Just Let Me Quilt

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Here Comes The Sun Blog Hop And My Day

It's been a sizzling hot week of amazing projects for our "Here Comes The Sun" blog hop. I love all the enthusiasm and participation involved in the blog hops! It's just awesome to share the monthly blog hop planning/hosting with Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks and Joan at Moosestash Quilting.

My project grew out of seeing Benartex's "Season of the Sun" fabric by David Galchutt. I love the bright colors and those sunny faces just made me smile!

Here Comes The Sun

60" x 60"

The sunny face is peeking out of the middle of the applique sun.

Our blog hop is just in time for the summer solstice. It is the moment in time when the Earth's tilt towards the Sun is at its maximum and the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky.

A summer solstice occurs twice a year, once in June in the Northern Hemisphere and once in December in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere the day of the summer solstice is the longest day of the year and occurs every year between June 20 and June 22.

Benartex fabrics used are from "Season of the Sun" and Superior Solids:

Superior Solids Black SKU#3000B-12

Prism Tonal Purple SKU# 13199-66

Spiral Shadows Yellow SKU# 13198-33

Spiral Shadows Red SKU# 13198-10

Sun Allover # 13192-12

Pebble Orange/Red SKU# 13201-38

Spiral Shadows Blue SKU# 13198-55

Spirals and Swirls SKU # 13197-12

Flow Stripe SKU# 13196-99
Wave Texture Black SKU# 2966-12 (backing)

This print is gorgeous and was used in the outside border of the quilt!

These prints are so vibrant and perfect for the applique and piecing.

I love this print for the border!

Some fun flower, too!

The backing is Benartex's Wave Texture in black.

You can find "Here Comes The Sun" in my Etsy store HERE.

Check out the other "hot" projects!

June 20

Creatin' in the Sticks

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

For The Love Of Geese

June 21

June 22

June 23

Patchouli Moon Studio

Karen's Korner

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Days Filled With Joy

June 24

Just Let Me Quilt

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Quilted Delights

Quilt Schmilt

Lynn's Blog

Thank you for stopping by!

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Blog Hops With Suns, UFOs, Alligators, And Gadgets

You could never say that Carla, Joan, and I don't get creative with our blog hop ideas and challenges. I love how imaginative and inspiring those two are for me! They keep me on my toes for sure. This week's blog hop, "Here Comes The Sun" has been nothing short of incredible with so many amazing projects.

Check out these blogs:

June 20

You can find the Pinterest page for Here Comes The Sun HERE.

Next blog hop is hosted by Joan with UFOs as the challenge.

We all have a few of those in our closets...UFO projects, not aliens.

If you want to play along and haven't signed up yet, drop her an email.

Carla will be hosting a blog hop called, "See Ya Later Alligator" in August.

She'll start taking sign-ups after July 1st.

The challenge:

TRAVEL.

Anything from places to go, to how you get there, and anything in between.

Maybe even an alligator?

Contact her after July 1st if you want to play in this hop.

I'll be hosting "Queen of Gadgets" in September.

The challenge is:

Use your favorite sewing tool to create a project.

Tell us and show us why you love it.

Use rotary cutters, scissors, rippers, die cutters, etc. and show us what you made.

Let me know if you want to play in this hop.

There is a blog hop once a month and the challenges are endless.

Come play with us and meet new blog friends!

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Here Comes The Sun Blog Hop Is Here!

As always, I get really excited when a blog hop begins.

It's going to be a HOT blog hop week of "Here Comes The Sun"!

What was the challenge?

Sew something that has a summer theme like:

sunglasses, beach items, sunny skies, and/or yellow colors.

It can be a quilt, a bag, a toy, or whatever you want it to be.

These bloggers are on fire with their projects...check them out!

June 20

You can find the Pinterest page for Here Comes The Sun HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Unplanned Trips Have Their Perks

Two years ago we found out that the Monkey Boys were going to be moving. Covid delayed it until two weeks ago. The reality of knowing that the whole family, including the newest Monkey Girl, were leaving to live clear across the country hasn't been easy to deal with. Warning: This is a long winded/photo heavy post.

