Brown Bits, Etc.

The past month has been full of activities--so full that I haven't been on social media as much as usual, which is fine, except that I have not been good at responding to comments or at browsing blogs. So, if I haven't commented on your blog or acknowledged a comment from you, I am so very sorry. I haven't done much quilting either--so no squirrels or throwbacks. Oh, well. I do have a few things I can share. One of them happened this week! The color of the month for Rainbow Scrap Challenge is darks--browns, blacks, grays. I've been waiting for this month for so long. My butterflies needed bodies, and I knew my big stash of browns was ready to meet the challenge. I made 56 little bodies, which took longer than you might think because I had about 25 different pieces of fabric to cut into. They are done. And not only that, but I sewed them to the wings of my butterflies, AND I sewed the background triangles to complete the blocks. Here are just a few of them.

I'll share the rest after I get the whole thing together. I love how they look with the green dotted background. I always think of brown as an old-fashioned color--the age of the scraps I used confirms that, I think. Many are from the mid-80's. But really, brown looks so neat with any bright color. I especially love it with turquoise. Maybe sometime I need to feature it more in a quilt. Anyway, these little blocks are done. Now I have to figure out why on earth I decided to make 56 of them. My original plan was to make 48 for a quilt about the size needed by my usual organization for quilt donations. Was I going to put some on the back? Should I cut them down smaller? (There's enough excess to do that.) Should I keep them big and donate to an organization that needs a bigger quilt? I just don't know. I will have to ponder this a bit while I make my other blocks for RSC this month. (Black crumbs!)

Meanwhile, I did a little quilting on my Hollyhocks quilt. 

This is a really long-term project that I pull out on vacations. It's the perfect take-along hand work project. I'm quilting texture into the background. 

The stitches aren't real visible, but the texture is luscious. And because it's just stipple quilting, there's no marking. I'm up to the border now, so I cut some scrap fabric that I pin onto the backing so it will fit into the hoop.

For the interior part of the quilt, I used hot pink thread because I had it and it is the same color as the hollyhocks. For the border, I'm using some leftover variegated blue to amuse myself. I don't know if I have enough, so I'm using it on the upper half or two thirds of the border--kind of like sky. These won't show that much, but it's fun to use up the thread. Actually, the back is looking pretty interesting because it's a more solid fabric so the stitches show a lot. Again, just amusing myself. This will never show on the wall.

I can't end without sharing a few photos of where this project went with us last week. We stayed in a little house in Rogers City along Lake Huron in northern Michigan. There is a gorgeous bike trail there that goes along the lake to a state park and a lighthouse. There is also a waterfall a few miles away, and two more lighthouses a short drive down the coast. Our house had a lake view (lots of ship watching) and was right on the bike trail. Here is a sampling of photos. Such a beautiful area.

40 Mile Point Lighthouse

Of course, I have to share a photo of one of the sewing machines there.

New Presque Isle Lighthouse (1870)

Old Presque Isle Lighthouse (1840) The cottage is not as old.

A peek at a quilt through the cottage window. (It was closed while we were there.)

Ocqueoc Falls. We went here three different times. There is a stone amphitheater to just enjoy the view. One day we saw salmon trying to jump the falls. 

So many natural wonders along the hiking trails. There is a tiny scallop along the edge of these mushroom tops.

A bit of color

And always the Lake...

So much inspiration.

Even though this post is short on scraps, I'm linking up this week with Angela, the host of RSC19, at So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap, just to keep you up-to-date on my scrap projects.

Just one more photo of my favorite season, now that we are back home. I hope you are having a beautiful month.

Whoop Whoop Indeed!

Just before we left on vacation last week, a package arrived in the mail--my treat from  Sarah and the sponsors of the Hands2Help giveaway. It was a batch of sewing goodies from Clover. I just had to share this one. I immediately popped it into my take-along bag for vacation quilting. A Desk Needle Threader!

How did they know I needed this so much? I've had a really tough time threading needles in the last few years. I bought some of those little wire threaders--you know, the ones with the foil handle--but you have to be able to see the needle eye to use them, which is exactly my problem when trying to thread. I just sort of stab at the needle hoping the thread will go in, and I had to do that with the wire threader, too. Well, this little tool changed all of that! I can't tell you how much more quilting I got done because I wasn't spending all my time stabbing my thread in the general direction of the needle. So a big Whoop Whoop for Sarah and Clover! Thank you so much!

I did make some headway on my hand quilting project. It's been awhile since I shared this ongoing project because I usually only work on it when I'm away from home, but if you want to see more of it, you can click on the Hollyhocks label on the right sidebar or at the end of this post. Now that summer is here, I'll probably work on it more consistently because the lighting is perfect on our deck for hand quilting on summer evenings, and I do want to finish it.  

So that was my quilting for last week, but there is more to share. We vacationed in an adorable little apartment on the coast of Lake Michigan. In the closet were a few extra blankets in case we needed them. We didn't, but something caught my eye--a pretty floral patterned fabric with hand stitches. So of course, I had to snoop and pull it out for a closer look. 

