It's October...

so there should be pumpkins, right?!

I finished up this little Autumn Stamp earlier in the week!

And started something new - the Mini Pumpkin Sampler by Melisa at PinkernPunkin.  It doesn't look like much yet, but you can see Melisa's version right here!  (Scroll down past the new mini apple sampler to get to her pumpkin finish.)

I did also put some stitches into Bless Our Home, which I'm making for a 50th anniversary gift.  The words are finished up, and now I'm working on the house and tree section.

So you can tell what I'll be working on for my slow stitching today! 

On Friday, we went for a scenic drive up in the mountains.  I didn't see any pumpkins, but sure did enjoy the aspen trees and all their pretty color!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

 

ABC Table Scraps for September

This month's Table Scraps project is brought to you by the color aqua and the letters P and Z!

In my continuing quest to use up orphan blocks this year, I came across these pieces:

I knew these were leftover from the 2020 Color Challenge aqua block, but where was the center of the block?  Turns out, I took the block apart and used the center pinwheel in this quilt - can you find it?

Having just a few small orphan blocks meant my Table Scraps project would be a small one this month, but that's okay.  I pressed them and sewed them back together into this design - 

6.5 x 18.5 inches

A little quilting and some binding later, and here's the finish!

But wait, that doesn't have much pizzazz!  This little table mat needed something extra - so considering the season we're in - how about some pumpkins?  

There we go!

Aqua and a little extra pizzazz - P and Z!

It fits just right on the little chest by the front door, 

and is perfect to help display some fall decorations, too!

Sharing at The Joyful Quilter at the September Table Scraps link-up.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or not Friday.

Also at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #355

Good morning, friends!  I'm joining in with LeeAnna and friends at Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

I really liked finishing up this little fall quilt for the table this week!  It was one of those Drop Everything and Make It projects that I just had to make.

I combined some fun fall prints with a few little brown scraps 

and a fussy cut sunflower for the center.

The pattern came from this book - copyright 1993!  

I might like the back just as much - I had a brown batik fat quarter to use up and it really fit the fall theme.  It wasn't quite big enough, so I added a strip of the fall floral from the front to bring it up to size for quilting.

And how about that brown dot for the binding?!   

I don't sew with browns very much, but I sure enjoyed this one!

Sharing this project at mmmquilts for the September DrEAMi link-up!

In other likes this week, I enjoyed cooking dinner with my son.  We made a favorite recipe of his for carnitas made in the Ninja pot.  It calls for fresh cilantro, which I love.  I like that it comes in a little plastic container, which makes it easy to store when there's some left.

About the only thing left growing in our garden is Mike's jalapeno plant.  I say that it's Mike's because I literally don't touch it - these little peppers are hot!  Even he only uses a little bit of a pepper at a time.  I haven't grown any herbs myself, but maybe I should try that next year.

I love it when I discover that a favorite series has two books I haven't read yet!  And they were both available at the same time, so I can read one right after the other.

I'm almost done with the first book, and will be able to go right on to the next!

Hope you're having a great week!

To-Do Tuesday #198

After my last To-Do Tuesday post, we went out of town for a week, so I didn't have a lot on the list that I was expecting to get accomplished.   Since arriving back home, I've been working on getting some little projects done, and things are moving along well!

Miss Jo March (of Little Women fame) is here to show you that one cradle quilt is finished, and the second is very close!  The only thing left on cradle quilt #2 is to machine finish the binding.

Even though the angle of the photo makes the bottom quilt look larger, 

these are both the same size - about 18 inches square.

These will be sent off to Carole at From My Carolina Home as soon as the second quilt is finished. 

For the week ahead, I have a couple more things to get finished:

• Happy Blocks for the Compassion Quilts block drive at Quilting is More Fun than Housework 
• The napkins to match my niece's placemats
• Send all of these items off and get my sewing area cleaned up and ready to move on to whatever's next!

October will bring a new color for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, and also Autumn Jubilee, a fun celebration of fall crafts and cooking at From My Carolina Home, so there will be plenty to do in the coming month!

Checking in at To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt!  And at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Fall Slow Stitching

I love Fall - it's my favorite season!  I'm celebrating the beginning of fall today with some slow stitching projects.  I've been working on this Autumn Stamp from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting this week.  The pumpkin, crows, and a sunflower (which is the next thing I will work on!) are perfect for a fall stitch!

I've also been working on this fall mini quilt and it's ready for the binding to be hand stitched down.  I'm excited to be getting this one finished!

This will be my slow stitching for today.  

Sharing over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Also sharing at Sew and Tell Monday

Bowties in Aqua

I've been away from my sewing machine this week, but hand-piecing was possible and this little bowtie block is the perfect one to represent our trip!

