Back to Bees

Being so busy, I kinda put my Bees on the back burner. However, here is an update what's been going on in my world of bees!

These blocks are the ones I made for We Bee Modern and We Bee Modern Too during July. The first one is called To a Tee on page 188 and the second one is called Pebble Beach on page 132. 

July was my month to pick a block for the Believe Circle of do. Good Stitches. I picked a square within a square block using the colors red/blue-aqua/cream. I wanted it to be boyish but not too much like 4th of July colors. I think the women of this bee did a great job! I really left them a lot of room to be creative and they did beautiful things with it. Now, I have to figure out how to arrange the blocks and what kind of quilting design to use. I am sure you will see the finished product here in the coming month!

{handstitched}...Still going strong

One of our last projects for Handstitched class was a whole cloth baby quilt with the quilting done by hand. Rachel did a magnificent improve design using irregular triangles. I had a vision of straight lines at irregular spacing with the end product looking something like plaid. I know this wonderful little boy who has a first birthday coming up, and I decided that this would be a perfect present for him!

I went with Kona Dusty Blue for the front and Kona Ash for the back. I also found these awesome lizards to use as the binding and make it a little more playful! The mini herringbone...thats just for me....it was on sale :).

I have never put the binding on a quilt prior to quilting it, so this technique was new to me. I spray basted the sandwich, sewed the binding onto the front, whipped it by hand on the back, and then I got to quilting. I drew four vertical and four horizontal lines spaced pretty far apart and sewed them first to tack the sandwich together. Next I will fill in the large spaces between the existing lines with ones that are a little more closely spaced as you can begin to see in the picture below.

Since I was photographing at night, I had a really hard time getting the appropriate amount of exposure on the front side. These two pictures are of the back, but you get the idea. Its essentially the same on both sides...my stitches are just neater on the front!

I also considered ironing the quilt before I photographed it and then I didn't. This quilt traveled 28+ hours in a car with me, camped with me, was sat on by dogs, cats, and people alike, and I thought it would be a nice change of pace to see a quilt that looks like it is being worked on. Hopefully I will finish this week and have it beautiful and ready for photographs of the finished product. 

off the Grid

Back to technology! I have been off the grid for almost 10 days in upstate New York. It was so wonderful, but re-entry is overwhelming. I will cull through my email tomorrow, no energy today.

Being a beach girl, I have not been on tons of mountain trips. I lived in Clemson through school but those 'mountains' were really more of foothills than real mountains. I went on this trip with my boyfriend's family (he has 7 siblings!) and stayed with his grandparents. It was tight in the house to say the least, but we had so much fun. It was like being 10 at a slumber party again.

The first couple days were HOT. We probably brought the heat with us from the Carolinas, but since we are all beach people, the lack of air conditioning was brutal. As I turn mine way down for bed tonight, I appreciate it more than ever.

The best part of the trip was making it to the top of Whiteface mountain. It is not a hard climb, rather touristy, but the view from almost 4800 ft above sea level is soooo pretty.

We also spent two days 'camping' in a cabin in the woods. Let me tell you why this is definitely still considered camping. Although it is a structure rather than a tent, this structure did not have electricity, running water, a bathroom, and was home to some lovely outdoor friends. Megan is not a camper. I mean I would never jump at the chance to go camping since I love my mattress and my bathroom BUT, I actually had a lot of fun. I am not sure if it was the trip or the people or the climate or the fact that rain didn't come in from the bottom of my tent, but it was fun. 

There was an outhouse, but you better believe I ducked into the woods before going near that thing. 

We also had a short little hike to this serene stream. 

Adham's little brother did a lot of fishing. Unfortunately, no trout were caught, but we did catch a huge snapping turtle....twice! I mean huge. His shell was probably 15 inches from head to tail. 

The rest of the trip was spent eating, visiting family, and holding on for dear life on the back of 3 wheelers that go a little too fast for my taste. It was such a nice mental vacation since I had no cell phone service and there was no wireless internet. I have been told that I will be going back in the winter to experience 'real snow', which apparently is different from the silly little flurries we get down here. 

I did not get my Modern Medallion pieced prior to my trip (I was a little overwhelmed) but, I did spend what little free time I had quilting a whole cloth baby quilt. I really love how it is turning out! Progress will be posted tomorrow so stay tuned! Now it is time for bed since our drive began at 3 am this morning. Hope everyone else had wonderful weeks as well!