October Happenings

 October has arrived and fall is definitely in the air for us.  We've had cooler days and a few chilly nights.  The colors that we do get are making grand appearances with the changing season.  We've managed to escape - so far - the terrible Santa Ana winds that are so common in October.  I won't complain about that.  We've even had a few rain showers, one including a thunderstorm this month.  I hope this is a sign of more moisture for us this year.

I've managed to get some sewing in this month.  Connie from Freemotion by the River  had a cute tutorial for pumpkin mug rugs on her blog.  I had to dig into my oranges and make a few for friends with October birthdays.  The orange ones were so cute so I made a blue one too.  They went up so quickly and look so festive.  

One of the younger granddaughters has been over for a bit of sewing.  She's doing such a great job as she works on some Log Cabin blocks.  Her 1/4" seams are great.  We are working hard at sorting lights and darks, but I think she will be pleased with her finish. 

I resurrected my Small World quilt last week while searching for something else and managed to complete section 3.  I'm looking forward to section 4 next. 

I also decided to join in on Sewcialites 2 this time around.  It just started last Friday so it's not too late to join in if you are interested.  This is my first block.  

We have lots of October birthdays in our family, but our daughter celebrated a special one this month.  Her husband arranged a surprise party for the family at our home with two private chefs.  The food was absolutely amazing, all five courses.  Their two oldest children assisted and served us.  It was indeed a special event. 

In the garden, the pomegranates are bigger and better than ever.  Our tree has been loaded and we can't give them away fast enough.  One can only use so many!

Now that the weather is cooler, I've encouraged my daughter and granddaughters to start on a sourdough journey.  We've had so much fun sharing photos of our loaves among the group each month.  They are all making amazing loaves with nice rises and great crumb. 

It's hard to believe that we are nearing the busy holiday season.  I'm sure everyone is ready by now....right?  How many days do we have left?

 

Bits and Pieces

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week?  The year has flown by in break neck speed.  The college kids will be home this week in time for our Thanksgiving feast.  It's such a great time of the year.  The temps have finally cooled off and we actually had a measurable (1/4") rain today.  it's certainly not enough to end our fire season, but every drop helps.  The dogs were quite amused to see moisture dropping from the sky.

 

My sewing has me jumping from one project to another lately.  While searching for another project, I discovered a tube that had a snowman kit inside of it.  I bought it years ago when a LQS was going out of business....maybe 12 years ago????  I've been very negligent in participating in Minis and More lately.  This month is a "choose your own project" so I thought it would be fun to sew up Frosty.  Be sure to check out the Minis and More Parade on December 1st on Michele's and Sherri's blogs.

It involved a lot of 1" finished squares and a fusible grid, but I think he turned out pretty cute.

Recently, Carole from My Carolina Home blog had her annual Autumn Jubilee with lots of fabulous autumn projects.  There were also many giveaways.  I was lucky enough to win The Ultimate Presser Foot Set.  I had been interested in this set for some time, but wasn't sure how it would work with my machine. You can imagine how excited I was to hear that I had won it.  Each foot is so well made and heavy duty.  I've tried several of them already and have been very pleased with them.  Included is a universal adaptor for the snap on feet.  It does not work for my Bernina, but I have a Bernina adaptor and the feet snap onto it easily.  Also included is an instructional DVD.  My goal is to try each foot in some creative sewing.

Another sweet gift came from my sister.  She recently took a trip to Japan and managed to find a charming little sewing shop.  Just look at the TINY little treasures she found.  The detail on these pins is nothing short of incredible - a ruler, measuring tape, pin cushion, thread and scissors.  I am holding up a red glass head pin so you can get some perspective of the size of these little gems.

Check out this amazing wooden needle case with pincushion, thread, needles and snips inside the beautiful wooden box.

Lastly, she brought back some beautiful fabrics.

The annual Bonnie Hunter QAL is quickly approaching.  I've sorted through my fabric bins and have pulled out fabrics that may work for it.  The first clue comes out in a little over a week.  Are you joining this year?

A small wall hanging was finished as well.  This was a pattern from Urban Elementz,  It was fun to pull out all my wild prints.

Motivated by so many working on Jen Kingwell's,  My Small World, I have jumped aboard and started one myself.  Section 1 and 2 are completed.

Continuing on with my "hopping around", I attempted rope bowls.  I've seen so many pretty ones and decided to give them a try.  This was such a fun project and I am so pleased with the way they turned out.

We had little ones over the weekend.  This one kept me jumping.