July 22, Wednesday.

So this is how I've been spending lots of my time these days....adoring my new grandson, Luke. He's 6 weeks old now. This photo was taken when he was only 2 wks. old, but I really like to look at it. He was so tiny then. He weighs 10 lbs. now.

Westerville was voted #15 out of 100 small towns that were the best to live in in the United States. This is one of the reasons I love going downtown (which people call Uptown). They have the most beautiful hanging baskets and pots. So charming.

Don't you just love pink hydrangeas? This is one of mine and I can't quit staring at it. It truly is an amazing creation with all the tiny individual flowers gathering into one large flower.

Here's the quilt that I entered in the United Quilt Guild Biennial Quilt Show. I put it together with 36 of the 50 blocks I received from my friends. They made me the blocks when I moved to Westerville. It really is awesome up close. The quilting was done by Janet Amlin of London, Ohio. She did a super job. The quilt won 2nd place in the Group Quilt category. I was very pleased with that. I feel so lucky to have such good friends...I miss being a part of that group. I sure wish you could see this quilt really close up because all that yellow/gold you see on the black background is a massive amount of machine quilting done by my good friend, Linda Henderson. She won Best Machine Quilting in the same show! That's quite an accomplishment considering that she uses a regular home Janome sewing machine to do all of her quilting!! She also won 1st place in the Mixed Category for Bed Quilts. I'm so proud of how she's grown so much as a quilter. She and I started with the same machine quilting classes and she has surpassed me by miles.

Mark and I went to the Dayton Air Show on Sunday the 19th. What fun those shows are. Makes me think of my dad who was in the Air Force. The two photos below show the Brazilian Smoke Squadron creating a design for you to see.

A heart!

I have been knitting, but haven't been taking photos. Dishcloths aren't too exciting to see...I've been cranking out quite a few of those lately because they are quick and I can't post one photo of the main project I'm working on because it's a surprise for someone.

In the sewing room I've been working on curtains for Luke's bedroom. I'll take a photo of those once they are all hung. I have not started quilting his quilt yet because there's another baby who may be making her arrival as I type this that needs her quilt made. So many babies this year!!! I love it!

Quilt photos as promised....

The colors in this quilt were much more vibrant in person. The background is brown and the light blue color is actually a wonderful aqua color. This quilt was made by Linda Roy of Knoxville, TN, who is known for her hand applique of tiny bias stems sewn in a celtic pattern. She won a Judges Choice award.

This quilt is just downright beautiful too. It won for Best Hand Quilting in the Quilt Odessey Show in Hershey, PA, but didn't get a ribbon at the NQA show here in Columbus, Ohio. It was made by Barbara Clem of Rockford, IL.

This was just one of my favorites of the whole show. It won an Honorable Mention award in the Pictorial Quilt category. It was dye painted and machine quilted with lots of colored threads to create the wrinkles and creases in an elephant's skin. Very well done! It was made by Pat Rollie of Los Angeles, CA.

Another pictorial quilt that happened to win Best Of Show in the Wallhanging category was made by Gina Perkes, Lynn Drennen, and Marilyn Smith of Payson, AZ. Good job ladies!

This was the Best of Show Bed Quilt made by Renae Haddadin of Sandy, UT. I've been watching her quilts in each show as the years have gone by and this one was obviously her best yet. I believe this was her first Best of Show. She's young, so I hope we'll get to see her in many quilt shows in the years to come. Her machine quilting is incredible! Be sure to click on each photo so you can see the close-up version.

I'll place some from our United Quilt Guild Show in the next post.

Off to the golf course to walk 18. Good exercise!