May Views from the Garden, Part 1

Last Sunday (Mother's Day weekend), Mike and I spent the whole day working in our yard. Mike brought out all the outside furniture from our shed, cleaned off the gas grill, and planted herbs for his kitchen garden. I put in two dozen new plants, mostly perennials. Romeo, Elvis, and LarryPug happily followed us around and enjoyed the sunshine.

Pansies are blooming in our cement basket on our front steps.

Our fuchsia azalea is in full bloom.

Our weeping cherry tree is surrounded with purple tulips.

Close-up of my purple tulips. They match our front door and shutters!

I hung our summer flag. Looks just like Romeo and Elvis.

Some new annuals for the front garden.

More pretty annuals for the front yard.

And yet another variation of the purple daisy.

My bleeding heart, which is a perennial, has grown quite large.

Elvis and Romeo welcome everyone to our house. I purchased this slate
on Etsy and I love it. It is from Paintings By Sandy. I bought it four years
ago (before LarryPug joined the family) and it still looks brand new.

Mike's kitchen herb garden, planted in pots so the pugs can't "water" them.

Stone pugs enjoying a snack. Tiny pachysandra behind them.
Hosta to the right. I'm experimenting with some ground covers.

My white lilacs are starting to bloom.

A little LarryPug tushie on the right. Pansies at the side entrance.
Check out my parents' original milk box (made of zinc) from our
house in Framingham. It is over 40 years old. Any tips on getting rid of the rust?

I added some perennial violas to please our Indian deity
(purchased at the Christmas Tree Shop--it's plastic!)

The back patio has a zen feel. The tree is a Weeping Blue Atlas.

These pink flowers are perennial Dianthus.

You can never have too many pug statues or pink flowers!
These little flowers look like pom poms!

I've got lots more photos to share, so I will save them for another post. Plus, I bought more plants today!

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Pugs and kisses,

Nancy

Finished Projects from Quiltport

For my Gal Pals, who accompanied me to Quiltport, "Quantity" seemed to be the theme for the weekend, as mass production was in full swing. Funny how you can get so much more done when there is no laundry to do, no pugs to walk, and no dinner dishes to clean up!

Joannie made three baby quilt tops at Quiltport.

This quilt will be for Joannie's new grandson, Ronan.

Here is a close-up of the cute alphabet print she used.

I always like to see what they use for "X."
Have you ever heard of a Xenopus?
Apparently he is an African frog.
Probably a good word for Scrabble!

Joannie also made a square version.
I think the "Xenopus" will be on the back.

She also put borders on this cute panel print.

Beth worked on the Mystery Table Runner. She made two. One to keep, and one for her Mom, Judi.

Green and turquoise version. Great summer colors!

Green and pink version. Another winning combination!

Below, Beth models the tote bag that her Mom Judi made for Rachel (Beth's sister/Judi's daughter). It matches Rachel's new car.

Judi put several patterns together to make her own design.

Judi also made pillowcases (at least 4), but was feeling a little camera shy.
And my photo session was early on a Sunday morning... that's Judi's hand in the upper right.

Ginny was very busy making tote bags for bridal party gifts. I think that she had already made six and finished four more during our weekend.

I love the lime green and fuchsia pink combination

Ginny also made this cute table runner. It is the
same pattern that Pat used for her Row by Row.

Ginny was on a roll. She put together this cute little quilt top that she is going to hang in her sun room.

The only time that ants are cute is when they are cartoons on fabric!

Here is a close-up.

Nancy Q. was very busy visiting with grandson Ethan, daughter Jess
and son-in-law Aaron, but managed to squeeze in a little work on these
blocks done in autumnal colored batik.

Hope you enjoyed our little Show and Tell! Do you want to see more?

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

May Quilt of the Month

I am very late in changing the quilt on my bed this month! I made this quilt a really, really long time ago. It is a Radiant Star from the Eleanor Burns book. I have been cataloging my quilt finishes since 2001, and this quilt pre-dates my list. I bought the fabrics at the store where I learned to piece quilts, Red Barn Sewing and Yarn Center in Merrimac, MA. I know that when I moved from Haverhill to Newton back in 1992, I was still working on this project. I also brought this quilt top in progress to a Jane Smith quilt retreat in Maine as well as to the first Quilter's Nook quilt weekend in 1993.

My May Quilt of the Month is highlighted by my adorable black pug Elvis. Pug brothers Romeo and Larry were invited to participate in the photo shoot, but regretfully they declined.

Elvis and I think that everything looks better with a pug on it!

At one point I had my whole bedroom decorated in pink and black to coordinate with this quilt, but I moved to a more neutral color pallet so that I could change my quilts according to my whims.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the quilt.

The quilt center.

Star points

This quilt was machine quilted for me by Sheila Drain, who did it on her Bernina. It has grids, about one inch apart, as well as feathered wreaths.

I hope that you are having a great day!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Quiltport USA 2014 Highlights

I feel like I'm so behind in writing this post that I'm just going to start with the Quiltport USA highlights and do a second post when I have more time. I'm also going to start from the end and go in reverse. This year our little group grew to include Beth and Judy.

Our weekend culminated with our friend Nancy Q. winning the grand prize basket! It was filled with lots of quilting goodies!

From left to right: Joannie, me, Ginny, Beth, Nancy Q. and Judi.
Not pictured: Marion who had to leave early and Sue who never
made it because she was felled by a nasty bout of the stomach flu.

