Scorching Days

The moonrise Thursday night was about 9:47 PM and the thin clouds dispersed. Ray got some good shots and I got this. It was a nice evening  except for the bugs so I didn't stay out long. I forgot that I have a little lantern that really discourages the bugs.

Friday began with HEAT, wind, storm watches, and high humidity. It was a great day to do the laundry. Then we got full sun and higher temps. We visited with some family and did a grocery run - lots more family is arriving and we're planning on 20+ for lunch on Saturday. We planned to go to an outdoor concert (country music) Friday night but it was still above 90 degrees at concert time so we decided to stay home and swim. It was 89 degrees at 8:30 PM but the sun was no longer shining on us.

Today was hot - no surprise! We checked out the Farmer's Market in Spooner, Wisconsin and found a little to add to our produce stash. When we came home, these Canadian geese and goslings were on our beach.

We had a crowd for lunch at my oldest brother's cabin. 'Us old folks' got the big table on the screened porch. On the Meyers' side (my dad's side of our family), we are the oldest living generation. (My Aunt is from my mom's side of our family).

Someone wanted a picture of the Meyers' kids and we included our Aunt Helen. From the left is Jim (#2), John (#4), Tom (#1), Aunt, and me (#3).

It was a great day even though the temps and humidity were high. Many people have arrived (and many more will come in the next few days). It was wonderful having all 3 of my brothers here along with their wives. My youngest brother and his wife were just here for today. We also have some nieces and nephews and their children here, and a cousin from Arizona also arrived. It was a great day of visiting and reminiscing. 

We enjoyed a few visitors after we got back to our cabin in the very late afternoon. The day finally cooled down and we've just come in from swimming - it's almost 9 PM.

One of these days I'll have to show you this year's t-shirt; our niece began making shirts for this 4th of July gathering a few years ago. Every year is a little different. This is our first year being here in a long time and my presence is noted in the shirt design.

It looks like rain for tomorrow. I'm pretty sure this party will continue no matter what!

Interesting Days

The last few days we've seen rain, wind, cooler temperatures and very warm temperatures. It hasn't been boring! 

We've checked out some of the stores when it was rainy. Sadly, the Thimbles Quilt Shop in Spooner, Wisconsin closed in December. There is another quilt shop in the same location - Cottage Treasures. The new shop does not have near the inventory and is more involved in long-arm services and photo transfer for memory quilts. 

One day, we found some fantastic strawberries and have been enjoying strawberry shortcake.

We hiked at Hunt Hill Audubon Sanctuary again. This time we hiked the Frances Andrews Trail and the Bear Trail. 

The terrain was very different than the other day when we hiked.

We saw a gorgeous lake but as you can see, the day was overcast and gray.

After we returned home, I found a tiny tick stuck on me. Ugh! Ray removed it. My brothers tell me it just wanted to be my pet. 

By Wednesday afternoon, the weather cleared and the sun came out. We enjoyed some swimming and more visits with family. More family has arrived and starting tomorrow, we'll see more every day for a while.

Last night Ray was shooting the moonrise from our beach so I decided to take a picture also.

It's been very warm today but we did get in a walk and then went to a really nice Farmer's Market with my oldest brother and his wife. Our great nephew chauffeured us - he just got his driver's license. I didn't get any pictures of the market - maybe next week. At the market we enjoyed maple root beer, homemade blackberry ice cream, and maple cream. We came home with some healthier food - strawberries, tomatoes, lettuces, radishes, green beans, sugar snap peas, new potatoes, and some fresh baked bread. 

Tonight we have some clouds so we may not see the moon rise in about 15 minutes. We do know that tomorrow will be another great day...

Gorgeous Days

Sunday was a gorgeous day - sunny and in the 70s. Perfect! In the afternoon, we hiked at Hunt Hill Audubon Sanctuary. We've never been to Hunt Hill before but will definitely return.

We began on the Vole Trail.

A walk in the woods

There were lots of wildflowers.

