The summer has flown by! 
In the blink of an eye we went from Fourth of July to Labor Day!

With lots of family, fun and quilting sprinkled in!

My sister Karen rented a cottage for three weeks (!!!) 

on the water in East Sandwich...

what a joy it was to wake up to this view every morning!

The first week was the "Sisters" week ...

we walked the beach morning and night, visited shops,

and ate lots of lobster rolls!!!

The second week was filled with family!

 Karen's son and his family drove up for two weeks!

Hubby was back and forth, Victoria flew up for a week 

and Matt and Emily were just a short drive away!

It was wonderful having everyone together!!

Sight seeing, shopping, fishing, swimming,

reading, walking the beach, beach bonfires with S'mores!!

We packed a lot into the time we had!

The sunset were amazing!

 

The beach is definately my happy place!!

Matt building the bonfire with Michael supervising!

Russell, Emmelou and Victoria enjoying the S'mores!!!

 

August started with the realization that my quilt guild's 

show was in seven weeks and I still had to finish

quilting two quilts, bind five quilts, add beading onto my Mermaid

and put hanging sleeves and labels on all of them!!!

Yikes!

Finally after a 10 year voyage the Ships are DONE!

And they have a very Spiffy Binding!!

A Piped Beaded Binding!!

 

My other hurry to finish binding was a looped binding.

My first attempt was a huge fail!

SO it was ripped off and I started all over again making a million loops.

Well it seemed like a million!

But she done ~ another Spiffy Binding!!!

A Piped Looped Binding

 

The New England Quilt Museum is hosting their

Summer Celebration.

My Quilt Tilda's Delight was selected to represent RNQG!!

 

Alway SEW exciting when your quilt gets to hang in a Museum!!!

The middle of August I had the pleasure of presenting 

My Quilting Journey trunk show to the

Crazy Quilters of Cape Cod Quilt Guild!

I got to display "Victoria's PhD Quilt" which I have on loan 

so it can be entered into the SCQG show the end of September!!

The next day we had a Spiffy Bindings workshop!

Fun was had by all (I hope)!!!!

 

To finish off August....

Stephen and I went into Boston to see

"The Moonwalkers"

what an outstanding immersive experience...

you almost felt like you were in the rocket when it took off!

We caught a beautiful sunset in Bristol Rhode Island

after a delicious clam bake at Blithwold Manor.

We went last year and loved it so much we became members

of Blithwold and decided to make the clam bake our annual summer wrap up event!!

T minus two weeks to go til the quilt show judging and I'm

on my last quilt!!! The long Labor Day weekend will come in

handy - I can quilt for three days straight!!!

Almost done!!!!

Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                               Janet 

June!

A gorgeous month!

The rains have brought my garden and flowers to life!

The grape vines seem to be over taking my roses!

The birds are loving the tiny grapes!

Elia Arbor Buffet provides the best!!

Two big beautiful Fish Crows come into the garden every day

To feast, bath and drink! Just Love them!

My hydrangeas are starting to bloom!

Shades of Pinks,  Blues, Purples and White - just gorgeous!

And one morning this sweet Mum and Baby appeared…

Snacked on seeds and peaches (Mum jumping up to rip the

Peaches out of the tree!) 

And in the hydrangea bush in the front of the house

A Song Sparrow made her nest!

SO cute - four little mouths opened waiting for food!

My quilting is in high gear with the SCQG show 

Coming up the end of September!

I’ve entered 14 quilts! Only 4 are completely done!

The other 10 are in various stages!!

The best finish was taking the LAST hand quilting stitch

In My Ships quilt! It has been a ten year voyage with this one!

Admittedly - it did sit idle for many months (years!) at a time!

With the last stitch in - off it went into the washing machine

To remove any blue wash away marks - I like to

Draw the quilting designs on my quilts!

Don’t worry - there were 5 color catchers in the washer

To grab any stray dyes! 

