New Quiltville mystery coming!

Those of you out there that are Bonnie Hunter/Quiltville fans probably already know she is going to do another mystery quilt in November. She's dropped a few hints on color suggestions already, and I, being a perennially, pathologically early type of person, have already raided the stash closet and pulled a box full of fabric candidates:Bonnie Hunter said she was using chocolate brown, raspberry pink, deep red, green and a selection of neutrals. I have plenty of browns, greens, reds, and neutrals. In fact, I'm branching out on my definition of neutrals to include small prints (very daring of me!). At the moment I'm planning on using a single deep red for continuity and have several candidates depending on how much we need and what hits me at the time I start cutting out patches. The only thing I may have to augment is the raspberry pink, depending on how you interpret that color. Pink is the one color I am short on at the moment, and although I pulled a bunch from the box, they may not be dark enough. So we'll see. Otherwise, I'm all set because I love to make her quilts very scrappy and I can use up a lot of small leftovers. I don't cut up my small pieces of fabric "a la scrap users system" because I never know what size I will need and don't want to find myself looking at the perfect fabric cut into the wrong size!

I have never made a brown and pink quilt, so this will be fabulous!

Can Fall be far behind?

There was a difference in the air when I went out this morning to put the outgoing mail in the box. It was cooler than it had been for weeks, and the humidity was far less than had plagued us all through August. The change was refreshing.

At the end of the driveway I found this: a sure harbinger that fall is approaching. It doesn't seem possible that August is over; the summer flew by so quickly, and the weather was so oppressive that we hardly went outside for the last six weeks. We were imprisoned inside the climate-controlled house as surely as during the winter. It was such a disappointment. Perhaps fall will be temperate and we can make up the time we would have spent outdoors during the summer.

In other parts of the yard, the leaves on the bushes and trees are droopy and yellow-edged. The weather has been hard on everything in the landscaping despite my constant watering. From the looks of things, we might have an early fall since the plants are exhausted from coping with the heat and are ready to go dormant. It happens often here. Last year the fall color was sporadic and muted. I doubt it will be very nice this year either.

I listened to the rooster crowing next door this morning and when I went to the mailbox I walked round to the back yard to check on the neighbor's poultry. I was surprised to find not the small red Bantam rooster and speckled hens that were there before but a large black rooster and his two black hens. I am at a loss why the change, unless my neighbors are buying their entrees "on the hoof", as it were, and the other chickens became dinner.

On other fronts, I finished shopping for winter clothes. After my weight loss I needed a new coat and other cold weather gear, and made two trips to shop for long sleeved tees, sweaters and dress pants. After I alter some skirts I made two years ago, I'll be ready for a closet change-over, which is a sure sign of fall for me. It's a holdover from school days, but September 1st seems more like the first of the year than January 1st.

I think the coat is particularly nice:

I realized I hadn't owned a wool coat for 20 years or more because of my career; like most people, my closet primarily reflected where I worked more than my off-duty time. After I transferred from the downtown engineering office and took the job at the utility plant site, my clothes became a lot more casual. Khakis, tees, sweaters and parkas in the winter. The engineering staff dressed down because we were constantly going out in the plant to check on the design modifications and inspections. You never saw a coat or tie on the managers (yes, mostly men) unless the central office big-wigs were coming for a meeting.

I would like to find a comfortable "dress-it-up" or "dress-it-down" black dress too. Any suggestions?

Trapped in hand-sewing Purgatory

What is this, you ask? It's nine, count 'em nine, quilts that need hand sewing on the bindings. I just picked up the latest from the longarm quilter today and applied the binding. Six of these quilts are gifts and two of the other three might also be given away, leaving me with this one, which I love for the colors. It's not that I don't love the other two also, but I have to be reasonable (or buy a bigger house). Probably shouldn't have done it but I totalled up the dimensions of all nine quilts, and I have 2780 inches of blind hemming to be done. Mercy.

Early morning sewing

I was up early this morning so I spent the time joining blocks into rows on this project which has been languishing without attention for a while. Six long seams and the rows will become a completed quilt top. But it won't happen soon because I HAVE to get some housecleaning done. And a backing made for the Whirligig quilt. And bindings on the wedding present quilt for my husband's cousin's daughter. And bindings hand sewn on my nephew's family's gift quilts. . .Whew! Someone needs to hide my projects in progress so I can stay focused.

Another one done

The border is completed on my Miss Rosie design "Whirligig" quilt, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. It's hard to get a good photo of the finished top because this one is BIG. 92" square big. Here's a close-up of the corner showing the borders. I added the solid border; the design stopped with the hourglass blocks. Without the addition, the quilt was only 80" square, so I had to make it larger and this was the best way. Goodness knows it didn't need another pieced border! (Or maybe I just couldn't face making another one.)

What I'm making with what I found

I found a stack of fat quarters and yardage of Pat Sloan's line "Old Blooms" from 2003 when I straightened the stash closet. I had a plan how to use it but just couldn't commit. It remained in my "someday" pile until a few days ago, when I decided that the Miss Rosie pattern "Whirligig" would suit it far better. This is rather daunting design at first glance but it goes together like a snap. Just lots and lots of flying geese and hourglass blocks. The progress so far: It will have a border of hourglass blocks and an outer 6" border of a large green print from the collection, making it a huge 92" square, just right for two people and a fat cat. Quiltshops.com helped me find some of a purple print from this line at a great $5.00 a yard to make the backing, relieving me of the problem of searching for a coordinating backing. See the purple print with stars and oval gold shapes with maroon edges that sort of look either like buttons or pizzas? LOL That's it. I also have a stripe (the green and maroon one used as background in some of the blocks) for the binding - just love striped or plaid bias binding.

Meanwhile, the pattern that was going to be made from this fabric, "Uptown Girl", is now on the back burner. I auditioned the "Silk Road" line from Benartex in it using EQ but I'm not convinced. Some fat quarters and yardage of "Silk Road" came home with me from the LQS last month, and it is almost too luxurious to cut into. It has the most fabulous silky feel and the colors and designs are luscious. Sometimes you run into fabric that you just want to fondle! I have another idea brewing in EQ that might be good for the "Silk Road" fabric, but I need to find a coordinating ivory tone-on-tone that is worthy of being mixed with the Benartex. It might be hard!

I've been joining the rows this morning while my husband rests up from his dentist trip yesterday. He had a molar pulled which was a real trial. One of the roots was curved and needed excavating from the bone to be extracted. It was bad. I'm sure he feels like a mule kicked him in the jaw, and he had stitches in his gums which are still aching. Hopefully it will be better soon.

But now, I need to put down the sewing and starting cooking, some nice soft chicken and noodles that will be easy for him to eat at dinner.

A finish, including a little backtracking

Just finished putting the last side of the border on this one this morning. If you wake up at 5:30 and can't go back to sleep, you can get SO much done! LOL

It is "Opening Day" designed by Carrie Nelson. The backtracking reference was due to the fact that I sewed one outer border on upside down and had to rip it out and fix it today. The hourglass blocks at the ends were supposed to be oriented pointing toward the corner and I reversed them on one side. Can't figure out why I didn't see it at the time. Brilliant, just brilliant.