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!

Minding My Ps and Qs

This week we started on the consonants in our Repeat QAL - Ps and Qs.  I can actually start spelling words now.

It has been a busy week with birthdays here friends and family.  Last evening we celebrated three birthdays and will celebrate another two this evening.  Although as friends we don't really exchange gifts, I made a few small gifts - a mug rug and a needle case.

I watched some of the little ones last Friday and one of the grandsons came prepared to bake cupcakes.  He had even written the recipe down to bring along.

As we were getting the cupcakes in the oven, I found these two making use of the empty bowl.

One of the granddaughters had a cross country horse event near Solvang over the weekend so we went up to watch her perform.  She and London were flawless in their jumps.

I was very lucky and won this beautiful stack of RJR solids from Cindy's blog - Live a Colorful Life.  They look so pretty all neat and tidy, but I can't wait to untie the ribbon and start sewing with them.

The baby cockatiel is finally getting his face and neck feathers.  I love the ones that will eventually stick up on top of his head.  He is also getting very demanding when it comes to feeding.  The poor dad can't seem to get a break.  Guess it is just like all babies.

In closing....this is what happens when you leave your phone alone and the grandchildren are around.

Lighting

As I mentioned in my last post, my blogging buddy, Soma, is doing a monthly series on photography.  If you have ever viewed her photos you would know how much I love seeing her posts.  This month her challenge was about lighting.  I decided to give it a try with my sewing projects this week.

First off is my word for the Spelling Bee that I have joined this year.  I am the bee queen for March and the words I am going for are sewing related.  First off is my "scissors" photographed in a bright, but shady area.

The next one is the same shot, but taken in bright sunlight at about 2 p.m.  The colors are much truer in the second photo.

Next up are a couple of mug rugs that I made for some friends who joined me for some sewing yesterday.  Both of the photos were taken in the morning light - one in bright sunshine...

....and the other in the filtered light from a patio cover.  The colors in the second one are much truer, but the quilting shows up better in the bright light.

Lastly, it is that time of the year for the kid's school auction.  As I have done for many years, I made a school uniform.  This photo was taken in filtered light....

....and this one was taken inside with a flash.  The detail is much better with the flash as are the colors.

Of course, I am using a point and shoot camera.  I am sure that the results would be much better with a better camera.  Then again....I am so grateful to have a camera where the results can be seen immediately.  Does anyone else remember when we used to have to wait a week for our film to be developed?

I am thoroughly looking forward to the year ahead with all of Soma's great hints.

In other happenings this week... I made a batch of my favorite OATMEAL cookies for the Super Bowl party.  They would have been great had I remembered to put the oatmeal in them!!!  Talk about a big mess.  Trying to clean that cookie sheet was a nightmare.  Would one not think if you were making oatmeal cookies you would remember to add the oatmeal??  Sometimes I worry about myself.

January's Block Lotto block was Birds in the Air and guess who was one of the winners.  These are the blocks that have arrived so far and I cannot tell you how beautifully made these have been.  I think I am going to have to become a BLUE person.  This month the block is Snail's Trail with browns - a color more in my comfort zone.

We've been enjoying summer here for the last week and forecast for another 4-5 days.  Of course I am loving the temps in the upper 80s each day, but it would be so nice to get some of that El Nino rain that they promised us this year.  Now they are saying that they will come in March.  After being told they would be here in January, then February I am beginning to wonder.

May Crazy

Our Mays are always a crazy month with seven birthdays, two anniversaries and Mother’s Day – lots of mothers - in our family. This month we have also added two First Communions and one Confirmation …always cherished times.  The calendar month seems to roll around faster and faster each year and I find it hard to grab a few minutes of quiet sewing time in between all of the celebrations.  I think I need to give up housekeeping!!!!!
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This is as far as I got on my Disappearing 4 Patch (D4P).  It finished up at 40” square which I think is a great size for a baby quilt. 