Once out of the wash - it’s off to be blocked!

Thankfully the room has carpeting,

 the quilt is squared up and pinned to the floor,

Then allowed to dry over night.

Works like a charm - quilt is squared and FLAT!

Ready for binding!!

Thinking of a scalloped beaded binding!

Let’s see if it works!!

Another special binding I’m trying is a 

Piped looped binding.

This one is causing me angst!

Having to rip it off and start again…

Need to make 200 more loop sections!!

We shall see how attempt number two goes!!!

The studio is in a jumble for sure!

Quilts and projects every where!!!

Need to focus on finishing those 10 quilts for the

Silver City Quilt Show - hope to see you there!!

The guild raffle quilt is a beautiful two color quilt,

Blocks made and assembled by quilt members and

Custom machine quilted by the very talented

(And one of my Quilty BFF’s!) Diana Annis.

Now back to Quilty work!!!

Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                               Janet 

Spring has sprung ... with all sorts of delights!!

One of the guild's I belong to 

the Rhododendron Needlers Quilt Guild 

had it's show this past April.

I entered two of my latest applique quilts.

Both won ribbons - SEW EXCITING!!!

Garden Party Down Under

(pattern by Irene Black)

Won a second place viewer's choice ribbon and 

a few vendor choice ribbons!

Tilda's Delight

(pattern is Afternoon Delight by Sue Garmen)

Won Viewer's Choice BEST OF SHOW!!!

Wha-Hoo!!

and First place in the applique division!

Such an exciting honor!

Now she will go to the New England Quilt Museum

and represent RNQG at the museum's Summer Celebration!!

My guild lectures and workshops

have been keeping me extremely busy!

Huge thank you to following guilds for including

me in their spring programs:

Thimbles and Friends of Abington

Linsey Woolsey of Attleboro

North Parish Quilters of North Reading

Bayberry Quilters of Cape Cod

Holly Berry Quilters of Mashpee

Plymouth County Cranberry Quilters of Carver

RNQG of Walpole 

SCQG of Raynham

 

Just a few action shots!

Lectures  are so much fun - love sharing my quilts & their stories, 

and sharing tips and tricks of quilting technique at workshops!

Also busy working and teaching at QuiltCorner Studio in Sandwich

a few days a week. Below are two of my latest bag samples

for the shop! byAnnie bags are always a challenge for

my machine - but if I don't break a needle I consider it a Win!!

  

Just finished another Laura Heine collage quilt

Rudolf Flies thru the night over lots of 

little villages.

These quilts are addictive! Must have at least 4 more

in the To-Do Pile!!!

The spring time is also anniversary time!

This year we ventured into something different

Afternoon Tea at Bliwthwold (in Rhode Island)

Hubby even got into the spirit of the event!!

The food was great and the walk thru the beautiful 

daffodil covered grounds made for a perfect day!

 

Not to be left out ... my painting hobby got a little attention this spring!

 Managed to take a few zoom watercolor classes

with on of my favorite instructors - Melissa Hyatt of Conn.

Birds and Lighthouses - does it get any more fun than that!!

House Finch

Bluebird

Last month my Quilty Gal Pals and I had our annual retreat

in Bolton Ma. Managed to work on a few longterm projects!

 

Treated my Gal Pal to our very own Afternoon Tea!!

We had so much fun - we've decided to make it an annual retreat event!!

While on retreat we jumped into the car and zipped up to the

New England Quilt Museum to see 

the Quilts of Japan!

OUTSTANDING!!

This quilt is approx. 12"x12" - Incredible!
 

Spring has also brought my garden to life!

Last year my Iris plant did not do too well

this year - she is blooming like crazy!

She must have needed a year off to rejuvenate!!

 

Couldn't resist purchasing this gorgeous Hibiscus plant

the colors are just dreamy!

  

Spring is wrapping up and we will be onto summer

Hopefully!!

Looking forward to see what summer brings!

Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                               Janet