1 potato, 2 potato

the maine quilts special theme was "seed to potatoes, fabric to quilts," and these are 2 of the many that were submitted.  quite a few were patchwork or applique in colors of the field or end result.  this circular quilt is by kathren albert depicting the fields and a collection of mashers.  the one below i thought was kind of cute (some go for the amusing vote) and was made by melissa stufflebeam called "tater tots."  ***** blistering hot day but good for sewing, working on the little stars blocks, some laundry, a few errands and some swap prepping.  a quick trip to joann's for a ruler and then back to the sewing room for more fun with phoebe!

sign of the times

was driving home from the library the other morning and saw this on a local seafood shop.  now do you wish you were here?  naaahh, me either.  **** quite overcast and humid here today so far. had plans for a night out but depends on how things progress weather-wise.  **** yesterday's sewing focused on some little swap star squares, which are about half done at this point.  also working on some applique stuff...always plenty of sewing waiting for me!

best of show

this is "rainbow nouveau" by margaret solomon gunn, best of the maine show this year.  margaret makes beautiful pieced and machine quilted quilts that can be seen at most every major show, and she nearly always garners ribbons for her work.  in addition to her stellar work, she has young children who need her care, so you know she has to find time to do this inbetween normal mothering stuff.  some years ago, margaret chaired a four seasons little quilt swap in which i participated.  her latest is shown on facebook, if you want to see...well done, margaret, and well deserved!

future project

while at maine quilts, spied the lobster print (last on right) and knew i had something in the stash to complement.  went home and pulled out the others and voila!  another project planned!  if you recall, the plaid was a freebie for volunteering and the others we already in the stash.  the pinkish solid is a kaffe fassett shot cotton, first time i've used one of those.  the blue plaid is a printed, not woven, that came from marden's some time ago.  a project is already planned to use these very summery prints. 

summer flimsy

this was a free online pattern called "frolic", generously made available by sandy gervais a few years back.  mine has fewer borders but the same basic idea.  i'd been saving these watermelon themed fabrics just for this.  it'll get basted and hand quilted, rounding the corners to give the illusion of a watermelon.  i think it's cute and will be a cute table topper for summer, er next summer....LOL!  ***** so that's another small stash of fabric no longer in the elfa drawers.  some small scraps left but no biggie.  ***** maine quilts over for another year.  i only brought home 2 half-yard pieces of fabric, one of which is already earmarked for a particular project.  **** on olympic overdose yet?  nahhh, me either.

got needles?

spent a few odd minutes today deconstructing a pincushion that is attached to a thread catcher and found a whole bunch of needles that had gotten buried inside the rice filling.  so, looks like i have enough for the foreseeable future.  left side is sharps and right side is quilting betweens with a couple of applique needles slipped in vertically.  **** love a rainy day for sewing and today nearly finished piecing a summer-y table topper which i'll show in the next few days.  also worked on some little star blocks for an upcoming swap.  and yes, it was a play day for phoebe!

little flimsy

so the little indigo flimsy is ready for basting and quilting....but not quite yet.  i'm putting these aside and going to have another basting day at some point.  **** it's cloudy, muggy and rainy here today so no beach day, even though i think every day is a beach day.  nonetheless, it is time for phoebe and i to play so once i get ready for the day and tidy up a bit plus clear the decks and put the old viking aside, it's more featherweight fun.  **** on the sewing side of things, i'm working on another UFO that has a bit of applique, which is perfect for olympic watching.  there is also another project that is nearly at the flimsy stage, also with some applique work that is now done.  with a whole day ahead of me, want to make sure i spend every minute wisely.  because that's the thing about time, it passes whether or not it's used.  as meryl streep said recently, "i see 20 year-olds who are bored, i don't see any 60 year-olds who are bored," and i couldn't agree more, meryl!

a finish!

i finished binding my batik pinwheel runner yesterday.  the photo was taken vertical so ignore the background.  i have one more of these pinwheel runners to quilt and bind, good olympic watching work.  **** just back from maine quilts and i am so overwhelmed due to the many, many beautiful quilts.  i did take some photos but have to sort them out and will certainly post.  i took a half-day class in hand quilting to get some pointers from an expert and i wasn't disappointed.  one thing that caused some dismay is the lack of crowds, not sure if i just missed them or if the turnout was indeed lower than in previous years.  and i came away with only one-half yard of fabric for a planned project.  with lancaster firmly in my mind, i am formulating my list for october instead.  summer is 2/3rds over and no doubt the rest will fly by as well.  last year we had good weather right thru november and we'll take that again this year too. 

paid in plaids

yesterday evening was the opening reception of maine quilts for 2012.  this is the first time i have attended, despite going to the show many times.  since i was going up to augusta anyway, i volunteered to pick up a teacher at the airport and transport her to the show.  saves someone having to drive down to portland--60+ miles--and then back.  as a volunteer i received 2 FQs donated by marden's.  last year i drove a teacher back at the end of the show and the selection was pretty poor (yes, i did use that heinous blue rick-rack print) but this year i got to choose from the entire collection and found these luscious plaids without having to deconstruct any shirts!  i've got plans for each already.  the star print was in my tote bag.  i think that'll make a cute baby quilt with some black/white checkerboards in the border.  it's going to be a rainy weekend, so perhaps attendance will be higher than normal.  **** i've got my handwork projects lined up for olympic watching the next few weeks.  first up is to bind the batik runner and revise that UFO list.  but miscellaneous tasks are calling....

little quilt progress

so far so good.  if you look close, you can see one of the shirtings i got last week when visiting victoria in NH, so i do use it up...eventually!  the great thing about these little quilts is they whip up so fast.  maybe tomorrow i'll get this assembled with borders ready to baste.  and what could be better than indigo anyway?  ***** severe thunderstorms are in the area so my computer time will be brief.  and is august a mere one week away?  i do believe so, along with another birthday which makes me very happy.  i love birthdays...the more the merrier!  **** my tablerunner is ready to bind, plus i've started quilting the 2nd.  these are the pinwheel tablerunners i assembled some time ago.  i'm also still doing some applique on a summer-y piece that remains to be seen.  also working on some kits for retreat, which is less than 3 months from now.  in the meantime, chowing down on mass quantities of fresh veggies, mmm mmm good!