Sew Every Day- 2

July 2: Stitched 96 HST, then joined them to plain squares. 48 half-blocks done.

I'm sewing something every day of July with Pat Sloan.

Sew Every Day

 I am accepting Pat Sloan's challenge to sew something every day in July.  I think I can do it. Julia and I have our machines set up on the dining room table, and we're ready to go!

Day 1: Stitched 63 camp ties for Girl Scout camp. 

Also, made test blocks for Chevron & On from the March/April 2013 issue of Quilty.

Will you accept the challenge?

Family Vacation

 We've been on vacation in Washington, DC! This was probably our last family vacation together for a good long while. Here are just a few highlights.

First stop: The Capitol.

 The Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial)

(The Sunset Parade was awesome!)

National Museum of the Marine Corps

B-29 at the Udvar-Hazy Center

(Bill's father was a navigator on a B-29 during WWII.)

Marine Barracks at 8th & I.

(Evening Parade was rained out, but we talked to some very nice Marines.)

Are you sensing a theme? We had a great week, but we are happy to be heading home. Lots of quilting needs to get done next week, so stay tuned!

Ten Minute Table Runner

Even though I should be doing a million other things, I pulled some fabric for a ten minute table runner. Am I the last sewist to make one of these?

 OK, so it took me about 20 minutes, which is still pretty quick. I used this tutorial, but there are a bunch out there. Watch a video if you can't visualize it on "paper."

Now I'd better get back to the more important party prep!

Graduation Party Crafts

 I decided I needed a red, white and blue wreath for my front door for Pete's graduation party. I checked every craft store for a pre-made wreath, but no luck. So I bought a wreath form and a pile of flowers on clearance. It's not perfect (bow is too small, needs more white flowers, reds not spaced evenly). We like it anyway, especially on our red door.

 I saw this idea on Pinterest to make candy firecrackers. The original post used rolls of Lifesavers candies, but Pete is a Mentos man. How long will it take for him to realize there are a dozen rolls of Mentos in the house? You can see my graduation party Pinterest board here for more patriotic inspiration.

We gave Pete his custom made book last night. (We made one for Julia when she graduated from high school last year.) My husband, Bill, writes a poem and I lay out the book with lots and lots of photos. Their yearbook photos are on the covers. It's impossible to read these books without shedding a tear or two!

I used CVS Photo for these books. When I made Julia's, I liked their backgrounds the best. I wanted Pete's to be the same size (8" X 8"), so I used CVS again. I've used Blurb for other books and I like their service, too. I get a little obsessive when I create these books, staying up much too late moving photos around and trying different layouts.

Pete's Graduation

 My son, Pete, graduated from high school last night and I couldn't be happier! I don't have to yell at him to do his homework ever again! The Marine Corps drill instructors will take care of that for me.

As his name was called to cross the stage, he switched caps! He took off his mortarboard and put on the Marines cap that he has worn almost every day for over two years, including two proms. Everyone loved it! A few dads and grandpas greeted him with a "Semper Fi" after the ceremony.

Lots of party prep will be going on this week. Yesterday, I made this banner to hang above the dessert table. I love my die cut machine. I don't use it often, but when I do, it is totally worth the space it takes up.

Are you sensing the patriotic theme? Decorations and paper products will all be red, white and blue with stars and stripes. I'll reuse some of them for his Eagle Scout ceremony in August and his going away party in September. Yes, he gets three parties!

Random Wrap Up

 I received an email recently informing me I had been awarded a Gold Star Badge by the staff of The Quilt Pattern Magazine. My friend and fellow Ninnie, Barbara Chojnacki, wrote a review of my blog for the June 2013 issue. Thank you Barbara and QPM!

I entered the Friendship Star Mini in Ellison Lane's Modern Mini Challenge.

Hop over and take a look at all of the inspiring minis! 

I've been busy painting furniture for Pete's room (I'll show you soon). The only sewing I managed to do was two more Girl Scout pillowcases for Julia and her best friend. I cut these out last May, along with the ones I gave to the other graduating seniors from my troop. There were other priorities, and these had to wait. (Genevieve got a whole quilt, so don't feel bad for her.) When I went to pull fabric for the one I needed last week, I found these and had to get them finished. I was NOT putting them back in the pile!

 Julia is plugging along on the Old Italian blocks and has passed the half-way mark. Add eighteen to the twenty that were done for the last post. Each pair is our favorite as they are being stitched, then she pulls out the next pair and we love them even more!

It's senior week for Pete, so we attended the athletic awards banquet. He was on the swim team for 4 years (captain this year), and ran cross country and track for two years. He learned to pole vault this year!

Next up: Graduation!