It was a whirlwind of a week with final packing, graduation party, and graduation ceremonies (and no sewing or blogging.) The oldest Monkey Boy graduated a year early and was Student Body President. He excelled in all his classes...he definitely didn't inherit his amazingness from me!

The speech he gave at graduation was wonderful, timely and of course, he was incredible in my eyes!

Monkey Boy #2 played his cello at the graduation. He's first chair in his orchestra, was class president, and was the volleyball teams captain.

He was also a huge help to his mom during the time dad was away and during all the packing. Monkey Baby loves her big brother!

The Dreaded Day...Time To Go

Are they levitating or jumping for joy as they start that 30 hour car ride, not including stops, with seven kids? Note: Monkey Baby cried the majority of the trip. Poor thing!

I'm going to miss this face!

We left right before they drove off. I couldn't watch them drive away! Fifteen minutes after they hit the road to head to Ohio, we got a phone call that their car was having issues. After trying to figure out what was wrong while standing on a black asphalt parking lot in 100 degree temperatures, we unloaded some of the stuff in the back of the car. That didn't help so we unloaded everything they absolutely needed to take and put it in our car and sent them on their way.

We took their mini van home with what was left in the car and unloaded it in our garage. A trip to the dealership and a three day wait (three day weekend, unfortunately) and they found nothing wrong. Ugh...isn't that usually what happens!

A day later we loaded the mini van with their belongings and what we'd need for the trip. It had been a long time since I'd been a mini van driver!

We stopped to see my wicked friend, Joan Kawano, in Denver. We had a quick bite at Roadhouse Grill, met her cute granddaughter, no pictures (darn), a hug, and I missed her as soon as we drove away.

We had some stormy skies and saw LOTS of wind turbines.

Would you believe I'd never seen the Mississippi River!

We arrived in Ohio four days after leaving Las Vegas and the weather was not even close to the dry heat where I live. It was muggy and unfortunately, the air conditioner in their new house was broken. Yikes! We were all dripping wet from trying to unpack, clean, and organize in the heat and 75 per cent humidity. The boys were all taking it in stride.

Add a broken washing machine to the list of "WHAT THE HECK!" things they were dealing with, including laundry for seven kids and four adults (including us.) I had no idea how expensive a laundry mat was when you had to use at least six machines on two different days. It's a lot!

We put the trampoline up with the boys help and they LOVED their grassy backyard!

Three days in Ohio, a family photo, and we were back on the road to Las Vegas.

The oldest Monkey Boy came with us to get ready for college and live with us. We tortured him with a couple tourist stops...John Wayne's home and Boot Hill in Nebraska. He had no idea who John Wayne was, but he made the best of it.

I've made a couple John Wayne quilts with fabric by Riley Blake Designs.

Boot Hill in Nebraska was an interesting stop.

The details in this statue were beautiful!

Even though the trip was long, the perk of it all was seeing them sooner than we planned to. It was so worth it, but it was very hard to say goodbye again.

Time to get back to the real world!

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Cackling Stitches Creepy Critters BOM - June

I can't believe it is June already...where has the time gone. The first of the month means a new block or two for the "Creepy Critters" BOM at Cackling Stitches. I love joining my wicked friends, Joan from Moosestash Quilting and Carla from Creatin' in the Sticks, to make these blocks. Check out the new blocks on our Facebook page, Cackling Stitches, HERE.

This is my version of "Creepy Critters"

Here's how the BOM works at Cackling Stitches:

The BOM will run from February 1st to August 30th.

On the 1st day of each month we will release block patterns that will be free until the next block(s) is released. 

Once new blocks are released, the previous month's blocks will no longer be free. They will be available in our Etsy stores at a cost of $2.

On September 1st the entire pattern will be combined and sold in our Etsy stores for $10.

We hope you appreciate the time we put into creating the BOM quilt and understand that we are keeping the costs to a minimum. If you're quick to get the patterns during the month they are free, there will be no cost to you.

February - Rotary Rita can be found in my Etsy store, HERE.