Oh Brother!

Another "out of the ordinary summer" and
another month passes between blog posts. 

I'll stick to the short version...my BROTHER had hip replacement surgery

and I've been staying with him to help out while he recovers.

This means I've been away from my OTHER BROTHER....

 ...and do I ever miss it!

But, recovery is going quite well and I should be home soon.

In the meantime I'm making progress on my Raggedy Ann Redwork:

 With the help of my mom, of course!

I've missed blogging too but finally have

had some time to browse and read blogs once again.

It's so nice getting reacquainted with bloggers

who inspire and encourage me.

And I feel like I'm back on track!

 

Raise Our Flag - Donate a Stitch

I haven't posted in an entire month!  So what have I been doing?  Well, for one, the Summer Olympics are almost here and I've been watching the team trials over the last few weeks.  I am fascinated by the talent and ability of all these athletes and the competition is exciting.  The most interesting so far has been the synchronized diving and tonight the women's gymnastics.  What does this have to do with sewing, you say? Well check this out:

I just added a stitch to help Raise Our Flag at the Summer Olympics.  Proceeds go to the support the USA Olympians but even if you don't want to donate a stitch you should check out the website to see a flash video of the flags being made.  Pretty dang cool!!    Below are my stitch numbers...I bought two!

Anyway, I thought it was a great way to participate in the Olympics and to celebrate the 4th of July - Independence Day!

 

Happy 4th!

B-I-N-G-O Winner!

Hey, I WON

And this is my prize

A charm pack of California Girl by Fig Tree

The prize was donated by another player so I

wanted to say thanks to

Richard of Richard & Tanya Quilts

I love Fig Tree and really like this line!

And thanks to these four women,  

Tonya of Hillbilly Handiworks

Sharon at Vroomans Quilt's

Snoodles at Lily Pad Quilting

Marcia at Crafty Sewing and Quilting

for hosting the 

BINGO game.

It was a great idea and lots of fun.

Musical Macro Monday

My friend and I are taking a piano class
at the community college and we are

enjoying every minute.

It feels good to challenge my mind

 with a different creative expression.

 You should try it!

Linking to

Another Bloomin' (Macro) Monday

From my dad on Mother's Day

Pretty Orchid Blooms!

And from my son, Ian, on Mother's Day

Carnation Blooms!

And while I'm on the subject...

not too long ago I started this bloomin' stitchery...

And ended up with this finish

Still framing it...needs ribbon...

and let it take up space next to this bloomin' picture.

Happy Bloomin' Macro Monday!

Linking to

Finish for Mom

A year ago I made and gave my mom this pillow.

Then sometime last fall I used the same fabric
to experiment with two different patterns.
I promised my mom I'd make her
more pillows to complete a set.

SO...on saturday I sewed and sewed...

and surprised my mom for Mother's Day,
with the Circle of Geese above
and the Dresden Plate below.

And now she can complete her
newly decorated guest/sitting room.

So mom,

April NewFO's

I'm reporting in to the NewFO group with my April starts & finishes.  April ends with a super bright and cheery NewFO.  I posted about it a few days ago but have made a little more progress since.  From a line of fabric called Dilly Dally (by Me and My Sister for Moda) I've decided to make pinwheels!

Doesn't my latest block remind you of sweet yummy tangerines?  Pinwheel blocks go together fast and since these are made from charm pack squares it's even faster. I only had to cut down the diagonal and then cut the white into squares the same way.

Here's my work in progress.

So did you notice what's right in the center? Prairie Points...Yay.They are my second favorite next to pinwheel blocks.  And these are tiny.

The pattern I'm following was originally for a baby quilt so the smaller prairie points were perfect.

The original pattern could be made with just one charm pack and the 5 inch squares get cut into 2 1/2 in. squares to make the little prairie points.

Since I'm making a lap size quilt I "had" to order more Dilly Dally to have enough pinwheels.  How tragic...more Dilly Dally, haha. I toyed with the idea of making the prairie points a little bigger...but then I couldn't use the charms as easily. Don't want to do any more math than I have to (in the classroom) nor more cutting.   So we'll go with the small ones.

And finally, here's the two finished blocks together:

So, that's another NewFO off to a great start

and I'm marking off the list on my NewFO page
 to keep track of where I am.

Linking up to


 over at Cat Patches.
Thanks for hosting, Barbara.

That's it for now...