Go Michael! Go!!

Don't you just love the Olympics? My family is enjoying lots of coverage, both live and TIVO. And of course, Michael Phelps is such a pleasure to watch. Such amazing accomplishments so far. My kids (both swimmers) are getting such a thrill watching him go for 8 gold medals. And of course, we're loving all the other sports, too. I love seeing all the athletes perform their best. I feel bad for the ones who have a bad day on their big day.

We're slowly getting back to normal here. The vacation stuff is all tucked away until next time. We've done a little back-to-school shopping. I've been sorting out my sewing room; I really need to get more organized in there. I always have to clean up before I can start something new. Doll Quilt Swap 4 is on the cutting table; I want to make some good progress on that one by the end of the week. I'd love to have it done before the kids go back to school, but I'm not sure that will be possible. But it never hurts to try!

Sadly, my Four Seasons quilt hasn't arrived yet, so I'll have to be patient awhile longer. The pile of mail held during our trip arrived without any quilty packages. It was quite large and most of it was sorted directly into the recycling or the shredder. The rest was bills and a few magazines. Two new quilting mags for me. Yippee!!

Here's another vacation picture, just because I miss the beach:

That's Sanibel Lighthouse, just a short walk from where we stayed. Pretty, isn't it?

Happy Quilting!

Home Again!

Back to the real world. We traveled home over the weekend. Two whole days of driving! That is probably the worst part of living in Ohio; we are such a long way from the ocean. And I love the ocean. I'm always happiest by the sea. Our vacation was lovely. Sanibel Island was a very nice place to spend a week. The beach was beautiful with many, many shells. The water was very warm and very calm. It was very peaceful and restful. But now we're back and need to get back up to our normal pace of living. School starts on August 26, and we have a lot to do before then.

While in Sanibel, I visited a quilt shop called Three Crafty Ladies. It was a quaint little shop. I picked up a little kit and a pattern which I will have to add to my list of projects to do. Somehow it never gets any shorter... At the top of the list is my Doll Quilt Swap 4 quilt. The fabric is all there, I just need to decide on the design and get it made. I want to do something a bit different this time.

I've been checking out Flickr to see all the quilts in both the Four Seasons Quilt Swap and Doll Quilt Swap groups. I've seen many I would love to own. I don't know if the one I am to recieve is one of the ones posted or not. Our mail was held last week while we were away and it is due to be delivered today. Hopefully there will be a package containing a quilt in with the mess of magazines, junk mail and bills.

I also need to get busy and make some things for Etsy. I've got some ideas but they seem to take some time to develop into actual finished items. Realistically, I'm not going to have much productive sewing time until after school begins. My kids are growing up so fast; I'm going to just enjoy the rest of the summer with them and worry about my shops when they're at school.

Summer Doll Quilt

Summer Doll Quilt
Originally uploaded by On a Whim | LittleWhimsies

Well, the quilt is in the mail. I had a heart stopping moment when I went to my saved email to get my partner's mailing address and the email WASN'T THERE!!! Somehow a file of saved emails has disappeared. My partner info for the Doll Quilt Swap 4 was also missing. But both swap mamas were kind enough to forward it again and all is right with my world. At least as far as quilt swaps go... I hope my partner likes her new quilt; it will take awhile to arrive as it does have to cross an ocean. I'm not saying which one.

It was a fun quilt to make. It is really bright, I was tempted to send my partner some new sunglasses along with the quilt. I've always liked blue and yellow together. And of course, daisies are my favorite summertime flower. I had been wanting to make a quilt with this block pattern. It was fun to make the 54-40 or Fight blocks. I got to buy a new tool! I love new toys, er tools. I got the Tri-Recs rulers and the block went together like a dream. Yay for new tools!!

My next sewing endeavor is to put together the supplies I need for a hand applique project that I started about a year ago. I had everything together at one point but over time, I've pulled out this and that for other projects. We'll have about 20 hours in the car, each way, plus some quiet time in the condo in the evenings. I should be able to make some progress.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

That's what happens when you try to pack a whole summer's worth of activities into two weeks! We've been to the zoo, the aquarium and the fair. We've shopped a bit and cleaned house a bit. Tomorrow we have haircuts, a doctor's appointment, a trip to the library and other assorted errands. One of which is to run by the post office to send my Four Seasons Swap Quilt off to its new home. I'll get a picture up tomorrow after it's all done; just a few finishing touches left! We still have a number of things to do before the end of the week when we leave for our much-anticipated trip to Florida: laundry, packing, cleaning, etc. And we have a birthday to celebrate on Thursday -- my son will be 13(!!!!!)

