Lucy Boston

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

August is running out...

Not a whole lotta-stitching going on, but
lots and lots of fun times with the family this month -
we revived an old vacation plan and it was a blast.
(I think I've shared before that I love my family and friends?)
 
It started 20 years ago and every Summer for a decade,
a group of family and friends,
about 50 total, traveled about 5 hours south and
'roughed it'...rustic cabins, campers, tents, or boat living
on a lake for the week...

This time, this year, with all of us being 20 years older,
I didn't know what to expect...
There were 22 total that went.
Three cabins, two campers, and one couple that slept on their boat.
Also four ski boats and a few jet skis.
The cabins were a little more updated, 
but basically it was the same vacation experience that we had 20 years ago...
still good food, still good times, so many laughs and amazing relaxation.
Totally no cell phone service 
(which I thought might be a problem for a certain age group),
was not a problem, at all.
And, the week? It Was Fantastic, and Unplugged.
 
missing a couple, but for the record, Fun Times!

I did learn that this older body of mine
does not water-ski well any more.  At all.
But I tried and laughed and tried again and again.
And I'll try it again next year.
'Cause that's the plan - to go again next year.
Every single person that went WANTS to do it again,
from the two- and four-year olds up to us pushing-60 folks.
Even the ones that were leery of going in the first place.
Multi-generational vacations are just,
well, a wonderful and fun learning experience. 
For every age group.
Making memories. Making laugh lines. Bonding.
Learning skills or trying to relearn. lol 
Sweet times with family and friends.

Happy end of August!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

surprise, surprise...

more quilt pictures!

I can now share the wedding quilt
that I was commissioned to make
as a surprise from parents
to their son and new daughter-in-law
for their wedding:
 Larger than queen-size, with pillow shams,
in navy and coral, their wedding colors.

The Crazy 9-patch pattern was chosen, and I used 36 different fabrics in the blocks, plus the border and backing fabrics. 
It was fun to make, and they loved it!
So nice to make people happy,
and doing what makes me happy!!! lol.

Now getting ready for the annual family reunion,
so back to work for me!
Hope your week is wonderful!!!

Friday, August 12, 2016

I miss big quilt shows; and living vicariously

Here in central Ohio,
we are no longer host to a big quilt show.
I'm bummed. More than bummed.  Almost depressed.
But it didn't really register with me that I was sad,
until recently seeing friends sharing photos online of
big quilt shows that they've attended.

This area of central Ohio has a great quilter presence!
and many quilt shops,
but...
I'd mentioned Many Times previously, 
to whomever would listen,
when the large show was hosted here locally,
that we were so blessed to have a great show
within reasonable driving distance.
And I may have also mentioned that we should all represent! and
attend in groves!!!

Alas, my words were not heard by enough people...
or we didn't represent well enough.
Now, I could drive the five plus hours north and visit a show this weekend.
Or in October I could drive the ten plus hours west.  But I have things to do here at home!

Many thanks to Rosemary, Judy, and Wendy, and so many others who have shared their
recent quilt show experiences in pictures (especially all the ones from the Sisters show!).
Love you gals and guys!!!

Guess I'll live vicariously through my friends' online pictures
to see what I'm missing, and for my quilty motivation and inspiration!

I'll finish with a couple of pictures of some quilty inspiration 
from previous shows and travels:
A Winner - from past NQA show locally
Good Wives from Ohio One Stop Shop Hop
The back of the bus fun - from Always In Stitches show road-trip

Monday, August 1, 2016

Gwennie inspired, round 3

I have the next 'round' done on my
version of the Medallion Sew-along!

The third part/round was to add my own version of
Log Cabins...
This sew-along is inspired after the
style of Gwen Marston.
She has a VERY free style of piecing that I really enjoy...
Whatever she comes up with is good.  
The seams don't have to match.
The points in blocks can be cut off.
No rules.
And that was my plan...
I thought I could do a freestyle version, 
with block centers and 'logs' of different sizes...
and found out that:  I. COULD. NOT.!!!
I even stitched up some free-style log cabin blocks 
with random width logs and random sized centers.
And promptly un-stitched them.  lol

Just couldn't do it.  
So, as freestyle as I could get was changing up the 
finished sizes of my log cabin blocks: 
there are 3.5,   5.5 and  9.5 inch blocks;
Then I got REALLY wild and put a couple of them on point(!),
and, I did purposely only put three borders of log cabins -
how's THAT for free-style?!
Though that last may change when I hear what the 
next month's challenge is. 

At this point, my quilt measures 
about 35 inches by 40 inches 
(I believe without going to measure it).

It has been fun to not have a pattern to follow, 
but just the idea for the month's challenge.  
And, I learned that I'm not so good at free-styling. :)

Can't wait to see what everyone else came up with for the month!!!
(I'll link up to those later.)

Happy beginning of August to all!
Debra