what a summer . . .

Wow.  Time really does fly when you're having fun, huh? Last I posted, I was headed to Hawaii!  I had a lovely two weeks seeing all the sights and experiencing the culture.  Really way too much to share; I'm not sure I've even processed all I saw and did—LOL...I don't think I've had time!

There were a couple of stitching-related things I did want to talk about.  One of our stops was the Polynesian Cultural Center.  They had a whole hut dedicated to the beautiful style of hand applique that is linked to the islands . . .

The woman working was such a delight to talk to and gave us tips as to what quilt shops we should look for! One of those was this little delight, which was tucked away on a hop on/off bus tour we did . . .

SOOO glad they shipped to the main land . . . my suitcases couldn't have handled my haul from Kapaia!

I loved catching the sunrises and sunsets from the balcony off our ship, and this one was as lovely as any:

Believe it or not, a sunrise!  One last photo from Hawaii and I'll move on <grin>.  One of my very favorite excursions was a helicopter tour over Hilo.  It was just exquisite! 

It didn't hurt that our pilot was such a darling!  The views were breath-taking!

I was home from Hawaii exactly one day, and my sweet California crew flew to Alabama for a surprise visit!  Well, I was expecting Sawyer, who was coming to stay with me for three weeks, but the whole family decided they wanted a week, too!  

We had a wonderful time together and spent the July 4th holiday on the boat, on the lake.  It was a beautiful, bittersweet day for me.  

At the end of the month, I returned with Sawyer to California and spent a week there.  We had a great time visiting the beach, shopping in downtown Old Temecula, going to Disney's California Adventure Park, and checking out the San Diego Zoo Safari Park!

We had some quiet days too, and it really was a sweet visit.  But between, Yellowstone, Hawaii, and the month of July, let's just say my watch was like ... what's up with this elevated step count???  Haha!

That brings me to August.  Yeah.  One of the first fun things I did was a trip to Nashville with my affirmation sisters to see the quilt exhibit at the Frist Art Museum . . .

It was a really special showing of quilts on loan from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  I was most tickled to see so many Gee's Bend quilts in the exhibit!  Anyway, the exhibit is there until October, so if you're in the area, it's definitely worth a stop!

Next up. A little utilitarian stitching. Evey started pointe this year, and needed some help getting her shoes ready!  

I always consider this kind of sewing a privilege.  ♥

Believe it or not, I agreed to be our guild's 2nd VP in charge of programs this year.  What was I thinking?!  LOL!  I'm actually excited . . . I needed something to get me out and back in the thick of things.  Our guild's show is in February, and at our August meeting we unveiled our Opportunity  Quilt (raffle quilt):

Isn't it pretty?!  I've got three tops ready to be quilted by the gal who made/quilted it.  She's so talented!

And guess what . . . Ezra started soccer!

He's so darling—it's hard to believe he'll be four this month!  He's a little go getter on the field; and he was VERY disappointed this morning when they got the call that this morning's game was cancelled because of storms (and it wasn't even raining yet!).  Everley, on the other, was NOT sad.  She was ready to learn embroidery, so she'd spent the night with me and I pulled out the heart sampler I had used to teach Ellie how to embroider. She's just as much a natural as Ellie is!

We had fun stitching and chatting.  She worked on the heart and I worked on a new cross stitch project, Lady Halloween by Jardin Privé.  It's really darling.  I'm stitching it on an ivory 20-count aida.  

Anyway, Evey wanted to finish up a couple of lines of embroidery, and was glad for the cancelled game and the extra time to stitch!  A girl after my own heart!

And speaking of Ellie, she's still very much into handwork!  She just finished this cute little pillow for the season . . . 

And she's working on a cute pineapple cross stitch project right now.  She, Evey and I will all be slow stitching tomorrow! (Linking up with Kathy's Quilts and her Slow Sunday Stitching post!)

In feline news, the girls are glad the summer is over and I was home for thirty days in a row!

They are spoiled rotten and I love them to pieces!  They are so purrsonable!!

And finally, what would a post from me be without a sunset pic?

Aloha! Have a great week ahead!

:)

another week . . .

With the exception of Tuesday, it looks like *most* of my minutes this week went towards my StitchMAP assignment . . .

And it really doesn't look like I've made a whole lot of progress with it, does it?

I finished the monogram and am now working on the outside border.  This is also a new stitch to me, called "palestrina". 

It's a lovely little knot and there's more work on top of the cloth than there is on the back side.  But it's a little time consuming to make sure that your needle always ends up in the right place and you don't pluck fabric or your previously lain floss in the passing.  Of course, I suppose by the time I'm finished with this (I have to finish the outside border and then stitch it again in the opposite direction in the inner border), maybe I'll be better at it and it will go more quickly.  It probably goes without saying that this will be my Slow Sunday Stitching project!

My stash took a lovely little hit in the wrong direction this week:

I gained those two yards at my Sassy Sewers meeting on Thursday.  One of the gals has recently retired and has had the opportunity to go to Hawaii with her husband (who goes on business) several times.  She brought back with her some of the most gorgeous fabrics . . .

Aren't they beautiful?  Just rich with color and they feel so lovely, too!  I'll take those two yards willingly!  I'll also be linking up the good ol' stash report to Patchwork Times.

I also got some time in "on the needle" this week -- Ellie mentioned that she needed a scarf like Sawyer's.

Well, not just like Sawyer's ... I made hers a little skinnier and a tad longer and fringed it.  We'll see if she'll actually wear it!

And finally, in the midst of all this grey and cold, cold, cold, there are the first indications that Spring really IS on its way!

If that doesn't bring a smile to your winter-weary face, I don't know what will!

Don't forget to check out my book review of Shades of Mercy and the book giveaway, HERE. Happy Sunday!

:)