I have been

 a little bit busy. Mainly outside, but in the sewing room, I have been working on a few projects.

I am trying to plan ahead and have started working on fair projects for next year. 

I have finished this little Christmas tree ornament. 

It is wool. I like Snowmen. I don't do much seasonal decorating anymore so this will most likely end up on a card for someone else to use as decoration.

I have been working on a six-inch block.

This is Litte Bits - Itty Bitty Feathered Star by Cindi Edgerton. When I checked it looks like she has retired and her patterns are in limited supply. This one is not available on her website, but you may be able to find it elsewhere if you are interested. The pattern is paper pieced on tissue foundation papers. There are papers included to make six blocks. 

I also started a new project. I have been collecting men's ties for a long time. I wash and dry them to see how they hold up. The ones that do not go in the trash. Most are silk, but a few are polyester. I have sorted them by fabric content. I am deconstructing them and fusing lightweight interfacing to the back.

Of course, I had a helper.

I made one block just to see how it would look. The pattern is S'Mores by Jo Morton. This will be a long-term project.

I did get to enjoy a sew day with my quilt friends last week. Remember this block?

 

The fabrics came in a five-yard bundle. While I like the fabrics, these just don't have enough contrast for me. So I dug around in my stash to come up with two fabrics that I think work better. 

The pattern is Hopscotch by The Quilt Factory.

To see what other quilters are up to, go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I have done a lot of outside work. It is way past time for my flower beds to get some much-needed attention. I decided I would concentrate on one area at a time. The first area I got to work on is the flowerbed right out my front door. These pictures were taken in early June.

 

This area is surrounded by the wheelchair ramp and the front of the house. It is open to the driveway. Wild daylilies had taken over. I got some of them dug out before they started blooming. I just couldn't keep digging while they were in bloom. But now they are gone!

 

Well, they appear to be gone. I know some will come up again next year, but they will be easier to deal with. There are several other places around my house where I will be letting the lilies continue to grow. In place of the lilies, I have planted some beautiful Echinaceas, Gaillardia, and Rudbekia.

It looks a little sparse now, but hopefully, they will be moving some Hostas and plan to add more plants in the spring. Now I need to work on the area on the left in this picture. Some unwanted plants and weeds need to be cleared out and some Hostas moved. I plan to add more to this area next spring also.

I have several other areas all around the house that need attention, but this space was needing the most work. Hopefully, the other spaces won't take as long.

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!

Time

To see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Time just seems to get away from me. I need to work in my yard and garden. I need to keep working on decluttering just about every space in my home. I need to finish up some projects. I need to get started on some projects. I just can't seem to find the time to do it all!

Today I will show you my projects that went to the fair. I entered 15 items. Fourteen got ribbons.

This is a tree skirt I made for my son. There were only two items entered in this category.

 

A knit shawlette. Not many items were entered in this category either.

 

This is an Exchange quilt I made with my quilt group. Each block was made by a different member of the group. This quilt was entered in the Friendship Quilt category. I have been the only one to enter the last two years. I won't be surprised if this category is eliminated.

Crimson Poppy won 1st in the Pieced by Owner, Machine Quilted by Owner category. It also won Champion Machine Quilted. There were 12 quilts in this category.

The Chickens quilt got 2nd in the Pieced by Owner, Machine Quilted by Owner category.

Olde Glory got 1st in the Miniature Quilt category. There were two entries in this category.

This small quilt got 2nd in the Quilt, Any Other category. It was too large for the Wall Hanging category.

This quilt got 2nd in the Child Size, Machine Quilted category. 

This quilt was done as a mystery with my quilt group during Covid restrictions. It got 2nd in the Pieced by Owner, Machine Quilted by Owner or Other category.

This category will be changing to Pieced by Owner, Quilted by Other since this category was intended to be for quilters who aren't able to machine quilt their own quilts. 

These are my 6-inch blocks.

And, 12-inch blocks.

 

This quilt got 1st in the Wall Hanging, Quilted category. The size is limited to no larger than 3' x 4'.

 

And, finally, this quilt that I call Duck, Goose did not place. I entered it in the Pieced by Owner, Quilted by Owner or Other category.

