Autumn is Here

 I cannot believe it is fall already.  This has been such a strange summer.  We are still getting produce from the garden and I end up canning.  Not my most favorite thing to do with my weekends.  School is in session and so far our school is open and let's hope it stays that way.  We have even gone on two field trips.  Being a small school in the country with 19 students helps!

We had our county fair a week ago.  It was much smaller than usual, but we filled out the quilt section nicely.  We got lots of compliments on it.  I managed to enter 7 quilts I had made in the last two years.  I did get blue ribbons, but I enter mostly to inspire people. 

Cute gnome quilt.  The hearts are appliqued on.  Shop sample.

Kaffe leader ender project.  It always sticks to my design wall and looks wrinkled.

One Block Wonder with Kaffe feather fabrfic and cubes.

Wow, August is Almost Over!

 This has been a super busy summer.  I don't even know where to begin!  So I will be random.  Quilts will be in the post!  I had more company and also met my daughter halfway to pick up my two oldest grandkids so they could have a bit of harvest.  Our weather has been so dry harvest was very early, and the yields were down quite a bit.  While the kids were here and because of the super dry summer, fires have been rampant in the norhwest.  On Wednesday, August 11 a fire started several miles from here and quite a bit lower in elevation.  It quickly went out of control and into the wooded canyons.  My husband is a volunteer fire fighter and had already plowed fire breaks around our house and fields.  By Friday night we were in danger, but I didn't realize how much!  The fire traveled 8.7 miles up the canyon and was stopped by a backfire .7 miles from our house!  It did not cross the highway thankfully.  My husband was out fighting fire and the biggest danger was flying embers with the dry ground and lots of trees.  These pictures are from one of our fields on the edge of the canyon.  Thanks to hundreds of firefighters, including farmers and loggers the fire was contained at 11,205 acres.

I have gotten several shop sample tops done and have actually worked on some of my own projects, but not too much!  I helped my 7 year old granddaughter sew an apron when she was here.  She was very proud and wanted to bake.  Only it was so hot and we don't have air conditioning so I was avoiding the oven!  She did enjoy setting the table in her apron!

The pictures below are all shop sample quilt tops!

The fabrics glow in the dark!

Busy Summer

 It has been a busy summer!  We had my sister here from Southern Idaho along with her son, his wife and two little  girls from Kentucky here for a few days and the day after they left my daughter and 3 grandkids arrived for a week.  We had a lot of fun, even with the massive heat wave we are in.  We haven't  had rain for months and fires are raging in the area.  

Because I am supposed to be taking it easy after oral surgery recently I am sewing!  I made this fun quilt top, loved using a panel for the applique.

This quilt is called Our Flag Stands for Freedom.  It is not the best written pattern, but I love the way it turned out and there are cutting directions *sort of* for a mini version.  I made that today!  

A few more quilt tops

 I have been in the midst of doing all my summer yard and house maintenance in the span of 10 days.  Oh how I wish we had TREX decking!  When we built our house it was brand new on the market and our neighbor who was building our decks in his spare time had never worked with it.  Well, fast forward to every few years needing to sand and refinish the decks.  I tried hiring someone, but he bailed on me three times.  So last week in the heat, I sanded and stained/waterproofed the decks along with lots of yardwork.  We have a huge yard and trying to keep up with the watering in this heat and the gardening...  you get the idea my sewing time is limited!  The first batch of company arrives Thursday.  

I finished 4 more Take 5 quilts.  Not a huge fan of all the fabrics.  But they are done and a box with 9 quilt tops was shipped today!  I didn't get great photos, they stick well to my design wall and looked wrinkled!  

A few tops complete

 School is almost out and I am thankful we were in person all school year!  I have some projects to do around the house and some company coming but the break will be nice.  

I have been in a personal quilting slump, so I continue to make shop samples for my friend's shop.  This summer I want to go through my projects and get some UFO's finished!

I love the Take Five kits.  The block pieces come pre-cut and are so easy to sew together!  You can tell the region I live in!  University of Idaho Vandals, Boise State Broncos and Gonzaga Bulldogs!  They were fun and easy to do.  

Finished Gift

 I quilted and bound the blue sampler quilt.   It is ready for gifting.  I figured out the blocks were made in 2004!  It is great to have this UFO off my shelf!

I also took a few flower photos!

Wow, Almost the End of April!

I really do have good intentions to post on my blog.  I just need to be better at it on my phone and then I could manage it easier.  Getting the pictures to my computer takes effort.  Well, not really, it's just plugging in a cable...  

In my last post (two months ago!) I mentioned our house flooded.  Almost all the repair work has been completed (the bathroom still needs baseboard and the floor guy said it wasn't his job) and I spent my entire spring break working on the house putting things back together and cleaning EVERYTHING, absolutely everything in this big house from the construction dust.  "Someone" still needs to install my new laundry sink, but he has been busy farming.  The laundry sink was old and since it had to come out we chose to replace it with a nice stainless steel one.

I have gotten some quilting done.  These pictures are going to be in a random order.  

Wildest quilt top I have ever made - Kaffe fabric blocks from two swaps, assembled into one top.  The string blocks were sliced in half and I made the middle fit by adding black and white.

I used red and green Christmas low volume prints for this Chamomile Quilt.

Disappearing 4 patch

Another view at dusk with a bit of sunshine.

Brown Bag mystery 2020 Kaffe version.

Brown Bag Mystery 2020 - Batik version piano key border

Partially finished block of the month sample quilt

Easy Stripe Tablerunners

Quilts I made for a 16 year old girl (she went to the one room elementary I work at) and her mom.  The girl is undergoing treatment for her third bout of cancer.  I put two different fleeces on the backs so they could tell them apart.  All the blocks were made over the last couple of years as leader/enders.

Gnome is Where Your Garden Grows - shop sample top

This is a VERY old UFO, more than 15 years old.  I had the blocks done all this time.  Today I put them into a top and I have a backing ready to baste and quilt it.  I needed a gift for a college graduation and the young woman loves blue.  I am using a fun a nd funky backing with pink, her other favorite color!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday.