Day Late, Dollar Short

 This quilt was done before Halloween, but I haven't posted until after Thanksgiving.  

I love the way the long stitch quilting looks.  

Next week the Christmas decorations come out.

God Bless and take care.

Black Cat with Polka Dots

I was pulling together all of the Christmas panels I have when I came across this one that I completely forgot owning.  I don't usually do very much for Halloween but I must have liked this little guy in the pumpkin.  It's a Mary Jane Carey for Henry Glass panel from last year, I think.  

Anyway, I'm hand quilting it with long stitches.  

This is an aster plant the I bought for half price from the "almost dead" section one of the garden stores nearby.  It was a sad thing at first but it's doing well now.  

I got this aster at the same time.  It's really a bush with very small flowers; very delicate in appearance but I think it's a hardy plant.  I'll mulch it really well when the weather turns colder.

Hope all is well.

God Bless.

Four O'Clocks - I love them.

Silent Night Quilt and Flowers

Unfortunately, I cannot take a good picture of this beautiful quilt.  

The fabric is rich and beautiful; it's by Ro Gregg for Paintbrush Studio.

I've had the fabric and free pattern for about a year, so I'm happy to finally have it put together.

Next I think I'll put together a small Halloween quilt that's a free pattern from Fort Worth Fabric Studio; it's call Boo to You Mystery QAL.  After the uncomfortable summer we've had here I'm ready for autumn anything.

I had to begin establishing flowers here in my new home this year.  I had successes and failures.  I learned that unless it's a cactus most flowering plants cannot take full sun all day.  Fortunately, I started some of my plants in pots so I could move them to a better location in the yard.  At my parent's yard, there were small and large trees and bushes that provided shade at different times of the day.  That really is necessary, especially when the temps are very high.

This is a tithonia or Mexican sunflower.  I almost pulled it out when it was about 5 feet high and still not flowering.  It was just too soon.  Fortunately I waited and now it's full of flowers.

 My dahlias are doing very well.  They are all new so that probably is a factor.

Gaillardia.

I'm so glad I tried morning glories; they are gorgeous in the mornings.

This praying mantis dropped by, and yesterday a pheasant crossed the street as I was driving down my street.

On one of the hot, humid days, I found Moxie like this.  Most of the time you can find her under a shrub in the coolness there.

God Bless and be well.

Summer, The Quilt

Julie of the The Crafty Quilter created this fun and smart quilt as a qal with tips and advice, and I joined in.  I couldn't pass up this design; I love butterflies, sunflowers, gentle waves and beach balls.  And stars, as well.  Julie must love them too because they are all in this quilt.  

Today is link up day, and I just finished my top.  Did I say that the qal was a teaching/learning along?  I learned again, for the millionth time, to read the directions carefully.  I made my beach balls and pinwheels 4.5" instead of 4.25" and wondered what happened until I went back and read again the directions.  

Check out the link up quilts; there are a few but so beautiful.  Someone did "Aloha" instead of Summer and it seems to be a nice way of making it her quilt.

Thank you, Julie.  I'm glad I joined in.  

Is there anyone out there enjoying this heat wave?  

Not me.

I'll be gazing at the waves in my quilt and cooling down with the thought of them.

God Bless!

Ditto

More of the same.  This is for the final linkup of Hands 2 Help.  Thanks, Sarah.  My quilts have gone to the Happy Chemo charity.  

That's it.  Busy weekend ahead with no time for sewing unfortunately.  

Hands2Help Quilts and I Missed You!

Hello Everyone,

I missed you very much and regret that I did not keep up with all of your happenings for the past almost a whole year.  I went through a big change in moving from the home where I spent most of my life so far to a little home in the suburbs.  I love my new home.  Things are still chaotic in some ways in that now that the weather is getting nice I am trying to put my stamp on the yard and gardens.  It's fun but tons of work.  I'm sure many of you can identify with this and the stress that goes along with it.   I haven't done much quilting except for what I am sharing today, and these two quilts are for Hands 2 Help, the event Sarah Craig at Confessions of a Fabric Addict runs each year.  I've participated for a few years now and couldn't see missing it this year.  The feminine quilt top was already sewn up and only needed the hard part done, that is batting, backing, quilting, binding, etc.  I love doing the binding, so that really isn't so difficult.

 This is the feminine quilt that is made with Bunny Hill fabric and was photographed on my new front porch. I did not make the pillow; it's a Walmart special but it's sweet because it says "Faith" on it.  I've had to have a lot of that lately.

This is the masculine quilt.  Sarah shared this design, and I liked the pattern because it's all scraps.  It is very simple and fun to make because anything goes; the background color ties it all together.  

These are probably going to the Happy Chemo organization, as long as they meet the size requirements.  

I will be reading many blogs to catch up with you.

Take care and God Bless You.

(I plan on posting again soon; my sewing machine misses me too much:)