Minis and More

Coming September 3rd in Blogland and IG is the Minis and More Parade, hosted by Michele and Sherri.  This month was a block that I have wanted to make for sometime.  What better opportunity than to make it for the parade?  The pattern this month was Trip Around The World Mini Quilt from Samantha of Aqua Paisley Studio.

After making the mini, I am thinking that I may need to make the Scrappy Trip quilt that was going around Blogland several years ago.   Be sure to pop over to Michele and Sherri's blogs to see the other versions of this pattern.

This weeks blocks for the Seeing Stars QAL was called Curvy Star.  The curves were gentle curves so went together quickly.

August is quickly coming to a close so thought I'd post a photo of an up to date Temperature Quilt.  The August row is hanging to the right of the quilt as it is not quilt long enough to add to the bottom yet.  It's definitely been a warmer few months, but you can see that the nights are starting to cool down a bit.

While watering the pots this weekend, I noticed this cute little guy tucked into a plumeria plant.  He was well camouflaged. 

 While we are on plumerias, these are two more that are blooming.  The smell is so heavenly.

 We had a lovely evening out this week at the Hollywood Bowl for a Chopin concert.  The Bowl is such a magnificent place to visit.  We arrive early, enjoy dinner there and then hear great music. 

As the garden starts to slow down a bit, we have been harvesting peaches, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers daily.  Marjorie shared a recipe for mustard pickles with me so I put some up this week.  They are very good. 

The days are definitely shortening.  Fall is coming quickly.  There is a lot of talk about eliminating Daylight Savings Time.  What are your thoughts on it? 

So Dearly QAL, Part 5

Today is my day to share my Part 5 of the So Dearly QAL.  Each Monday on Gosia's blog, Quilts My Way, we are treated to a different version of the month's part of the QAL.  The patterns for all sections are still available HERE and all of the information can be found HERE.

I love paper piecing, especially for the accuracy I can achieve when using the technique.  After printing out my pieces, I mark the proper fabric placement and start sewing.  Initially, I must say that they don't look like much.

The picture becomes a bit clearer once the pieces are trimmed for sewing together.

The real picture comes once those pieces are all sewn into one unit.

When I place all of my sections together, I am beginning to get an idea of the size and the image that this mystery is going to become.

We'd love to have you join in on the fun.  With so many great sponsors for the QAL, there are some really fabulous prizes to be won.

Little Stitching

The week has been busy as we have been saying farewell to the college bound grandchildren with what has been endless parties as well as celebrating family birthdays.  I had to chuckle at my friend, Elizabeth, who was making meal plans for the week.  That would not be something that I would need to worry about.  We ate dinner at home just two nights this past week.  lol

The weekend allowed for a wee bit of sewing.  I decided to join Melissa in her Seeing Stars QAL.  The first block pattern was published this week so there is still plenty of time to join in if you are interested.  I love the Star in a Star pattern.

I also played a bit with my scrappy hearts that my Gridster Bee mates made for me.  I still need to add a border on it, but I really love the way this is turning out.  Setting the blocks on point with sashing was stimulating for the brain!!!

Our DIL adopted a pregnant cat and the little thing had three aby kittens this weekend.  She has already found homes for the kittens and will get the mom fixed as soon as possibly.  The little kittens are so cute - all three are different colors.

I have been working on my Minis and More project for this month.  It is a Trip Around the World mini this month - one that I have wanted to make for awhile.  The Parade is at the beginning of the month so I hope to have it finished for the parade at that time.  No preview here yet!!

Just Like That

…… July is in the past.  Where has the summer gone?  It's hard to imagine that the grandchildren all head back to colleges next week.  It has been so nice having them home all summer.

There really has not been a lot of sewing going on here the past month.  I just sort of "piddled around", as my mom used to say.  I have tried to stay up on my Temperature Quilt 2018.  The past week has been quite toasty.  Yesterday was 103* so the reds are definitely adding some color to the quilt.  The colors are not really true in these photos, but you can see the reds appearing more frequently.

Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts posted a cute little free pelican pattern last week.  When I saw it, I immediately thought of Connie from Freemotion By the River blog.  I played around a bit with it and sent it off to Connie.  Many of you will remember her little pelican, Pelly.  Photo is taken from Connie's blog since I forgot to get a picture before mailing it off.  ;-(

I had a couple of little ones wanting to stitch when they were here one day.  I always enjoy their creativity and look forward to the years ahead of stitching with them.

They enjoy covering Toby while he spends his time in the sewing area with us.  I'll link this photo up with Pets on Quilts.

My BIL saves his old shirts for me for quilting scraps.  Before cutting them up, I like to cut the sleeves off and make wine bottle covers to use as gift wraps.  They are easy to make so thought I would do a quick tutorial to share.

I cut the sleeves at 8.5" below the cuff, but that can be adjusted depending on bottle height.

Turn inside out and stitch a 1/4" seam across the cut edge.

Turn back to right side out.  Cut a 28" piece of ribbon and attach it to the center of the back side of the sleeve - right below the cuff.

Insert wine bottle, fold cuff down and tie ribbon into attractive bow.  This sleeve also has a decorative beaded strand added to dress it up a bit.  The options are endless.

I'll leave you with a picture of my favorite plumeria in bloom.

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Freemotion by the River,  and Pets on Quilts.