WIP and Weedless Wednesday: Triangles and Okra

I spent the last day or 2 FINALLY finishing putting the binding onto my oldest WIP/UFO!!!  I had the binding corners from both it and my "Purple Haze" quilt sitting next to my sewing machine, and they looked so good, that I had to sew them all together.  I have a few strips of binding left over from both as well, so I've been having fun playing around with them!

By the way, my Purple Haze Quilt did not win any prizes at the festival, but the winners were much-deserved, so I'm still very happy.  On other news, my Med Tech Quilt also came back from its trip to the national ASCLS convention in Los Angeles!  I'm still so thrilled that I had the opportunity to share this with other med techs!!

I did the same thing with triangles from my Olympic Inspired quilt which still isn't finished.  I have been having WAY too much fun watching the Olympics on TV each night!  How about those women's gymnasts last night?!  Yea!!!

Here's my (unnamed) UFO finish:

I started this quilt 2 1/2 years ago with a friend.  We took her stash and both made the pattern in one long afternoon.  We both ended up with a big quilt top, but after I got it home, it sat untouched for 2 years.  I think I spent far too much time talking with my girlfriend than matching up colors LOL.  I finally dug it out a few months ago, and first quilted it, then finally got the binding on this week.  The colors just aren't "me" at all, although the back is all my stash fabric, and that's as close as I possibly could match it.  Since my friend and I both have husbands who fight wildfires, I decided that this will be donated to the Phoenix Quilt Project, which is trying to gather enough quilts to donate to each family who lost a home during this year's wildfire season.

When it comes to the garden, today is a very much celebrated day for me!!  The first okra blossom has appeared!  Yea!!

We also have cucumbers starting to roll in, and more red starting to appear here and there!  I just love this time of year!

If you're still with me, thanks for reading, and go check out what others have been working on over at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed.

Friday Finish and Fun With Science at the CREHST Museum

Here it is, my "Purple Haze Bento Box" Quilt!  I actually finished it a week early, and hope to drop it off at a local quilt shop for our local lavender festival quilt show.  It's not one of my all time favorite quilts, but I really enjoyed making it, and other than the yard of lavender fabric and a few fat quarters, I used all stash fabric and scraps.  It's 60 by 60 inches, a nice easy size to make!

Here's the back!!  You can see more details in this post.  Unfortunately, I forgot to put the required 4 inch sleeve on the quilt when I sewed the binding on.  I really don't like sleeves, and having to add one after the binding is on, is not going to be too much fun, but I'll do it.  Maybe I can do some really loose hand sewing, then take it off afterwards.  I discovered by accident that the top part of an old sheet makes an excellent sleeve, so maybe I'll dig through some of my vintage sheet fabric left-overs...

I also thought I'd share a quick fun science video I took with boys this week.  We went to a hidden jewel near our town, the CREHST museum.  It's our favorite, and is all about the Hanford Nuclear Test site in nearby Richland, WA.  It also has some natural history and tons of hands-on displays.  The docents there are mostly retired nuclear workers!  How amazing is THAT?!  If you're ever in the area, stop by!  It is hard to find, and very unassuming from the outside, but it's pretty amazing what they pack into this place!

Here's my favorite display.  You put sand grains on a metal plate that's attached to vibrate at frequencies that you control with a dial.  The patterns that emerge are AMAZING!  I really could have stood there for hours!!

I think quilters all really love patterns, of any type or form!!  I hope you all have a great week-end!

Tuesday (or Thursday) at the Table, and Postcards!

I'm a bit late for Tuesday at the Table over at A Quilter's Table, but better late than never, right?  This week's theme is desserts.  I'm not much of a dessert person, preferring salty food to sweet, but I do like pies and cookies and make them occasionally.  It's summer though, and not a good time to heat up the kitchen.  During the summer we break out our electric ice cream machine and make up a batch of something every week or 2. 

 It's a fantastic way to use all of that yummy fruit from the farmer's market!  My favorite ice cream is the vanilla "cooked custard" type, but it requires a LOT of work... splitting vanilla beans, heating the custard, tempering the eggs, cooling it all down.  Ugh!  When we want it, and want it now, we simple dump a quart of Greek yogurt into the maker and flip the switch!!  Yum!!

I also thought I'd share the beautiful postcards that came in the mail this week!  The skill of these swappers just astounds me!!  I think over half of us made beach scenes.  Ahhhhh  Perfect, as we haven't been to one in a very long time.  One is from a swapper in Colorado (can you guess which card?).  I sure hope she's coping with those horrible fires. 

My husband works in wild-land fire management, and I suspect he'll be very busy this summer.  He's already been put into the action.  For anyone who's interested, here's a website I check frequently when he's out on a fire.  It has a lot of information on it, and is the most reliable source, but not necessarily the most up to date. 

http://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_main.html

A few other bits of news is that I saw the baby quail yesterday!  I sure wish I had a good telephoto lens on my camera to take some good pictures of them.  They are the cutest little fluff balls that you've ever seen!  I also finished quilting my "Purple Haze" Quilt last night, and just need to sew on some binding!  With any luck, I'll have a "Friday Finish" tomorrow!!