I'm Thinking......

..........of doing this with my flying geese.  I just love that this entire quilt top is made with scraps.  I love looking at the little squares and remembering what I used  the fabric for.  I think this is another quilt that I won't want to give away. 

And while I'm in a sewing mood, I finished the last three of the mug rugs for friends.  I've made 15 of them.  I actually have another 5 partially together.  Who knows when I'll get around to finishing them. 

Flying and a Finish

I've been scrapping around with some flying geese lately.  I love the fast flying geese method.  I could get seriously into making lots of flying geese. You can make a lot of geese in no time at all. 

The plan is to use these in a border around a scrappy four-patch.  I'm not quite sure if I'm going to do all flying geese or just a partial of flying geese on each side.  These are decisions to still be determined. 

Basically I'm just having fun and working on this project as I feel like it.  I seem to start everything as a community quilt and then I want to keep it.  Like this quilt below: 

The colors of this were totally out of my box but now that it is finished, I'm kind of liking it.  So do I keep it (to probably give away as a gift eventually) or do I give it to community quilts as it was originally intended.  TBA.

Stars For Friends

What a project this turned out to be.  I begin with the simple idea of making mug rugs for a group of friends.  It seemed that a Friendship Star block was the one to use.  But I forgot I was making a mug rug which would finish at about 7" X 11".  That meant the block was going to be small with lots of small parts. I began. 

Lots and lots of half-square triangles.  Thank goodness for Thangles. 

I had a great goal of making the 20 Friendship Star blocks while at my guild quilt retreat in June.  That did not happen.  Fortunately, I didn't allow myself to put things away.  Instead, I kept the project out and worked on it little by little. 

before borders

after borders

They weren't mug rugs yet.  They need an additional section and some trim and binding. 

chain sewing helped keep me going

Ahhhhh.........a mug rug

And to add the final touch of friendliness, I pinned on a tag, and added a tea bag and biscotti.  I hope everyone will like them. 

12 mug rugs ready to hand out.  Another 8 await finishing.

My friend Sue makes the best orange chocolate chip biscotti

It was a pretty big project.  I think I've made whole quilts in less time.  This just had a lot of detail work like sewing down binding.  Thankfully, the summer Olympics were on so I could get in lots of hand-sewing. 

And I leave you with this.......

Friends leave footprints in your heart forever. 

Gratitude

It is so easy to not take time to be grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon us with each and every moment of the day.  It is so enriching to the soul to pause a moment and give thanks. Thanks for the beauty that surrounds us.  Thanks for the opportunities that come our way.  Thanks to God, our creator who loves us.  In a moment of thankfulness, I went for a bike ride on a beautiful day here in Alameda.  This is only a bit of what I paused to see and capture on my camera. 

First - way over there across the water on the left is where I live.  This is not where I was bike riding.  This is a view from Crown Beach looking over to Harbor Bay Isle where I live.

This is the lagoon that weaves in and out of the homes in Harbor Bay Isle.  I was on the bike path riding along and enjoying the views.

Ducks and geese love hanging out in the lagoons of Harbor Bay Isle.

Gathering together for a little afternoon swim. 

Life is good today in Alameda, California.

Friendship In Blocks

I'm currently working on friendship blocks that will be made into gifts for some friends.  I may think twice before I decide to make 1 1/2" half square triangles again.  Even using Thangles, it was tedious. 

Lots of stitch, cut, press procedures

Then there is the putting together of 9 small blocks to make 1 

Quite cute when done

A blue border makes a nice addition

There is still more to go.  These will eventually become mug rugs.  I'm hoping to make 20 of them.  It's a bit more of a task than I thought it would be.  At least I've started early since I won't be giving them out until August.

Independence Day In A Small Town

One of the great things about small town living is the hometown parade on the Fourth of July.  Alameda claims to have the second largest parade in America on the Fourth.  It's always quirky and fun.  Basically anyone who can get a group together can pretty much enter the parade. And there is also the high school bands, the military groups, the scouts, etc.  We stake out our place early and bring our chairs along with snacks.  The darling grand-daughters always get a Popsicle at the end.  A great time was had by all. 

 Hooray for the Red, White and Blue

 Proud to be an American. (and I am proud to be his mom)

                                                  

76 Trombones led the big parade......well not quite 76

Larda, a student from Spain, who is staying with Jon and Lissa's family for a month.  Cool glasses girls!

 Seven years old going on teenage. 

Oh My!  Did that horse just...?

 Sharing a Popsicle between sisters.

I told you.  Anyone with a group can enter the parade.  They were towing a boat.

Read-Alouds Anyone Can Enjoy

I just saw a blog from someone who was cleaning out her mother's home.  She came across many favorite children's books that she remembered.  Instead of keeping them, she took pictures of them.  I don't really have a lot of the books from my own childhood but I do have several that I used to read-aloud to my kindergarten and first-grade classes.  

I think the newest one among these is Shel Silverstein's book.  They are all "old" by the standards of when they were written.  But it didn't matter.  The children all loved the stories.  So I got to read them over and over again to each new class.

The classes loved the silliness of these poems and his "The Giving Tree" is a classic. 

Old fashioned classic.  Any kid can relate to the antics of this boy. 

So many kids were unfamiliar with this book but they knew of  Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland.  They grew to love it as we read through it.  

The book is so different from the movie.  We would watch the movie after we finished it and then have a comparison discussion. 

Once again, an old classic has become a movie.  I was reading this to kids long before the current movie came out.  I hope the movie has inspired kids to read it.

Holding on to a real book, snuggling in with a blanket, and reading (or being read to) is one of life's simple pleasures.