Hand Sewing Binding Butterfly Quilt, Farmers Market Cucumbers

Hand sewing binding down on back.

Front close up, yes, the yellow and orange butterfly is my favorite.

'Gathering', 45" x 22", binding sewn on front.

Hedlin's Family Farm, La Conner, WA.

Happy Weekend from the Pacific Northwest.

The temperatures have been upper 70's, mostly sunny. 

We've been going to the lake, Lake Wilderness Park, about 15 minutes away,

located in Maple Valley, WA. We put our feet in the water, it's surprisingly warm, and my little grandson enjoys playing in the sand. It's great to watch the kids, big and small, splashing and swimming around.

I've been working on fiddly things this week; hand sewing binding onto a quilt back, arranging and composing an improv small quilt; two steps forward one back, etc. But progress is being made, slow but sure. My butterfly quilt, 'Gathering' is 45" x 22", and almost finished. It's spoken for and has a home already.

The farmers market photo I'm sharing here was taken in La Conner, WA over a month ago when strawberries were at their peak. I visited a local farmers market last week and found good sized cucumbers three for a dollar. You bet I bought some! Some were eaten fresh and the rest got pickled.

I hope you're taking time to enjoy the summer. 

( I know some of you live where it's winter but soon enough you'll be enjoying your summer!)

And remember to visit your local farmers market, there's good deals this time of year.

I'll be by to visit.

Quilted Butterflies, Piecing Baby Quilts, a River, Sew Stitch Snap Share

This is the backing for two quilts I'm piecing together.

I'm making two four patch quilts for my two grandsons.

We walked along the Puyallup River yesterday, it's south of Renton.

Native Americans are allowed to use nets to fish in the Puyallup River.

I've finished machine quilting my butterfly quilt, now to the binding.

Hello from  Renton, WA where it's a bit cooler today.

We walked along the Puyallup River yesterday, so the fishermen in the family could scope it out. Salmon fishing opens tomorrow. 

Native Americans here are allowed to use nets to fish for salmon and they were busy at it.

This week I pieced two four patch quilts I'm making for my grandsons. I thought the map on the backing and the trucks and cars on the front went together and would be fun to look at for them.

I also finished the machine quilting on my butterfly quilt, I've named it 'Gathering.'

It'll have white binding, Kona 'snow' and a hanging sleeve. It will look good on a wall.

Jo Morton has a book out, recently published by That Patchwork Place ,'Jo's Little Favorites II' a classic collection of 15 small quilts.

 Her historically inspired small quilts are beautiful, great design and color. 

This is an excellent resource and it'll be just the thing for reading on a slow day to get your creative juices flowing again!

I'm linking up with Linda and Julie for Sew Stitch Snap Share. Stop by to find color and quilt/project inspiration. Thanks Linda and Julie for hosting this good idea.

Have a wonderful week and next post I hope to share more farmers market photos.

I'll be by to visit.

Peaches and Improv Piecing Class and a Trade

Aren't they gorgeous? They smell as good as they look.

Blocks I made in Debbie Feske's Improv Class .

 Log cabin block I made at home.

Debbie @ A Quilter's Table blog is hosting a string improv  quilt-a-long.

I exchanged my Juki Mini for a Pfaff Expression 3.5.

Hello from sunny Renton, Washington!

Where chasing after our one year old grandson is great fun, always something new.

You should see him do 'Itsy Bitsy Spider', so cute.

My daughter-in-law brought home those (above) ripe, heavenly peaches. Nothing like a good peach in summer.

The class, Improv Piecing by Debbie Feske @ A Quilter's Table, link above, was great. Debbie's pleasant easy to understand style was the best! So I'm going to be putting together improv blocks based on traditional blocks, that's what I like to do anyway. The class was at Gossypium Quilt Shop in Issaquah, WA .

And you might be wondering, 'Why did she exchange her Juki Mini for a Pfaff Expression?

The Juki was giving me tension fits, literally and figuratively.

I want to sew, not run into the sewing shop every other day, trying this and then that and still not producing a decent stitch. I finally said to myself, 'This is not worth it. I'll take a machine that can sew a great stitch all the time, thank you.' And the Pfaff has a hard case so I can carry it.

And I need a machine that's portable right now, the Juki was too heavy. 

So that's the story.

At last I'm getting some sewing done and getting outside to enjoy the weather and the wild berries.

Hope you're having a good summer and don't forget to visit the local farmer's market.

You never know what you'll find there.

I'll be by to visit.

Kaleidoscope of Butterflies #19, 'Liberated' Butterfly Blocks, Fox Hollow Farm

https://fretnotyourself.blogspot.com

Liberated Butterflies w border, 45" x 21", my design.

Close-up, four patches are 4" x 4".

