Critters who visited today...

From my office window today, I got to observe three fuzzy bandits  for most of the morning...They were pretty funny to watch.  Three of them were all crammed into the hole in the tree.  There was one who was always struggling to get to the surface but the bigger ones always seemed to be on top of him!  They would sleep for a while and then the little guy on the bottom would try to break free and he would wake up the other two again!!!! There just was not enough room for them all...

They are cute but....we seem to be over run by them this year.  You know that you have too many in your neighborhood when you see them during the day!  They leave a nasty mess on our deck.  Most days they think they own the place and they can really cause a lot of damage.. These babies slept in the tree all morning.  Mom came back to check on them several time. Eventually about noon, she woke them all and prompted them to get moving because she obviously had other things she wanted to do!  First they tried to go up the tree but she would have no part of their fun.  She insisted that they come down and off they went. 

Charity Quilts

Lucy and I have been busy working on charity quilts. These quilts are for Quilts Beyond Borders!

http://quiltsbeyondborders.wordpress.com/

This is a great organization which makes quilts for orphans in Ethiopia and other places in the world where there are children who are in need. . I decided that this would be a great way for me to get practice on my quilting machine. I met Carla for lunch and she gave me three quilt kits…and then things got crazy…and I did not get right at them. Summer hit and the flower beds need weeding and mulching. Then there was the pool which needed to be opened. My studio windows need to be replaced. We had some really nasty storms go through our neighborhood which knocked down while trees and took out power out for 5 whole days! And then I had a pretty large Genealogy project which had to be finished by mid July. I was able to sneak in time to quilt a couple of small projects which were long over due! Sadly I was not getting the sewing time that I had hoped for.

A couple of weeks ago after I returned from vacation, I thought…I have got to get these done! So two are quilted and need to have the binding done. That will leave one more to do. If I do not get the last one on today, then I’ll do it tomorrow!

Little Girl's Quilt

Girls Up close

And then this one will be perfect for a cute little boy!

Little Boy's Quilt

Boy's Close up

I put the last one on Lucy’s frame when my my sister-in-law was due to visit so she and I could play  for a while.  Carolyn did a lovely job on all the plain blocks, don’t you think. It was her first time using a long arm…Great stippling, I think!

Milo has to check it out!

Great Stippling!

They were so much fun to do, I told Carla to get three more ready and I’ll pick them up at the machine quilter’s guild meeting in October.

I delivered the finished quilts to the Quilts Beyond Borders / The Quiltery booth at Northwest Suburban Quilt Guild Show yesterday at the Prairie Stone Sports & Wellness Center yesterday.

On to the next projects…some table runners and Grandma Audrey’s Old Quilt but first I am making binding for my Christmas Star Quilt.

Happy sewing!

Love, Jan

Aprons galore...

Summer is a busy time for everyone because there are so many fun things to do that are the most fun when they are done in warm weather! This summer I have also been very busy sewing. I had thought about making aprons for our annual camping trip for quite a few years but the trip would get here before I knew it and it would be too late again...Not this year I thought! So I started buying aprons in assorted colors in March. In May, I decided to work on the embroidery designs...and coming up with nicknames which made sense for each of the campers...It took some thought but eventually I decided what to do..

So in late June and early July I began to sew the aprons. I decided to make sure that each couple did not have the same color apron. That way there would be no mistaking whose apron was whose! No Apron thieves allowed! Every family has a night that they cook for the whole crowd. So as they got ready to cook their meal, I would present them with this handy apron to wear! Every evening the excitement would build till we finally got to see what the next set of aprons said..  Since we have been doing this event for so many years we have gotten to know each other rather well.  

Some of the nicknames have stories behind them and others are just names that we all own well by our interest and traits!  Sandy is our Beer Babe, Michael is our King of late night snacks, Sharon has always been our Princess, Art has always been King Arthur, Diane is our Princess Di, Matt is our Bungee King( give him a Bungee and he can make anything!), I am the Stitchinfox(this is the only time of the year which I do not sewing at all!), Bob is new to our group but he is the Toy Guy and Sue is our Budget Queen! My husband Greg was missing from the photo but he is a retired fireman and he is our Pyrotech Wizard (and fire guy).  Our oldest sibling,  Pam needs a reminder from time to time so her’s read “Hey Blondie, it’s your night to cook!” Mark and Kelley Ann have not received theirs yet. So we would not want to spoil the fun. I just might have to make up a few more for other members who could not make it this year…. But will likely join us on future trips…Maybe for the Strong Damn Norwegian and his Danish sweetheart!

We had a great deal of fun snacking, camping, cooking, eating, drinking, playing games, kayaking, swimming, sunbathing and spending time with each other!

Hope you created special memories this summer too!

Love, Jan