When we met up with the Bog Trail, we took a short detour from our route.

Bog Trail Marker

When we were on the bog, we saw many of these wild calla lilies.

Wild Calla Lilies

Back on the Vole Trail, we continued walking past many wildflowers. I loved the daisies.

When the trail left the forested area and changed to the prairie, we began seeing Black-eyed Susans.

As we approached the Prairie Platform, a wooden structure by the trail, we spooked a deer. It moved up the trail and

a very young fawn followed! I didn't get a good picture of that baby; it's right by mama's back leg.

After our hike, we went swimming - well, I actually just walked out into the lake while Ray swam. 

The evening ended with a fire 

The first fire but it won't be the last

and s'mores.

The first s'more but it won't be the last!

We were up early to see the sun rise this morning. It was another beautiful day.

We've enjoyed a leisurely day that included a jazz concert on the beach tonight.

Musicians are faculty at the Shell Lake Arts Center

There were lots more people behind us and to our left.

I want to share the two cairns in our yard.

I'm not sure why I love seeing piles of rocks but I do!

Some family members are arriving tomorrow; I hope our beautiful weather continues. 

In this moment, I am content.

It's been a busy couple of weeks  shuttling a couple of grandsons to some summer activities. I love spending time with the kids even if it is in the car. Earlier this week we spent three full days in Rockford, Illinois, since one grandson was attending an activity there. It was too far to go home after delivering him and then returning to pick him up so we only made the trip once a day. We had no trouble filling our days between drop-off and pickup.

We spent the first morning at Klehm Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. There were storms the night before and Rockford had some flash flooding. Although Klehm didn't have severe damage from the flooding, they were doing lots of cleanup  as a result of the heavy rains and winds. 

I didn't take a lot of pictures but I did love the color of this Clematis

and this coneflower.

In the afternoon, we headed to Belvidere, Illinois where we both grew up. They have a gorgeous park that we haven't visited for years. That very murky water is a result of the storms mentions above.

There were lots of geese and goslings. When Ray decided to take a photo, they all ran toward him. Evidently lots of people must feed them.

I love the different statues in the river. This is a group of children. 

Day 2 found us at Anderson Japanese Gardens. They had lots of storm damage and were closed on Monday due to extensive flood damage.  We could only tour parts of the gardens on Tuesday since cleanup and repair was still going on. This first photo is in the traditional gardens.

I loved this Japanese iris.

When we paid to enter the gardens, we were each give a sticker to wear. We were told that it is Japanese and means "In this moment, I am content". It is very easy to be content when you are enjoying these gardens. 

We ended the day by having a leisurely lunch with my youngest brother and his wife.

Day 3 began with heavy rains, not what Rockford needed. We decided to spend a little time reading and then met some friends for lunch and a lengthy visit.

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I found a little time here and there to work with the rest of the Dream Weaver blocks. There were 16 blocks left. However when I put them on the board, there were 19! I know there were 16 because I counted them three different times when I was designing this next quilt. Now I know that the scraps in my studio are multiplying!

So I changed my original idea and decided on this.

Then I began adding more of the blue background. It still needs blue borders on the sides. 

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This morning we headed to northern Wisconsin. I love this lake and the fact that two of my brothers live here. We'll spend time with lots of family - next week many are coming to enjoy the lake and each other.

For the first time, we are not staying with one of my brothers. They will both be inundated with the next generation in the next few days as families arrive. We have a rental close by giving us some relaxing, quiet time. This was our view earlier this evening.

It is quiet and serene here on the lake. In this moment, I am content.  

Scrappy Rails

I saw a pattern for Scrappy Happy Rails in Amanda Jean Nyberg's book, No Scrap Left Behind. It gave me the starting place I needed to make Scrappy Rails.

I wanted to use up some more of my black/white strings. I first used some of the strings when I made Black and White and Red All Over in March. Amanda Jean's pattern seemed like a perfect fit. 

