Sum, Sum, Sum, Summer time

Summer has finally arrived in Phoenix!

It's pretty darn hot out there

and I think that the heat is here to stay for

a couple + more months!

Barbara came to pick up her quilt this morning and

mentioned that I had not posted a picture of her very

first quilt.

So here it is....The very first t-shirt quilt

made from a class at Bernina Connection.

Pretty cute, huh?

It's been a really strange day around here today.

First, we are having really strange weather........this morning

it was overcast like it is in San Diego.

Then we got some sprinkles

Sprinkled on and off thru out the day.

It was like the heavens were weeping....

A foreshadowing of the day to come.....

Then I hear the news that Farrah Fawcett has died

and I feel sad, but also happy that she is no longer suffering.

How many girls in the 80's wanted to be like Farrah?

How many boys in the 80's wanted to be with Farrah?

She was definetly an icon of the time from 3's company,

to Charlie's Angels, to doing dramatic films later in her career.

And then we get the news that another huge icon of the 80's and 90's

has died. Michael Jackson.........at age 50.......my age.

I can remember playing Michael Jackson's "Ben" a 45 record on my little barbie record player......over and over and over......when I was growing up. He has been a pretty interesting character over the years.

Extremely talented and gifted as an artist,

but pretty entertaining as a person.

While I think that these two icons were important figures in entertainment history, I'm going to be pretty dismayed

as the news media picks apart every single nuance of thier exsistance

in the coming weeks and months. I already see it coming.

They will be rushing to be the first and the only to report on this or that.

!!!!!NewsFlash!!!!

A Quilting Newsflash!

Barbara has finished another quilt!

This beauty is for her grandson.

Each t-shirt square represents a special

rememberance.....from patriotism to sports,

to places and special interests.

I've written about Barbara before...........you know

the lady who called me to ask me how much I would charge to

quilt a quilt that she had not even started.............AND was on

her way to class to learn how to make the quilt?

The one who said that she'd probably never do another one?

The one who can't even DRIVE by a Savers without going inside

to look for t-shirts that might fit into one of her quilts?

I think that this one is her 4th quilt and I've got another one

hanging downstairs ready to be quilted!

And I believe that she is already working on her next one!

These will be made into pillow shams!

Summer has officially arrived here in Phoenix.

The news reported that today was the hottest day we have

had so far........108 degrees.

I think that we had a couple of 108 degree days in MAY!

But what do I know........everything they say on the news is

right..........right?

WEll, I've found the perfect way to beat the summer heat.....

ICE CREAM!

Coconut Pineapple ice cream to be exact!

I've got this really cool friend, (cool....get it?) Deb

who operates a food booth at all sorts of fun

Rodeo Days and festivals in the cool pines in AZ and Utah.

Well, Deb visits Restaurant Depot when she is in Phoenix

and can get all sorts of food wholesale. Deb came to pick

up a quilt yesterday and brought me this lovely Ice Cream!

96 servings! Yikes!

My very first job was at Swensons in San Diego

and CocoPine became my very favorite ice cream.

Well, Swenson's has almost disappeared, but I found

that Thrifty started carrying this lovely concoction.

Yummy!

I've been working hard today to finish off a rather large

t-shirt quilt. I've got just a little more work to do on

it and I'll be taking it off the frames tomorrow and will post

a picture.

My husband is all excited about the USA Soccer team beating

the number one Spain team. He is watching the replay right now!

Guess that's it for now!

All People Quilt Apron contest

Today is the day that you can begin voting on

the Apron contest!

Just for fun my friend Linda and I entered an
online apron contest
sponsored by Quilts and More.
Our aprons were chosen as finalists out of 90 teams!

They have just put up the 10 finalists this morning
and now you can go on the site and vote.

We didn't have a picture of both of us together
Our team picture on the website is of the
Fireman apron with the fire extinguisher!

Would you vote for us?
Please?

You can vote once per day per email address until June 29th at 11:59PM Central Time.

This is the link:

http://my.allpeoplequilt.com/photos/quilts-and-more-quarterly-challenge/

However..........you should know:
You will have to register with this site to be able to vote.

Jenny voted this morning and said:

You have to put in your first name and email first...then create a password.

Then it takes you to a screen where you have to put last name and address as well.

There is the opiton to unselect the yes, send me stuff button.
It's already checked, so you have to make sure to unselect it
if you don't want to receive emails from this site!

(if you don't want to register so you can vote
NO WORRIES..
...just send us your good thoughts!)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

My Spring Blooms Mini Quilt arrived yesterday!

Isn't it lovely?

It came all wrapped in fabric and a bow

from Rebecca who lives in

Little Mountain, Queensland Australia!

This little quilt is beautifully done and features

3 braided fabric strips that are artfully color

coordinated, blending from winter whites to glorious

golds, into blue skies and finally the greens of Spring!

Then hand appliqued Brodrie Perse butterflies were applied

and lovely machine quilted feathers are

cascading on the side corners.

The back of this little quilt has gorgeous fabric

and already has a hanging sleeve attached!

(sorry Brenda....I didn't do that on yours!)

And of course.....a lovely label!

Best of all I got a great letter from Rebecca telling

me about her family, her homeland and her hobbies.

She is a Longarmer too! How cool is that?

In case you are reading this Rebecca I just want to

say Thank you! You put alot of work into this little quilt

and it will be loved.

I especially love that it came from Australia.

I've had the priviledge of visiting Sydney many years ago

and really enjoyed seeing your country and meeting

up with some very friendly quilters!

I've already signed up for the next swap!

and you can too by clicking on the bright

and cheerful SUN in the right hand margin

of this page!

Another Quilt finished!

Hurray!

This one belongs to Deb who chose the pattern

BQ2, but Maple Island Quilts.

This is just such a cool pattern.

You can't really tell it from the photo, but I slipped

an extra piece of square batting underneath the sunflowers

and then when I quilted the flowers I got a faux trapunto

look. I left the center of the flower unquilted so it would

puff out and be 3 demensional.

I quilted a Greek key type design in the border.

I wanted to quilt straight boxy lines to reflect

the brown pieced boxes in the quilt top.

This is what the back looks like:

Detail shot of the quilting on the back:

Another detail shot:

Maple Island has alot of really cool quilt patterns.

You can see them here:

http://www.mapleislandquilts.com/quiltpatterns.asp

I absolutely LOVE their patterns.

I wish I could sew them ALL!

I am currently working on a BQ2 quilt top.

I redesigned the pattern somewhat to accomodate

a rectangular shape instead of a square so I could

utilize one of the Lorilai printed designs.

Maybe I'll even finish it someday!!!!

lol!

Happy Father's Day!

To my Dad

And my husband!

And all the other great dads out there!