Fall push

 I am in the mood!   That is: I want to QUILT again. It is almost fall and I have Halloween quilt that needs to be done the first week of October. I need to do my round robin in the next 2 weeks. I have a couple apple boxes/ Riley Blake kits to do for September. And I want to make progress on my New York Beauty and Dear Jane blocks. The energy is brewing to get things done. 

Labor Day is usually the time for many of my book clubs/ organizations to begin again after a summer hiatus.  Plus, school is starting/has started depending on where you live. As a retired teacher, it is still in my blood, getting new clothes and supplies now for the grandkids.   And it makes me excited for apples and colorful leaves on the trees and new yummy warm colors. And being retired, it is nice to not have to worry about setting up a class or lessons or getting up before 6:00 A.M.

So I am beginning a few new things. It is exciting to create and use new colors. I am making the Hello Boo quilt in the dark version by Lella Boutique black spider web fabric with white silken threads.  Very interesting colors for Halloween with peaches, pinks, fuchsia, and a grayish pea green. But the more I work on it, the more I like it.  Well, at least to give away to my daughter in law.  I would not like it for my house. 

Here are the alternate blocks using the panel with the collection. Love the cute sayings for Halloween. Now to make the pumpkin blocks in between. 

I also made the Pumpkin BOM for our next guild meeting; it is a 12 inch block. 

And as I am thinking about the Dear Daughter, I made her a mug rug with scraps.

And then I made one for the dear daughter in law, too.

Plus I have 3 wall hanging quilt tops that NEED to get done.  

Moving the daughter

 It has been a busy few days. I can't say that I sewed much; however I did straighten up the sewing area. It was much needed.

My dearest daughter found a sweetheart that lives in the Detroit area and has been dating him for almost a year.  They have been going back and forth for visits and a few vacations together. They are in their late 30s.

So they made the decision to have her move there as she works from home anyway. We are so happy for her to have found someone. And he has a small home there. 

So we ( Hubby and I) packed her up with the assistance of a few friends, drove a Uhaul there and then unpacked her while setting up as much as we could .  Finally we returned back home only a couple days later. Michigan is fairly flat....BUT it has a boatload of construction sites on the highways.   And that doesn't count the ones around Chicago. 

We are tired and glad to be home before the heat is to arrive. 

I am sad.....and happy.....and we did so much together, so I miss her. 

Progress and finish

Blessings for fall on the farm is a small lap quilt.

This was a fabric line by Primitive Gatherings a few years ago.  Lisa Bongean also designed the quilt to go with the pattern: 2 colorways with dark outlines or light.  I had leftover flannels from Bonnie Sullivan from a previous quilt and used them for the borders and some of the half square blocks. 

The quilting is sunflowers and fall leaves: so appropriate and fun. 

The backing ended up being pieced as my pumpkin fabric was only 40 inches wide not the wide backs I usually get. So I got the opportunity to use leftover layer cake as mentioned before. Easy and fun fix. 

Other quilting finishes: 

Red and blue runner: these are the leftover blocks which made a nice square table topper to donate.

easy stitch in the ditch and diagonal rows.  Marking  the criss cross lines with a hera marker; my new favorite tool. 

This is not my mini quilt, although it was my pattern which I made eons ago.  I had even given her many of my homespuns. My friend was lamenting how she was wanting to get projects completed.  I found this little mini in a plastic bag and "stole" it from her to quilt and bind it quickly.  

And I also finished the sashiko: 

Wisconsin State Fair

 I am excited to say I placed 2nd in the category for large pieced quilts. ( This is the judging I went to on the WRONG day.  I wish I had heard the comments as they don't get written down.) 

Anyway, I had anticipated seeing it in a case or on top of the displays.  But I was so surprised to see it hanging on display.    Here it is with me underneath several feet below.  My husband was so proud of me; he would tell complete strangers about my quilt while standing there.  Gotta love him!  

And while I like to see the complete designs as they are displayed, you can't really see the details of all the piecing and hand stitching that far away.  

Other quilts I admired from the fair:

This one had gorgeous colors that popped.  Each circle is one of those folded stars like we made in the 80s. 

This one really caught my eye from a distance.  So striking in colors with the eagle prominent in the middle. It was on the reverse side of mine. 

This was a gorgeous wool applique.  WOW !

And lastly for some humor,  a photo of my husband and me!

Finish!

 This is my assembly of the Blockheads 5 fall section of 9 blocks using the suggested layout. (I did not add the paper pieced stars.) This is Stars in Detroit and it is destined for my daughter as she moves to be with her boyfriend at the end of the month. She asked to have one to put on his couch. She helped with the  color selection to go with his house. All batiks!

I chose to use a Shannon cuddle or Minky for the back. It is navy in color but reflects the light of the camera. 

And here is the quilt with my happy daughter before she drives away. 

I attached the binding while watching the Olympics.  Nice to have handwork. 

I'm back!

 It has been almost a month since I last blogged. And it was a very busy month indeed.  Very little stitching has been done. 

First, my Hubby and I met my son and his family in Missouri at Lake of the Ozarks. The weather was off and on rainy. But we had a beautiful view of the lake from a 3rd floor VRBO condo for the 6 of us.  Such fun spending time relaxing, playing games, and being with the grandkids. The boys (meaning my husband and kids) would take walks down to the lake and dip their legs into the water off a pier. 

I can't get over how much I loved watching the water, rain and shine. Gorgeous sunsets as well. 

But we did visit parks and the Bagnall Damn, tour a cave, rent a pontoon boat and swim at an indoor waterpark. Such memories.

Afterwards, we brought the boys home for 2 weeks. Again rainy weather, not as conducive to swimming as they would have liked. But precious time spent together reading, watching ALL the Despicable Me movies, playing at parks, and more and more. The 2 guys are now 8 and 10: getting so big, but still loving the trips here. They already were saying some things they will want to do NEXT year.  

My badgers in Vilas Park Zoo in Madison, WI

Fluffy slime made with shaving cream

I only sewed one New York Beauty block and did Sashiko stitching on the trip back home. 

This is white thread on brilliant blue fabric.   Really!!!