The judge didn't seem all that interested in even taking a second look at it. First, let me assure you that I am not at all upset that this quilt did not place. There were 14 quilts in this category, all beautiful. Second, the judge was an experienced quilter who taught classes for many years. She did a fabulous job judging. I know this quilt is nothing extraordinary, but I also know the effort that I put into making this quilt - time searching for just the right fabric panel, pattern, and fabric, time carefully cutting the ombre fabrics, time piecing the borders. I had to order more of the fabric to allow the ombre to work the way I wanted it to. Of course, the judge had no idea how much time I spent on this quilt. So after the judging of that category, I asked her if she could make any comments about the quilt. She said it was a nice quilt, well made, etc., etc. but since it was a cheater quilt she felt there were other quilts in the category that were more complicated to make. She's not wrong. Again, I am NOT upset about my quilt not getting a ribbon, but I did learn something that day. I had never considered a panel to be cheater fabric. There is a category for Cheater Quilts. I have made three quilts using panels during the years that I have been entering quilts that have NOT been entered in the Cheater Quilt category. No one ever suggested that these quilts were in the wrong category. None of my quilt friends had ever heard of this either. I guess I could kind of see it as cheater fabric IF no other piecing is done with the panel. I have always enhanced the panels with piecing/applique to make them bigger. Anyway, just had to get that off my chest :)

My son entered three items this year. Two in the Recycled Materials category. He got a 1st on the cow. The Autism puzzle piece did not place.

 

This piece was entered in the Lawn and Garden Art category.

He created this piece in memory of my brother who was a beekeeper, hunter, and motorcycle enthusiast. The golden spike in the middle of the cross came from his motorcycle.

Well, that's all I have time for today. It has taken me two days to write this post! It's funny, we can go days with nothing to do, then suddenly we have something going on every day for a week or more. 

I will leave you with a couple more photos of the kitties.

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!

Getting back on schedule

To see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Since July 18 my life has been a little off schedule.

I drove two hours away to pick up my son and his dog for a week-long stay.

Pokie approves of my quilts, too!

Fair started for us the next day. We helped by accepting the evening entry drop-offs in the Fine Arts building. Wednesday started bright and early with early morning entry drop-offs, judging, and arranging of the displays. It was a long, hot day, but so worth it for me. Part of my day includes unfolding the quilts and holding them up for the judge to look and then laying them on a table for further inspection. There are always so many wonderful creations to see. I enjoy hearing the comments the judge makes about each quilt. But, then we have to fold them to hang in the display cases which are not nearly big enough. Once folded to fit in the cases not much of each quilt shows. Many people have begun attaching photos showing the full quilt now.  

 

Entries were down again this year, but still so many nice things to see. I didn't make it to the other end of our building. Those displays are crops and garden produce, Juniors (kids), flowers, and table settings.

Son and I were back and forth to the fair a few more days. 

Pokie and Hoppy didn't become friends while they were here, but if their stay had lasted a few more days they might have.

Sunday was the last day of the fair. We helped with taking down the displays and checking claim tickets as people picked up their entries. 

The next day I drove my son and his dog back home. He needed to restock his fridge, freezer, and pantry so that was a busy day of shopping and putting things away. I think they were happy to be home.

I spent Tuesday resting and trying to get my house back in order because Wednesday through Friday was our 'sleep in your own bed' retreat. We gather for three days, but leave our stuff locked in the building and go home to sleep. It works great. Here are some of the wonderful quilts that were worked on.

 

 

 

 

 

  

These last two are mine.

My sewing room doubles as a guest room. I didn't have all my fair projects put away (still don't!) and had made a bit of a mess trying to decide what projects to take to retreat so I decided to do a little reorganizing. My Mom is clearing out her house and sent me some more shelf dividers.

This photo was taken as I began removing the fabric from the shelf.

Here is all the fabric stacked on the bed. And, of course, I've had help. 

I'm still working on it, but it's getting there. I really need to get rid of some things I no longer need or am interested in. That is a hard process, at least for me.

My flowers are looking good, despite the heat and lack of rain.

The sunflowers are taller than me!

And, then this happened.

Hoppy is not too sure about a new little one in the house and is keeping a close eye on the kitten. I'm sure he is thinking he was happy that the dog left after being there for a week and now THIS! I'll let you know how things go.

Oh, and by the way, does anyone know what this plant is?

I'm sure it's a weed and has popped up all over my flower beds.

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!