Oh you guys! We are starting the short, quick slide down the back half of 2020. Already! I’m pretty sure just last week we were celebrating spring, and now we are in the midst of summer and some of us are even beginning to plan for the {quickly} approaching holidays. I have to admit, I’m not usually one of those ‘planning for the holidays’ kind of people. But next week I’ll be participating in a Christmas in July Pattern Parade blog hop hosted by Carole of From My Carolina Home. Many bloggers/designers will be sharing free patterns or tutorials of lots of fun holiday projects. I’ll be sharing more information later, but wanted to give you a heads up now so you can prepare to join in the fun.

Another fun quilty project you can join in on is the Morewood Mystery Quilt-Along hosted by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs. I really like Cheryl’s mysteries, and her patterns. They are easy enough for a beginner, and exciting for a more experienced piecer. I’m excited to be a sponsor once again. I actually finished the last mystery she did, but I haven’t quilted it yet. Hmmm, maybe I should get on that…. Anyway, it’s not too late to jump in. Fabric requirements were posted on Thursday, July 2 and you can check them out *here*. If you’re looking for an easy paced project, this one might just be what you’re looking for.

Last week I didn’t write a blog post, or do much else for that matter. On Monday, I had a root canal for that tooth that was screaming at me the week before. The infected tooth has a crown on it, and there was some abscess at the tip of the root which caused all the pain. Anyway, I got that taken care of and am happy to report (cause I know you’re dying to know!) 🙂 that the tooth is fixed and the pain is GONE! Whoop! But then, I woke up Tuesday morning with different pain and some red blotches in not so good places. Diagnosis – shingles! Geesh….. Good news is that I was able to see my doc that day and she gave me some really good meds. After a couple days of pain and lots of rest I’m feeling so much better. The itchy spots are still there, but the pain is gone and that’s a huge relief. Let’s hope that there is nothing else to deal with for a very long while!

Even though I was dealing with personal things, I managed to get some quilting done. I finished the third of what I’m calling the ‘puppy love’ quilts for one of my customers. She always asks me to bind her quilts for her, so I was able to do that while I was resting. I love the panto that we used on these quilts, called — appropriately — Puppy Love. You can pick it up at My Creative Stitches. She also has one called Kitty Love if you’d rather have a cat print.

Here’s the final quilt:

In addition to the puppy quilts, I finished the radiant log cabin I was working on. I cannot wait to show you this quilt!! I won’t share until it is back with the owner, but I’m very pleased with how it turned out. I struggled with this one for so long, so to have it finished is a big relief. I just hope Cindy loves it as much as I do.

Somewhere along the week, I snuck this on my frame:

A few weeks ago, Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting shared this panel on her blog. I instantly knew I needed this panel so I could make a quilt for hubby and myself. The panel is ‘Love is Patient’ by Sweetwater for Moda. I did a quick search online and found it at Green Fairy Quilts, so I quickly ordered it. Before it arrived, I had planned on adding a border of pieced blocks or something just to make it a bit bigger. But when I got it I ditched that plan. The panel is 54″x65″, so it’s a really good size for a lap quilt. I decided I would just quilt it as is. So I bought some pretty flannel, loaded it on the longarm, and quilted it with that fun diagonal plaid design. I had it finished in just a few hours. All that’s left to do is bind it and then I will share some better pictures for you. I actually ordered two of the panels. I gifted the second one to my sister. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does with hers.

Another quick quilt was this cute dinosaur quilt made by Lura. (Yep, that’s the correct spelling of her name.) We chose an E2E called Dino Swamp and I had this one quilted almost before I stopped to eat breakfast. We used a bright orange thread on the top, and a bright green thread on the orange backing so the design would really show. It’s a fun quilt that I think her grandson is going to love.

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We are in the middle of some really warm weather – as I’m sure a lot of you are – so priority one this week is to stay as cool as possible. I have several customer quilts to do as well so I’ll be working on those. And I have two classes to teach. So a busy week ahead. What is on your schedule?

My sister and I love to share pics of our daily life with each other. By now you know she lives several hours away and on a farm. Our daily routines are very different, and it’s fun to share those little snippets with each other. So today I’m going to share one little snippet with you. When I was watering my porch plants the other day, I found this sweet little pretty peeking out from the petunia plant. I love how dainty it is, and the coloring is fabulous. I don’t claim to know anything about flowers (I have an absolute UN-green thumb) so I can’t tell you what kind of flower it is. I just know that I like it and I thought you might too.

And whenever I get to see what these munchkins below are up to it makes me happy. Here is my niece and her three babes having a socially distant adventure at her local lake/park.

My hope is that soon we’ll get to spend time together, pass out hugs and kisses, and not have to worry about staying apart.

Well, that’s it for me this week, and now it’s your turn. What projects are you working on? I would love for you to share. It’s time to link up to Main Crush Monday. You can link any blog post, Instagram or Flickr pic – here’s how: