie's apple! 

Maelie's attentive instruction is bound to pay off, I'm sure of it!  Hmmm...do you suppose he thinks that moles are long and skinny like that piece of yarn? Oh, dear....back to the classroom,  Marble!

Shopping in the Mountains

Right on the edge of Estes Park, in a non-descript strip mall, stands a wonderful shop.  

Cottage Bliss is a darling store selling top of the line fabrics along with lovely things for your home, music, inspirational gifts, quilts and more.  It's a small shop, but if you plan a visit, be sure to allow plenty of time to browse.  And, if you must bring along a certain family member who is NOT interested in shopping............well, there's a place for him/her as well.....right outside the door!

He/she can enjoy the mountain air outside while you breath in the aroma of fabric inside! 

Cottage Bliss has a good selection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Some of them came home with me!  I found some fun charm packs too! If you are making a trip to Estes Park, be sure to hike on over to this quilt shop and the two others in town.  You won't be sorry!

(I'm not making this stuff up!)

Fresh Air!

Here's  my view from the rock I'm perched on.  Ahhh....the air is so fresh and clean, not to mention COOL, here in Colorado where I'm vacationing.  Every morning this week, I've been privileged to sit and meditate with this gorgeous view right outside the cabin door. Here's what I see if I look back.......

Mr. Lollyquiltz is enjoying his perch on the little cabin deck. I wish that we could stay forever!

We've made lots of hummingbird friends this week.  One rascal, called a Rufus hummingbird, has a game of dive bombing us as we sit on the deck. He apparently thinks that the feeder is meant only for him.  He's so fast that I can't get a good picture, but trust me, he is the brightest orange/red bird I've ever seen...almost neon!  This Ruby-throated hummingbird is beautiful too.

Lest you think I would go on vacation and not think about quilting, I'll show you what I'm working on when not hiking or sightseeing. My collection of dotty hexagons is growing!

It's an 11 hour trip home to Missouri so there will be a lot more of these babies by the time I arrive! I'm making two of each fabric...all spots with a sprinkling of stripes and checks. I've cut down my original thoughts on quilt size and have decided to make a tablecloth for my breakfast table.  I figure I need around 400 hexies....I've got a ways to go!

In the meantime, I'm going to take a walk down the road for another look at this darling cabin.  It's so, so cute and situated right next to the river. If I had a lot of money, I'd leave a note on the door saying that I would sure like to buy it! Look, they've already chopped all their wood for winter...............

                                           I'd never have to leave!!!!

Give-Away for #50!!

I just passed 50! Did you notice? Probably not....but I did!  Not 50 years, silly (that happened a while back....that's all I'm saying). I meant 50 blog posts....and in my book, that's a reason to celebrate!! So................I thought it might be time for another give-away. Here's what I got, that you might like..........

                                           Some Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt.


Here's how it will work:  There will be two prizes.  To enter, just be either a follower or a reader and leave a comment telling me so as well as your favorite summer treat.
The give-away will close at midnight on Saturday and I'll draw two names on Sunday.
The first name drawn will get 4 FAT QUARTERS OF HOPE VALLEY.

The second name drawn will win a CHARM PACK OF ALL THE HOPE VALLEY FABRICS.

I've had a lot of fun with this blog since I began in March.  Several of you have become great invisible friends.  I'm looking forward to getting to know more of my quilting buds! Thanks for taking the time to stop by, Oh, and my favorite summer treat.......Breyer's Natural Vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries on top! Mmmmmm.... What's yours?

Road Trip!

It gives me a headache, sometimes, trying to figure out how much fabric I need for a quilt, or how many strips I need to cut, or how many squares I can cut out of those strips!  Perhaps this fabric I found on a recent road trip will help with my math skills.  It couldn't hurt....and isn't it cute!
But here's the real prize....................................

an old wire basket I found at an antique store in St. Joseph, Missouri.  It is filled with the fabric for a new project.  I decided to take a little drive to Stewartsville, just down the road a piece from St. Jo.  I'd heard and read about Country Expressions, the quilt shop owned by the mom of designer, Tula Pink.  What a treat that shop turned out to be. I'll be wanting to return again and again. No wonder it was one of Quilt Sampler magazine's top 10 shops in 2008! Displayed around the shop are many lovely quilts including, not a few, by Tula.  One, draped on a bed as I entered, caught my eye. Tula, herself, happened to be working that day, so I asked a few questions about the Cartwheel Quilt....(like, is it appliqued?). "No", she said. Okay then! I've been admiring several wheel quilts around the Internet, so decided to go for it! I was determined to get all the fabrics for the wheels from Tula's store before I left. After making my choices, I motioned her over for approval. Whew!  She said she liked them! After cutting the fabric for me and telling me to look for her new line coming out in October, Tula went back to her regularly scheduled program of making fabulous stuff!