Hockey Wednesday, a book I ordered and maybe some more flowers

I ordered a book.  It seems as though there are a lot of new quilting books out lately.  They all look so wonderful.  Great eye candy.  I have shown great restraint but I did order a book.  Just the other day.  I cannot wait.  It may take up to 2 weeks.  Anticipation is building.  You can check over at  msmcporkchopquilts. And you can check at Angela's blog.   'Cause there is a quilt a long.  And it looks like too much fun!  It is this book...

from Amazon...

But you have to check out the blogs because the blocks are coming together in modern fabrics and they look great!!!!!  And Lily is doing it too!  Check it out!

 evening light in the back...

I weeded this flower bed on Sunday.  150 feet of flowers.  Hopefully the rest of the summer will be just weed maintenance!  Hopefully the Canucks will do better tonight.  I am off to another meeting! 

Happy Tuesday!

 So Blogger is allowing me to upload photos today.  Here they are!  The California poppies are in full force under the nut tree and the blueberries are just beyond.  And below are a few of the small vintage sheet blocks for one of my works in progress!  As I said before, having enough contrast is the biggest challenge when working with vintage sheets.  When these blocks are finished with the sashing they will pop more and not blend into one another so much.  I just threw them on the "design bed"  to show that despite all the gardening and other things going on , that I have actually done some sewing!

and the azaleas are blooming...

Have a lovely Tuesday evening.  Here's hoping that life slows down soon with the school year wrapping up.  It seems I am flying around from meeting to meeting these last few weeks.

Hockey Buddy Time

I have to hurry up with this blog post as Husband needs me to be his hockey buddy!  Canucks in Boston!!!  Woohoo!  I was busy with my blog the other night and missed the overtime goal.  Cannot have that tonight!!!

I tried to upload some pictures of my small sparkling cider vintage sheet blocks but there is a message from Blogger saying that uploads may be difficult because of some maintenance!  BAH HUMBUG!

So what do I have to say.  Just that I am making progress.  I find it a challenge to have enough contrast in the blocks because I am using sheets but the pattern is a snap to use.  I am trying to keep the colour palette in the pink and yellows but with a touch of green.  I have lots of blue sheets but I want to devote a quilt just to those colours in the future.  I must say that using sheets is messy but if you mess up cutting them, you have so much more to play with!  My sewing table is a huge mess with piles of sheet fat quarters and bits and pieces everywhere.  I am tending to cut a few blocks at a time to really pick the colours and patterns as I go.

Husband had a lovely summer meal prepared with the back deck table set with flowers and a table cloth.  So sweet.  Another sunny day and the flowers are just bursting with the heat.  We walked through the blueberries and the scent of their flowers is just so wonderful.  In a way, it is similar to lilac.

And I will try adding pics later this evening when blogger gets over itself.  Have a lovely Monday!

Sunday Thrifting...

 Found some vintage stationary at the thrift store on Saturday.  This box of notecards is complete and came with a sheet of lick and stick stickers which can transform the pretty little notecards into a card for just about any occasion from "A Party Invitation"  to "Happy Father's Day."  How cool is that?????  All you have to do is pick your greeting and stick on the little blank banner.  All for $2.  I love them!

And some really bright 70s blank notecards.

It wasn't all about the stationary as I also found a wicker laundry basket but that is already in use and didn't get a chance to model for a photo!

Another sunny day.  The poppies are starting to bloom!

And I will be linking up to Sophie's Flea Market Finds!  Check out what everyone has found this past week...

FLEA MARKET FINDS

On a Sunny Saturday!

 So with the sun, came the need to get our butts outside and find the yard under all the grass and weeds that have grown during our coldest and wettest spring since who knows what.  It was a beautiful day!  I transported several large wheelbarrows full of rejected biomass (a.k.a. weeds) to the chickens and the weed tip.  The flowers are looking quite lovely actually despite all the nasty wet weather.  The grass in the flower beds was thriving, let me tell ya!  As I weeded, Husband mowed the field.  And we are back to park like status instead of hayfield in progress.  The clematis on Husband's workshop has started to bloom.  So pretty!

The fabulous local quilt shop was having a garage sale as they call it.  Found some lovely bits of fabric to add to the stash.  They obligingly came home with me! Yummy!

On the quilting front, after I took the whip and chair to the flower beds, I cranked out a few more vintage sheet blocks and chopped up some more vintage sheets to make more blocks.  It is all coming together nicely but it seems like ages since I have worked on it what with having been away for daughter's graduation.  And daughter is now an employed nurse not just a recent nurse graduate!  Wahoo!!!!

Seriously... banana bread with brandy?

It is incredibly rainy today.  A whole new meaning to living on the "wet" coast.  Husband has been unable to mow a lot of the grass, especially in the field and the outer areas because it is just so wet.  The grass is green and lush and could be hay if it would only get sunny!  The hummingbirds are draining the feeders and having inflight buzz fests as they compete for the primo feeder spots.  They are enjoying the flowers too but the feeders offer an undercover, free from rain slurp experience.  And this year, there are more hummingbirds than ever!  Perhaps the wet spring has stalled their migration.

All this rain has kept Husband from the farm work that he would normally be up to at this time of year.  So what did he do?  Made banana bread.  Did he follow a recipe.  Nope.  He combined the recipes.  And added a whack of brandy apparently.  What?  Drunken banana bread... Banana Booze Bread!  And it is the biggest banana bread ever!  I cannot wait to sample it!

And I made a baby quilt for son's lovely girlfriend to give as a baby gift.  A baby boy quilt.  And the gift has been gifted and the baby born.  Here is a link to the baby with the quilt.  Happy day!

Garage sale and thrift store booty

Well, Mum was up for Daughter's graduation and brought me a few boxes of her recent finds for me.  Some LOVELY vintage pillow cases.  Love them.  Totally required for my vintage sheet work in progress.  The green butterfly pillow cases will really help round out the colours.  Then the yellow rose sheets.  Totally gorgeous and not faded.  I was kicking my heels in delight when I pulled those out of the box.  And check out the crocheted squares.  I am getting so many of this type of thing that I am really needing an inspiration.

Mum also brought me several lengths of quilting cotton that she has picked up here and there at garage sales and so on for CHEAP!  Thanks Mum!!!!  There was also a box full of scraps and bits and pieces that she bought for $1 from a lady who used to own a quilt shop.  Lots of hexies ready to go and all sorts of other scraps.  It will be fun to go through the whole mess of it.

Happy Wednesday and happy game day for those of you who are watching hockey!