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.  ;-)

Mid July

I really didn't plan on being away for two weeks.  Life just seems to have something new and exciting every day.  I feel out of the loop as I have been off of the computer much of the time as we entertained company, celebrated the 4th of July and started the busy season of canning.  Two peach trees are done and one to go.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was the recipient of the June blocks for the Gridster Bee.  They have all come in and I just love the way this is coming together.   I'll add a few more Confetti Stars and get this put together shortly.

Meanwhile, as we move on to the next month's Gridster Bee blocks I completed my August block for Debbie - IG littlebirdquilts.  I have seen this quilt popping up on the different blogs and think Debbie's bright colors will look so nice.

Our July 4th party was loads of fun.  I always feel so blessed that the children have been able to grow up together.  Their cousins are their best friends and they always have someone to join them in whatever they do.

Pre sparkler instructions.

Serious yearly Corn Hole tournament.

They just look mischievous with those water balloons.

Master chef!

For Father's Day the kids gave their dad a Sous Vide immersion cooker.  We finally had a chance to try it out over the weekend and loved it.  We did a pork loin on Saturday night that was so moist and tasty.  Sunday we did a steak and it was also fantastic.  It is an interesting concept in cooking as the meat and herbs are cooked in a sealed bag and placed into warmed water (thus the ping pong balls to reduce water evaporation).  It is then finished off by searing a few seconds in a hot skillet.  It is great for timing the meal to be done at a certain time.  We were both very impressed and will be using this often.

I recently was selected as a winner of this beautiful Mulberry Lane jelly roll from Cherry Blossoms Quilting.  I just love the colors in these fabrics and look forward to making a quilt with it.  I have followed Cherry for many years and love her creative pieces.  One of my favorite quilts that I hang each year is a pattern of hers - the Feathered Christmas.

Tomorrow the girls and I start the pickles.  I'm looking forward to the fun.

Happy May

Here we are in May!  How did we get here so quickly?  May also means that my month for being the queen bee for our Gridster bee is NEXT month.  That means I need to get my act together and make a choice as to what I want my fellow bee mates to stitch for me. 

I have so enjoyed each of the blocks that have been chosen this year.  We've had pigs, bees and pineapples in the mix.  Such fun!  I've been playing around with a couple of blocks that I thought might interest me.  I admired the kaleidoscope block from Crazy Mom Quilts and made a few to test them out. 

Crazy Mom Quilts Kaleidoscope free block in her Craftsy shop.

Next up I tried a Confetti Star block that was a choice in our bee from last year.  I loved it when we did it and found all of the completed stars stunning together. 

Confetti Star free block by Amy Friend, duringquiettime.com

I finally tried a totally scrappy strip block, but it did not do much for me.  I think it would be a fun strippy block pattern, but not for my bee choice.  In the end I decided that I will use the Confetti Star block.  It will be fun to get different stars from fabrics not in my stash.

One more month of geese is completed for my Temperature Quilt 2017.  As you can see, there were no blues in this month - definitely a warmer month.  May is also looking good so far with the oranges in there, but today is cooler and drizzly.  ;-(

Temperature Quilt 2017

I managed to finally get my En Provence top quilted this week.  The binding is stitched down and I will now spend some quiet time hand stitching it down.  This was such a pretty Bonnie Hunter QAL this year. 

May is always such a busy month in our household with seven birthdays, Mother's Day and our anniversary.  There will also be five graduations as well as a Confirmation and First Communion.  It will be endless celebrating here.