Not Much to Show

 The above picture shows that I've done a bit of stitching.  Not much, just a bit.  This is a birthday card, made for a friend.  I used to try to make them for everyone, but the past couple of years?  I just don't seem to make the time.

Instead, I do crazy stuff like clean the rain gutters, hoping that this will be another bonanza year for rain.  hahaha!  Anyway, when I was in Missouri, my son had just finished cleaning out his gutters and filling them with Gutter Stuff.  It is a triangular wedge that keeps leaves from entering the gutters, and allows water to rush through and flow as it should.  I bought some at Home Depot, then found it to be much more affordable on Amazon.  Of course it was.

 This is the "before" of my gutters.  They'd been cleaned about 2 months ago, and it's not yet time for leaves to drop.  Then again, the camphor tree drops leaves year round.

 Here is the "during" shot.  I have one high area that I just couldn't reach with the regular ladder.  After I hoisted the extension ladder up against the house, I realized that it was just too heavy and awkward to use.  My son had to help me attack this part of the gutter system.

 Here is the result, with the gutterstuff newly installed.  I am hopeful that the days and dollars invested into this project were worthwhile.  It also says it discourages mosquito breeding.  We've had more mosquitos this year than the past 5 years combined.  Anything to combat mosquitos is worth a try.

As to the quilt I was quilting for Daytona?  It shrunk so much that it no longer fit the size requirements.  Isn't that the way of it?  The quilt is finished.  Or was, until I realized that one side swoops in.  I need to take out the stitching and try again, to make it square.  Perhaps, eventually, I'll have a picture worth sharing.

In the meantime, I've been cleaning, cleaning, trying to prepare for the holidays.  hahaha!
or perhaps I should say ho ho ho!

Lots to do between now and then.  Stitch faster!  Stitch faster!

Still Quilting

In my last post, I mentioned a quilt I am trying to finish to hit the 10/18 deadline for AQS Daytona.  I am still quilting.  I average about 2 hours/day on this quilt, and I'm just about halfway through.  I'm going to have to ramp it up if it's going to be finished before the end of this week!!

In the meantime, I've done a few other things.  Like Block of the Month, for guild.  I designed a pumpkin block for October.  The response was delightful!

 Look at that pumpkin patch!!  The blocks are about 8.5" unfinished.  The winner is going to have a lot of fun with these!

 For November, I gave them a foundation square and a piece of red silk.  We're going to try crazy quilting.  I sold all of the silk/foundation pieces that I brought with me.  If everyone brings their block back?  Someone is going to have a wonderful project!!!

As I said, I've been quilting steadily on a quilt.  But the crazy quilting messed up my space pretty quickly.  As I was trying to put things to right, I ran across a project from a Jean Wells class at least 2 or 3 years ago, if not longer.  It was done, except for the facing.  No time like the present to finish it, right?  Right!

I put the little quilt face down, right sides together, on the facing fabric, then cut.

 I pinned the edges, then stitched it in place.

 I drew around a box lid, then cut out the space, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.  I turned it right-side out, pressed, and stitched down the raw edge.

 Once the stitching was done, I flipped it over.  Cute!!  It's approximately the size of a piece of paper.

And in other news, I cut my hair and donated it.

And I guess that's going to do it.  Back to working on that quilt.  Quilt faster!  Quilt faster!!  Goals are good.

October!

So, let's see.  When last I left you, I was leaving Ohio and headed to Missouri.  I rented a car and drove from Cleveland south, then across Indiana, Illinois, and into St. Louis.  I spent a night in Illinois, as I was exhausted from looking at all that corn.

SO. MUCH. CORN.

I was happy when I finally knew I was near my destination:

 Was I there to see the arch?  Oh, no, not at all.  I was there to see my granddaughter again!

Her face was a bit rashy when I first arrived, but by the time I left?  It had cleared up.  I think she was rubbing her face on a spit up cloth, looking for her next meal.  ;)

My primary task was to babysit, while my son took my DIL out for a birthday dinner.  The little miss was a perfect angel.

I took some family portrait photos for them.  Aren't they a beautiful family?

The next day, we took the wee one to her first estate sale.  She slept through the whole thing!!

 So, hmmm.  That catches us up to mid-September.  Has there been quilting since them?  Yes, some, but not a lot.

I am currently trying to finish a quilt to enter in the AQS Daytona show.  The deadline is in 2 weeks.  I think.  I'm not sure.  I've been busy quilting.  I am hopeful that I will finish the quilt, but I am concerned that it may shrink so much with the quilting that it will be too small to qualify.  oh well.

I do have a personal quilt plus a group quilt entered into PIQF.  Hopefully I'll get to Santa Clara in a few weeks to see them hang.  Goals, and all that.

Right!  And I guess that's going to do it for now.  Happy Quilting!!