I'm still here + Art Quilt Block #3

Hey everyone! It looks like a few of you thought I fell off the face of the earth or am in total burn out. Ha ha! Neither of the two are true. Truth is we've just survived the busiest June yet with the girls this summer. My calendar was a jumbled mess....so much so that I had to create what I called the *sub-calender* which attached to my main calendar. Our summer started right off the bat with summer league volleyball and basketball for the girls. Since Josey is starting high school next year and Jordy is still in grade school, it's a whole new ball game. Two sets of schedules, games and practices to attend. I hate to even think about the mileage we put on the SUV during the month of June! I think we were only home 3-4 hours at a time during June. Whew.

Here's my favorite photo from basketball. The junior high team played the high school team. Sister vs. Sister.....Red on Red!

Then it was time for our annual camp out in the timber. 12 giggly girls this summer. Unfortunately it turned into a stormy night so these little rug rats all ended up in our basement watching movies til the morning light.......til good ol' dad had had enough.
Definitely had to take time out this summer to enjoy a few of these. Life passes by too quickly to be stuck behind a computer all summer long.
Throw 5-6, all weekend long softball tournaments into the mix and then things got even busier. Totally worth it for this 3rd place trophy at State!
Add in a few little jaunts around the country side.....Jordy and I found these great, old cars in my dad's pasture. We definitely had to have Grandpa take us down memory lane with these beauties. Plus Jordan and I scored some good bicycle tires and hub caps for wall art.
July rolls around and the celebrations begin. First up was my mom's birthday, then Josey's birthday on the 4th. Add in more friends over for a birthday part and a fun filled night of writing every one's names with sparklers. This photo below spells out *Josey*.

And what does July 5th, the day after Josey's 14th birthday bring? A trip to the DMV so Josey can take her first driver's test. She passed!! We now have a driver on our hands asking us to go anywhere and everywhere so that she can get her 50 hours of driving in. We started her out on this cute little red number. Just her speed, don't you think?

So we've been having a jolly old time here in the country. We're still helping my MIL along with her cancer treatments. Great news for her and the outcome couldn't be more hopeful!! Thank God for that. Now we just have to get my sister out of the woods....she had an 8 hour back surgery yesterday that was very extensive.

Our July is shaping up nicely. Still lots of summer activities but I at least have some time to be at home for a good stretch of the day. I'm looking forward to get crafty with my stamps + paper...sewing up a storm...catching up on my Project Life pages....and creating some fun things for the shop. Two more ball tournaments to go + basketball camps + hopefully we can plan a family vacation. Life is good!!

I had plans to work in my craft room all afternoon but my plans have already been altered. Our friend is coming over to trim out a few windows for my craft room and the girls' new teenage *lounge* that we're converting from their old play room. Can't pass up on a handy man when you get the chance, right?

So I think I'll show you my latest version of my Art Quilt. This is block #3 for me. You can click on the *art quilt* label at the end of this post to see my other Art Quilt block posts. I just found out that a neighboring town is having a quilt show in October, featuring family quilts. My dad is going to display his grandmother's quilt that she worked on while riding in a covered wagon from Pennsylvania to Kansas + my grandmother's quilt that she hand quilted and hand embroidered for our town's 125th anniversary. I'm hoping to display one of Jordan's quilts and perhaps my Art Quilt if I get enough blocks done.

Here's the full view of Art Block #3. 8.5 " square and this one features an old crocheted pot holder I picked up at the thrift shop. A few of the trims and baubles were from Melissa Phillips, who is also working on an art quilt this summer. The other items are from my vintage stash of goodies.
These old potholders are so fun to collect in a basket. Lots of pretty handy work done here.
Pom pom trim was hand stitched on with embroidery thread.
I just love the dimension to these blocks. So fun to get out a box of goodies and just piece it all together.
Have you started your own art quilt? I'd love to see what you've done. Just leave a comment here with a link or you can post a link on my Facebook Fan Page.

Speaking of Facebook.....if you have requested me as a friend on my regular Facebook page, please don't be offended that I have not acknowledged your request. I'm keeping that page for my friends and family around here locally. But I would love to have you *like* me on my fan page (see the link at the left side of my blog). You can ask questions, link me up with your favorite projects,etc. We get some good conversations going there some day. Plus I link all my projects there so if you check in on FB, you can keep in the loop of my blog happenings.

Okay now. This post felt like a book so I'm going to sign off now. I feel the need to clean my craft room a bit before my handy man gets here. Geez, how can it be so messy when I've not been in there for nearly a month!!?

Art Quilt Block #2

TGIF friends! So glad you stopped by today. Today I am sharing my Art Quilt Block #2 with you. You can find my first Art Quilt Block at this post, along with links to Melissa's quilt block. She and I are taking on this venture this summer. Just creating as we go along.....adding fabric and little snippets and findings here and there.

My blocks measure 8.5" square and I intend to make some sort of wall hanging with mine,using linen for the quilt base. I've added lots of wonderful snippets that Melissa sent me. We swapped some supplies just for fun. Come to think of it as I look at this block, everything here was sent to me from Melissa except the base fabric, linen colored crotched trim and my hand cut doily piece. That girl really knows what I like! Hand stitching with little *x's* was done this time on the pom pom trim.

And more *x's* on the paper accent. The little doily piece was hand cut from a tattered table doily.

I love this creative process. No pre-planning required, just piece it together as I go. This block took less than 30 minutes to assemble, not including the hand stitching. On each piece I'm planning to do some hand embroidery....or maybe enlist Jordan to help out since she is so good at it. I'm saving that work til the end because I'm not sure quite yet what words or little images I want to use. I think a heart would be good on this block, to tie in with the words on the paper piece.
Hope you enjoy! Have you done any sewing this summer? We're close to getting Jordan's second quilt top finished. She's using vintage sheets and fabric, all from thrift stores. The little stinker is on her second quilt and I don't have ONE done yet!

Off to ballgames this weekend.

Art Quilt Block #1

Hey there Friday Friends. This afternoon I'd like to show you my first completed Art Quilt Block. Melissa Phillips and I are taking on this fun venture this summer and we're sharing out finished blocks as we go along. You can read my first post that talks more about the inspiration for the art quilts here. And you can see Melissa's beautiful art block here. So beautiful.

And here's my first art quilt block. I decided to make my blocks mostly out of fabric so that I can turn my completed blocks into an actual quilt to hang on the wall. My block sizes are 8.5" square.
A few items that I want to have present on each art block are: a doily or piece of lace or trim of some sort....vintage white buttons....hand stitching and I'll probably even add some embroidered words at some point to all of my blocks...and new and old fabrics.
I have decided that I love old and new fabrics so much that I can choose between them for projects. On this block I used a new polka dot fabric but then added a floral piece of vintage sheet, an old doily and a vintage hankie. I love the idea that I'm adding something new that represents my day and age to something old that perhaps my grandmother would have sewn with. I love that combo.
Melissa sent me the beautiful silver buckle and some beaded stick pins that I knew would be perfect for my vintage hankie. I tied on a paper ticket embellished with a fabric covered button. I think that my paper goodies will be attached on tickets or tags of some sort just in case I decide to go with all fabric/sewn pieces at some point.
When I'm all done with my art quilt blocks I'm going to use some beautiful linen fabric that I found at the thrift shop as the in between borders. It's so soft and pretty and makes a beautiful backdrop for the colorful blocks. Hope you enjoy! If you have any ideas to share about what I could add to my art block pieces, I'm all ears. Just leave your message in the comments section. Thanks for stopping by.

Be sure to check out my Papertrey newsletter post just below this one. :)