My rails are black and white and I used fabric scraps for the colors in the quilt. I used the red dot in the quilt for the binding.  The quilt is 53" by 53" and has Dream Cotton batting.

I quilted a large loop-de-loop pattern all over the quilt using white, 50-wt Aurifil thread and my temperamental Bernina.

The back is a black and white fabric with red.

This donation quilt is ready to go.

We have a busy week this week and then we have a two-week trip so there won't be much progress made on quilting projects for a while.

A quilt top made of leftovers

I began playing with a few of the leftover Dream Weaver blocks and some orphan blocks and pieces that I found in the orphan block basket.

full basket of orphan blocks, pieces of quilts, parts of blocks, ...

I began with 5 Dream Weaver blocks and some 2 1/2" squares - I still have LOTS of squares - on a piece of fabric that I bought at Quilter's Compass recently. I challenged myself to only use leftover blocks or scraps with the background fabric.

In the orphan block basket, I found some small white 3 1/2" squares with color in one corner. 

I chose ones with blue, red, yellow, and orange corners. I did have to make a few but I found some scraps of fabric that worked perfectly. 

I found lots of flying geese that weren't ironed open yet. Where does all of this stuff come from??? I chose the yellow/white and orange/white ones. I did have to add a small scrap of white to the very center to get the correct measurement for the width of the quilt.

I realized that I could just do rows and have a neat quilt so I began duplicating the top rows on the bottom.

All of a sudden, I had a finished top!  

It doesn't have a name yet and I'm not going to call it Leftovers! It'll be a while before it's quilted since there are a few ahead of it so I have time to think of a name.

Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of the Dream Weaver blocks...

A finished quilt top and more...

Another quilt shop, Quilter's Compass in Monticello, Wisconsin, is sadly going out of business. We stopped by last week and I found almost everything on my 'need' list plus a bit more. I didn't get photos of the Aurifil thread.

I hope to get back one more time before they close their doors on June 23. The sale gets better each week.

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I have been doing some sewing. The Dream Weaver quilt top is together. The border is more teal than blue.

Because I used a border on this quilt, I have some leftover blocks. I originally planned on a borderless quilt with 49 blocks but only need 25.  

I think there will be 2 more quilts using the extra blocks.

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Last week, Ray and I attended a Blanket Party. We have a young friend who wanted to make fleece blankets to donate to University of Wisconsin Children's Hospital aka American Family's Children Hospital. This young lady has Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and for her 11th birthday, she asked to make blankets to donate to 'her' hospital.  We completed 16 blankets and she and her mom delivered them last week.

Ray and I also stopped by the Children's Hospital last week and dropped off 10 quilts. I still have 15 donation quilts at home and, I think, 13 more quilts in various stages. I don't think I'll ever run out of quilts to make ...

Blue Water

Blue Water is one of my very favorite quilts! It wasn't a planned quilt - it just happened.

You may remember Just Sailing Along. I had 4 leftover sailboat blocks and also 2 'failed' prototype blocks.

Recently, I finished Bright Log Cabin and I had 8 extra blocks.

I was trying to figure out something to do with the extra Bright Log Cabin blocks. As I was playing with different layouts, I went looking for ideas and happened to find the leftover sailboats. The colors/fabrics meshed perfectly and this 54" by 56" quilt evolved.

The quilt has Dream Cotton Batting. I used a walking foot and 50-weight light blue #2715 Aurifil thread to quilt this with free-form waves. 

The back is red with small flecks of color and the binding is a stripe with all of the right colors.

I bought the  blue water fabric from a shop in Rock Island, Illinois, on our January visit.

The four leftover sailboats are on the right and the left. The sailboats at the top and bottom are the 'failed' prototypes - the sails are shorter and the boats are taller than the sailboats used for Just Sailing Along. The leftover log cabin blocks worked well as the corner and center blocks.

I think I can now donate Just Sailing Along and Bright Log Cabin and I'll hold on to Blue Water for awhile.