Steam Punk Lone Star, and other finishes

Gosh, It's been so long since I last blogged that I'm not sure I remember how!  My summer was busy with the usual garden tending, kids' swim practices and meets, and holding the fort down while my husband worked with the summer's wildfires.

I did get a lot of sewing in though, and thought it'd be easiest to do a big recap post and see if I can jump start my blog up again!

My latest finish just got quilted a week or so ago, now that the weather is getting cooler.  I took a class, in Walla Walla, WA, called 2 + Two by Colleen Blackwood.  I knew it was going to be for my youngest son, and asked him what colors he wanted, knowing that he really likes these lone star quilts.  His response was "all black".  Ha!  Challenge accepted!

I deviated a bit from the pattern's last piano key border, because I only had the black and script fabric left.

For the star, I quilted gears on the center.

Then pulleys, sin waves and a ring of fire for the borders.  It measures about 85" by 85", and is already being used on my son's bed!!

Below are some other finishes, including my swap block quilt, which I finished just before our May Quilt Show, and 2 queen quilt tops that I finished, a "Square Foot Garden" quilt made with some orphan quilt blocks I'd made a while ago, and Tula Pink's Space Dust pattern, which I made as part of "Quilt Dad's" Space Dust Quilt Along this summer.

If you have a keen eye, you'll notice our redone deck.  We kept the base, but put up a new railing.  Besides visits from family and a wee bit of local travel, our summer was mostly spent at home.  The most exciting news was that my oldest son qualified for the US Swimming Federation National District Swim meet.  He had to have a fast qualifying time for most events, and swam in 4 Freestyle events, placing in the top 12 for 2, and top 25 for 2 more.  This kid can swim!  He also got his first "real" job life guarding at our local public pool!  I'm a proud mama!!

My other pursuit has been sewing with plenty of Pendleton Wool, making and selling lots of goodies, including these beer growler bags.  I'm stocking up my Etsy store for the holiday season, and crossing my fingers!

I hope you all had a fantastic summer!!