A Day Early Finishes!

We are headed off for a long weekend tomorrow so I thought I would post a day early. I lucked out and got a spot by a river, surrounded by trees, so nice privacy to relax and work on my quilt.

The first thing I finished this week was more lavender pillows. They are free designs by Deborah Cade for a Facebook group, Primitive Folk Art quilts and projects. These are so fun to do and the next ones will be roosters or chicken, something my brother and his wife love to collect.

The second project is a summer quilt, another freebie from the group. I have it all set to quilt, so I can sit and relax at the camp, and work on the quilting. It looks a bit flat in the photo, so I will have to take a nice photo when it is done. I used some of my new fabric with the blue wood, for the side edges.

We also got out for a bit on the weekend. I wasn't feeling up to too much activity, so we went to Beavertail and found a nice side spot with views of the ocean. It was nice to just sit and relax and we got a few walks in, as well.

I have also been seeing a lot more birds in our yard. I was surprised when I went out and saw two females with their young, eating under the feeder. There are 16 babies, in all. One just had three little ones, and the other had 13 or she may have adopted from another female, I did notice the male is not with them. They tend to run back and forth across the road and there are lots of predators in the woods, so they do lose a few of their young, but seem to keep the flock growing.

I hope. you all have a wonderful weekend. In these trying times, I try to keep up my spirit by keeping busy and trying new things.

Friday Finish!

Years ago, my friend Kelley, With Hook and Needle,  sent me some quilt tops and I finally finished one. She wanted me to have some tops that I could practice on my new machine, but this one just screamed, hand stitching. She hand pieced the entire quilt, it needed the same hand work for finishing.

I wanted to try something different and easier to see how it worked, so I put on the backing and hand quilted the flying geese blocks and around the borders. Once that was done, I put on the back and did tacks, down the strips, in-between the flying geese. That way I tacked down the backing without over quilting the back. I will be using it and it makes it a lot smoother and softer on the skin. I used a thin striped brown, homespun for the back, so it is nice to lay under.

I don't think it is the best way to quilt, but it worked and I didn't have to worry about pinning or puckering, if I did. I finished it off with a black edge.

I love how it came out, it is more prim in person, just fits the bed, so not sure how much it will shrink when I wash it. The top has been washed, but not the backing. I realize I should have washed both, to avoid puckering when the new materials shrink.

I laid it across the couch, it will be nice to hang on my railing too.

A little closer look. I had to use my wide angle to get it all in, so not the best shots. The bed is extra long, so this longer quilt was a nice size for it and will be nice for the summer. I used black pearl cotton, #12 on it, I like the heavier thread for doing prim quilts.

The turkeys decided to come through our yard, and I wanted to get a photo of the babies. Of course the babies started walking off, but the parents wanted to grab the goodies that fell out of the bird feeder.

And I didn't realize Bean had come out with me and the minute he saw them out there, he opened the gate and running after them. The babies got  upset and  you can see one as he is flying up to the fence. The rest followed and then the parents were stuck, so they flew the other way and went across the street. I could hear the babies calling to the parents and eventually they came back, but walked through the neighbors  yard, I don't think they will be visiting any time soon.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.