catching up on things.....

Way back in July, my cousin Max, her daughter Emma and my sister Jane came down to visit.

One of the activities was making postcards.

To keep it simple, 

they used cards (cut up cereal boxes) that already had paint on them,

left over painted paper and words from my stash.

They both did a basic bird on the cards.

I never took a picture of the completed cards....

BUT,

Max sent me this photo. They painted a canvas dark purple, then used a toilet paper tube to make the white circles.

Emma's cards were then glued to it for wall art in her room. 

I thought it was so cool!

The peaches came in, and I started painting this old globe last month.

My middle son bought several boxes and we canned about 20 quarts.

It went pretty fast once we got going.

I also did some frozen peach pie filling.

Then a coworker of his had sweet corn that was going to waste. We went out there and picked a bunch. I spent yesterday freezing it. 

The globe is still not finished, but further along. All the land is black and the sea white. I am pretty sure the student I work with will be able to see the land masses much easier. 

June's block at block lotto was this sunrise block. 

I won these but I don't have a group shot of them all together. 

They are all just blocks yet, but I think I know what I will do with them.

I need to buy some more fabric! 

Officially these are called Spokes at block lotto. They are July's block. I was totally shocked when I won these too. I think of them as fireworks. 

This is the first batch of blocks that arrived in the mail along with mine.

August's block is called windows. These will make an awesome quilt. 

I donated all my chances for these. 

All the lotto block patterns can be found [HERE]

I bought the pattern and kit for this bag from Connecting Threads. It make two bags, one purple, one blue. I needed to get zippers, D-rings and strap stuff to make them.

I had to go to Des Moines for a few days to attend the Iowa Braille Summer Institute.

Helpful classes for when you are working with the visually impaired.

On the way I stopped for what I needed 

and finished one of the bags in the hotel room.

It is 9 1/2 inches wide. I want to make another one that is just a little wider now.

That black is the zipper, it just lays on top and is sewn down that way.

I like the look and will probably do more zippers that way on bags.

The Blue Earth Valley Quilters and Woodcarvers Expo is this weekend. Been getting ready for that. I still need to finish sewing a hanging sleeve for one little quilt. I better go do that, as we are setting up tomorrow! 

I love my bag.....

The buffalo was put out. There was a Titonka sign on it too, but never took a picture....

Signs advertising the food ahead in Titonka....Ragbrai would be coming through

And then the thousands & thousands of riders arrived. I don't know who this is. As I was taking a picture he entered the shot. I told him he would be on the blog. I was garbage patrol. Emptying the garbage cans as they filled. 

There are always stragglers. When it was "over" and I was walking home,

I went by Dave's shop. He had a whole little party going with this group.

I did not ask or look at what was under the skirts.

I finished this bag! I had started it Monday and there it sat till I could get back to it.

It is made from old decorator fabric samples.

The pattern has a side pocket that I left off. There is a zippered pocket on the end. 

I went simple and just added two slip in pockets on each end. 

They will be good for adding all that last minute stuff I forgot to pack!

Over all the bag is 20 inches wide, and 12 x 12 inches on the ends.

Nice and roomy.

the big push to finish is upon us.....

My blocks for this month's Block Lotto. I sat down Monday morning and sewed! I had a few done already and finished some more to get my total up to 9. These aren't the big push.

Other stuff is......

RAGBRAI is coming through Titonka next week.

It is the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.

(as I was typing I misspelled annual, I clicked to see what the correct spelling was and one of the options was "anal"

I nearly used it, but decided not to. I am trying not to be negative about all that goes into getting ready for 10,000 bikers to cycle through a town)

Anyway....

There are the Burma Shave signs used over the years for different things. They were pulled out of storage. Karen and I looked them over. 

See her post [HERE]

We decided which words could be painted over for the new ones.

Like what food is being offered.

I painted them yesterday.

Nice blank signs again. On the bright side, the paint used is standard barn red. I hauled that out of the basement. I poured some into an ice cream bucket. What didn't get put on the signs was put on the shed to cover up peeling spots. Wow. I was really impressed by how much better the building looks! 

Then there is the buffalo on a bike. But why?

Titonka is a Sioux Indian word meaning "Big Black", 

the name given by the Indians to the buffalo.

I started him last week. He still isn't finished. He needs some spokes and a sign that says Titonka and maybe a cloud in the sky. This is a BIG HEAVY piece of plywood. 

It will be tractor joe's job to create a base for it so it will stand up. Then people can stick their heads through the opening and take a picture. 

This morning I plan on sewing for a while. 

Then I will go back to the paint and get these things done.

the north shore drive along Lake Superior....

This is the maple leaf quilt down on the shore at Split Rock Lighthouse. 

The kitty and oak leaf quilt. These were the oak leaves I won last fall at block lotto.

Both are ready to go to the quilter.

I better make sure they have some backing first.

It is hard to see the lighthouse in the pictures. This is what it looks like.

Going north from here, we ran into these giant chairs.

We were getting hungry 

(and maybe a little crabby at this point)

so we drove north hoping to find something to eat. 

(6 people, all with different ideas on what would taste good didn't help)

Split Rock was going to be the point we turned back south. But, this was the Fourth of July weekend 

and everyone else thought driving the north shore was a good idea too.

So all the eating spots along the way were packed, and we just kept heading north.

In the end this was a good idea, or we might never have run into the chairs.

Too bad I didn't think to hang quilt tops on the chairs too.

some old, some new......

(Happy Independence Day! The flag with the snowman seemed fitting for today)

I was cleaning a closet out. These blocks were hanging in there. They are part of a BOM I bought years and years ago. It is called Winter Memories by Susan H. Garman...and the year says 2000!

Oh good heavens. This is old. 

All the patterns are accounted for, the fabric for them is still in the packets. This might be fun to start working on again. But first I will finish working on these blocks.....

They are made using Missouri Star Quilts video tutorial. 

[link to video]

It seemed like a good way to use a half-priced layer cake I bought.

I trimmed and squared up my pinwheels to 12 inches. Then cut them apart using the 4 inch mark on the ruler.

All the light background blocks are done. Just 8 more dark background blocks to go. It will be 6 blocks by 6 blocks when I finish. 

These are also getting worked on SLOWLY. They are the most confusing block I have ever made.

It was started years ago. It may take another several years to get it done.  But I love the way they look altogether. I don't know how many I will make, I hope a bunch more.

I had to make myself a life size cheat-sheet for the layout of them.

Then I lay the fabric out to match.

And then I sew the block together, double checking with each seam.

Here is what I have so far. These blocks are in Judy Martins book, 

Piece 'n' Play Quilts.

I'll continue to sew some up and then set them all aside again.

I just had a thought....I have two tops that I want to get pictures of....

we are headed north, for Duluth, today.

We plan on taking a short drive up the north shore.

What if I bring the tops along and get pictures in scenic locations??

Like on one of the big rocks that are up there along the shore??

I must remember to bring them with!!

April blocks are a top.....

The top is finished. It has been hard to get pictures.

Too windy or rainy or sunny....

These are the April blocks I won at Block Lotto.

>>>>[block directions] <<<<

The link should go to the pattern used.

I have more pictures to take, and more to blog about, eventually!

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times......

Camping was an ordeal this year. Jane and I got in some fun time at the picnic table doing our craft things. This was a coloring page I printed off before I left. I had the most fun with this.

Wish I had a picture of Jane's, it is the same but oh-so-different.

[coloring pages are here]

Saturday was a whole new ballgame.

RAIN & WIND came to visit.

These are NOT our tents. These were down along the lake, we were up on the hill.

The wind was howling and the rain came...down pour after down pour. Breakfast was sausage and PLAIN scrambled eggs. We couldn't be bothered with finding the salt and pepper or silver ware.

We ate it with our fingers.  

The boat wasn't out of the water, just pulled up on the shore. The waves were so big and crashing over the back of the boat. It just filled with water and sat there, half sunk. Sunday morning was a WHOLE lot calmer. We scooped it out with buckets until it started to float again. Once it was up on the trailer, the plug was pulled and the rest of the water came flying out.

Jane and I went to the painting studio again.

[creativespiritsokoboji.com]

It was Friday the 13th, so they had the witch painting. This one is mine. I didn't stray off from the original. Jane did.

This one is her's. She wanted ruby slippers and a full moon in hers. 

A full moon and Friday the 13th won't happen again until 2049.

There were also raccoon visitors.

This was a first. I scared them off the first time we heard them. I could see their eyes looking at me when I put the flashlight on the trees across the road. I secured everything but the garbage, did even think of it. I fell asleep and never heard my brother in law get up when they started messing in the garbage.

He ended up walking to the dumpster in his socks and underwear.

Yep, fun time at the lake this year.