 I needed a quick gift for a friend so I did another frog on a lily pad mug rug.  We have a running joke about frogs so I thought she would get a kick out of it and she did.



Although I am holding out no hopes of accomplishing my goals I set this month, I would like to finish the next four blocks of my New York Beauty project.  Have you set your goals yet?



Lots of time has been spent in the garden as well.  My first plumeria is just starting to bloom.  They do not normally bloom until July.



My favorite orange orchid is also blooming.  I LOVE the color of this one.  Wouldn't this make an incredible corsage?  My dad had a greenhouse filled with orchids when we were teenagers.  I used to make and sell  orchid corsages for the boys to give to their dates when they went to the prom.  I'll have to dig out a picture of the bouquet that my dad made for my wedding.  It was stunning.
 


I know that several people lately have been having a problem with comments going to their e-mails.  I have noticed that my some of my comments are being returned to my spam mail as "unable to deliver".  My settings remain the same so I am not sure what is going on with blogger.  Most of the mail seems to involve yahoo accounts.  Has anyone figured out a way to solve the problem?  The comments still show up on the posts, but they don't not show up in the inbox.

Enjoying Easy Street

Blogger is not playing nicely so I did my post on Live Writer and cannot enlarge the pictures from here.  Sorry!

The new year brought out the final steps in assembling our Easy Street blocks that we have been working on since Thanksgiving.   I really love the way that this has come together and I am enjoying the colors as well - so bright and happy.

The best part of Easy Street is that it was completely made with fabrics already in my stash. I have decided that this is going to be a scrap busting year for me. I have so many groupings of fabrics with ideas in mind and I am going to try to plow through some of them. So far I am off to a good start.

I had a floral fabric in my collection that I pulled out and added to some paper foundation flowers that I had made some time ago. Magic....I now have four placemats that I will be giving to a friend whom we are going to visit soon. I'm not sure how long I have had the fabric, but the selvage has a date of 2007 on it.

The last few days have been spent pruning my roses - over 100 of them!!! It always feels so good to finish that job and look forward to the new growth which should start soon now.  A little A*leve afterwards is a big help too.

Each year Beth has a Neighborhood Block party and this was my house contribution to the neighborhood.  Each of the houses are so cute and looked fabulous together.

The Christmas tree also came down today and the last of the red and green has been removed until next December. It seems as though I always manage to find one or two little items that I forgot. Does anybody else do that?


New Year's Eve was quiet for us. We stayed up long enough to know that midnight had happened - in New York!!! Our daughter and her children came over for dinner since her husband had to work. We had a nice dinner and I made cream puffs for dessert.

Yum!

Guess there is one way to eat them....just go for it!!

Another bit of sewing was my mug rug for my January/February partner. I can't show the piece yet, but I played around a bit with the scraps and made a small mug rug from them. The little HSTs finish off at 3/4"....tiny, but fun.

I am going to be linking up with A Year of Finishes.  Click on the link and you can see what it is all about.  My goal for this month is going to be to finish up the blocks for my Just Takes 2 quilt.  I hope to be able to "finish it up" by the end of January.



So....January is off to a productive year so far and I haven't bought any fabric yet. I think I may keep a record of how long this lasts.

A Few Projects

As October exits here I find myself in awe at the speed this year has gone.  They do seem to be going faster and faster.  We would normally be turning the clocks back this weekend and I must say that I am quite happy that we are not.  It always feels like we are plunged immediately into winter. 

Our weather at this time of the year is often quite warm with the blowing of the Santa Ana winds.  Of course this also means fire season for us.  With the little rain that we received a few weeks back I have noticed a carpet of green grasses sprouting on the hillsides.  Hopefully, that will help keep the fire hazard down. 

