Summer Sewing Time!

Jennifer, at Ellison Lane Quilts, is hosting a Summer Sewing contest on her blog. I thought I would enter my recent quilt finish, River Stones. I know a lot of people think bright, saturated colors when they think summer (I do too), but I think there is something to be said for the quietness of neutrals that are found in nature. We spend a ton of time outdoors in the summer, and I love the peaceful serenity that happens simply by being outside. This quilt reminds me of stones from a river, and the quilting (hopefully) looks like ripples in the water. I, for one, am looking forward to hanging out with the kids along the bank of the river, feeling the coolness of the water on our toes as they collect rocks for their every growing rock collection. Now that's a good summer! (p.s. A word of warning: if your kids like a collect rocks, remind yourself to check their pockets befor you do the laundry. I have washed some of the strangest things by forgetting this step. We don't want the joys of summer to lead to buying a new washing machine...)
Be sure to check out all the other links in the contest!

A couple of blocks...

Just popping in to say a quick hello before I'm off for bed.  I feel like I've been sewing up a storm without much to show for it.  Why do I always get more done in my head than with my hands?!  People, there are some beautiful quilts in my head...if even 5% come to life I'll be a busy (happy) girl :).  So here's a couple of blocks I've done recently:

 This one is for Megan, my sweet, fellow Kingsport, TN friend, who happens to be the VP of our guild (TMQG).  She provided these fun solids and asked for clean lines. I've been toying with the idea of a filmstrip looking block, and I was excited to try it out here.  I hope she likes it!

And next are blocks I made for me! - It's my turn in the Modern Blocks Bee and I spent ages trying to decide which block to have bee members do.  I changed my mind about a zillion times, but in the end decided to do the practical thing and ask for help with a quilt for my little guy's bed. I sent out various fabrics in solids and prints in the color scheme of red, blue, gray and white, asking for square inspired blocks.  I'm hoping for a variety of blocks in different sizes, unified with the color scheme and square shape repeat.  Here are two I've made:

This is a giant (24 inch) block I just sort of improved.

This one is from the book we are using (Modern Blocks) and is called Pinball Machine by Jessica Brown.

This has been so fun and I'm excited to see how this quilt turns out!