I Won, I Won!

Remember last week & the roller coaster? Well, I am on the merry-go-round!

I went on a "blog tour". Starting on the 12th of July 13 bloggers did an interview with Cherry House author of the new book City Quilts. Leaving a comment on each blog gave you a chance to win the book or a nice fat quarter bundle provided by C&T Publishing or Robert Kaufman. I got lucky here on JayBird Quilts blog! Be sure & check out Julie's fun blog!

This is the fat quarter bundle I won. Such a stack of loveliness! There were 10 colorways to choose from, each having it's own name. "Flying People Eater" will arrive soon!

As soon as I saw the colors, I thought of this. It's going to be my next big project. What do you think? Be sure & go to one of the quilt shows this weekend. Lots of talent & inspiration out there!

Until next time.....................Sharon

Cama Beach & Busy Bees

This is a great week for quilts. "Quilts On The Beach" is this Saturday, July 31st, at Cama Beach State Park. The Cama Quilters made quilts for all of the beds in the cabins at the park & some will be on display. Here's what the CIQ newsletter had to say about the day's events.

Does Sisters, Oregon seem like a long way to drive to see an open-air quilt show? Would Cama Beach be close enough? Mark your calendar for a free outdoor showing of over 50 quilts made by the Cama Beach Quilters since 2001. In addition to the quilt display there will be a variety of quilt and maritime activities for all ages, including flower pounding, coloring for kids, block construction using paper, or gluing or sewing fabrics, making wooden toy boats, etc. And if you haven’t visited the just-reopened store on the beach, you will find lots of interesting items being sold by the newly-created Cama Beach Foundation which will support the educational programs at the Camano state parks.

The Busy Bee Quilters are having their 30th annual quilt show on July 30th, 31st & August 1st at Monroe High School. Be sure & check out their Raffle Quilt while you are there.

Hope to see you there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sharon

Sassy Snowmen

Is it tomorrow yet? I thought I would be able to get another blog post up. I'm not sure what happened. Oh, I almost forgot. I think the roller coaster went by & nabbed me again. More on that later.
This is Heather with her Snowbound Snow Globe wall hanging. Kathy S made it for her. Heather had a fire at her house a while back & lost her collection of snow globes. I thought it was a great way to use the snowmen. Here are some of my blocks. I have no embellishments yet. They are too hard for the long arm quilter to work around. I am making all of mine patriotic. No surprise,right? This one is July. I made my own variegated thread.

Would you call this a flagsicle or a flag pop? It does need it's own name. Much easier to applique than a heart. Thank you Norada for the suggestion of putting this fabric on the bias. Yes, I know his hat looks funny. It will be different after it's quilted. Here is the first half of the quilt. I put it together at a recent GNO.Oh, the roller coaster. Dad's AC unit that I put in his room went out on Friday. It was only 2 years old & I got it at Costco. So I loaded up the old one, dropped it on my toe unloading it at Costco & got a new one. Does it never end? The answer is no. I'm ready for the

Merry-go-Round!

See you again soon with some quilt show news..................Sharon

Sunset at Camano Island State Park

Look who was waiting for me? Another fine abode! Can you see the moon? The tide was out enough to see the kelp bed. Almost. The Olympics were looking good! I stopped on my way out of the park to see if there was going to be anymore "color". And then, in an instant, it was there. I pulled over (not quite off the road) to get this shot. Right about now a BMW honked(rude) & sped by. Hey buddy, stop & enjoy the view! And then this happened. I really doesn't get better than this. A nice way to end my day. Hope you haven't gotten tired of the mini tours. I really see a quilt in these latest pictures. Someday! I think I'll try & get back later with pictures of yesterday's Sassy get together. Tomorrow is Hero Quilt Sew Day at Aunt Mary's. Stop by & see what we are doing!

Until next time...................Sharon

Quilts

Did another Flip Flop quilt last week. Maggie is getting back into quilting again. Sue brought me this darling quilt with birds. Love the birds. Joyce's Vintage Moments. Leaves ,leaves & more leaves.

The feathered star in the center is always so pretty on these.