I recall one Halloween when we had a terrible fire - from the hills to the ocean.  We were living in our previous home which happened to be the first house coming out of the hills.  There was nothing but hills in front of us.  The winds were blowing something dreadful.  I looked out the front window and saw a tiny "puff" of smoke at the top of the third ridge of mountains.  My husband was away camping with the boys and due back momentarily.  Our home had a wood shake roof - very bad in a high fire risk area.  I climbed up on the roof with a water hose and started to water it down.  Neighbors laughed because the fire seemed so far away.  In actuality it was perhaps 35 miles away.  That little "puff" grew into a raging fire swept at an incredible speed and we were given the mandatory evacuation order within two hours.  The television networks were filming in our front yard. 

My husband had arrived home by that time and he took over manning the hose while the children and I packed the car.  I had told them to just pack things we could not replace while I grabbed the photos and a few other special things.  We left for my in laws who lived about ten minutes away from us.  It was most interesting to see what was in the car that the children found irreplaceable - the American flag, the Bible, a snake, tortoise and the bowl of Halloween candy!!!!!!  We still chuckle about that.  Our home was spared, but many others lost theirs.  The fire burned through Malibu and finally stopped at the ocean. 

Halloween happened on November 1st that year amidst the ashes and putrid smell.  Of course that was when we had lots of trick or treaters.  These days we may see a dozen or so at the door.

In my attempt to catch up on some sewing that was on the back burner for the past month, I have made some good headway.  I finished the Christmas stocking and will need a couple more next Christmas with two new grandbabies due in 2012.

I worked on my Civil War blocks.  I think she saved the most challenging ones for when I was away.  I am still playing with the Confederate Rose.  I have made it twice already and it still is not the correct size.  I enlarged it as she said, but grrr....it is not coming out right.  I think I will just sketch it out and use my own templates.

My September Birdie Stitches block is done and the October one will be finished shortly.

Don't ask me what this mask is suppose to be as I have no clue.  My grandson asked for it and I obliged.  I had never heard of the guy before so I can't remember the name.   But......it's done!!!!

Lastly, I made another mug rug for a friend's birthday.

That was my week.  How about yours?

GO, Go, Go

The first day of summer and we actually have sunshine and temperatures into the 70s.  It is heavenly.
The week was filled with lots of activity with out of town company, not a lot of sewing and not too many pictures.


Joanne (http://joanne-threadhead.blogspot.com/) provided us with a wonderful quilt along earlier this year and had a giveaway for those who sent her a photo of the completed project.  Not only did a have fun completing the quilt, but I was her winner of her favorite quilting items.  They arrived in the mail this past week and I could not be more pleased with what she chose as her favorite things.  Just look at all these goodies.

She included a stack of Apple Core blocks that she cut from her Accuquilt GO.  The fabrics are perfect for my décor and although I was a smidge intimidated with all the curves, I thought I would give them a try.  They went together so much easier than I thought they would and I am pleased with what will be a table topper.  There is no way I would have ever cut these out by hand, but for you with the GO cutter, you should give this die a GO.  Thank you, Joanne.

    

     

I am participating in the Mug Rug 2 swap and finished my mug rug for my partner.  I thought it came out so cute that I made another one for myself.

That was about the extent of my sewing this week other than 18 bean bags that three of the granddaughters and I made this morning.  The girls are riding their bikes over each Monday to “hang out” with me during summer vacation.  We are really having fun together.  Can you imagine that they want to help me clean??????  They love cleaning and helping with the laundry.  How do I keep them permanently?????


The other exciting news is that Momma tortoise started digging her nest to deposit her eggs.  She is about a month late this year and I think that is due to our wet and cool temperatures.  She dug five hours yesterday and another three already today.  They do NOTHING fast which is probably why they live to be 125+ years old. 

We had a wonderful Father’s Day here as we celebrated all of the great, loving, and dedicated dads in the family.  We heated up the pizza oven and everyone had fun making their own pizzas.  I don’t have a lot of pictures because the wives were too busy waiting on the guys!!!!

 

It sounds like it was a pretty boring week around here, but it was truly just go, go, go.  I just don’t have pictures to show for it.  It is nice to have a semi normal week this week to get caught up with all that did not get done last week while entertaining.