Two Finishes and a Start

I have been trying to finish up some projects before starting new ones, but it's so hard. So many that I want to make.  But I did finish up the pinwheel quilt this past week. Lots of hand quilting, as usual.

I did a simple crosshatching on the border and added a red binding.

I never thought I would say this., but I am loving these bright colors. And it's the fault of all you bloggers and Pinterest!

I also started (and finished) a project from Lynette Anderson's It's Quilting Cats and Dogs book. I have gotten into making bags lately.

Isn't it cute? I have so many darker colored scraps, it was good to use up some of them. 

Now on to the "start" portion. I am still hooked on making hexagons and can't stop making them. I'm not sure what I will make with these pastel colored flowers, but I'm thinking a baby quilt.

 

On to some personal news: Our oldest son, Justin, is getting married in two weeks! We are so excited! They are having an informal wedding at a park in Chicago, followed by a reception at the same location. They are having pies instead of a wedding cake. (Family tradition for us - no birthday cake, always pie.) And Justin has asked me to make some of the pies. I'm happy to make them, since they are doing everything else. 

They are taking their honeymoon before the wedding. They are in Peru right now, hiking around Machu Pichu. (did I spell that right?) And right after the wedding they are moving to D.C. Justin got a teaching position at American University. Lots going on for those two and we couldn't be happier for them.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Here's hoping we all get some rain!

  

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July. We had the whole family plus my niece and her family, here for swimming, fun and food. Lots of food! The next day Rick and I had to work, but the boys went tubing down our favorite creek. It's so nice that, even though they are grown, they still like to hang out together.

Justin and his fiance, Lizzie staying cool in the pool.

Tad loves the water and enjoyed being in the floaty thing we got him.

He's almost walking!

Since it has been so hot this week, I haven't been doing anything in the yard except watering and picking vegetables. This evening we harvested a bunch of green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and some red raspberries. That's really all I need for a good dinner!

I set aside a good part of the weekend to do some stitching. (I can't do paper crafting right now because my upstairs craft room is too hot.) I brought my sewing machine, etc. down to the family room and made up a couple of things.

Have you seen this book? I bought it at JoAnn's and it's full of the cutest little projects. I've been seeing amazing Japanese quilt magazines online, but I've hesitated to buy any. They're pricey with the postage, and (surprise) I don't read Japanese. But this book gives me a sample of what I might get with one of them.

This is my first project from the book. The construction directions were a little different from what I'm used to and I ended up making a few changes. Even though I would make a few more changes next time, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

The other project I made was this little drawstring bag from a tutorial on http://www.aquiltinglife.com/. It was fun choosing fabrics from my stash. I really enjoyed making it and I'm sure I'll make more. It would be perfect as a gift bag filled with.. well, just about anything!

Well, that's it for tonight. A little more quilting, some reading and then off to bed. Have a great week!