Digging Up the Oldies

Whilst trying to stay out of the way of workmen, I have been spending a lot of time in my secret (and quiet) space.  I’ve been having fun pulling out some of my older projects to finish off. 

I found this cute pattern, Happy Jack, about five years ago.  Each year I say I am going to make it!  Well….it is now underway.



I have always loved Halloween and have been invited to participate in the Halloween Haunts 2015 Blog Hop so I really want to finish this happy fellow off to share.  Have you done any of these projects using the fusible grids?  I love my Santa and snowman that I have done using this technique.

I also pulled out my Little Letters that was a QAL with Temecula Quilt Company.  I needed to finish my last row of letters and get it quilted and bound.   The colors look a bit washed out here, but the letters are more distinguished looking.



Since the colors were kind of marine-ish looking, I chose to piece the back with a whimsical sea scene.



It’s been a busy week with family birthdays and farewell parties for college bound grandchildren.  Tuesday evening we spent at the Hollywood Bowl.  It is such a beautiful place to spend a summer evening.

Sorry for the fuzzy cell phone picture.

The big screen was there because they showed the film 2001- A Space Oddessy while the L.A. Philharmonic played the music.  The music was incredible, but the film was rather strange - in my humble opinion. 

The  weekend is here and I am looking forward to the quiet in the house.  The remainder of the grands return to school next week so I guess that means it really is the end of the summer.  How quickly it went this year!  I’m already missing the extra daylight, but I am looking forward to the winter rains they are forecasting for us.   We just need to finish getting prepared for it – tree trimming, roof checked, drains cleared, etc.  Maybe I should get sandbags!!!  Of course, if we are all ready you know it won’t happen. 

August Goals

I'm a tad late in getting my August goals set.  It's not that I don't have a million items that I could list for the month, but the time is going to be short for sewing.  I need to keep my goals realistic if I want to have a finish.  So.....I have decided to finish up my Easy Street from last winter's QAL.  I loved the project and I really can't wait to finish it up.   I am linking up to A Lovely Year Of Finishes.

With August already in full swing I am noticing the trend towards fall.  I am seeing a definite change in the daylight hours and we have had a hint of fall in the air.  Some of the trees are actually changing their colors already.  How quickly the summer has slipped past!

I saw a quick and easy table runner in one of the quilting magazines and thought it would make a nice gift for a friend whom I am going to visit.  I may have to make one for myself too.

My Kindle died a quick death this past week - in the middle of a good book.  You can actually trade your dead ones in for a discount on a new one.  Who knew????  The problem is that the new one is much smaller than my old one so it did not fit into my handy case.  To protect the new one, I made a padded case to store it in when I am through reading.  It works great.

We had a fun weekend attending a Diana Ross concert at the Hollywood Bowl with some friends.  The concert was wonderful and she still has an amazing voice. 

Yesterday I was able to attend our granddaughter's dressage lesson.   I think if she ran away from home she would go live at the stable.  She just loves the horses. 

Week Recap

This week seems to have flown right past me.  We really did enjoy lots of fun times.  The kids have all returned to school and summer vacation is but a memory.

We were invited by a dear friend to attend the L.A. Philharmonic perform at the Hollywood Bowl.  They served us a delicious dinner in our seats and then we were entertained under the stars to music from Beethoven, Elgar and Wagner.  It was a fabulous evening.

I've spent a good portion of the week in the garden.  The roses have performed so poorly this summer with our weather that I did a good cutback on them and fertilized them in hopes of warmer fall weather.  To explain just how bad the weather has been for them, I was able to find about four roses that were decent for picking to bring in the house and I have over one hundred rose bushes!!!!

We celebrated two birthdays - one for our granddaughter on the 5th and DH's today.  We gathered here for a big family BBQ on Sunday afternoon.  It was a great day.  I just love watching all the kids playing together.  They are all such good friends. 

Of course I managed to get a few bits of sewing in to finish off the week.  One project was to embroider names on aprons for my DIL.  She threw a surprise "make your own pizza" birthday party for our GD.  She had an apron for each girl to wear and take home with them.   I thought was such a fabulous idea.

I finished the quilt top for our newest grandbaby - pink with dolls!!  I know she will love it as she gets older.

The second block in the Raggedly Ann and Andy quilt went up nicely.  I am looking forward to the next block now.

I have also been working on a couple of bridesmaids jackets for our niece's wedding next month.  No pictures of them yet as I am not quite finished.