Saturday, July 23, 2016

What I’m not Doing on My Summer Vacation

Dear friends, I’m writing you from a summery state of captivity. For the past month, I’ve been held against my will by two little boys and a golden retriever. We’ve been spending our days going to the pool and running around the playroom, talking Pokemon and eating ice cream. Perhaps this doesn’t sound like prison to you, but my captors do not support my quilting hobby.

I know this because every time I sit down to accomplish something at my sewing machine, I am interrupted by “Mom, he’s hitting me!” or “Mom, Rose is eating a shoe!” Well, I will show them. I’m going to finish some quilts this summer if it kills me (and it very well may).

I am close to completing five projects. I have two quilt tops that are finished and set aside for Miss Mary to do her magic (blogged about here and here). I have three other tops that I am going to quilt myself. This past week, when summer school and camp provided me some time alone, I did a little binge basting ...

I paired these sweet foxes with scraps from Grape Fizz to sew this quilt top.
(The design is Stitched in Color's Penny Patch Quilt.)


My guild reviewed the basics of paper piecing by sewing these Dutch Windmill blocks.
(The design is from Red Delicious Life.)

How is your summer going? Are you like those teacher friends of mine who have 10 glorious weeks to churn out quilt after quilt at their leisure, or do you find yourself as I do, running around the house in a bathing suit, armed with a water blaster and chasing after a 7-year-old, thinking, “I am too old for this!”

What are you doing on your summer vacation? We want to know!

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday ...

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20 comments:

  1. Oh my god - I think your captors are conspiring with mine! I, too, have been held against my will going to the pool and theme parks, all the while unable to quilt without being interrupted. The only way I've gotten any sewing done is to give him a project of his own to sew. I am blown away by the guild quilt using my pattern. It's even more stunning in a real quilt! I think I need to make an entire quilt with my own pattern now.

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  2. LOL The imagery you paint here is very vivid, and while you might feel to old to run around with a water blaster, it has a feeling of fun that I don't have in my life. :)

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  3. Ooh, those tops look lovely! I have been staying up way too late and using that time to sew, which honestly is a terrible idea, and yet, night after night, I can't quit it! :) This morning, I was trying to clean my house as we have guests coming later, and in the brief time I spent downstairs, my youngest two managed to trash the upstairs, including writing all over the walls of my staircase with pencil. It. Never. Ends. :) Good luck!

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  4. You may not be making too many quilts, but you are definitely making memories! I do love the quilts that you have managed to work on.

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  5. Your summer is mid-winter. With no children to wrangle, I am focusing on my gran.
    The water blaster sounds like our Christmas party. Water balloons were the favourite gift of the small boys and everyone started a water fight with the neighbours. It was over 100F (in your language) on Christmas day.

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  6. You probably don't want to read this, and I remember people saying these things to me, but it turns out it's true. Your little ones will be big before you can turn around, and they will be entertaining themselves. I wish daily to have all those times back when I told mine I would be with them in just a minute, then once I got to them it was too late to see what they had to show me.
    The tops you have made are beautiful! You have gotten much more done than I have with my great big boys in my house! My time and energy stealer is my job away from home. Dang it! Keep up the good work!

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  7. I love your black and pales kaleidoscope at least I think it is one. Since I'm retired I don't have to wrangle any kids anymore and I can sew if and when I want to. Unfortunately, motivation is a bit low right now but it should be picking up soon!

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  8. That Dutch Windmill is gorgeous!!!! I am spending all my time working on releasing a new product and trying not to assault my coworkers out of frustration. I'd rather use the bail money to buy fabric. :P Great summer, hunh?

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  9. 10. Glorious. {Unproductive} Weeks. Running around with a super soaker sounds amazing, beats being mauled by a pug in constant need of close body contact.

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  10. Do your captors require your devoted attention every 13 seconds to "Mommy, watch this!" like mine do, too? I feel like there is theoretically time in the day to sneak in a few stitches here or there -- moments when we are too tired to swim any longer or play another game of wiffle ball -- but then comes the indoor activities that require me to admire, consult on, or sit and watch. So I've just accepted that unless they are in bed, I am not sewing.
    That said, ours are much cuter captors than the ones I've seen in the news, and have much sweeter personalities, too. Plus, they give lots and lots of awesome hugs and kisses along with their torture ;)

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  11. Thanks for the chuckle. Sounds like your captors are keeping you busy. I spent two weeks in a tent at Girl Guide camp so no sewing for me. Now trying to get back into the swing of things. I have high hopes for the month of August.

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  12. You have a much more eloquent way of summing up my summer so far! I made it up to my studio for exactly 17 minutes tonight before I was forcibly ejected by heat stroke and pleas for ice cream. Apparently quilting is a fall sport;-)

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  13. Your summer sounds wonderful! Savor those moments. I am lucky to pull a "hi mom" from my teenager these days. (Although I do still get in depth discussions about Pokemon too). Are your little ones interested in your sewing at all? Mine has always shown an interest in helping me pick out fabric. It could be family project time.

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  14. Hi Michelle. Wow those are gorgeous quilts! I love the Dutch Windmill quilt you made, stunning colors. I'm filling my summer with quilting and crochet :) Starting to blog full time from now on, so it will be a lovely summer!

    xo Irene

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  15. I've been there!!! It is true, before long they will all be grown and you will fondly remember those moments! Like most moms, you will find a way to work around those little ones and complete every thing...Super Hero Moms!

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  16. Sounds like your captivity is going well, at least you are still having fun :) With my kids, I think that they know the second I start sewing because they can be playing well for an hour and they hear the first stitch then they start in with the complaining and fighting.

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  17. Hi! Your summer days sound very busy! Summer is usually busy also here but at the moment I start to take time for quilting. I'm making small quilt with simpled storm at sea pattern and it looks just a little bit like your beautiful Dutch windmill. x Teje

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  18. They look beautiful - I love the Fabric in your windmill quilt. Puppy antics and summer play with the boys hard to compete with!

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  19. love the penny patch quilt! Hope your captors decide to set you free soon. :)

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  20. My summer has been surprisingly slow and quiet, which seems to be the way it goes with older kids. They spend so much time READING, which I surely can't complain about. So, I think I've been sewing a little more? I'll be adding you to my reader!

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