More estate sale fabric!

I went back to the estate sale to see what was left of the fabric. It was the final day, and boy, that room was still stuffed with fabric. I was able to really go through and find the best of what was left.
I found reproduction feedsack fabrics, something I have always wanted but was unwilling to pay the price!

At left is a stack of patriotic fabrics, to the right are a few Christmas pieces, and at the bottom are some great "building" fabrics...bricks, rocks, even wood grain!

Miscellaneous, "I can't pass these up" kind of finds. At the bottom right is Washington State fabric...great for making small gifts for visitors to the area.

Best of all, I found cow fabric! Last week I picked up some white with black words "moo". This week I found the cow fabrics. What on earth will I do with them? The green is a humorous print that would be fun in children's charity quilts; I will probably do a bunch of small quilts using all the fabrics, and the large black and white for the backing.

Yesterday I forgot to add one more picture from our camping adventure...the bat houses!

Daughter said there were 500 bats in one of the houses. She took video of their exit at dusk, and if I could get it to upload onto the blog, I would show you!

Camping

Daughter and I have been on San Juan Island, camping with friends. Here is our campsite...
the view from the campsite...

friends playing Apples to Apples...

camp mascot, Davey...

Daughter turned 14 on Thursday; here is the birthday girl!

Two friends also had birthdays within the week, so we celebrate the lives of all three girls!

The biggest draw to San Juan Island is Orca whale watching. The best viewing is at Lime Kiln State Park, a short seven minute drive from the campground. Volunteer whale experts track whale movement as well as educate the public.

Daughter is looking intently for any sign of fin activity.

And wouldn't you know it, at 7:00 this morning, J-pod swam right past the campground!

Of course, I missed it, as I came home on Saturday. Oh, well, daughter took lots of pictures!

Estate Sale Fabric

I went to an estate sale today, and the fabric stash in this home was out of this world! I bought one large box with miscellaneous fabrics (just take what is in the box) and a large bag with fabrics that I hand picked in the fabric room.
There is a nice stack of purples, one color that I lack the most in my stash. I also picked up some fabulous patriotic fabrics...

There is a stack of whites that I have not seen before, probably older prints. I am also low on greens, so I picked some of them...

And then there were three large pieces, two large enough to use as backings. In the the box there was a great stack of reproduction prints, seen to the right of the bright blue batik.

Here are a few unfinished projects...a small heart quilt on the left, a table topper on the right, some purple/white blocks with no clue what they are for.

There is also an unfinished halloween table runner and purple placemat.

This is my most favorite find of the day...

The selvage says "j.j.'s first grade class" nicole de leon for Alexander Henry Fabrics c. 1994

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I may go back next Sunday to see what is left!

Sunshine at last!

At last summer has arrived, and it is hot hot hot. A good time to stay inside and make some progress on the Sunshine Quilt!

Here is what I had last week. I studied this picture long and hard...
...and I decided to take these darker flowered blocks out.

They were too dark for the brightness of the quilt. I sewed more hour blocks to replace the ones I took out.

Then I found a pattern for sunflower blocks in Leslie Beck's book Best of the Best Quilts. I made a bunch for the fun of it...

Aren't they cute! I will need to decide what color to put in the center of the flower.

I added them to the quilt layout and I like what I see!

I've linked up with Friday Sew and Tell at

http://www.amylouwho.com/

It may be cool but my flowers are GORGEOUS!

It certainly does not feel like summer; I am wearing a turtleneck, jacket, and hat! in July! So I will show you the beautiful plants in my yard right now.

I LOVE this color of astilbe...
These are my "mystery flowers"; I still don't know the name of this plant, but it seems to be something from Dr. Seuss or Disneyland....

I planted succulents in a fancy strawberry pot...

I now have cups and saucers in purple, pink and white...

This is the cutest little 8" sunflower, but it would not stand still long enough for me to get a clear picture!

Even my garden is growing: sugar peas on the right, fava beans on the left, and my first ever carrots in the middle...

I sort of planted the greens a bit too close together: three kinds of lettuce and some dinosaur kale... (under the green house are three pepper plants and one eggplant)

The upside down tomatos are growing, but there are few blooms yet...

And here is my poor hanging fuschia, all covered with scraped paint; scraping the house is what husband did all day. I thought he said he would clean up after himself!

Happy Fourth of July!

Makin' some more Sunshine!

The Sunshine Quilt has gone from leader-ender to up-front-and-center. I've been sewing the hour glass blocks only. I finally laid them out on the floor to see how it is looking.

Here are 180 squares, each one 3.5" square.
If I sewed them together at this point, it would be 36" x 45".

I don't know yet how large I want it to be; I can make a lot more blocks, but I would have to add a larger variety of fabrics. Right now there are nine different fabrics here.

I've linked this up with Amy's Friday Sew and Tell at
http://www.amylouwho.com/