We did not see dolphins, but we did see gray whales and tons of birds - pelicans, cormorants, seagulls - and seals, sea lions, and otters.  

I particularly love seeing the pelicans, and there were lots of them in several places that we visited.  Mike enjoys trying to get photos of them gliding along.

I was able to finish up eight bowties in aqua for the month of September.

I've pieced 72 of these so far this year, and here they all are:

Isn't this going to be fun?!

One of my favorite souvenirs from a trip is fabric, and we had the chance to visit a great little quilt shop in Cannon Beach, Oregon, called Center Diamond.  I don't often buy kits, but I loved this small landscape project, and they offered a kit for it, so I thought - why not?!  I'll be making the quilt on the right on the cover of the pattern.  I'm excited to get to work on it!

What have you been working on this week?  I'll be checking in over at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday to see all the September projects!  

And at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #354

We are back home this morning after a week away on the Oregon Coast.  It was a really enjoyable getaway, and we had a great time wandering and exploring all over the place, visiting favorite places and seeing new sights.  

We have a favorite little inn we stay at in Depoe Bay, and every room has a view of the bay - it's always changing.

I just love being by the water!

Have to get my toes in it at least once.  But it was cold!

We bought groceries and made picnic lunches each day.  Oregon parks have nice picnic areas with great views.  

I love walking down to the point at the end of the road where our hotel is located to watch the sunset.  It's another view that changes every day!

Even though I'm happy to be home again, I'm never quite ready to leave.

Until next time, Oregon!

Sharing at I Like Thursday over at Not Afraid of Color!

I Like Thursday #353

 

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest - one of my favorite places!

Beautiful views...

Watching the sunset with my favorite person...

All of these are things I like!  So "Cheers!" to a vacation!

Sharing at I Like Thursday over at Not Afraid of Color!

To-Do Tuesday #197

Good morning, friends!  It's To-Do Tuesday and time to share my progress on last week's list and then see what's next.  

I was partially successful on the past weeks list!  It looked like this:

• Work on RSC aqua blocks.  ✅️

• Make some Happy Blocks for the Compassion Quilts block drive at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  ✅️

Just two - I will definitely make more.

• Make napkins to go with my niece's placemats.  ❌️  Nope.  Would you believe I never got to the quilt shop to look for the fabric I need for these?  I'll keep this on the list.   

I did work on something that wasn't even on last week's list, and I'm not even sure why I left it off!  These are cradle quilts for Carole at From My Carolina Home.   One is quilted and ready for binding, and the other is sandwiched for quilting.   

These are fun little projects - just 18 inches square.  

The one on the bottom is made from orphan blocks - even the

back is pieced from a couple!

I'm making a goal to have the happy blocks and the cradle quilts ready to send off by the end of September.  That will be doable!

Have a great week, everyone!  We are heading off on a little vacation, and I am sooo looking forward to it.  It's nice to have our son at home to hold down the fort while we're gone.

Linking up with Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Slow stitching this week...

I finished stitching the Mini Squirrel Sampler this week, and love how it turned out!  The squirrel reminds me of the little guys who run around our yard all the time.  They're very entertaining!  This one has an acorn - in our yard they are usually carrying an apple from our tree.

I decided to switch back to some embroidery, so I traced and got started on "So Blessed," a Kathy Schmitz design from 2021.

If this looks familiar, it's because I already stitched it once before.  The original hangs out on a small wicker table in our living room.  This new version is going to be a gift for our friends who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.   It will be a belated gift, but I don't think they'll mind!

In non-sewing activities, we went to a downtown festival yesterday called Pastels on 5th.  It's a fundraiser for our domestic violence shelter.  There are tons of artists doing chalk drawings on a couple blocks of the downtown area.  Here are a couple favorites:

After walking around the pastels festival, we stopped at a favorite ice cream shop for a treat!  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - yum!

What have you been up to this week?  Hope it's been a good one.  Linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Getting started with aqua!

It's always fun to dig into a different color at the beginning of the month.  My aqua stash isn't very big this year, but I found enough to get started on the zipper blocks.  I've just been making three of these each month, and they will continue into 2024.

That block on the right is showing up as more blue than blue-green in the photo, 

but in real life it fits with aqua month!

I love this fun cat print, and it has found its way into several projects recently.  I'm sure it started out as a fat quarter, but this is all that's left now.

Here are all the zipper blocks I've made so far - 27 of them.   They're a fun bunch of color!

Check out what all the other 

Rainbow Scrap Quilters are working on over at SoScrappy!

And at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

And at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.