Thursday, August 29, 2019

Summer flies by

Summer is such a short, sweet season where I live.  Next Tuesday my kids all go back to school and it already feels like fall temperatures have arrived.  Summer is a very busy season but some sewing still happened.
 I am finally making good progress on the last applique border for my signature quilt.  Can I finish this before the end of the year?
 I finished block 6 of Barbara Brackman's Hospital Sketches. 
 Here they are all together.  I haven't had a chance to start block #7 yet and yesterday block #8 was released.  Yikes - now I'm behind!
 I wanted to join in a handquilted doll quilt swap on Instagram.  It was fun to play with my reproduction scraps.  I made 4 blocks and set them on point.
 I'm working on the handquilting part now and I'm almost finished.  A nice break from quilting my trailing vines...
We spent the last 2 weeks on vacation - driving around Washington State and the province British Columbia.  I was determined to fit one good quilt shop into the itinerary and found Two Thimbles Quilt Shop in Bellingham, WA  They had a whole room full of reproduction fabrics!  It was marvellous  :0)   
 A few pieces to remember my visit. 
 I loved the time we spent at Deception Pass State park - it was beautiful!
 We did the touristy thing in Seattle.  I found a shop window full of these old sewing machines.  I wanted to try them all out.  It makes for an interesting display but it makes me sad that they aren't getting sewn with.
 While away I found inspiration for applique/handquilting motifs in a few unlikely places.  This was a gorgeous set of doors in Port Townsend.

And this is a part on an authentic Venetian gondola on display at the Italian cultural centre in Vancouver. 
I'm hoping that more time for stitching lies ahead!
Happy Quilting!!