Fall fun

 It's going to be a cloudy high 40s today, and I see the wind blowing.   That means it's chillier than it looks.  The foliage is still pretty, but I don't think I'll be going outside to do any yard work.  There is laundry going this morning, and this afternoon I have signed up for a machine quilting workshop online.  It's about using a walking foot more creatively, and I hope to pick up a few pointers.

Yesterday we met Diane and Bill for an early dinner downtown.  It was $5 Burger Night, and the burgers were really good.  I checked on Noom before ordering so found that my burger was within my range, thank goodness.  I am finding Noom quite interesting, but I don't know that I'll renew after my three months are up.  I'm not sure I've lost any weight this month.  Anyway, walking back to the car, Paul had to stop for a picture.  If you can enlarge it, you'll read some funny epitaphs.

 

Halloween hanging is finished

 I put the last stitches in the binding of this wall hanging a few days ago, and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.  All of the applique shapes were outlined and some detail was added to the petals and leaves.   Then I did a little outline quilting in the background and a grid along the border.  

I'll hang it on our door around the first of October even though the Halloween candy is already in the stores.  (so tempting - but I continue to resist!)

We are in the middle of a flood of company which is fun but means a lot of running to the store for snacks, drinks, etc.  It's summer, and we haven't seen each other in a long time.   "Everybody" wants to check on Paul, too, and he is doing very well.  No more dialysis - the tubes in his chest have been removed.  Regaining strength continues.  

This week, in between visitors and grocery store trips, I hope to get to my blocks of the month (Options, pineapples, and Harriet's Journey) and then start working on a Christmas tree skirt for Mom.  Warm/muggy weather is expected, so the zucchini bread I was hoping to bake will have to get done first thing in a morning, too.

The spree!

 Yesterday, I went on my annual birthday shopping spree at A Quilter's Garden.   The owner, Dee, very generously gives a discount of 1/2 of one's age, so for me, rounding up, that would be 37%.  You can't beat that with a stick!   I generally buy basics - fabrics for backgrounds - and then a few whimsical pieces just for fun. 

 
This year, I decided that I would try making a couple of quilts with unusual (for me) backgrounds, a nearly solid bright yellow and a purple/burgundy print, along with my usual white-on-white and black/white print.  

I still have some cream left over from last year's spree.   I think I'll use it for an appliqued sampler I'm thinking of.  I rediscovered an applique book by the Piece 'o' Cake ladies and used one pattern for the haunted house wallhanging I'm working on.  Most of the patterns in the book are floral, though, which I know I'll enjoy appliqueing.

I also had some holiday projects in mind, so got fabric for them.  I would have been running down to the shop to make those anyway.  I found a nice fall pumpkin fabric for the backs of the three Halloween table runners I want to finish and sell.
 

There are new Christmas fabrics on the shelves at the shop, so I put some into the pile for Mom's requested tree skirt.   I already had some Grinch fabric set aside at home, but it has a lot of blue and chartreuse.  I'll use it for other projects - bowl cozies, gift bags (my sister Jenny loves these), etc.  

The pine tree fabric with red accents will go nicely with scrappy greens and reds for the tree skirt.  The pattern was created by my friend Tess, and I'm planning scrappy greens and reds for the stars.  Mom's favorite color is green, so this seems like the perfect choice for under her tree.

Halloween

I have quite a few Halloween-themed charm squares, having participated in a swap this spring and bought a few extra charms and fat quarters.  After I finished appliqueing the "haunted" house, I decided to make a border of hourglass blocks using some of the charms.

 I like the way it turned out and look forward to quilting it.  But before I do, I decided to make a few table runners to sell a the florist's downtown and on my etsy shop.   I finished all the tops today but now need to get some fall-themed fabric for the backs so that they can be reversible.  Because Halloween is such a short "holiday," it makes sense to let the runners do double duty.

Hope you had a happy Fourth of July

After several days of heat and humidity, we got two wonderful, cool days of almost constant rain.  This will turn our Green Mountains to their usual green rather than the scary brown we've seen for a while.  I had even been watering my flowers often, which is quite unusual for this time of year.  My shasta daisies have all burst open and look good.   

And inside, my orchid started blooming!  It hasn't for years, but this spring I got brave and repotted it.  What did I have to lose?   I read that you should only water orchids with one ice cube each week, so that's what I've been trying to do.  We'll see how the other one does.  I have hope.

I've been sewing a lot by hand the last few days so I don't have much to show.  I am almost all the way around sewing the binding down on a 64" x 64" scrappy Dancing Nine Patch (Bonnie Hunter pattern).  Will try to take a photo once the sun comes out, hopefully later today.

My friend and long arm quilter Marie finished my Scrappy Trips quilt earlier this week, so I have a binding to put on that quilt, too.  It's 72" x 72" and I'm not sure who I will give it to.  I have quite a pile of quilts to rehome now, but I need to take pictures before mailing them out or storing them for local fund raisers.

I also started a new applique project this week, a Halloween wall hanging.   It features a scrappy, wonky house from a pattern by the Piece 'o' Cake ladies.  Right now the plan is to border it with scrappy hourglasses, but we'll have to wait and see how it goes.  When did my favorite color - purple - become a Halloween color?  

Meanwhile, the cooler weather has me baking again - snickerdoodles and blueberry cake.  Both nearly gone since I gave some cake to Chris to take home yesterday.