Officially Fall

There used to be a saying that went something like "the faster I go, the behinder I get".  With the official arrival of fall and the coming holidays, I am beginning to feel that way.  Where has the year gone?

The weather has changed here.  I've had to add an extra blanket to the bed as our temps have dropped into the 40s at night.  The daylight hours are shorter as well.  I wish I lived in an endless summer world.

Our Sewing With Friends group just finished our last mug rug swap.  I made one for Ida and I received one from Sara,  This is the one I sent to Ida who lives in El Paso.

The pattern was from Quiet Play.

This is the cute mug rug I received from Sara.

I also neglected to post the beautiful hexie mug rug that I received from Irene.

Our next round of swaps with this group is going to be fabric postcards.  We've had so much fun over the last few years doing a Round Robin quilt, a Row by Row quilt and our mug rugs.

With Halloween coming up, our daughter asked me if I would do Ghostbuster jumpsuits for the children.  It's so nice to get asked with plenty of time to work on the costumes.

Yesterday was spent mending - very boring sewing in my opinion, but I have been working on a Valor Quilt.   This was from a block that I liked from our Gridster Bee.  It starts off with little flag blocks and grows as you add the stars around it.

Blue stars....

Red stars.....

The sashing comes next.  The pattern can be found HERE.

We watched the five little ones for a few days and I managed to have some fun sewing time with the girls while the boys were busy building dominoes.

My Temperature Quilt is quite colorful this month with our highs and lows.  I'll share it in my next post.

Farewell to September.  I welcome a new decade of my life in October.  I'll ring it in properly!

Mid September

Gosh...here it is - almost mid September.  Fall décor is everywhere.  It won't be long before Christmas decorations start appearing.

I had a dear friend come up for a much too short visit, but she brought some treasured quilts along with her to share.  One that particularly grabbed my attention was a stunning yo yo quilt.  It was made by her Aunt Tillie.  I think that the yellow background drew me to it instantly.  It was BIG and so heavy.  It was also in fabulous condition.

Look at the great fabrics that were used .... if they could only talk..... and the wonderful arrangement of the yo yos.  Oh...those tiny stitches.  I wonder how long it took her to make it.

That scalloped border.....SWOON!

Leisa (no blog), our Gridster Bee recipient for October, sent us some African fabrics that her parents had collected for her.   We were to make the African Queen blocks by Anne Batiste using the fabrics.  The fabrics really called to be used with fussy cutting and these are my blocks for her.

Our September started off super hot, but has mellowed out a bit as seen in my Temperature Quilt.  We had two days about 105* so I actually had to find a new color for it.

I'm also continuing to finish off the Confetti Star blocks from my Gridster Bee choice.  I needed a few more blocks to bring it to the size that I want it.   I am looking forward to having this quilt finished as I love the blocks that I received.

These cooler days will slow down the wonderful summer garden that we have enjoyed.  Our son is growing some of the giant pumpkins this year in his garden and they are HUGE.  I have no idea how he is going to move them from the location where they are growing, but it should be interesting.

The late laid eggs of the tortoises are now hatching.  I forget how quickly they grow, but seeing the new one next to August's hatchlings really makes me realize how fast they grow.

We had an exciting weekend as a guest of Stanislaus Foods in California's Central Valley and were able to tour their tomato processing plant and their Corto Olive Oil Co.  It was fun to follow the tomatoes from field to canned in under five hours.  The olive oil production will start in October.  The tours were just fascinating.  I would have loved to share some photos, but no photographing was allowed.  I am always amazed at the machinery that is created for each job along the line.  Machines play such a huge role in our lives and I am in awe of the people who develop machines to do the various tasks.

We have another busy weekend coming up as we are keeping five grandchildren and one dog while their parents are away. There won't be much computer time.  ;-)

PPPP

It's that time of the year again for Ida's Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade or PPPP.  There are lots of great prizes to be won and lots of pincushion inspiration to be had.  Be sure to check it out HERE.

I really haven't added many pincushions to my collection this year.  One thing that I do is make pincushions for the granddaughters as they learn to sew with me.  This was one that I made this year.

Another pincushion that I added was an elongated one to rest along the front of my sewing machine.  I have seen so many of them and they are the perfect shape for placing right where they are needed.  This one was made out of scraps and made up so quickly.  I stuff all of my pincushions with walnut shells and fiberfill to give them the needed weight to keep them in place.

Ida asked that we also add our "ugly" pincushions to the parade.  Although these are pretty worn and ugly, there is no way I could part with them.

The first is from my beginning sewing days.  It has definitely seen better days.  It is now used very gently as I do not want to completely wear it out.

This last one is a true treasure as it was made by one of my granddaughters when she first learned to sew.  She is now in college!

So.....pop over to Ida's and show us your pincushions.