I think I'll do a separate post today from my sunset beach walk this week. Stay tuned!
Sharon

Batteries & the Beach

Now that the camera has new batteries, it was time to head down to the park again for sunset. You wanted to see pictures, right? Check this out, my accommodations for the night are ready. Too bad I had already eaten dinner. This looks like some of the best appetizers I've ever seen! Kelp & flowers on the half shell! I'm not sure what kind of flowers these are. I've never noticed them before. They were like a lavender carpet! I was trying to get the waves splashing these logs on the beach. I love how the sun makes the water look. And yes, I did get just a little wet from this one! A bigger splash. Love the colors in this one too! My friend the eagle. Someone coming in from crabbing. The sun disappears.

So how was your Thursday? I went to the LaConner Quilt Museum to see the Japanese quilt exhibit. If you haven't been, go. Stunning! Then it was lunch at Nell Thorn. If you are ever in

La Conner you need to eat here. I had grilled salmon salad & since it was a late b-day celebration, I split a dessert with Yvonne. The best ever, chewy, moist , nutty brownie topped with ice cream a little dollop of fresh whipped cream finished off with a caramel drizzle. I didn't eat dinner!

Until next time.................Sharon

Off The Roller Coaster

Last night I decided I've been on the roller coaster way too long & got off. It was a lovely evening & the beach was calling. High tide, flat calm waters & Mt Rainier in the distance. I went to take another picture after this & the camera said "change batteries". How rude! Sorry, no orange orb sunset pictures for you this time. I did find this picture from last month. It was taken from our deck, on the east side of the house, facing north. It was one of those rare nights when the whole sky was pink at sunset. I somehow kept missing these pictures when I was posting. Quilts using these big prints are often challenging to quilt. Challenges are good! California Kathy is the quilt piecer.

Did you go to the Sister's Quilt Show this year? If not The Granary has lovely pictures on their Facebook page. Also Valori Wells put a link to the Nugget News, Sister's newspaper. They have a nice video if you have a few minutes.

Quilts are calling. I'll try the beach again tonight. Stay tuned!.......Sharon

Catch Up

This is one of the last quilts I quilted. Catherine is the talented quilter that pieced this stunning quilt. This is the back. I love using variegated when the back is black. I felt that some negative space was good to give the eyes a rest. Corner leafy feathers. Every year the Spee-be-dah beach community has a huge 4th of July celebration & quilt raffle. I quilted their raffle quilt last year, remember? This year it was all sailboats. It definitely was a challenge to go around all the embellishments, but fun to see the "personality" of each block.

This was my favorite block. The embroidery on the mast was very nice.

Quilts are calling. See you next time.............Sharon

Happy 4th of July

We got ready early to head out for the parade at Utsalady. Little Mister is all decked out. First stop is the Utsalady Ladies Aid building for their big bake sale. We looked at tables of cookies. And special cupcake treats. We ended up with cinnamon rolls. Sorry, no pic. They were really good! Then we went to find a spot to stand & saw these 2 guys. The big green bucket is for their crab shells. It's hard to see, but the empty chair to the left has a freshly cooked crab on it. Crab season opened here on July 1 & everyone is getting their fill!We settled on a spot across the street. Little Mister is striking his best pose(he's saying "cheese" in case you couldn't tell).

The start of the parade. Little Mister waving the red,white & blue. His Papa has that funny look on his face because,you know who, kept poking him with the flag handle. Everyone gets into the parade. This little Shetland pony & rider were very cute. Hey, here's our neighbors, Samantha, Mom Tracey(you notice what she gets to do) & Peeps. Everyone dresses up! These boys were great! And before you know it, the end. Love that fancy painter's tape holding the "official' sign. This was a big thrill to see. One of the local residents has connections with the big wigs at NAS Whidbey & every year arranges for a "fly over" from the base. This year it was a Coast Guard rescue helicopter. They did several low(very low) fly overs with the guys hanging out the side door waving to everyone. Lots of flag waving & cheering from a very appreciative crowd. Hope you had a 4th filled with family & friends celebrating our great country. See you again soon. Nana Sharon