I'm Ecstatic!

Yep!  Today I finished the Mariner's Compass quilt!! I am so excited for my DH to see it but he is out of town until later tonight.  So I will just show you first! Heehee!  It is all quilted [by me], bound and labeled!! I am very pleased with the results!! What do you think?  

Some artsy photos!!

For anyone that is following my blog, I started quiltingbydawn back in January when I started this very quilt.  I was a bit overwhelmed as I never did a quilt quite so complicated.  I wanted to chart my progress.  Kinda like Julie in the movie Julie & Julia.  That's where I got the idea and before you know it I was blogging.  I have since become addicted!  Mostly because of the inspiration and creativity among quilt bloggers and such.  So although this quilt is a FINISH, my blogging will go on.  Enjoy!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from some summer fun!

Here we are at Ravinia celebrating our very good friend, Ruth's birthday!  Where's the birthday girl?  Well, as you can see, we were busy trying to keep dry. The tarps and umbrellas were used throughout the night.  We actually had a great time even if we ended up drenched in the end!

Here is my birthday and Father's Day!  We shared the day this year!  Notice Ruth [in the purple] who was missing from her birthday pictures!  She made the most delicious cake for me! Thanks Ruth!  Love this family!!

Here are some pretty cactus flowers blooming in the yard.  They are the most brilliant yellow!

I should also mention that I signed up for a applique posy needle case swap!  Michele from Quilting Bloggers is doing the swap.  Sign ups are still going on so hop on over here and sign up.  This is my first swap and I am pretty excited to find out who my swap partner will be!