Perfect summer weather for tennis, outside chores and piecing quilt blocks

 I have had a good couple of weeks and many of my 'chores' are completed now that the summer temperatures have settled down and normal for this time of year.  It means a better sleep for me when the night time temperatures are cool enough to have a comfy quilt over me and windows wide open. 

We are still trying to revive some plants that were unhappy after the heat dome we experienced and we did dig out a hydrangea that looked awful and has been a plant that I have babied along every year trying to encourage new growth and lovely flowers.  I haven't had much success and as we dug it out, I found out why.  The roots of the plant were encased in rock solid clay and it was hard and dry and impossible to penetrate with a shovel.  With a lot of watering and eventually a rope around the roots and the use of our 4 wheel drive, it got pulled out.  The clay soil was replaced with a few bags of purchased soil and a Rose of Sharon got planted in that spot which I hope will be happy with full sun all day long.  The hydrangea was given a new home in the bottom tier of our garden where it will get some shade and better soil for growing.  Time will tell if our efforts were worth the time and energy to have a thriving garden. 

In my sewing studio, I have been working on a variety of projects and am making some progress. At the beginning of July, I worked away and finished the quilting and binding on a few Quilts of Valour and they were made using the patterns in the Three one yard quilt booklets.  The first one is a brick quilt using Canadiana fabrics.

This quilt is made from the Illusions pattern but I messed up with my fabric choices so ended up added a second round of borders on each block because the original blocks looked far too busy next to each other. 

The second Brick pattern, again, made with Canadian themed fabrics.

This is another Town square but made with different measurements than the ones I have made previously. 

My green (limes) blocks for July for Patterns by Jen are finished.  I made two with reverse light and dark fabrics

Brown was my choice of colour for the Rainbow Scrap challenge for July.  The suggested colour was dark blues but I had already used a variety of blues in a previous month and she said that darks such as browns or blacks would be a good alternate.  Mine are done for the month. 

 

I have had a big basket of t-shirts sitting under the table and waiting patiently to be cut up.  That job is done and all of them have the interfacing on the back.  Now, I need to get creative in how I am going to put them together into a quilt.  But, at least I have started and now have a lot of rags made from the leftovers.
 

This was a quilt top that was handed to me to see if I would quilt it.  I added the border and then quilted and bound it.  Perfect for a baby girl in the NICU. 

I made this pink preemie quilt from leftover blocks.  Quilted, bound and already donated to our We Care program for the NICU.

The heartstrings group that I belong to had layer cakes as the challenge for July and I found one in my stash that is baby prints.  I separated out the fabrics into boy and girl prints as I know that many parents of a baby boy do not really want a "pink" or girlie quilt for their son.  Even with total equality, I don't think that will ever change.  I used a teal layer cake that I have had for years and used it to cut strips to border the prints after I cut them into 5" squares.  I will have 2 quilts for boys and 2 quilts for girls for the NICU and maybe even a fifth quilt that is made from a mixture of the leftover squares.

 

There is Facebook group that is making Quilts for Survivors (of Residential Schools here in Canada) and I joined and started making some heart blocks.  The only two requirements is that the blocks need to measure 16.5" square and each block must contain some orange fabric.  I seem to have a decent stash of orange fabrics so got busy and made these hearts.

And then I started playing with split 9 patches and added a border to them.  I have 20 of these blocks and will be packing them up to mail to Vanessa in Ontario. 

So, my goal before the end of the month is to 

1. Organize t-shirts and get made into a quilt top

2. Finish up blocks for Quilts for Survivors and get them in to the mail 

3. Stitch up the layer cake quilts for preemies, layer them and quilt and bind. 

4. Quilt and bind a Sunbonnet Sue quilt that has been waiting for a few weeks to be completed. 

5. Stitch down applique blocks

6. Work on wonky hearts from Mary's quilts. 

7. Quilt and bind a quilt top from the modern guild 

This one last picture is of 40 quilts that are heading to Kamloops this weekend as a contribution to those who have been displaced by the wildfires burning in our province.  The Fraser Valley modern guild had a stack of quilts ready for donation and I had a few in that stack plus I went through quilts I have on hand and pulled out some more, so 13 of these quilts were made and donated by me.  A really good reason to keep some quilts in the cupboard as you never know when there will be a need to wrap someone in a quilted hug.

July and summer weather is here to stay

 We had that horrible heat dome over us for too many days and our a/c, which is exactly 3 years old (in May) decided that it wasn't designed for weather temperatures as hot as we experienced so staying cool was a challenge while we were breaking temperature records here in the Pacific Northwest.

Oh well.  The weather has moved eastwards and I feel like I lost a week from my life.  It was stay cool, drink loads of water and be calm and read while trying to also water the flowers and vegetables and keep everything alive.  

We are back to our regular routine of tennis every morning but it has taken me longer to get back into my quilting schedule and not much seems to be accomplished.  

I did manage to get two quilts loaded on the B-line and get them quilted and both are also labelled and bound.  The first one is Stack the Deck and it is one of the 3 - one yard quilts though I used a little more fabric than the pattern calls for since I like to make them a decent size for Quilts of Valour.  

This one is made from fat quarters and was a challenge for June with my Heartstrings group.  I chose blues but felt that the selection was a bit dull and drab so threw in some greens to liven it up.  This will also be a Quilt of Valour for our injured Canadian Armed Forces veterans or currently serving members.

I have quilted the four other tops and they are waiting for binding.  I really hope I can get that done this week and have these ready for presentations this month.

The bindings are made.  I need to sit at my machine and get stitching!

I have made my Patterns by Jen block for July and the colour was lime.  I am making a second block with the lights and darks reversed.  I also have my brown strings for July made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Who knew I had so many brown scraps? On the ironing board below, are a stack of strip sets that are ready to be combined for my rail fences, my second RSC blocks for July. 

And, that is it for the last 10 days.  Not much to show but if I can binding done, I will have a few more finished quilts for you to see. I am keeping my list for July minimal.  

1. Rainbow scrap challenge blocks for July

2. Pattern by Jen for July 

3. Bind and quilt the finished quilts that are patiently waiting

4. Stitch down the applique blocks from June

5. Bind the pink quilts from June

6. Quilt and finish the sunbonnet Sue quilt from We Care

7. Start working on my t-shirt quilt! 

8. Dig out one of my UFO's and figure out the next step.