"A quilt is a letter to those who look at it."
Before the clock strikes midnight in my part of the world I thought I would participate in Robyn's Colorful "Leafy" Friday.
Leaves come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.
What an inspiration even a simple leaf can be to a quilter.
With Passion
Have you ever entered a quilt, animal, produce, or a baked good in your county fair? Annemarie of Gen X Quilters is having a Summer Fair. We can enjoy this fair in our air conditioned home!
Our county fair is always held in the fall at the beginning of October. This fall will be our 129th fair and the theme is "Everyone's a Hero." Last year attendance was the second best in the fair's history. 353,762 people attended last year. You are probably wondering how I know all this. I get a catalog every year because I have entered quilts and crafts for the last several years. 
As soon as I got the package I opened it up and started looking at every page so I could see what was in the book. When I got to this page I had to read it. These two pages are about the bird called a Song Thrush which is in Europe but in the Eastern United States we have one called a Wood Thrush. When we moved to our six acre wooded property 14 years ago I heard this wonderful song bird I had never heard before. I got my binoculars out and I went searching for this bird. It took me a while but I finally found him. I was so excited. Most springs and summers I enjoy the Wood Thrush song even though I never get to see him. According to my guide he winters in the tropics. Lucky bird.
There is a decline in the Wood Thrush. If you are interested in helping the Wood Thrush to thrive if you live in a wooded area you can download this land manager's guide.
Still pondering the other quilt from the same post. Maybe next week something will come to me.
You are probably wondering what the title means for my post this time. The month before last when I was teaching my applique class one of my students asked if I could teach a Celtic applique class. I said, "Sure." "I even have a sample I could use for the class." All I need to do is finish a little hand quilting and the binding.
No, you are not seeing double. It is funny how two of my students chose to do their flowers in the same colors. This is what they worked on during the past month. We met this past Saturday for more instruction. I have created some applique monsters. These two ladies definitely have a passion for applique. (Pattern is from The New Applique Sampler by Piece O' Cake Designs)
If you have a minute go check out Teresa's top to see how she used red and aqua with a touch of brown in her applique top. Go by and say hi to Judy in Michigan. She is a new blogger and is going to be starting this quilt soon. I think she is excited. Check out her "Smilebox."
I actually got the quilt done several months ago but did not want to post it until I gave it to my son and his wife for their first anniversary which was yesterday. They came over for a celebratory dinner on Friday night. I presented the quilt to them as we were eating dessert.
They got a kick out of reading the messages from those who attended the wedding.
Here is a close up of some the quilting on the borders. A little VW bug with a surf board on top. Both of them surf so it was the perfect quilt design.
Don't you love surprises in the mail? Well I sure do! I got this sweet little bit of a name tag in the mail all the way from Canada from my blog buddy, Karen, aka--KaHolly. Paper piecing is not my passion either so it just makes me smile every time I look at it because it is such tiny paper piecing. The size of the name tag measures at 2" x 2 1/2". 
You all know how much love birds and bird watching. This is a photo of a male cardinal from last winter. KaHolly is having a really cool giveaway. It is a book called Avian Architecture by Peter Goodfellow. It is a book that reveals how birds design, engineer, and build their nests. I know you think I am crazy but I would love a to win this book and if you go over to KaHolly's blog and let her know I sent you I would get another chance to win the book. Plus you can see all her great nature photos.
I finally got some batting and pinned the layers of these two small projects together. I pulled out these two books for a little inspiration. I wish I could say machine quilting was my passion but it is not. Free motion takes a lot of practice so usually when I machine quilt it is straight stitching which can be pretty neat too. I hope to get to work on these two projects soon.
I have also been adding lace to some of these embroidery blocks from a Crabapple Hill free BOM that was offered a while back but as far as I know is no longer available. This little heart is actually a pocket. I will show you later how it makes the pocket when I get it sewn onto the back ground fabric. This is my favorite heart out of all of them.
With Passion,
Here is the other quilt I wanted to show you from the applique group. This was made by Virginia. Isn't it stunning? She loves red so she decided to make all her houses red. This is from Blackbird Designs.
Here is the back and detail shots of the quilting. A local long arm quilter named Theresa did the quilting. The applique and quilting are just stunning.
Here are the newest Hop To It blocks from the other ladies. I did not get mine done because I have been so busy sewing samples. I will do two this month. I don't want to get behind.
There are lots of great things about summer but one of my favorites is all the fresh fruit and veggies. My husband and I go to the local farmers market every Saturday. He even likes shopping there. Check out these really cool scissors for herbs. I used them to chop up some fresh basil on this veggie dish. If you look close you can see the silvers of the basil on top. I got these scissors at the Crate and Barrel store in Washington, DC when I went to see my son and DIL last year.
Look at these luscious green Japanese plums I also got from the farmers market. Some thing new I have not ever tried. They are so sweet and juicy.
Summertime is a great time to do lots of sewing too since it is so hot. As you can see from my applique group show and tell there has been a lot of sewing going on.
Paula made this quilt, "Barefoot in the Park", designed by Stephanie. Paula bought the kit from Karen Gray Design and put it together in a jiffy. Paula also got her Primitive Gatherings wool quilt done too. It is fabulous.
Our facilitator, Kathleen, won this Tree of Life raffle quilt. Congrats Kathleen.
She also made this new top by Jan Patek.
Come back tomorrow. I have a few more show and tell photos from the group to show you.
Here are some of the projects I have been working on. The one above is a new project for a class.
This one is for another class too. The two class projects I will be machine quilting myself so as soon as I get them done I will show them to you.
And look at this pretty new fabric that has come out recently. I am starting a new project with it.
I got a lot accomplished this past weekend and it feels good. Hope you all got to do some sewing too.