Away and More....

Another week has just zipped past.  The year marches forward.

My dear friend, Ida, is hosting the second annual Pincushion Parade and it is time to link up.  I won't bore you with the slew of pincushions from years past as you can see them HERE, but I will show you my new pincushions from this year.  I LOVE these little bird pincushions and they are so practical.  Filled with crushed walnut shells they are the perfect pincushion to take along on trips.  They are a free downloadable pattern from Deonn at Quiltscapes.  Thanks, Deonn.

Now....you might ask why I have several birds.  Well...I am hosting what I hope will be our first annual Beachside Quilting Retreat this weekend and I made them for the gals who will be attending.  More on that later, but I have to say that I have never attended a quilting retreat so this is a big adventure to not only attend, but to also host.

This year I also added a turtle to my collection and he holds all of my flat pins.  This is a pattern from Sue at Supermom No Cape.

Be sure to check out the Perfectly Pincushion Parade and show off your pincushions.  There are great prizes to be won.

Dear hubby celebrated one of those milestone birthdays this week so we had a big family celebration.  One of our granddaughters celebrated her 17th birthday along with him.

 For his birthday we took a road trip - driving out through Death Valley and into Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas.  We stayed in Red Rock for the night before driving back home.  I loved the view from our room of the swimming pool - a sun shaped pool with ray "pools" extending from it.  It is such a great place to stay in Vegas - away from the strip.

 An update on the baby cockatiels....Day 30 and they are now finding the food bowl and becoming very independent of the parents.  It won't be long before they are completely on their own. They now have lots of feathers and are exercising their wings.

 So....as I said, this is going to be a weekend of sewing for me.  I am looking forward to the fun of a retreat, sewing with friends AND to finishing some projects  Bags are packed and I hope I have it planned out well enough.

Farewell to August

Another month has slipped away at warp speed.  The sun is starting to take on longer shadows and casting an autumn dappling on the hills in the evenings.  The days are shortening.....sigh.  I will be dragged into the new season kicking and screaming the whole way.  I love the holidays, but I still love summer best.

Bits and pieces of sewing have been happening this week.  There was way too much mending as the school uniforms were in need - need of lengthened skirts, hemmed pants, replacing missing buttons and darning sweater holes - all in an attempt to get a bit more use of them.   Mending cuts into quilting time too.  ;-(

I did get my tree skirt quilted and cut into a circle, but will wait to show it until the binding is finished.   Next week is the reveal of the Shadow Block Mini QAL.  I worked on getting mine finished over the weekend.  A sneak peak.....

Week three of the baby cockatiels.  They are growing into their feet.  The pinfeathers are growing like crazy and they will soon look like real birds.  Several have started climbing to the low perches and are eating seeds now.  I'm sure the parents are glad to have less feeding to do.

Summer nights at the Hollywood Bowl are always amazing.  The music by the L.A. Philharmonic was incredible.

Another fun event in blogland this coming week is the annual Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade.  It's a great show each year and there are some wonderful prizes as well.  Be sure to check it out HERE.

Welcome September!!

Christmas is Coming

July seemed to be all about Christmas - so many great ideas.  For me, every year I tell myself that I am going to make a new tree skirt.  Every year as Christmas approaches the time runs out and I move the idea to next year's list.

Several years ago Connie (Freemotion by the River fame) did a beautiful tree skirt in reds.  She was kind enough to send me her link for it and I got busy on the piecing of it this week.  All it needs now is the quilting, cutting and binding.  I think this is the year my new tree skirt will happen.  It was a great use for the red scraps.

Not only that, but look at all of the fun HSTs I have from it.  Hmmmm.

The baby birds are growing.  They are taking on their "vulture" phase this week.  All but the youngest has eyes opened and the ablility to see the world now.  There was real chaos in the cage this week as the oldest baby managed to escape the nesting box.  There was relief in all when I slipped it back in place.  I don't think it will try that again soon.  The size of their feet crack me up.

Today is tree trimming day before the Santa Ana winds start here.  I never cease to be fascinated seeing these men at the top of the huge eucalyptus trees.  The yard always looks so different when the trees are opened up.

There is a fun looking QAL coming up in a few short days.  I am planning on playing along.....how about you?  Check it out here.

I'm off to mending for today - a necessity of life!!

Linking up this week to Fort Worth Fabric Studio, Finished or not Fridays at Busy Hands Quilts, and Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication .