I love summer, don't you?

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It used to be autumn that was my favorite time of year but I am really enjoying this summer weather. Yes, it is hot and muggy, but the daylilies are in full bloom and I've got some purple wildflowers that are so pretty..

I got my Christmas quilt back from Whippersnappers today. Lynn Irish did such a good job with the holly design ! I love it.. I had to re-cut the entire quilt last year and stitch it together again so she had a little trouble with the borders (where I had done the stupid mitering before I realized the quilt was wonky and needed recutting.. ) but it didn't really show where she'd had the trouble, and as Sue says "a blind man would be happy to see it!"

I went out back to take pics and here's my clematis (the Japanese beetles have been at it.. sigh) but it's holding up well in the heat.My hollyhocks over by the barn are blooming for the first time and I am very pleased with them. I've got another set by the back of the house but they aren't as picturesque.



The wall by the corner of the front yard is dressed in yellow and peach with some lovely lilies, but I can't remember what they are called. I purchased them the first summer we lived here.

I need to get into the sewing room and back to work but I picked up two books from Marie Bostwick's Cobbled Court series and they are calling to me.. Time to make some iced tea and pull up a comfy chair...
Later, y'all !

Note to self: rolling chairs and treadle machines don't play well together.

OW. My leg still hurts from the attempt. And it took me awhile to realize it, too. That's the worst part. How foolish you feel once you realize, "duhhh... it's the wheels causing the problems.."
Oh well. Par for the course in my universe ! It goes along with another life lesson, "Rolling the rotary cutter backward to catch a bit of uncut fabric is not a good idea when you use your thumb as a stop." Hey, did I ever claim to be a genius?? Well, there you have it.

I don't want to be on Randy Cassingham's list of Obliviots, so I am trying to be a little more aware of what I do BEFORE I do it.. I bought a new rotary cutter that is a bit safer, and I put a straight chair at the treadle machine.

Did I mention I dropped a sewing machine on my foot at work last week? Well, yeah, it wasn't intentional.. the top wasn't on tight, apparently.. my toe is finally beginning to look like a human toe again. I tell ya, if I weren't such a klutz there would be a lot less entertainment value in my blog..

Now on to more interesting things. I saw an eagle today, soaring high over a giant flagpole in Greene, Maine this afternoon. At first I thought he was a finial at the top of the pole but then I realized he was in the sky behind the pole. Cool ! His white wingtips flashed in the sun as he wheeled and drifted on a rising thermal current. That was great. I wish I had had my camera with me !
I've seen a half dozen eagles this year. One was sitting on a cow skeleton by the river, a few months ago. Another was dragging a 10 foot long tree branch through the air and having quite a time of it, but he was determined not to let go. (I was glad, because had he dropped it, it might have made my car insurance rates even higher than they are.... )
That's one of the great things about living in Maine. I see an abundance of wildlife, and in my 50 mile drive to work there are some brilliant views... One of these days I need to post some pictures of those views. The view from Turner's Upper Road is spectacular. You can see the Presidential Range in New Hampshire from there. I'll see if I can get pictures of that sometime soon.
My boss' niece writes the SouleMama blog, and her pictures of Maine are fabulous if you ever get a chance to see them.
Anyway.. Thanks to my pals Wilda and Val for their comments on my last post. It's good to be back in blogger land again !

where to begin, or re-begin or whatever you call it.. ?

It's been over a year since I have blogged and people are beginning to ask me if I intend to resume (ah! That's the word I was looking for !) blogging.
I finally worked out just what to click on so I could post again ! (I'm a bit thick at times) I kept finding my blog but not where to add new posts. Where IS Captain Obvious when you need him ?

The past year has been very busy. I returned to Maine in June 2010 and have been trying to get caught up with projects ever since. My previous employer asked me to come back to work at the quilt shop, and I wrecked my car shortly thereafter.. then my husband totaled his on the first significant snowfall of the winter.. and we just kept having one snowfall after another after another..

But eventually spring arrived. Things are green again. Yippee ! And we have lupines !

I spent a lot of time in the sewing room a lot during the bad weather.

I hadn't wanted to do much embroidery on my Bernina because the stitch quality was so bad, but recently I had the machine tuned up and we discovered that I had bent the bobbin case when I dropped it on that lovely tile floor at the Vineyard apartment. It was warped and caused the bobbin to drag and threw the tensions all off! No wonder my stitches were so messed up... I purchased a new bobbin case (Bernina seems to think all Americans are made of money, but that's neither here nor there.)
What a difference it made ! Sew, now I am getting back into the embroidery side of things and I've completed several projects already.

Here is one bag I made for my friend Lynne at the Heath Hen quilt shop. The turquoise and purple table runner was embroidered with a quilting design from Dakota Collectibles as a sample for Creative Sewing Center
The black bag wasn't embroidered but it was such a daunting task I was terrified of starting it. It took me almost three years from the time I bought the pattern till I actually finished sewing the bag, but I love how it turned out. It's from a pattern called The Professional Tote, and every bit is reinforced. It makes a lovely carrying case for my laptop and my lunch and all sorts of other things.. so I just HAD to show it off.
I can't promise to be as interesting a blogger as my friends Susan, Jan and Valeri, but I will try to keep up. Off to find more pictures to bore you with.. I mean, to share.
Catch you later !
Deb