Another quilt in the making. Strings of blue and peachy/orange/rust.

 The foundations to sew the strings to.

 Which way is best? Peach block with blue border …

 … or blue box with peach border?

Ashton recently turned 3. What a great way to celebrate with cousins.
 

And what can be in this big box?

Darryl helped put the prized wheelboro together.
 

When Paul’s niece, Vicki was just a little girl she used fabric paint sticks to color blocks.

Her mom put the blocks together and made a quilt that they used for many years.

And then one day the dog got a hold of it and made a hole in it. It had a gathered bed skirt which they took off, and now Vicki wants to bind it off and preserve it.

Yesterday the youth girls came for a day of sewing.

In the afternoon the boys came to wash off one of CAM’s bunk trailers.

Some of the girls took a break from sewing and washed & scrubbed the inside clean.

We fixed pizza & salad for supper.

It’s amazing how fast some of the girls can make a dress.

After supper we had a fun evening of games.

I finished Step 2 of Bonnie Hunter’s Orca Bay Mystery Quilt before midnight. Now I’m ready for Step 3 when morning comes!

Other activities of the day included these three boys and a fire engine!
 

I am so thankful to be a part of Paul’s Graber family.
 

It took some coaxing to get these girl cousins to pose for me.

Grandpa Graber giving a lesson on the “wiles” or “tricks” of the devil.
  

And then Joshua sang “The Devil is a Sly Ole Fox.”
 

There were plenty of table games for the young …

… and the old.
 

Some of us ladies enjoyed putting the finishing stitches into Heidi’s quilt.
 

I just love her “fresh modern quilt” … and the little girl in front of it!

Each family had a turn at fixing the meals. Here’s mashed potatoes for 75.
 

Dorcas fixed fresh cinnamon buns for breakfast.

Grilled pork loin
  

Great Grand Children … and that’s not all of them!

Kenneth, Galen, Paul, & Titus brought back memories of singing together as a quartet.

Lance & Grant
   

Parting Shot
 

There are so many quilts that I want to make. There is so much inspiration and so many ideas out there that I’ll never get them all made. But I’m working at as many as I can while I can.

This Mystery Quilt, Orca Bay is from Bonnie Hunter. She uses lots of scrap fabric and makes marvelous quilts. She also cuts the fabric into very small pieces. I’m hoping I don’t bog down on this mystery. I’m already behind. While others have already made 224 hour glass units at 2.5″ square, I’m only just gathering my fabric for a picture.

And then this next set of fabric is for a quilt or two from Father’s shirts. I’m cutting out the seams and saving fabric from the collars and cuffs. Polly cut the shirts in half so we each have the same fabric to work with.

I have fond memories of father wearing a lot of these shirts. And then I’m getting glimpses of Mother’s care for Father by altering the shirts to fit him. His arms were so short and she had to take the sleeves off at the shoulder and cut off an inch or two and then sew them back on again. And then I found seams where she had sewed in the seam under the arm. I have 2 patterns in mind to make with these treasures.
 

I enjoy our Possum Town Quilter’s ‘Show & Tell.’ We have a creative group of ladies that get inspiration from each other.

Judy shows how she carried designs of the blocks out into the border to complete her top.

Gwen’s quilt was machine quilted by Watana.

As a result from our Karen Combs workshop, Lawana made this quit …

… and Mary Ann made this quilt.

Linda shows a color wheeel made by her grandaughter and given to her.

Coleen shows a quilt she quilted for a customer.

Watana made this quilt for a University of Alabama fan.

Last night I sewed the border on to the “Union Station” comfort top. I’m hoping that our Sewing Circle will tie it and then pass it along to charity. Sewing the blocks together was not for the faint of heart. There were way too many ‘partial’ seams to make it fun. And then too, I was dissappointed that it didn’t look more like the picture from which I got my inspiration. Is it that my gray is too light or should my colors be brighter? Check out the difference here. Would quilting it with a dark gray thread help?

And now I have sewn lots of strip sets together.