for The Poppas

My oldest son always referred to his grandparents as The Poppas (we call them Mema and Poppa) so this quilt is for The Poppas!  Karen the Quilter did a really good job on it.  I was so pleased it arrived yesterday.  I'm planning to give it to The Poppas as an early Christmas present-which I will do if I can get it labeled and get rid of this nascent cold I've acquired.  I'm really pleased to have this one finished!  For some reason the border fabric doesn't photograph well-it's really a bright green.

Summer sampler

 You know, even when I have on the World's Most Expensive Glasses, I still can't see straight.  Here are the finished blocks from the 2011 Summer Sampler at Quakertown Quilts.  I had to stop making the blocks that summer because  QQ closed their storefront.  I wasn't able to get the rest of the blocks until October.  By then I was irritated and put them in time out. 

I made the remaining nine blocks over my vacation last month.  Sashed them last week and now am onto the borders.

DH recommends the stripes in a piano key fashion but sister and I are thinking go for the green print.  The quilt right now is only 44 x 33 ish so it is really too small for a lap quilt.

Good deals

You can get some good deals when your LQS decides to close up shop. I bought these books from Quakertown.

Some little FQs that Tig picked out.

Yardage that was 50% off. The wheels match Tig's FQs. The starry navy will be a quilt back for my sailboat quilt. The rest goes to the stash.

A day off

So I had scheduled Thursday and Friday off this week to spend with Magpie for her birthday. Unfortunately her parents muddled her visitation dates which left Magpie sobbing-Oh the drama of a young teenage girl! I swapped my Thursday for Monday, her actual birthday, and now Magpie is all smiles again.

So today I slept in until 10-and so did the kids! That never happens. Then we breakfasted on homemade granola, homemade yogurt, homemade strawberry jam and home baked bread. All very good except the bread. It used to be my favorite recipe and this loaf was not so good. It was fairly salty and I used the recommended amount of salt. I lingered over my tea in my pjs. Then Tig and I dressed and went over to my LQS. They are closing and I wanted to find out about the summer sampler I've been doing. Tig picked up a few FQs with tires and tractors and I found a Jo Morton book. I also found out that I will have to mail order the remaining sampler blocks and pay shipping. V. irritating. I don't mind paying shipping if it's reasonable but this will be more than the block costs! Ah well. It's either that or don't finish the sampler.

This afternoon we are just hanging out at home and eating ice cream. But tonight Magpie and I are off to see The Mikado!

ETA: We had a great time at the Mikado last night. Pooh-Bah was excellent-the best I've ever seen. I actually think he was better than Alastair Donkin as KoKo. This season is also the last time that Ralph Katz will sing the Mikado. He is retiring this year. I did notice that he had to force a little to sing but obviously he was enjoying himself-and so were we!

New hat and what ya gonna do?

New hat for Red due to the Great Kayak Capsize of 2011: Of course, we capsized in about three inches of water at the beach but it was enough excitement to lose a hat. Actually, we lost two but the guy that helped me right the kayak picked up Tig's hat.

I used the pattern from the Oliver + S book, Little Things to Sew. I bought the book expressly to make this hat because Red has a big head and it's hard to find bucket hats that fit. The pattern only goes up to 21 inch size and his melon is 21.5, so I embiggened the pattern. It fits me as well, although I will make the crown deeper for me. I also didn't follow the construction of the hat. I made two hats and then sewed them right sides together, turned, and closed the opening on the brim. Then I did a million rounds of sewing on the brim. I also only used interfacing on the rocket ship side-mainly because I did the rodeo side first as a fit check and didn't want to waste the interfacing if it didn't fit. Red is thrilled but claims he won't wear it kayaking because he doesn't want to lose it. I can always make more!

And in somber news, my local-est LQS is closing: Quakertown Quilts. They announced it in their newsletter last week. They are keeping their online business as well as their second location (about a 90 minute drive away). Am very disappointed to hear it. However, for the last few years they have had very little stock. So much so, that even though I tried to give them my business I often left the store empty-handed. The Summer Sampler is through this store and we can buy the blocks from the other location and pay shipping. QQ has been around for twenty years. Their liquidation sale starts on Thursday with 25% off everything. Sad.

La rentrée

Sort of. Red and Tig go year 'round at the Montessori school and DH and I are year 'round employees at our school so la rentrée is more symbolic for us than anything. However, in celebration of the day I made this table runner. I bought it as a kit at Quakertown Quilts (and 20% off!). I like the little handprints and, of course, the chalkboard fabric is perfect for back to school. I backed it with fabric handed down from my mom and I used batting remnants as well. Thrifty! I figure I can use it during the summer with the strawberry side up if I want-it would look nice on a blue or red tablecloth.