A good time was had by all! Here are my sewing projects.

I finished sewing the binding on Linda's birthday quilt.

I was able to give Linda the quilt on her birthday the following weekend!

I also surprised Linda with a matching tote bag.

Love you Linda B! My buddy since first grade!
She knows all my secrets AND she still likes me!

I made seven more Scrappy Trips blocks. No danger of an imminent finish. I think I need at least 90 more to make it bed size...

These blocks are all made from scraps of batik. I swapped these
2.5 inch strips with my Brown Bagger quilting buddies a few years ago.

More Judy Niemeyer fun!

I finished the center blocks for my Glacier Star!

We did a little shopping. Quiltport has its own vendor mall. On the drive up to Maine, we squeezed in three fabric/quilt stores, and there was no shortage of stores and outlets to visit in Freeport. Joannie and I managed to fill the car on the way home. We only needed four trolleys.

The view from the back of Joannie's new Prius. Great gas mileage and plenty of cargo space!

Since Marion left early and Sue was too sick to come, we were able to use all the
space in the back seat! We didn't have to put too much in the overhead compartment...

Nancy Q.'s grandson came to visit us for the weekend. Since Ethan isn't old enough to drive, he brought his Mom (Nancy's daughter Jess) and his Dad, Aaron.

This was one of the few moments that Ethan wasn't smiling.
He is a very happy little boy and I just wanted to squish him!

And there were lots of yummy things to eat...

It's not an official quilt weekend unless there are chocolate chip pancakes.

More later! The gal pals have projects to show off too!

Hoping to link up on Friday morning to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts and CrazyMom Quilts. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Row by Row Kickoff

Perhaps you've read my two blog posts about the Row by Row swap that my quilt group is doing. Here is what I started with and here is the second post. The first hand off for the swap was on Sunday.

I am in Group 1. There are five participants in Group 1.

Here is my first row for my own quilt.

My theme is Pugs in the Garden. Romeo, Elvis and LarryPug just want to play!

Here is Pat's first row.

Pat's theme is Summer. She is starting her quilt with flip flops! How fun!

Here is Lexine's first row.

Lexine's theme is Christmas/Winter. I better look for some Christmas patterns. Lexine likes pugs too. Maybe I should do Christmas pugs...

Here is Nancy D.'s first row.

Nancy D.'s theme is Music. I think this is really clever. My cousin Lise is a professional musician in Chicago, I bet she would like this quilt.

Joanne E.'s theme is Put the tea on, call friends, take your shoes off, don't forget your hat and sew!

I will be working on all these quilts that you see above. This month I have Joanne's quilt to work on.

We have two groups doing the Row by Row this time. The girls below are all swapping in Group 2.

Here is Joannie's first row.

Joannie's theme is Sewing. Love the red pincushion! You would never guess that this is the first time that Joannie has done applique.

Here is Valerie's first row.

Valerie's theme is Snowmen. I think they are very cute.

Here is Kim P.'s first row.

Kim's theme is Anything That Makes Me Smile! Her kitty cats have embroidered faces and three dimensional tails.

Nancy D. organized our Row by Row swap. She just retired and volunteered to be in both groups so that we would have an even number of participants.

Here is Nancy D.'s row for Group 2. At the end of the swap, she will receive two tops back. One with a sewing theme and one with a music theme.

Nancy's second theme is sewing. Coincidentally she used the same pattern as Joannie. I really like the addition of the checkerboard border.

I am excited to be participating, although I am nervous to get started on Joanne's row. Let me know if you have any great patterns with sewing notions!

You'll have to wait until September to see all our finished Row by Row quilt tops. We are supposed to keep them a surprise from each other until the big reveal!

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts, and CrazyMom Quilts!  Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

P.S. I know I am behind on my blogging. Sorry, it's been a rough week at work. I will post soon about our quilt weekend in Maine as well as my May quilt of the month. I also have a new finished project to show you!

P.P.S. Congratulations to Joannie on the birth of her second grandchild, Ronan, who came into the world today.

On The Road Again!

Today, Marion, Joannie, Sue and I are headed up to Freeport, Maine to spend the weekend at Quiltport USA. We made our first trip up last year and somehow, our adventures never made it into the blog. Here's a quick recap from last year.

We sewed, we shopped, we ate, and then we sewed and shopped some more!

In addition to a spacious sewing room, we had our own private vendor mall!

We got to hang out with Nancy Q. and Ginny.

We had dinner with Elvis at Bob's Clam Shack!

I got a massage and we soaked away our quilting aches and pains in the hot tub.

We bought some fabric.

In fact, we shopped our way up to Quiltport, at Quiltport and on our way home from Quiltport.

At the end of the weekend, we had to fit all of this in Joannie's car.
Yes, we filled three luggage carts! A little bit more than we had started with.

This is the wheel well of the passenger seat in the front. Not too much room for my feet!

We filled up the back seat until you could only see Sue and Marion's heads.

I think that we were the inspiration for this Mrs. Bobbin cartoon!

Luckily Joannie has a new car this year, complete with a big cargo holder on top! Lots of room for new fabric. Also, Marion has to leave early, so we can fill up her seat too!

We'll be back on Sunday. Stay tuned for my report on Quiltport USA 2014!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy