Quiltin' 'n' Hikin'

I finished a 60" x 60" throw on Monday.  It used many pieces of the purple fat quarters I received in a birthday swap last year.  I have plenty more!  The background is a piece I bought in the annual birthday sale at the LQS last year, too, so this is indeed a Dresden Plate birthday throw.

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, especially the stippling around the plates.  They really stand out.  It's now on sale at my etsy shop, and a friend nagged me until I made a Facebook page for Cobble Hill Quilts, too.  This same friend has proposed that we develop a line of note cards with my quilts and her sayings.  The prototype she showed me is lovely.

I've been quilting a baby quilt this week, and now all I need to do is sew down the binding.  I'm saving it for a fall raffle in the library's children's room.

Mostly, I've been hiking in the town forest.  I joined seven ladies yesterday morning, and Paul and I took another five people up today.  There are so many trails that every time we can see something new.  Some of the trails are more forest-like while others hover around the quarries.  Here's a photo I took of the Monday group coming down a skinny trail to a look out.

It was a gloomy, cool day, but we had fun.  My friend Suzy, who led the walk, really knows her ferns, and I had no idea there were so many different varieties.  Another person, a birdwatcher (complete with binoculars), pointed out the Oven Birds call.  She said one rarely sees them because they nest on the ground, but they are what we often hear.  This is fun, and I'm hoping it will lead to a slimmer me.  We can always hope!