Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Sewvivor ~ The Lazy Jellyfish

Here it is! My entry for the Sewvivor contest at Family Ever After.

I chose this quilt because it was, at the time, the most adventurous undertaking right from the beginning. The pattern is from Elizabeth Hartman's book The Practical Guide to Patchwork. It is entitled Rain or Shine. I hadn't been quilting very long when I decided to go for it. It is the very last quilt in the book. Yes there were moments that I had to take a step back and really think about what I was doing. I learned so much. 


I used a fat quarter collection that I had purchased from Alewives Fabrics in Maine. This was also a challenge for me, fabric selection. The collection of fabrics were called 'Tea with the Queen". 


There is one block of the 20 that was cut incorrectly but once they were stitched together I can no longer tell which it was. This was my first quilt that I machine quilted all by myself. Not to be missed are the little yoyo's. Little hand stitched x's with perle cotton. Love this quilt.


The back was pieced with the inspiration coming also from the same book. 

Thanks for stopping by ~



Friday, July 4, 2014

green, green and more green ~

Our day in pictures. We love the green here in the Pacific Northwest. We hiked the 4 mile loop around Mountain Lake in Moran State Park on Orcas Island.















Still working on taking selfie's.


Had to stop for a treat ~



Then I had to find a treat for me. Found at the Brown Bear Bakery. Huge cookies and treats.



Happy 4th of July ~ looking forward to fireworks tonight ***

Thursday, July 3, 2014

It's an island thing~

I just realized that I have been traveling to all sorts of different islands this year. It wasn't planned. I feel grateful, happy and a little bit spoiled. Ok, a lot spoiled!

This is the vacation we planned before our impromptu trip to Oahu. We have been to Orcas Island before, about 4 years ago. It is a quaint little island in the San Juan Island chain in the Pacific Northwest. The sun set last night at around 10:30PM and fireworks aren't scheduled till 10:15. All of the is seems fine but sunrise came early this morning. I woke with the light at 6 AM. How I wanted to sleep in.

I took a walk this morning to a little cafe for a cup of great coffee at Enzo's. Along the way I saw all these pretty flowers.
hydrangea

hollyhocks

daisy's


Enzo's Cafe great coffee

daisy's and lavender

Today we are planning a little trip to a lake and perhaps a hike as well. 

Enjoy your day and holiday with friends and family

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Flowering along ~

With Molly Flanders Makerie.

I spotted her sew-along just before I left on a working vacation, for my husband not me! heehee! The plan was to find fabric during my travels. Nothing stood out to me.

 Then I remembered my stash and in particular the selection of batiks I have from the Sunshine Pineapple quilt that is resting on the shelf waiting to be finished. Squirrel...

templates at Molly Flanders Makerie

traced using clover Chaco Liner pen style and cutting with rotary cutter

layout

fork pins to keep seams together
 
machine stitched ~ back

front pressed and waiting for more


So yes, here is another project I have started. I should try and finish at least one this summer.

Happy summer and may there be a picnic or trip to the beach in your future

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Hike, waterfall and flowers ~

trailhead









Sorry but I do not know any of the names of these flowers except for the wild orchid that pops up here and there.

daughter hiding behind a big tropical leaf


It was worth the uphill trail to cool off in the falls



O'hana

A very fun hike to a waterfall. Lots of locals. Fun to chat with them. Definitely bring water and snacks for the younger hikers and possibly your suit. There are actually two places to stop and cool off. There is a swimming hole to the left about half way to the falls. Somehow we missed that one. The reward is stepping under the falls too cool down because the hike is uphill most of the way and though there is lots of shade you do get sweaty hot.


Our plan was to go to Uncle Bobo's for an early dinner late lunch but we found out the hard way that they are closed on Mondays. No ono! So we have been wanting to try Mike's Huli Huli chicken truck right off the highway here in Kane'hoe. Always have a plan "B".

dinner ~ chicken

We purchased 3 chickens, 7 scoops of rice and 7 scoops of macaroni salad and asked for extra sauce. I made a salad of mixed greens, island cucumber, tomatoes and chopped up pineapple. It was yummy. Seems like a lot of food but we had company over ~ friends from San Diego that moved here and the little girl next door. It was a fine evening. We ate, play and chatted till a heavy rain storm blew in. A great evening to end our stay here in Oahu.

Hau'oli La Ha nau
We can't leave till we properly celebrate a darling daughters birthday complete with donuts, Harry Potter movie and a new stuffed bunny. Aloha sweet daughter!

We'll be back