Summer Photos

 

Its been a month since I checked in on the blog.  Not a lot of quilting going on just spending time outside with my camera.  My main focus has been birds and the challenge of capturing their motion. That part still needs a lot of work and practice but I have mastered the sitting bird!  LOL!

I discovered a large patch of Milkweed near my home so now understand why I have been spotting more Monarch Butterflies this year.  Didn't catch any on the Milkweed just one blurry shot of it flying away!  Lots of bees and butterflies and I even spotted a hummingbird in the patch. 

Did get this nice shot of the Monarch in my flowers so made up for the failed attempts in the Milkweed patch!

We have been kayaking every week since the beginning of June.  Retired life is great as we can just head out when the weather is good.

Spent some time at a relatives cottage and enjoyed some stargazing while photographing the Milky Way.  Was thrilled to see I caught a Perseids meteor breaking up in my selfie shot!  

And of coarse my hummingbirds are still my main focus. We now have about 6 regular visitors to our feeders on the front deck.  Can get chaotic at times as they fight and speed around but very entertaining.

Love the tail fan!

I did manage to get one to come to me to feed out of my hand feeder, now he sits on the table and guards it, too cute. 

I also am trying a window feeder so I can watch them closer from inside the house. ( Yes I'm aware how obsessed I am with them). ;)  It took a few weeks for the hummers to start using it and now it is being used often. Its fun to watch them checking out their reflection. I can also sit quite close to the window and as long as I don't move suddenly they will stay. 

 One of my favorite shots this month, a hummingbird in the spruce tree.

So that has been my summer so far and I have been doing some sewing but I'll save that for another post.  

Cupola View Quilt

Last year I purchased a fat quarter bundle from Periwinkle Quilting called Earth Views, a collection by Karen Nyberg who is a NASA Astronaut. I just love this fabric as they represent different ecosystems on Earth seem from the Space Station.  Karen also co-wrote a pattern with Sarah Ruiz called Cupola Views and I knew right away that I wanted to make it!

   

The fat quarter bundle had 30 fabrics and the pattern only required 24 but I wanted to use all the fabrics, couldn't leave any out!  So I added 3 extra triangle units to each row to make it larger. I also left the side edges pointy as I didn't want to cut the side straight. I made bias binding to finish the quilt.

I hand appliqued the circles onto the quilt top using the freezer paper method and made my own templates for cutting out the circles that had the extra 1/4" around for turning the edge.

I wanted the quilting to be simple so I chose Ebb and Flow for the pantograph design, used dark purple So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

I used a blue wide backing from Wilmington Textiles.

My youngest son has laid claim to this quilt, he said his other quilt was boring compared to this one! :)

 

As you can see by the photos it is a bit hazy here with a mix of cloud and light smoke.

 It was a rare calm day on the river so had to take the quilt down to the dock for pictures.

 

Summer Break

 

July and August are the months I close the doors to my longarming business and enjoy the warm summer days.  We have been heading out in our kayaks and taking along my camera to capture any wildlife encounters.  We have been checking in on a loon family on Clearwater lake along with the otters, turtles and a muskrat.

Snapping turtle sunning on a rock.

Muskrat heading into an abandoned beaver hut.

I have been stopping by the rookery to see the Herons every Sunday and watching the chicks grow.  They are still in there nests but ready to fly any day now.

June 4th - returning to the nest with sticks to fix the nests.

June 18 - chicks are starting to show their heads.

Adults busy flying back and forth with food.

June 25 - Chicks are growing and very hungry.

The chicks in these two nests are a few weeks older than the ones pictures above.

July 2- Nest are getting pretty crowded with 3 and 4 chicks. They are getting aggressive with the other chicks as well.

This is where I take my photos from, along Highway 71.  We have had a few cars stop to see what I was taking pictures of, most have no idea this rookery is right there. 

My view from the road.

July 9 - Chicks are almost the size of the adults.

 Photos are a bit blurry as they are taken through a lot of dead trees ( see photo above)  to get a view of this particular nest. 

She is making her getaway as there is no room in the nest for her.

I can't believe there is still 4 chicks in this nest.

I didn't go check on the herons today as it was raining but noticed them in the nests yesterday when we drove by.  Hope to get one more day of photos to complete my photo journal of their development. 

And as always I love photographing my hummingbirds!

 

Today Tim noticed that when it was raining one of the male hummingbirds was hiding in the sunflower by the garage.

He was preening his feathers and  keeping dry under the large leaves.

Oh and I had a cute porcupine visit the yard last week.

I have been getting ready for another craft sale and busy making more bags.  I'm also working on finishing one of my own quilt which I will share when that is done!  

Hope you have having a lovely July!  

Pineapple Pop Quilt

Bev pieced this fun Pineapple Pop Quilt using a pattern by Stacy Iest Hsu.  She used a mix of Grunge, Art Gallery fabrics and solids to make the pineapple blocks.

She ask it be quilted with the Square Spiral pantograph which added perfect texture.  The thread used is a pink So Fine and the batting is Quilters Dream Blend.

The backing is a wide Shot Cotton called Peppered Cotton.  I absolute love Shot Cottons on quilt backs as they are yarn dyed so there is never any thread spin where the needle pokes through.  It also has a lovely sheen to it and very soft to the touch.