July-August WIP

Thought I'll shared my WIP (Work In Progress) for this month and next month. It's that big shop sample that I had mentioned earlier. There are 52 paper pieced New York Beauty blocks done so far.... that's 1/2 of the quilt ... lots more paper piecing to do. Just to give you a clue.... it's a Judy Niemeyer pattern.

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This is for Kathi...

Kathi, your comment came in as a "no-reply", so I couldn't answer your question concerning the dollhouse quilt. Please email me at quiltingdoxies(at)gmail(dot)com or change your setting to reply. Thanks for your visit... I love getting new & returning visitors to my blog. :o)

DQS7

I have been telling myself to NOT sign up for any swap 'cause of to many committments lately; HOWEVER..... in a moment of weakness.... yes, I joined the Doll Quilt Swap for my second time. ;-)

Shhhhh.... this is a secret swap.... partner is to be kept a secret. I have received info on my secret partner. Heehee... let the "stalking" begins!

Bag and Quilts

I'm still catching up with things from the last 2 months that I haven't got a chance to post before....

The first thing is a messenger bag for Sweetie Pie's teacher. It was completed the night before the last day of school, June 12th. Gosh, it seems like it was so long ago.

SP's teacher loves horses, so I used the horse fabric for the flap and a school patterned print for the bag and handle.

The pattern inspiration came from here. I changed the construction and pattern a bit to fit my needs.

Here's SP modeling the bag for me that morning before headed off to school. Of course, the little doxies snuck in the photo too. :-)

Then, as soon as the bag was checked off the list, I pulled out some of my flimsies that have been waiting for the quilting.

Here they are after quilting.

From the top:

1. Fractured Crystal - I made the top a few years back after seeing it on Simply Quilts.

2. Strip Twist - a Quiltville pattern - the top was finished in February and blogged about it here.

3. Summer Breeze 2 - if this top looks familiar to you, then you may remembered that I had made two of the same tops. The first one was done last year, and I blogged about it here and here.

Quilts No. 1 and No. 3 were completed right before we left for vacation. I will count these two as June finishes for the One Project a Month Challenge (OPMC).

I wasn't able to finish sewing the binding down on STrip Twist, so it was completed during vacation time at Susan's house. Then it was washed right afterward. This quilt made the July count for the OPMC.

All three quilts were handed out to the recipients during our mini family reunion/camping.

This is a full view of Fractured Crystal....

... it went home with my SIL, Reyna....

Strip Twist went home with my nephew, Justin.

And Summer Breeze 2 went home with my older sister. Here it is on her couch. I didn't get a chance to get a photo of her and the quilt. :(
That concluded all the finished projects to date!

Have a wonderful day!

Hidden Stars and Shop Samples

A few weeks before we left for vacation, I started working at Quilter's Cocoon (the quilt shop where I teach) one to two days a week. I truly enjoyed being there wholeheartedly.... from cutting fabrics to helping customers making fabric selections (my fav part).




So I was cutting up some Kaffe Fasset fabrics (luv luv luv these) into charm packs and had to ask for the scraps. These ------------------->
are about 1" strips. What do I want them for?


Well, I blogged about how much I like to make string quilts in this post. These Kaffe Fasset strings will eventually become a string quilt too. But first, I need to get those other string tops quilted.




Hidden Stars was loaded onto Dolly and quilted with simple arcs from corner to corner. My quilting skill is rather limited, so these arcs were quite difficult to quilt evenly. I had thought of taking the stitches out and re-doing it, but then again ... what the heck!... this quilt was made with throwaways (dryer sheets for foundations and little bits of scraps that most people would throw away), and it would ended up on the couch as a snuggle quilt for us. Besides, it would make a great documentation of my quilting journey, right? :)

The quilting will remain as it is!

All Hidden Stars need now is the binding, but that will have to wait as I'm working on a big shop sample

<------------out of these Batiks.

I worked on it before vacation, has picked it back up since I've been back, and now it is keeping me occupied.

Pictures will come once I put the blocks together.

When I went back to work at the shop on Friday, Pagen needed another sample done. Since all the fabrics were selected and cut, this was quickly sewn up. The quilt top was done in a few hours yesterday. It was a nice little break from the other more challenging sample. :>
I am not quilting this top; therefore, I am counting this sample as a finished project! for the One Project a Month Challenge.

Vacation photos....

....of our RVing trip....

After stopping in at Eugene, OR, we continued to head north toward Washington State and stopped in for the night with my brother and SIL, Susan, who live in Vancouver, WA. They prepared a big and delicious dinner for us. Yummy!

Later on the night, Sue got out her sewing machine and a baby quilt top that she was working on for a co-worker. She wanted to learn the next step of making a quilt which is to layer, baste, and quilt it. Sue is a quick learner and did a great job quilting her first quilt. I can't wait to see the finish product!

The next morning .... onward to our next destination (top photo) ... Mt. Ranier. We were to meet with my other brother and sister and their families and friends for a little family reunion at La Wis Wis campground.



I love camping and being outdoor! There were so much to do..

It's nice to take a mid-afternoon nap in a hammock....

...or just chill in a hammock or two...


or a nice stroll around the campground.....

...or a bike ride if walking is not your thing....
then how about a game of horseshoe after dinner or before dinner or anytime you please....

there's always the river to play in.... toss in a few rocks....
... a game of catch and retrieve the stick...... or just get your feet wet...or just hang out by the edge of the river...or keep watch on the younger ones....... what ever you do during the day....




... the best part was by night fall, the kiddos were fast asleep.... lol

This group photo was taken on the last morning. We're missing a few people who had to leave early.
Well, this is it for now... will post again soon. :-)

Been Away

Long time no post!

I've been away on vacation with the family for over two weeks and arrived back home last Sunday. It took me this long to get my pictures organized...

We packed up the motorhome and headed north. For this trip, my sister and BIL, along with my darling little nephew, James, and their two Boston Terriers, Lucy and Ricky, came along. Needless to say, the camper was packed to the brim with baby things.

The first and quick stop was Santa Barbara. We spent the afternoon at the pier and lunched at one of the restaurants before heading up the coast.

As we headed north, it was fun to stop along the coast for a little bit of explorations to break up the long drive to our destinations.Other places we stayed overnight were San Simeon State Beach, Lake Oroville, and Eugene, OR, before reaching our final destination. Here are a couple of photos of where we were heading.... Next post, I will blog more of our trip....