What I'm Working on.....

One of the bright sides to cooler summer weather --- You can dismantle quilting sitting outside in a chair.  I was wandering around Pinterest and started seeing a couple of quilts from this pattern popping up.   I remembered how I had pulled scraps and pieced together my own.  It had to of been ten years ago....When it came time to quilt it on my machine.... A can of basting spray and a jar of safety pins still couldn't keep me from making a mess of it. It was a big piece and my attempt at quilting it in straight lines ---like a hopscotch pattern-- Was a complete disaster.  Broken threads, wrinkles, wobbly lines---13 long lines into it I literally rolled it into a ball and threw it in one of the kids toy-boxes they had long out grown.

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago-- I saw those photos on Pinterest and remember the failure.  I have been ripping apart each stitch, one at time,  and I'm going to give it another shot, this time  with fresh  batting----stretching it on my Grace frame.  It has some great fabrics that will look wonderful on a summer rocking chair....

Taking out the stitches is pretty painful....I'm not giving up this time...

Holding onto Summer....

Purple fills the woods and my garden as the Allium blooms from the bulbs I planted last October.  Summer never seems warm enough or long enough in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but we're grateful for what we do have.

My Bleeding Hearts frame the Screened Porch.  I have a friend that shared some of her plants as well. I do think of her every time I see them.  They were her Grandmother's.  She has moved three times and carried them with her each time.  

Note to self:  I have to remember to share my plants with my kids....

Prayers for the tomatoes, beans,peppers, pumpkins, peas, carrots and cucumbers as the Garden Angels watch over them.

I made it.....to Country Sampler

Definitely one of those 'Bucket List items' ... I visited Country Sampler in Spring Green WI a couple of weeks ago. I spent two hours wishing and visiting with the Shop keeper in this wonderful quilt shop. It's a shop that honestly stays very true to their style of quilting.  When you walk in -- it's like coming to what every quilter calls 'home'....

I knew I may never get back to Country Sampler again -- I wanted  my purchases to count. Hardwood floors full of shelves holding bolt after bolt of fabric made the choices tough. They had  beautiful samples -- no photos allowed--.  The photos would not have done them justice anyhow.  

Then I wandered down the basement stairs to  dark, Dingy room filled with clearance items.  There she sat --- all alone--- markdown down several times.... with her tiny feet, wooden wings and rumpled dress She just sat there.  I don't go for the really primitive hand made stuff. ... But she was different.  I don't know if she's a Christmas Angel, or A Harvest Angel, or maybe a Garden Angel....but I did know  she was definitely being taken out of that basement And coming Home with me. I had several other things picked out ... but back to the displays they went because  she was more important-- something I would always have to remember the visit.

Also in the basement were candlesticks marked to five bucks a set.  I purchased the small kit from the door's entryway.  I haven't decided whether it was the pattern or the reproduction fabrics--but I'm certain that purple ribbon that had something to do with the purchase.

Hungry for gardening, some sort of spring, and definitely anything green outside--- this was my last item.

This photo book finds beauty in the small things...

If you ever get the opportunity to visit this quilt shop-- do it... it's worth the drive, the flight, and the miles it takes to get there.....