Crafters July 5 through July 11

Yes the yard work is never ending. It's too hot here to be out in the hot sun. I don't get up early to take advantage of potentially cooler times and in the evening the mosquitoes are killer so will have to wait. Good luck with your yard work. I hope you can get it done early and then be able to take it easy for the rest of the day and have a relaxing and informative study this evening.

Yesterday was hat day so I made one hat and started another. Today I'll finish it and work on my tote bags. I'm thankful for the internet where I find great patterns for even simple things like the totes and market bags.The second hat is made with the crystal wave stitch and is made flat so you have to seam it when finished. I'm not good at seams but this will give me practice. If I keep avoiding making seams I'll never get better at it. 

Hello Everyone - Hope you are all doing well and had a nice holiday yesterday

Ruth - Good luck with those seams. Hopefully you'll have a cooler day to do some yardwork.

Ginny - I hope you can get all your yardwork done so you can have the fire later this week. Hope you can get some more of your binding done.

I have a tree growing up inside of a bushes that is too large for me to cut too. It's so frustrating because it would probably take about 5 minutes for someone with a chainsaw to cut it and pull it out. But finding someone to do that is the hard part.

Phyl and Sue - Hope you well.

It's gotten hot here again, so I'm staying inside as much as possible. There were a lot of fireworks last evening around my house, even though they are illegal in my county They went on until way after midnight. I'm hoping there won't be a lot tonight and then it will be over.

Last evening before dark I looked outside in my back yard and there were 2 fawns walking around and later laying down. I didn't see a mother anywhere, so I guess they were on their own.  They are pretty to see, but I don't like them in the yard because of ticks. 

I finished the Wiggle Time quilt using the fabric that has sand/sea castles on it. I added a bit extra of the background fabric to borders, but this quilt finishes at a strange size which is 52x58 - almost square. It would be a good kids quilt. I was glad to use this fabric though since I've had it for years and had 4 yards. I must have bought it at a guild table at a quilt show, because I never would have bought that much of it at a shop.

I'm happy that the last few tops I've made I've had enough fabric left for backing and binding on most of them, and I've already put that fabric aside. I'm going to try to always pick a binding fabric with each new top I make so I won't have to go through picking binding fabrics in the future when the quilt is finally quilted.

I also starched, pressed and cut the fabric for the Starlite quilt along that started today - the first step was cutting the fabric, so I'm done for the week. I'm going to start with just a baby size of this quilt and then if I like how it looks I'll make more blocks and increase it to a lap size.

Take care everyone!

Good morning all,
CJ- I wonder if whoever is doing your lawn now can recommend someone to cut out that tree. Young deer are so adorable…they are not the only carriers of deer ticks. Sad that the threat of Lyme has really taken away the joy of being outdoors (for you and me during cooler weather!!!). What colors are you using for the starlite quilt? How are you finding the directions? Are they difficult to follow/well written? Glad you were able to use a lot of that fabric on another wiggle time quilt. And that is a great idea to pick the binding early on, so you are all set for what you want to do. Its not a surprise that there were a lot of fireworks on the 4th. I think many individuals were covid tired- and many who would not normally use fireworks bought them this year. They are illegal here in my state too, but I heard lots of fireworks also.

Ruth, where would we be without youtube?? glad you are not in a rush for getting these hats done, which gives you time to master (which I am sure you will) seams. its encouraging to hear that you have a good outlet for these lovely hats that you make with love for the wearer. Of course its not “hat season” but that does take any pressure off getting the hats done.

When I was pulling the bamboo (and there is still more to remove but not that much) I did notice a deer path through the back of my yard into the neighbors yard. The neighbor just minimally maintains her property and deer do tend to hang out there. The back property border becomes a pass through for them. One of the reasons I am clearing one area of debris and branches is to cut back on ticks and so that it looks better.I know 2 large shrubs will have to come out of that area- pretty sure that Ds can take them out, but disposal of the shrubs will be an issue. A neighbor runs a landscaping business, perhaps I can see if he can assist.

I do not feel like going for a walk, but they are saying I am under a high heat alert in 2 hours….so I’d better go now. I have no specific plans for today- might end up trimming out the ceiling in the family room and starting to paint that room.

And I did what I was not looking to do, and that was to do some more yard work.. I came inside cause the heat was building and I guess I will stay in or at least do nothing strenuous outside. Think I have another 2 days of this heat.

Ruth, I have plenty of confidence in you and your hand sewing. Perhaps you are too tough on yourself. I was that way with my free motion work, which is not great, but when. You look at it overall instead of scrutinizing a small area it looks good enough. So I continue to have confidence in you. Keep trying. And the key to good hand sewing is thread color. If the thread matches everything perfectly, the mistakes do not show up nearly as much.Glad you have gotten some rain- even though it dries up quickly. Remember looking at crochet patterns sure counts. Good to hear that you are making progress on the tote bag, is that for you or as a gift?

Another day of heat tomorrow but I think it breaks late in the day. Been watching the weather channel- now the storm is a hurricane. (Got friends and family in the Tampa area). Hope I can finish another side of the binding.

Hello

Ruth - Hope you are able to keep cool

Ginny - I'm glad you were able to get all that yardwork done, hopefully you'll have a break for a bit. Good luck on finishing the binding soon.

It's very hot here, so I haven't been doing much. It's supposed to be a bit cooler the next few days, with some rain but hopefully no strong storms. It looks like what's left of the hurricane is going to go farther south and east of where I am.

I'm thinking about scraping the quilt along for the Starlite quilt. I just haven't been happy with my fabric choices for this quilt. I picked a gray background and a dark blue for the chain blocks going through the quilt. Then I had a floral for the stars, but I just don't like it. Before I completely give up I may try a few solid-look fabrics for the stars and see if I find one I like. Otherwise, I'm going to put everything away. I have the pattern, so I can always make the quilt later.

The first block for Pat Sloan's Summer Soiree quilt along came out today and I've seen some pretty blocks posted on her Facebook page. I have fabrics pulled for this quilt - they are blues, greens and yellows - so I hope I can get some picked for this block by the weekend. Here's a link to her post about the first block:

www.ilovetomakequilts.com/2021/07/summer-soiree-free-sew-along-block-1.html - if you go to the bottom of this page you can see some blocks made by quilters who are participating

Hope everyone is well and staying cool, and getting to do some crafting. Take care