Lazy Summer Days

We are having a wonderful, relaxing time at the lake. We have a wonderful shade tree where we have set up some lounge chairs. We have spent quite a bit of time there while watching the clouds and the lake. Yeah, it doesn't suck.

My view from the lounge chair

The lake is Bear Lake on the border of Utah and Idaho. We are on the Utah side. My parents bought the lot over 50 years ago. I grew up here, spending most of the summer at the lake. I am lucky that the property is still in the family. I remember when my Dad and the neighbors constructed the flag pole and we have been flying the flag since. Love the view of the flag and the clouds.

Eddy

My boys love it at the lake. This is Eddy, our "little" guy. Loves to be right next to his dad.

Peaty

This is Peaty, our big boy. He loves to be next to his mama. Peaty is getting older and has some health issues. But still loves to come to the lake, just doesn't like the 8 hour drive to get there.

Lazy summer Dish Rag knitting

I failed on my socks for the Tour De Sock, stage one. So I picked up my dishrag knitting bag. Perfect, mindless summer knitting when enjoying the view is the most important thing to accomplish.

Failed sock

I did not take a photograph before ripping out the knitting on the sock. I had hoped to give the socks to my daughter. She said the pattern was ok, but she was not enthused about the design. And when she said that the yarn was too pretty to waste on that design, it sealed the fate of this project. I do like the texture design and hope to use it on a dish rag. It would be a wonderful scrubby texture. After I complete the green dish rag I will try it out.

Trouble maker shawl

Not quite a fail, but just giving me trouble. Since I am using a very fine yarn I am using small beads. And my normal crochet hook method of adding the beads isn't working, my smallest hook doesn't fit in the bead. So I was trying various dental floss methods, but had the wrong kind. I bought the floss of choice yesterday when I went to the big city to shop. So hope to get caught up on this guy.

Alternate project.

I did not have room to pack a sewing machine with a machine project, so I brought this ongoing hand sewing project. It has only come out of the bag for the photo op. I hope to finish the last light flower and get him sewn into the center so that I can start planning what comes next. This is a design and build as you go project. I have a lot of hexagons wrapped. But didn't have the right one to finish the center portion. I think I will do a dark round next. Who knows?

I am linking to Amanda Jean, Nina-Marie, Myra
Beth, Emily, Judy, Beth, Nicole, Lorna

A real Finish!

I wanted to get something finished to enter in the Springville Art Museum's annual quilt show. I had a friend visiting last week and I had pulled out this top to show her. She gave me some very good input, so I was able to finish this piece in time.

Making matchsticks

I decided to try matchstick quilting. My piece is curved, so the lines are slightly curved to match the piecing.

And more matchsticks

You start off with quilting lines that are spaced out and then quilt in between. And then again, in between. Helps keep everything smooth and secure, no shifting.

another view

The colors are more accurate in this photograph. Again, blogger rotated my photograph.

I think it is enough

I could have gone one more session of adding lines in between, but since I was already into the sixth bobbin on a 30"x 24" piece, I decided it was enough. I would like to try it another time, maybe on a smaller test piece.

close up

I used a dark charcoal colored thread. I am pleased with the effect! One of the things that Helen and I had done was audition thread colors.

Finished!

I have titled this piece "Embrace the Curve".  

Loved this!

The car club in town hosted a little park and show your stuff downtown this week. We went down to look. Fun! Only about a dozen or so cars.  But fun anyway.  I loved this sign on a mini cooper.

I am linking to Nina-Marie, Myra, Amanda Jean, April, Tweety, Beth
Emily Beth, Judy Nicole, Lorna

A Week at the Lake

We are spending the week at the family cabin at Bear Lake. It has been lovely! The weather is nice, the water is up and we are missing the record hot temps back home. I brought along a couple of knitting projects to work on this week.

Baby Hat

First up is a baby hat for our nephew and his wife. They are expecting a little girl in October. I think every baby needs a hand knit hat to wear when coming home for the first time.

Warm up pattern

Next up is the warm up pattern for this year's Tour de Sock. Although it says it is a speed knitting competition, it is very relaxed. You can race for speed or just for fun. There are teams and for a donation to a worthwhile charity, Doctors without Borders, you get 6 patterns and a lot of fun. This year the competition starts a bit late, so there is a bonus 7th pattern to warm up for the race.

colorwork

I am not very big on colorwork on a sock. But I decided to try it out on the warm up sock. I think it looks good! But it is a struggle for me to get the tension correct.

One sock finished!

I finished the first sock last night. I left off the colorwork on the foot since that is in the shoe and won't be seen. Since this pattern doesn't count for points, I don't have to worry about altering the pattern.

Crafting space

My studio space this week! Along with the appropriate beverage for a summer day at the lake.

White Columbine

My Dad planted columbine all over the yard. There are a lot of color combinations, I love the all white version.

Snow in Summer

Another perennial that shows up this time of year is Snow in Summer. It has a very small blossom and grey foliage.

Daisy

There are also a lot of Daisy plants that come back every year! So cheerful!

Another Columbine

Another lovely color combination on a columbine!

Bear Lake

I love this lake! My parents bought our lot in 1965. My Dad built the cabin the next year. I grew up here! We spent almost every weekend at the lake. Along with at least 2 full weeks during the summer.

Peaty swimming

My dog loves to swim! Even though the water is a bit too cold for me, he still has to do a quick swim. The water is usually warm enough about the 4th of July.

Classic Lake View

I love watching the sailboats on the lake! There were only a few this week, but by July there will be a lot more.

Geese

In recent years the water level has been way down. It is close to the high water mark and so the view of the water is very close. I enjoy watching the water fowl. Here are some geese. We also saw ducks and pelicans. Sometimes there are swans as well.

I am linking to Nina-Marie, Amanda Jean, Julie, Sarah Emily,Beth, Judy, Beth Nicole, Lorna

Making a tiny bit of progress, better than none at all.

This time of year the 3 quilts on our bed has dwindled to just one. I still like this quilt, I made it over 15 years ago. I date things by where we were living and we were still in Salt Lake when it was made. I use it quite a bit. I do rotate what quilts are on the bed and this one is there frequently.

My Bed

It is starting to show some wear. I made this using my Dice N' Splice technique.

Repair needed

There are several sections that look like the photograph above. Nice thing is that it is an easy repair. Stupid thing is I don't think about it except when I am under the quilt and this is in my face.

Binding issue

There is one small section of the binding coming loose. Again, a very simple repair.  Just need to think of it during the day and not after I get into bed.

Bunny by Grandma

In the late 80's and early 90's my parents were living in Friday Harbor, Washington. A friend of hers had a pattern for the bunny and my mother made one for each of the grandchildren. I believe this is the only one left. It was made for my son who just turned 35!

Charlotte

Why does blogger rotate my photographs? UGH! Anyway this is Charlotte. When we were getting our house in Salt Lake ready to put on the market, I found an old doll crib that my dad had made for me when I was very young. My daughters were then young adults and it had been stashed away to store. I had told my walking buddy, Sandy, about the crib and how I was disappointed that I did not have a single doll from my child hood. So a few weeks later she shows up to my door to go walking and from behind her back she pulls out Charlotte! She made me a doll for my crib!  The doll crib has been passed on to my granddaughter.

Sheep

A good friend was teaching a class on this sheep doll. I thought it was fun! The "sheepskin" is batting.

July

August

October

Still working on my block of the month samples. I did skip September because the floral I had out worked better for the October block. Just trying to get ahead of the game. There is no guild meeting in July, conflicts with the 4th of July, so I am caught up for the August meeting.

I am linking to Amanda Jean, Nina-Marie, Myra, Abigail, Sarah, Tweety, Emily, Beth, Small Quilts
Lorna

Treasure Hunt

I thought that all the quilts I was going to be able to see on our trip would be at the Cornbread Festival's special exhibit of the Inspired by the National Parks quilts. I was wrong! My new sister-in-law, Chris, pulled out of a trunk two quilts made by her Grandmother!

Pinwheel

The first quilt is a pinwheel block set off with plain squares. I believe the print fabrics are 30's. Chris said that she had heard that the quilt was made from feed sacks.

Old blanket

The quilt has some disrepair. It has been well loved. The batting is an old chenille blanket! The quilt weighs a ton!

Machine quilted

This quilt was machine quilted. I believe that it is the only quilting that was done, contemporary to the making of the quilt.

Full view

Each block is made using only two fabrics. The backgrounds are all solid colors. There are some fabrics used more than once, but I believe each block combo is different.

The backing

A totally unrelated fabric was used for the backing. It was also folded to the front of the quilt to make the binding.

Bowtie

The second quilt was made using polyester double knits! My guess it would have been made in the 70's. It has some fantastic double knits!  Even the knots of the bowties are made from fancy double knits.

Love it!

I can just see this as a dressy dress!

And printed double knit!

I love how the fancy yellow from the knot in the first block is used as a background in the lavender block.

The whole quilt

The blocks were definitely laid out in a pattern. I would imagine that the blocks were made using scraps.

Bowtie back

Interestingly enough this quilt has a cotton backing. Which is also folded to the front as a binding. The quilt is hand quilted. What treasures for Chris to own these wonderful quilts made by her grandmother! Although Chris was raised in Louisiana, her mother's family is from Mississippi, so these are Mississippi made quilts.

Great Smoky Mountains

After our visit with Matt and Chris we headed a bit farther East to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Oh my! What a wonderful place!  We stayed in the campground at Cades Cove. We also took a drive through Newfound Gap and hiked up to the Clingman's Dome for wonderful views. We will definitely be going back again,

Wall of Shame

I don't understand people. This is a photograph of graffiti on a cabin in the park. People proudly signing and dating their names on a historic landmark despite signs everywhere pleading to leave no trace. It is happening on every building in Cades Cove. Some of the dates were as recent as March of this year. Such a disgrace. It is because of this kind of behavior that eventually the park will have to close the buildings and you will only be able to view them from a distance instead of being able to walk in and feel the essence of  how it was to live there. What is wrong with people? Such a wonderful, historic place and they have to ruin it for future generations.

Turtle Rock

We stopped at a campground in Wyoming for a night. The feature was Turtle Rock. We hiked the trail going around it, probably 4 miles. I still have to google it, the sign did not state the distance. It was fun. Lot of families were there since it was Mother's Day.

Linking to Nina-Marie, Amanda Jean, Myra, Cynthia, Sarah, Emily, Nicole