Finally

I finally finished my Traditional Gwennie Round Robin.  I so loved all the quilts and admired the final borders.  I don't mind saying the theme "Something Fishy" threw me for a loop.  An idea came to me right away for my Modern Gwennie.  But when it came to my Traditional Gweenie I was in the weeds.

I loved the "Clam Shell" idea that I saw on many quilts.  But didn't have time to applique them.  Suddenly and idea struck....   A while back I had cut out some Drunkard's Path blocks all in different shades of blue.  Sewn together in the right way they looked like Clam Shells.

Here is the result.  I like it more than I thought.  The border still lets the eye focus on the center of the quilt.  

Here is my Modern Gwennie.  I already posted a photo of it.

Again many thanks to Lori for setting up this wonderful sew along and letting me apart of the Fab Five design team.

While I had my thinking cap on I finished a WIP I had started a while ago.  It used up all the 9 patch blocks I received from a swap that Barb hosted a while back.

Now I just have to sandwich it and machine quilt it and I will have a finish.  It's been a while.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you are all enjoying the fall weather.  I hope our friends along the Atlantic Coast are safe and dry and have had minimal damage.

Hugs, Cathy

Front Porch

It's time to link up with our June block's for the Front Porch Sew Along.  This month we made flag blocks.  Thanks to Lori's break down of piecing the blocks they went quickly.  Here are mine.

 I sewed the flag to my house block.  My pictures look a little wavy because of my design wall.  I couldn't get it to lay flat.

Here are the 2 other flags that will be used later in the quilt.  I also cut out their flag poles.  I will be linking up at Humble Quilts.


Another project on my design wall....

Here is a small section of it.  These are the reproduction 9 patch blocks that I received in a swap from Fun With Barb.  I used some in a quilt I made using a pattern from Cheri Payne.  


Now if you are not too bored I am sharing some more pictures from the Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor.  This time the Tropical room.

The gold fish seemed to glow.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Hugs, Cathy

Goodbye July....

Hello August!  (Warning!!!  Photo Heavy)

July was a busy month for me.  Lot's of sewing and lots of traveling.  We went on a 2 week camping trip to the Upper Peninsula.  

We started with a family get together to visit with my 2 nephews, Nathan and Jake.  Nathan is stationed in Montana and it was the first time we had seen his 3 boys.  Jake is stationed in Ohio and he and his wife will soon be stationed in Guam.  They will be there for 3 years.  That was on the 12th of July.

We left for the UP on the 13th.  Hooked up our trailer and headed north.  This was one long trip.  It took us 10 hours...without the trailer it takes 6 hours.  We went to my son's house just outside of Marquette and picked up our granddaughter Ashley for a week of camping.

We landed at Van Riper State Park on Lake Michigamme.  It was cool and rainy the first couple of days.  But I had lots of crafty stuff for Ashley.  I also took along a featherweight and a box of charm squares to teach her how to sew on a sewing machine.  She took to it like a duck to water.

Here once and off she went.  She said it beat sewing by hand....lol

I signed up for a 9 Patch swap with Barb at "Fun with Barb".  So I showed Ashley how to make 9 patches.  This is the first batch.  Then we went to a quilt shop and she found some fabric she loved and made more 9 patches to match.

This is the backing fabric she found.  She made a pillow (That needs to be stuffed)

And this is the front of the pillow.  Just to let you know....I did all the rotary cutting and ironing.  She did all the sewing of the 9 patches.  She did a great job.

My son and his dog came to camp with us on the weekend.  We took a ride and found a nice little lake to go fishing called Perch Lake.  Even the dogs got in on the action.

Ashley caught the biggest.

My son's dog Roxy tried in vain to catch one.

And Sammie didn't even want to get her paws wet.

We had fun sitting around the camp fire.  Ashley made us a Peanut Butter Smore....and it was delish.  She spread peanut butter on the graham crackers and then added the chocolate and marshmallow.

We left Pat's on Monday and headed home.  We camped for a few days at the State Park in St. Ignace.  It is right next to the bridge.  A little noisy with the sounds of bridge traffic  but at night I turned the fan on and didn't hear a thing.  I was a beautiful park.

We took a ride and went to the Bridge View park.

As you can see it was a little overcast and very breezy.

I found a large of crop of seagulls growing in the park....lol

Sammie loved the wind and strained at the leash trying to get to the seagulls.

All in all it was a wonderful trip.  Glad to be able to sleep in my own bed.  And I'm still emptying the trailer.

Since being home I've been getting some sewing done.  

I signed up for both Modern 9 Patch swap and Reproduction 9 Patch Swap.  I have to make 10 more pairs of the modern 9 patches and start the modern.

This is the July block for Hip Chicks BOM.  I still need to  prep the applique block.

Here are all the blocks together (minus the latest applique block).

And finally the latest Quilt Doodles BOM.  I really love this row.

So I finished all my BOM's for July on my "To Do" list.   Since being on vacation I didn't get anything else done.

Now for my August "To Do" List.

BOM'S

1.  Sugar Shack

2.  Globetrotting

3.  Hip Chicks

4.  Country Threads

5.  Quilt Doodles

6.  Aurifil

I've been commissioned to make 2 small photo quilts that are due in Sept.  So that is another priority.

And I need to finish my Modern 9 Patches and make my Reproduction 9 Patches.

That's it for August.  If I get anything else done it will be a bonus.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope I didn't bore you.

Hugs, Cathy