CELEBRATING a summer to remember! Good to be back in Blogland!

Hello Friends! As I begin this post of photos galore of summer's fun and my quilting busyness of the past 3 monthss, my last post was as Noah's school year was finishing and this post is marking his first day of Junior High....cannot believe how the time flies! The top quilt was a riot to create and quilted by my dear friend Green Fairy who I miss so much! My first time playing with hexis and I sure enjoyed them!

He may have graduated from elementary school, but still such a neat sweet boy.....a boy whose love and dedication to soccer has gotten him on the premiere league for Northshore School District......living and breathing and eating soccer! The summer was filled with visits galore!!!! For my mother's birthday, she and my 2 brothers came and it was the infamous "free for all"......I bought mom a wonderful quilt book and she and I proceeded to piece together during our free time. It had been a long time since I had used so much black and I enjoyed using my stash for this quilt! I will add some floral center at the end. The text is for the back of the quilt. Loved coming back to creating words! And mom's quilt has the flavor of double wedding ring to me, does it to you?.....She is amazing! My sister, Sharon, came for the most marvelous visit with my 2 nephews. WHAT A DREAM FOR ME TO HAVE HER HERE!!! She currently has a wonderful blog post about a quilting book club. She is at fabricsandflowers@blogspot.com. She is highlighting Pillow Pop which I absolutely love! I used a quilt from the book to create my clam shell tree below. Something so happy about it. The boinging quilt on the left was an impromptu exercise one eve after visiting Pinterest. I loved doing some basic modern quilting with Roxy to highlight the angular branches. I will be making a larger quilt with this design in the near future! The turtle quilt is for my dear friend who loves turtles....and her LOVE IS OCEAN-SIZED.....chose the design of this quilt after seeing my sister's Marcelle Medallion.

And one of my favorite things on my phone...when I get photos of babies that are enjoying their baby quilts.....

And a baby quilt inspired by Emily Cier's Bubble Tree pattern for baby Poppy.....

And a miniature Bubble Tree for a girlfriend seeking out her life path.....a little sunshine to light the way from her core.....

And my latest love, silhouettes!.....

And my go to....Houses...Inspired by Tula Pink's latest book with fabulous blocks! I call this, Center of the Universe.....

And to make summer just a little more special, live music with Kenny Chesney....the singer who sings of all the good things that Summer was, is and can be!

Love, Em

The sunshine of spring has me CELEBRATING the NW......will quilt on the go, just give me a beach or pier!

It has been unreal to have a spring with so much sunshine here in Seattle! I have fallen in love with the beaches of my city and delight in picking a spot on the atlas and following the GPS' directions. May you enjoy this collage of photos from my past 4 weeks of travels and CELEBRATING Noah with his sporting activities.

A day of quilting Butterfly Kisses and Celebrating a family of geese

A gorgeous day at Edmond's beach.....so fun to watch the small children playing in the sand, listening to the ferry's horn as it departed and to think of Grandpa Dave as a train passed behind me. A year ago this was the first quilt pictured above, Surf and Sand, I created after having moved to Seattle area. It dawned as me as I was piecing Butterfly Kisses that it is a near year to the date of having pieced Surf and Sand and I am using same fabrics and color scheme....Thinking that each year in April I will piece a new quilt for the series. Plenty for next year's quilt tucked away in a drawer. Ever take a right turn on your travels when your destination is straight ahead? Two days ago on the way to a lunch date with Sean in Georgetown, I had the feeling I should go to Alki Beach in West Seattle. I had an hour....TO my delight as I chose a spot to sit and listen to the barking seals and lapping waves, in front of me was a family of Geese and to watch the triplets sleep, wake up, and then take a field trip was a delight. Happy Thursday! Off to enjoy a day of sunshine with my hubby. Em

Yin-Yang, Celebrating a fallen cowboy and Butterfly Kisses....

I love this Fresh Lemons pattern. Have you visited her blog? It is fabulous!!!! I am titling this quilt, Butterfly Kisses, celebrating a very fun way to love my husband...light rub cheek to cheek and giggles in the heart! Still recall him introducing them to me..... Much to my delight as I was reading this Noteworthy fabric, a bucket list item is a Kenny Chesney concernt...funny thing, on mine too and tickets for June 1st....so fun! A moment of quiet as I create this block and grieve for a young cowboy murdered in my hometown nearly 2 years ago....the photography of the elk herd on his Ranch always stike me with awe. Cannot fathom the grief that the parents still experience as I read their Facebook posts and missing and celebrating their son. Yin-Yang of my quilt room.....From random scraps is born an organized grouping of blocks that create a quilt

Celebrating Earth Day a few days early! With any good celebration comes a spunky group of invitees!

Today the house was quiet and I awoke with a mini quilt in mind....been brewing for a long time....as long as the Quiltmania issue of last fall celebrated the below quilt...I apologize I do not know the artist or title of quilt but I know that I loved it the moment I saw it. Happy Earth day this Monday and Happy Spring today! Em Beauty of color.....

A mini that captures a taste of Vashon and my birthday with Mom....Ready for Roxy tomorrow.

A mini to celebrate my 40th birthday......Mom and I travelled to Vashon Island and enjoyed a night sleeping in a barn....a night we will never forget as we ate cookies and drank wine, watched movies and the next morning...beheld 2 bald eagles creating their nest. Majestic and beautiful and one of those times that I think, "Glad I ventured to the chilly porch to enjoy the view and coffee." To watch bald eagles coming in to the tree with large sticks in their beaks is inspiring, to see them working together is awe-some. A birthday I will not forget and a reminder for me to look for eagles over the next 40 years of life!