road trip + hexies = fun!!

It has been a bit crazy lately with arriving back home and having family in town.  We had such a lovely trip to Yellowstone & Iowa!  I'd never been to Yellowstone so I was in complete amazement the entire time.  I truly loved it.  We then went onto Iowa so we could visit some of my family.

One of the best parts of taking road trips is being able to work on hexies.  I finished my June block and then also started on my July block.

My June block!  

 My July block!  I think I'm going to really like this one.  Some of these fabrics are my favorites!

 While in Iowa we went to the pool a couple times so brought along my hand stitching.

I also was able to start on my Sewing Room Swap project.  I love pretty hexie flowers and these will make a great wall hanging or pillow.

Since we've been home we've gone to the beach several times.  Now I'm stitching the hexies flowers together.  :)

A geyser at West Thumb.  My kiddos didn't really like going and seeing the geysers as they have a very strong smell.  I hope they eventually remember their spectacular beauty.

Old Faithful

This giant bison came into our campsite.    He really was huge, and fun to watch!  What an amazing animal!

The grand canyon of Yellowstone!  It was beautiful!!

Mammoth Hot Springs

I loved going to a couple of my favorite antique shops while in Iowa!  It made the trip complete.  :)

Here are some of the lovely vintage finds.  I see there was an aqua and pink theme with what I ended up purchasing.  Hee Hee!

  I found a couple vintage quilts.  I love the feedsack one!  

A close-up of some of the pretty feedsacks!

I also found a fabulous rough postage stamp quilt!  

 When I got home I found this lovely antique gate.  I love the rustic red and aqua paint!

There is nothing quite as fabulous than to return home from a long trip to find some pretty fabrics and a lovely gift in the mail!

This pretty pouch is from my sweet and talented friend Amy!  Thanks so much!!  It is so lovely!!  

There was much more that we did but it is hard to get it all in one blog post.   Though, I'm glad I was able to share a little of my trip with you.  :)

Hugs,

a shabby pinwheel quilt

This month on !Sew WE Quilt! they have the theme "Tool Time". I'm a guest blogger tomorrow and will be sharing a simple tutorial of my favorite quilting tool, and can you guess what I chose!?! I'm sure you know what my favorite new tool is... the Lil' Twister (I'm out of them now in my shop, but you can find there here). Yep, I'm sure you were right!! :)

I had lots of fun making a fun little lap quilt with most all of Atsuko Matsuyama's fabrics...also a new favorite!! Oh, simply some of the prettiest fabrics, how can you not love them!! And, it was perfect timing as I got my first shipment of her fabrics for the shop!! Yep, I did say first, so there will be more soon.

I used 42, 5 inch squares, so this would be perfect for a charm pack!!

I did a few borders in some Moda Bella solids and the aqua is Astuko Matsuyama's Elegant Bouquet.

A close up of the quilting.

The binding is the new flower sugar, floral stripes in red, and the backing is a soft vintage sheet!!

I have to share one of my favorite, Hey Girls!! If you haven't seen them they are the funniest!! My hubby and I have had quite the laughs over them!! As I had my hubby holding the quilt up like usual this one came to mind as it is a favorite. :)

Make sure to stop by !Sew WE Quilt! tomorrow and say Hi to me!! :)

Hope you have a fabulous day, my friends!!

back to the farm!

This last month I took a little vacation away from the farm!! I sure missed being a farmers wife, and have had a little work to do since I've been back to catch up with all my farmers wife friends!! :) For catching up, this last week I've gotten 8 blocks done, and have 4 more to do this week and then I'll be back on track!! Yippee!!


I hope you don't mind an abundance of photos, with 8 new blocks there are lots of pictures. :) These two are Flock and Square Dance.

{34} Flock

I had actually done this one when I had first started doing the farmers wife blocks but I didn't like it so threw it out! I'd been wanting to re-make it, so this is the new one, and I sure like it much better!! :)

{85} Square Dance

This one I change a little. The triangles should be facing the other direction with the point going towards the center square, but I liked it with the points going outward. I made it with the oh so cute, Tiny Reader fabric from my sweet friend Ariel!!

The next two are Old Windmill and Northern Lights!

{62} Old Windmill
I did this one a lot like how I did broken dishes. I love them with the white!! It sure makes the colors pop!!

{61} Northern Lights
I just had to break into a fat eights set of Ruby !! I love all the pin dots, florals, and scallops (I used some in the old windmill block too)!!

These two are Windows and Honey's Choice!!

{109} Windows
This one is one of my favorites!! I just love the Atsuko Matsuyama fabric and this was a perfect block to use it in!!

{50} Honey's Choice
More pin dots and Atsuko Matsuyama fabric!! :)

The last two are Friendship Star and Seasons!!

{41} Friendship Star

Leciens Antique flowers and one of my favorite polka dots from the Swell collection by Urban Chicks!

{77} Seasons
Do you recognize the pretty floral and polka dot fabric? That is the vintage fabric I had got on my ocean trip! The sweet vintage fabric worked perfect for this block!!

I love how they look together!! So pretty and fresh with bright colors!!

I forgot how much I really love making these blocks, and am so glad to be working on them again!!

love

The best word that describes my past week is "love". I first had a surprise visit from my Dad who lives in Shanghai, we loved spending this last week-end camping with family, I enjoyed sewing a couple more farmers wife blocks, and I received a bit of love from one of my sweet bloggie friends right before we left for the week-end! I don't know if life gets much better??

My week 13 Farmers Wife Quilt Along blocks. I really love how they turned out!

{68} Postage Stamp

I really loved making this one!! It was fun to be able to use so many fabrics in one block!

{32} Farmers Daughter.

A few of my favorite new fabrics in one block!! The Annies Farm Stand, Seed Catalouge, Atsuko Matsuyama's strawberry fabric, and then a new favorite that just came last week...a red and aqua 30's reproduction from Toy Box II by Sara Morgan of Blue Hill Fabrics!!

I just adore all my bloggie friends!! It is hard to explain, but I truly feel a sweet connection with people I've never met! I've made some of the most wonderful friendships through the past few years. It truly lifts my spirit every day coming online and being with my friends!! One of my sweet and oh so talented friend, Amy sent me a surprise package last week!! It was so sweet, and I absolutely LOVE everything she sent!! THANKS so much, Amy!!

Even the cutest tape!! Strawberries, polka dots, and flowers!!

We enjoyed camping this last week-end with family!! We went to a fun place called Ensign Ranch. I remember going there when I was a youth for camp, and it was fun bringing the little ones to enjoy a place I have such fond memories of! One of the kiddos favorite things was playing in the river!! Here is a picture off most all the kiddos, all but 3. :) Quite the little troop!

the little rascals!! they are so funny together!!

the little guys loved throwing rocks into the river! we made a special area just so they could throw rocks safely!! :)

rafting down the river!

My little guy in his cute little overalls!! I just love cute overall pictures!!

With all the exciting events this last week I've gotten a little behind on my pinwheel quilt. Hopefully I can catch up this week!! My mom is coming into town on Friday, so I may be reaching for stars to get it done!! We'll see!! :)