Two Finished Tops and a Small Project

At the beginning of July I made a solo trip to see my brothers at Otsego Lake, Michigan, always a happy time.  This time I didn't stay in the cabin that I share with my youngest brother, because he had a houseful of grandchildren.  Instead I stayed with my other brother and his wife, always fun and gracious hosts, at their place a few doors down.

I set up my sewing space on a little table in their screened-in porch, with large windows facing the lake -- every bit as beautiful a view as I have from the picnic table on the porch in our cabin.  But here there was an added treat -- a hummingbird feeder on the window just above my sewing machine.  The hummers come all day long, often two or even three at a time.

Interestingly, they like to perch to feed, so I couldn't get a typical photo with a blur of wings.  But the backlight gave a lovely silhouette effect.  Are you jealous?!?

For the week I brought a suitcase full of sewing projects (thank you, Southwest, for the free checked bags!).  My main goal was to sandwich and quilt one of the Otsego quilts, which I had originally planned to send to the longarmer.  Unfortunately, there just wasn't sufficient flat space to spread out, so that went back into the suitcase.  

I did get most of the remaining blocks from the Checkerboard Rails leader-and-ender project sewn into a quilt top.  I'd already made one small lap size top (which I neglected to post! 😖), but I couldn't decide whether to make it bigger or to just make a second top.  I finally decided on two quilts, and this would be the second one.  Now both tops are ready to sandwich and quilt.  Yay!  I think they'll be nice to have on the boat on chilly evenings.

The bad news is that I still have a big bag of strips that I'd already cut for this project, overestimating what I'd need.  They need to find a home.  Sooo.... do I make these bigger?  Do I make a third quilt?  Do I just stuff them in the ottoman I plan to make?  Argh, I am not a decisive decision-maker!  

I also made up some napkins to go with a tablecloth that I'd bought a couple of years ago.  

I never knew quite what to do; then just before I headed north, my local quilt shop got a collection of wonderful lemon-themed fabrics.  Bingo!  The napkins are two semicircles of different fabrics.  Simple as can be; the "trick" is in the folding.  The pattern suggests stitching along the fold lines, but that didn't seem necessary.  I did decide to topstitch the edges.

And in between these projects, I did more piecing on the Ringo Lake quilt.  

So much for busy-work projects; time to dig into the quilting of the Otsego quilts.  It doesn't look like they will get done in time to take them up on my return trip to Michigan in August.  After the Michigan trip, hubby and I headed to Memphis to hang with our grandsons and see our daughter's new house.  Then we flew back to Long Island with the boys in tow, spent a couple of days here, then I flew to Baltimore with them on their return trip home.  There was a 3-hour layover at BWI and I figured they could use some chaperoning.  After three RT flights in a month, I'm ready to stay on the ground for a while!

While in Memphis, I visited an amazing quilt show that I will share with you next time.  'Til then.