Saturday Sampler blocks 5 & 6

Blocks 5 & 6 of this year's Saturday Sampler. Aren't they pretty? I especially love #5 at the top. These blocks will all be done in this pink and brown colorway. Halfway done/

This will probably be my last post for about a week. I'm having some surgery on Wednesday morning to finish the repair job on my perforated colon from December. I'm nervous, but will be glad to have it over with. And recuperating in July will be much more enjoyable than it was during the January blizzards.

Cats & Quilts

Here is Sammy - laying claim to my selvage pile. I was working on some selvage blocks this afternoon and had a big pile of selvage strips on my ironing board, which is next to my sewing table. It was so handy, because I could just reach over and make a selection as I sewed.

However, my process got a little trickier once there was 18 pounds of cat sitting on top of the pile. He wasn't happy when I tried to pull out the ones I wanted. Being well trained "cat staff", I started selecting them from the bag again so that I wouldn't disturb him.

He ended up sleeping on that piles of selvage strips for about a half hour while I sewed.

Father's Day

My dad passed away 20 years ago, and my father-in-law has been gone over 30 years. They never met each other, but I know they would have been friends if they had been given the chance. They shared so many traits. Both knew the satisfaction of finishing a day of hard work. Both were strong, quiet, and honest. Neither of them ever met a stranger. Neither of them passed up the opportunity to quietly help a neighbor, without looking for credit or thanks.

Good guys - and sorely missed after all of these years! Happy Father's Day!

Lakeshore Resort

Ever since I received a swap quilt that was made using the Disappearing 9 Patch pattern, I've been eager to try it out. And I finally did just that.

In March, my friend Sylvia gave me a charm pack of Lakeshore Resort fabric, along with a couple of fat quarters and a half yard cut. It was just perfect yardage to create a large square topper for my big round coffee table. And the colors are exactly what is in my family room: greens, blues, tans, browns.

Loved the way it turned out. Quilting will come next because I definitely want it on that coffee table for autumn.

Summer Block Exchange

Last night was so much fun! Our little group working on a charity quilt got together at Marilyn's house to exchange our blocks and plan the charity quilt. We really missed 2 of the ladies who couldn't be there, but their blocks were there. A little wine and a little cheesecake was enjoyed too!

A little background quickly - 12 quilting friends each received 1 yard of a focus fabric to use in a block of their choice. This time the fabric was a lovely aqua floral from the Wildflowers line. Each of us made 13 identical blocks using the focus fabric and adding other fabrics of our choice. We get together and exchange so that we each get a block from everyone. The 13th set of blocks we put together to donate to a charity. This project's charity is the community scholarship program. We previously did a Christmas quilt using this process.


Here are my friends showing off their blocks. Photo 1: me and Marilyn holding our blocks along with Pam's and Nancy's. Photo 2: Erin and Kelly. Photo 3: Sylvia, Linda, Brenda. Photo 4: Yvonne, Kathy, Deb. This is a great group of talented ladies!! The blocks are all beautiful and such a rich combination of colors that all blend perfectly.

Rain, rain - Go AWAY!

I desperately need some sunshine!!! We have had record rainfall in the last 5 days - over 7 inches! And it is raining again this afternoon.

This doesn't sound like much for some parts of the world, but we average only about 17 inches of rain per year normally. Needless to say there has been water standing everywhere: over Interstate 90 causing detours on Saturday, in peoples' basements, 3 inches covered the floor of the local hospital emergency room on Friday, and putting the James River back up to record flood levels. The river wasn't yet back inside its banks since our April flood after too much winter snow.

A small project finished

This cute little quilt is headed for Virginia this week, as an overdue baby gift for one of my cousins. I hope Levi enjoys his quilt as much as his big brother Lukas has enjoyed his.

It was our 2009 Saturday Sampler project, called Favorite Things and all done with 2.5 inch strips. We did 10 blocks, but I just used 9 of them for this project. My fabric choice was all polka dots, and I even added dotted sashing and a dotted back, which is pieced.

I had it quilted by Carli at The Pin Cushion a week ago, and finally got the binding done yesterday while watching the Minnesota Twins on TV. It should be in the mail tomorrow.