Belated Birthday Wishes

Happy Belated Birthday Miss Merris!

It's good to be 5!

Happy Belated Birthday Mr. Oblio!

So happy you are 2!

Granny Square Mini Quilt Finished

 I finally finished my granny square quilt along mini quilt! I started it back in March.

For the back I decided to use a giant gingham I bought last fall. I know this quilt was on gingham overload but for some crazy reason I think it works. I had a tricky time finding anything else that worked right with the vintage squares I had. Gingham just looked best. I wasn't sure if making the binding thicker on the back would work. I am really happy with how it turned out & will probably try it again on future quilts. I used 6" wide binding instead of the 2.5" that is usually used. The binding on the front still looks normal but when you turn it over.........surprise! It's kinda funky & fun.

Omri wanted nothing to do with the camera when I took these photo's last week. This was the best pic I could get of him with his little quilt. He does love it though & sleeps with it every night. Sometimes I even find him dragging it around like Linus. It makes me very happy. 

I had every intention of hand quilting this whole little blanket. Remember this? Only I realized the quilt probably wouldn't be finished until he was in high school at the rate I was going. So I decided to just hand quilt the middle square instead. I'm really happy with my decision. I wanted more of a crinkly look for the outside of the quilt. Plus the vintage fabric I used in the granny squares was very thin & I feel like it has a better chance of holding up now that I've quilted over it. I really do love crinkly quilts.

I think I've mentioned before that I had hoarded the vintage fabric used in the squares for at least 10 years. I think I found it at a yard sale in a box of fabrics. It was such a small amount. Not enough to make a whole quilt with but perfect for this smaller project.

I've been trying harder to use what I have & love. I have a bad habit of saving things because I'm too afraid of ruining them when I should be using them so I can enjoy them.

Now that I've made Omri his quilt all the girls want to know when I'll be making them a quilt. I better get to work ;)

I also wanted to thank the special ladies that bid on Sally's beautiful table runner. A huge thank you to Sally for donating it. Terri St. Peter was the highest bidder. Thanks so much for helping out with this worthy cause.

Lately We Love......

Spending time with daddy

 Carrots from our garden

Happy boy waking up from his nap

Fruit from cherry trees in our back field 

Wonders of Mother Nature 

Playing in the sand 

 Working on sewing

Sweet Nevada sunsets.

I'm really enjoying our summer break. The kids are all a year older & I've been able to let them have a little more freedom to play in the yard without my constant supervision. Even Omri will head out the door & play in the sand. I keep a watchful eye & check on him every three minutes or so but I think it's important for the kids to be able to explore without constant supervision. I love listening to them play when they don't know I'm around. I hear a lot of talk about "sweeties" & "superheroes" so cute. Those little imaginations hard at play. We've gotten into quite a nice routine around here. Waking up & enjoying a lazy breakfast, then swimming in the pool. Next thing you know it's time for lunch & some more swimming or a movie & then dinner & bed. I'm pretty sure I could count on 1 hand the number of times these little ones have actually bathed. I guess I don't see the point when they practically live in the pool.

Zoe starts school this Monday & Aris next Monday. I will miss our routine but a new one will slowly emerge. A fall schedule filled with the promise of school supplies, cooler nights & crisp mornings. The promise of pumpkins, leaves & shorter day. And I love fall......but for now I'll enjoy the last few moments of summer with the girls. 

(Don't forget to bid on the auction for Danny's family!)

2nd Auction for Daniel

My sweet friend Daniel passed away almost 3 weeks ago. He was such a fighter. Danny had been sick since I had met him back in high school. I was really good friends with his brother & every once in a while we would talk about how Daniel was struggling or how awesome he was doing. Even though Danny was the little brother he was such a great example to everyone around him. Danny was an amazingly talented artist. He had a chance to go abroad & paint & visit museums. Although he loved art & living a creative life his real passions were his family & his testimony of Christ. He loved sharing the good word with others & even though his health was poor he touched others with his fighting spirit & faith that no matter what the outcome, he would still be okay.

Daniel's family was so grateful & touched by the generosity of the last auction. Even though they are no longer saving for a heart, the money earned from this auction will go toward paying off medical bills & cost of living in the hospital for the past year. Danny spent the last year of his life in the hospital waiting for a heart because he was too weak to leave. 

I met Sally Murry at the Sewing Summit last October. She was funny & has a heart the size of Texas! Not to mention she is one talented lady. When she heard about Danny's situation she asked if she could donate something to be auctioned off. Sally has never even met Danny or his family before but I am almost positive her mother heart felt the same sympathy any of ours feel when we hear there is someone in need......how can I help.........what can I do.......& then she did it. Thank you Sally from the bottom of my heart for your generous donation.

Sally said, "My original inspiration was my rosa rugosas, which are blooming a little early this year.  I had pink and green scraps lying atop the brown and they looked like freshly-planted roses to me.  The rosas were too prickly to cooperate for a photo but the runner also looks nice next to hubby's peas, which are just beautiful this year. I added a border of the brown, then a teeny green one, then bound in the brown.  Used the brown for a backing and quilted on my DSM in diagonal lines.  Cotton batting (Warm).  Final quilt runner size is 16"X39"."

I'll open the bid with $35

The next person will bid $36 or how ever much you want & so on & so forth. Bidding will take place in the comment section of my blog. Make sure you look at the previous bid in the comment above yours so you can bid accordingly. The auction will end on Saturday July 21st at midnight (my time here in Reno) When the auction ends I will contact the winner to set up payment to Danny's fund. Once the payment is made Sally will mail the quilt your way. If you have any questions please feel free to ask! If you are interested in making a donation to Danny's family please contact me at: summietummer@yahoo.com

AUCTION HAS ENDED!

Thanks for bidding :)

When Life Hands You Scraps......

I am probably on of the luckiest people ever. Or should I say that I'm blessed? Maybe just a little of both. I love blogging. I love the few blogging friends that I have had the privilege of getting to know over the years. I've even had a chance to meet a few of them in person. They are kinda like modern day pen pals I guess. Makes me all warm in fuzzy inside.

So a while back Dana of Old Red Barn Co. had a fabric destash. When I saw the Heather Ross fabric I knew I had to have it. I had already bought some with birthday/Christmas money but still didn't have as much as I would like. I probably should clarify that even though I had a good little stash of the Mendocino I still felt too nervous to cut into it. It's an out of print fabric & getting harder & harder to find. Plus it's dang pricey when you do.

 I contacted Dana & asked if she'd be interested in a trade. A smallish quilt for her precious stash of Mendocino. Guess what? She said yes! So I did my happy dance & got to work. The fabric came in the mail & I did another happy dance. I had a good chunk of the quilt done & then..........life happened. I am embarrassed so say it took me 8 months to finally finish her project. Terrible! 

 I couldn't even cut into the fabric out of guilt. Now the project is done & it's safe to say I can finally use that amazing stash of fabric.

I may take me a long time to finish projects but I put a lot of love into each project. My fabrics might not be super fancy & all from the same line but I like to mix it up. My quilts are a little funky. Like me.

  I love that I've found quilting. Dana is one of the people that inspired me to quilt in the first place. I feel so honored to call her my friend! 

 The quilty details

This quilt measures 36"x36"

I used this tutorial for the quilting. Let me just tell you that although it went easier than if I had tried to figure it out on my own it was a tricky stitch to do. My quilting leaves much to be desired. So many mistakes. Gives me a whole new respect for how amazing her quilting is in the tutorial.

I used a mixture of fabrics. A little Tula Pink, Heather Bailey, vintage fabrics from my stash & the back fabric along with the linen fabric I purchased at Hancock.