Here are a couple of cute photos I managed to capture on our recent adventures.

Taken at the Cincinnati Zoo last week; wouldn't you love to know what the big gorilla is trying to tell the little one? Love the head scratching!


Taken today at the Newport Aquarium Frog Bog Exhibit. This little froggie is trying hard to win at hide and seek.

Quilt pictures tomorrow!!

First Day of Summer?

Well, not really but it felt like it. Swim season has finally ended and it feels like summer has just begun. We had no swim practice and nowhere else we had to be which was a very strange feeling. I've been shuttling kids between pools and waiting endlessly for them so we can run off to the next swim-related activity. But now it has ended.


This weekend was the Ohio Junior Olympics which my son qualified to compete in. It was an enormous accomplishment to make it. He was a bit overwhelmed by the event and did not swim his best. But his goal was to qualify, which he did and he got a very cool shirt that he will be quite proud to wear. And so, swimming is over and we go on vacation the end of next week and shortly afterwards, it is back to school. How time flies.

I have managed to squeeze in a bit of sewing time. I'm on schedule to have my Four Seasons Summer quilt in the mail before July 30. My DQS4 is in the planning stages but will probably not get made until after we return from vacation. Here's a quick peek at one of the blocks for the summer quilt.

Blue and yellow are very summer-y, aren't they? It makes me think of summer skies...

Happy quilting!!

Another busy weekend!

And not a bit of sewing got done! I do have a picture of my accomplishments today.

See! I baked a pie and made jam. My husband and children went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house and picked black raspberries yesterday. A lot of black raspberries!! About 5 quarts, I think. And so I had to use them up before they spoiled. So, I baked a pie and froze 2 quarts for future pies and made jam with all that was left. The pie crust looks a little funny, but it actually tastes quite good. Especially considering it is made with no wheat flour and no dairy products. My son has allergies and he loves pie. This crust works very well; it is just the tiniest bit grainy from the rice flour. The jam was an experiment. I've never made it before. It tastes very good but is very seed-y. I doubt I'll repeat the recipe. It was a lot of work for 5 half-pints of jam (plus one half jar). So the berries are gone from the fridge, the dishes are washed and my feet are a bit sore. But the pie was a hit and we've got jam for breakfast. And I did all that in about six hours in the kitchen! It will be awhile before I do it again...

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. Twenty-two years! Oh my!! That is half my life. DH brought me some lovely roses:

Pretty, aren't they? I love roses and I haven't spent as much time as I should on the ones in my garden so I haven't had many to cut and bring inside. So I will enjoy these very much.

My summer swim team commitment is just about over and not a moment too soon! I cannot believe how much time I have spent working on swim team activities both at the pool and at home. Many, many more hours than a full-time job. But the season has gone well and the kids have had fun. I'll just be glad when it's over and my schedule gets back to some sort of normal. My house and garden need some serious tending and I would love to spend some time sewing. I've got ideas for my swap quilts and need to get started on the Four Seasons summer quilt soon. I should have some time later this week and next weekend.

Hopefully I'll have some quilt progress pictures next time I post. Until then...Happy quilting!

I'm Still Here...

Oh my, that was an unexpected break. Funny how time can get away from you. With the end of school, beginning of summer and all the summer activities, I have really neglected my blog. I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. Hopefully things will slow down a bit so I can get back to normal.

I haven't had any quilting or sewing time lately, so nothing new to post there. I did make my daughter a dress to wear to a wedding because we couldn't find anything suitable. The dresses in the stores were just a bit too revealing for my 14 year old. Just not ready for that yet... A quick stop at Joanns for a pattern and I actually had a piece of fabric in my stash that was perfect so that worked out very well.

I'm eager to get started on my swap quilt projects; I'm in two swaps at the moment. Maybe tomorrow I'll find myself in the sewing room. I'm sure it will be dusty and I may even find a cobweb or two.