Isn't that sweet? At first I thought it was pieced, but then I realized that those were neatly printed panels, with coordinated sashing and borders added. It was hand quilted with black and off-white threads "in the ditch" so that it truly looked pieced. The batting was thin, which made for a light, airy quilt. 

Isn't it adorable? After one last look, I folded it up and put it back in the closet for someone else to discover.

I later asked our host about the quilt. It was made by her mother, who had made a quilt for each of her (11) children. So sweet!

Our apartment also had a little pieced wall hanging of decorator fabrics and corduroy made by a friend of our hosts.There was just a little quilting on it around the border.

There was also a cute pillow and a crocheted afghan, so I guess you could say I felt quite at home there. 

But wait, there's more. One day, we visited a small town nearby, home of Ann Loveless, winner of Artprize in Grand Rapids in 2013 for her quilt of Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore (You can see my photos of that quilt, which hangs in the Visitor Center at Sleeping Bear, in this post). She and her husband Steve won Artprize again in 2015 with their multi-media project, Northern Awakenings. It's a 60 by 300 inch piece that morphs from photo to quilt across it's surface. It hangs in a restaurant near Steve's photo gallery. Very hard to photograph because of its size, but I gave it a try. It is breathtaking. This end is mostly photo:

This section is mostly quilt (tiny batik and landscape-y snippets of fabric):

 And a close-up:

And a shaky attempt at a panoramic photo. You just have to see this in person. 

The word to describe our vacation is BLISS. So I'll end with a few of my favorite photos of Pure Michigan:

The sweet doe that accompanied us every evening to watch the sunset.

Good night, Sun. Hello, Moon.

Oh, and a couple more because sewing related. This is the historical museum in the town we stayed in (it was not yet open for the season):

But here is what was in that second floor window (the cabinet is the same as mine, I think):

(And one more note--the stained glass insets in the window were made by our vacation host!)

Oh, and for the record, I saw three antique sewing machines in shops. One was not for sale but belonged to the family that owned a gift shop (I was able to date it for her). Two were Singer 99s. One had gorgeous decals. Both needed electrical work. I stayed strong and passed them up, but I hope someone else will give them the love they need.

So Whoop Whoop--for Sarah and H2H, for gadgets from Clover, for quilted discoveries, for lovely vacations, and always for Pure Michigan. I'm linking up today with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I have a Whoop Whoop. Of course!

Ok, back to "regular" life.

More Puppies! (and a Travelogue)

A few weeks ago, I made a couple of puppy blocks (Dog Gone Cute pattern by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts) for Karen at KaHolly. She is collecting them to make wallhangings and other items for an auction fundraiser to support a pet rescue agency in Texas that is helping victims of Hurricane Harvey. 

I just could not stop at two puppies. I had a couple more ideas to try. My first idea was to make a husky with blue eyes. Well, it turned out looking more like a Border Collie or an Australian Shepherd. Oh well. 

I tried again with some cream and gray Grunge fabrics. In my mind, the block was awesome, but my placement of fabrics was just wrong, and block was so hideous that I'm not even going to show you. Puppy fail. Funny how that happens.

I also wanted to try a brown dog--I don't know what they're called, but I know I've seen them--with blue eyes and a pinkish nose. That one turned out more like what I was imagining.

I wonder, though: do these puppies look a little vacant? A little zombie-ish? Maybe I should have used a slightly darker blue for the eyes. I love them anyway, and I'm sure someone somewhere will love them, too. I probably should have named them, but then they'd be harder to part with. Wait, I'll name one. The Border Collie is Fly, of course, from the movie Babe. Love that movie! You can name the others if you want.

I have other ideas, but I think I need to stop  eating potato chips  making puppy blocks now. These little pups will soon join their playmates for a little trip to meet up with all the others at KaHolly's quilty dog party. Oh, now I have a Go Dog Go earworm. Remember that book by P.D. Eastman? I must have read it a million times by now. It's a fun book. 

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday. Have fun with your puppies--whether furry or fabric. And thank you, Karen and Lorna, for making this project possible!

Okay, since this has been a tiny post, how about a few lot more vacation photos for those of you who like armchair travelogues? These are from the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, in the rural district, which is an area that I think of as ghost farms--a rural museum in the National Lakeshore (hard to explain). A lovely area. I think they are considering some heritage farming there in the future. We rode the newest part of the trail this year. 

A peek through a window of the farmhouse--layers of wall paper and linoleum printed to look like carpet.

Rest stop tree

Narada Lake

Do you see the beaver cuts? Two trees about to be toppled and one pointy stump where one has already been felled (way on the left)

Log school house from the 1800's (right across the trail from the beaver work)

A peek through the window. This is one of my favorite pictures from the ride. I love the dusty light.

I wonder if this could be a Native American trail marker tree.

The brightest spot of color we saw on the trail.

Okay that's it for this post. Bye bye.