Camping was hot! Sammy learned to ride his bike! With training wheels of course, he's very proud of himself. He's the king!

 It's a lovely campground with lake on two sides. The wind from the lake helped keep it cooler, but everybody got too hot and sunburned a little, as well as the usual bug bites, but a good time was had by all.

The latest quilt is basted and I even got a few of the spines quilted on it.

While basting it on a long oval table is not ideal, it works pretty good. I am physically unable to do it on the floor so it is the only alternative I have. It is going to be heavy quilting, not because the quilt is thick but because it is so big. David miss-measured, it is 108 inches square, and the back I pieced was just barely big enough, and there wasn't a lot of wiggle room with the batting either.
And what does a kitty find even more enticing than sleeping on a quilt that's being quilted? Rolling in the pieces that are being pieced.

Inch and a quarter squares went flying every where, and she was having a blast. I wish I could teach her to pick up as easily as she scatters. Not going to happen.

Today was errand day so I didn't get a lot done around here. At my favorite thrift shop there was a nice bag of scrap fabrics that I was thinking of getting, but I politely waited for a woman to go by so as not to crowd her and she scooped it off the shelf right in front of me. Oh well, you snooze you loose. It was a good day for these though.

 Bamboo knitting needles in 3 sizes that I don't have at a fraction of what they would have cost new, so I can't complain.

That is a picture of my bedroom window where Happy kitty is birdwatching. She loves to go high and that's about as high as she could go, outside of course, it's just ground level, and she gets really excited when the bunnies and squirrels go by, as well as watching the birds. Now she's curled up sleeping on the end of the bed as if so much effort wore her out.
We go camping day after tomorrow, the boys are wild with excitement, but they went over to Grandma's so things got considerably quieter. After running all over town this morning I am glad of a quiet afternoon doing some handsewing and maybe taking a little nap. Simple pleasures are the best after all.

As I was digging through the tub of orphan blocks I found these.

No Happy wasn't in the tub, she just wouldn't move so I piled them on top of her. These are blocks I embroidered 30 + years ago and made into a quilt when Ambrosina moved into her big girl bed. I think that it would be fitting to put them on the back of her new quilt. She still has the first quilt, but it is well worn and I wouldn't have it any other way. I make quilts to be used, and I think I would only be hurt if they were put away somewhere and never used because they were too "good". On second thought, it might bother me if they were used to move furniture.
I finished all but the hand sewing on the little boys vests this morning, so that project is coming along pretty good. Pants tomorrow, then I will be done and go onto something else. It's always amazing to me how many projects are waiting in the wings to be done. I'll never be bored!

These are what I have been working on today.

With my helper.

She doesn't like Brunehilde the Viking as much as Juki though. I think it is because Juki is flatter on top and easier to sit on.
The boys' jackets are now ready to do the handwork on and they will be finished. The five year old and the almost 8 year old wear the same size except for length. And while making jackets and pants for little boys isn't my favorite occupation it is filling a need, and blessedly is going quite fast. I decide in advance how much I want to work on them in a given day and then stop and do something fun when I get that far. I'm working on the postage stamp piecing for right now, but I am going to baste a top this weekend so I can start quilting again next week. David measured the top for me and it  is 104 x 104. Pretty big. I decided to buy some shaded thread in blues since Ambrosina's favorite color is blue and that is what she is doing her room in. This one should go easier than the last one, but since it is so big will probably take longer. I've been sketching peacock feathers in my sketch book and I am going to try doing those as the quilting pattern. Quilting will make a nice alternate to clothes construction, I don't have to think so hard!

This morning I went up to the attic and dug this out of the trunk where I have stored some of the completed tops that are waiting for me to quilt.

It is for my dear daughter Ambrosina, who claimed it when I only had two rows put together. It gets quilted next. It is king sized and I suspect I will be working on it for a while. I am glad to see it isn't as pink as I remembered it. She doesn't like pink, because as the only girl with five brothers I am afraid she wore a lot of pink when she was little. Even if I had five girls instead of only one they would have all worn pink. I love pink. I am the only one in the family who likes pink. Almost everyone has blue for their favorite color, so there is always a lot of blue around.
The solid squares are actually machine embroidered blocks. I love doing machine embroidery, and I love designing for machine embroidery and I designed and embroidered those blocks a long time ago when I was using clip art for the basis for the designs. I draw my own now, and so don't make as many as I did then. All the designs in the quilt are Celtic, which appeals strongly to my family and that is why she claimed the quilt.
I also have been working on my postage stamp top a little, the pieces are so small that it doesn't look like I have made much headway, but I think it's going pretty well. I never planned on getting it done quickly, so I am not displeased with the progress I am making.

Outside the dining room window I have a bird house hanging and this year for the first time I have a nesting pair of birds.When I sit and sew I can see their activity. We think it is a pair of house wrens, bird identification not being one of our strong points. The male is sitting on the perch while she is on the nest and he was chasing sparrows away all morning. They just finished the nest yesterday and they are such pretty dainty little birds that we will enjoy watching for the summer or as long as they are with us.  

Two more days this week and our boys are home for the summer! I love it, but quiet times are at a low for a while. We'll be camping next week, at least I think it is next week, I get easily confused. I'll be taking a few days off from quilting, only because I have to wait until payday to get supplies, meanwhile I am doing some sewing for the two younger boys; I got a good start today.
These are a couple of hexagon blocks that I finished yesterday. I love the very complacent kitties in among the lillies.

And the cute little bugs in among smaller lillies.

I need to make 36 blocks of similar colors to go on the next section of quilt and i have four done, so only 32 more to do. I'll be on them for a while, I don't mind, I am enjoying them tremendously.