We visited Fox Hollow Farm in Issaquah, WA.

Beautiful farm buildings at Fox Hollow Farm.

Pony rides anyone?

There was a little farmers market on site, notice the pea hen on the roof?

Cute bunny here.

There were carrots and lettuce if you wanted to feed the animals.

Sweet farm kitty playing in the farmer's market.

Chickens and pigs put on a good show for us.

                                                          Hello from sunny Pacific NW! 

                                               Time for Kaleidoscope of Butterflies again!

I'm linking up with Ann @ fretnotyourself and Cathy @ saneandcrazy, celebrating butterflies.

I've sewed a border on my 'liberated' butterflies, 45" x 21". The border fabric is by Tim Holtz . There's

some letters on the fabric and some 'distress' used as design elements. I'm thinking of naming it, 'Gathering.'

This week we visited Fox Hollow Family Farm in Issaquah, WA. It's located in a scenic area.

My grandson loved it and had an exciting time seeing all the farm animals up close. The farm animals were happy to be admired and put on a good show. It's well run and perfect for a family outing.

I hope you're having a great week, enjoying the summer.

Remember to stop by the local farmers market.

I'll be by to visit.

AHIQ # 23 'Coins in the Sun' Finish, Gossypium Quilt Shop Issaquah, WA

My 'Coins in the Sun' finish, AHIQ challenge.

The back of 'Coins in the Sun'.

My current AHIQ project, liberated log cabins in a row.

Gossypium Quilt Shop interior.

Another view, lots of colorful sample quilts on display.

The entrance to Gossypium Quilt Shop, Issaquah, WA.

Hello from the sunny Pacific NW!

It's summer time here, where we're enjoying walks in the park, bar-b-ques and chasing after a certain one year old grandson who is very busy.

Last week we went on an explore to check out Gossypium Quilt Shop

, located in Issaquah, WA; about 25 minutes north of Renton.

They have a wonderful shop and interesting classes available. I signed up for the Improv Piecing class by Debbie Jeske of A Quilter's Table blog .

I'm looking forward to that!

I'm linking up with Ann and Kaja with Ad Hoc Improv Quilts . Celebrating the Ad Hoc thing or in other words having fun with design and color.

Thanks Ann and Kaja for hosting.

I hope you're enjoying the summer and maybe running through the sprinkler or at least getting your feet in a pool.

I'll stop by to visit soon. Have a great day!

Half Square Triangle Advice, Pike Place Market, Waterfront

My 12 'liberated' log cabin blocks with 1st border.

Log cabins with 2nd border of HSTs, 1st try on corner blocks.

The corner blocks tilted as Kaja advised, with 3rd and fourth borders added.

We went to the big farmers market, Pike Place Market  in Seattle, WA last week.

The displays of produce are a feast for the eyes.

Some of the finest seafood around.

Washington State ferry, Seattle waterfront.

Seattle Aquarium  on the waterfront.

Happy weekend from Renton, WA!

 Where more sightseeing has happened and more playing with and enjoying the antics of a certain bubbly one year old are going on.

We visited the Pike Place Farmers Market in Seattle, Wa, a huge, busy farmers market.

The displays were beautifully arranged and the producers/providers were ready to answer any and every question. 

Seagulls and the smell of Puget Sound brought back childhood memories.

In my last post, my friend Kaja@sewslowly gave me a tip on the progress of my 'liberated log cabin' small quilt's second border of HSTs. She specifically mentioned the corner HST, the purple and yellow corner block. I got to looking at that and sure enough something needed to be different.

So I picked out that block and another corner block and tilted them both differently and wow, that made a difference! Now the HST border runs smooth.Thanks for the tip, Kaja.

This week I had time to sew on the 3rd and fourth border. The dimensions are now, 31" x 26".

I hope you're taking time to enjoy your summer.

Remember to share a smile and enjoy something beautiful.

I'll be by to visit.

Half Square Triangles, a Bigfoot Sighting and 'Snap Stitch and Shoot.'

Half square triangle border, 3 1/2", added to 'liberated' log cabin blocks.

Bigfoot sighting at the King County Fair in Enumclaw, WA.

Hello from the sunny Pacific NW.

Where we are sight seeing and enjoying visiting our son and daughter in law and one year old grandson. He's just walking and talking, so much fun!

I managed to get some time to sew together my HST border and get that sewn onto my 'liberated' log cabin blocks. There'll be another border sewn around that soon. This is a medallion style quilt, inspired by Gwen Marston, who has online quilt classes at 'iquilt'.

I'm linking up with Julie and Linda @ Koka Quilts and JulieLou . Thanks for hosting Snap Stitch and Share!

Remember to visit your local farmer's market for summer fruit and local honey!

Have a great week, I'll be by to visit.