Week of Finishes

      GD Lily is ready for Halloween however it works out. Here she is wearing the Harry Potter robe her big sister sewed a couple of years ago. 

She helped finish Dosi's s'more costume so she is ready also.

     As I was getting in my car, this owl was just sitting on the fence. He looked at me and then just turned away. When I showed my GD, she asked if he had a paper in his claws, thinking maybe he was from Hogwarts.

     I am putting the finishing touches on the binding and rod pocket for this wall-hanging.

The pattern called “Fall Memories” and kit are from Laundry Basket Quilts. It is all fusible applique except for adding the borders. My FMQ secured the appliques and I changed the top thread several times to match the applique piece. Here is a close-up of the quilting.

I love the applique motifs, especially the berries, and plan to use them again.

I'm linking up with Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

Hope you stay healthy and enjoy some sewing or quilting.

Happy Halloween  

Week of Virtual School

     This has been a week of following my 3^rd grade granddaughter with her virtual school. The 7^th grader spends almost five hours (5 – 45 min. sessions) in Zoom classroom in her bedroom so I didn't see her much. As a retired elementary teacher, it is difficult to imagine how teachers, students and families are dealing with virtual school these days. I know it is hard on them all.

It is good they had a flex day Wednesday for a break and catch-up day so I could enjoy my Zoom meeting with quilt friends and chat for a few minutes. We all miss our social gatherings and have to make do. Thursday was Grandparents Day for 3^rd grade and I got to virtually visit via the Zoom morning class meeting.

     It has been several years since I did much counted cross-stitch. I could work on some quietly while monitoring the 3^rd grade school work. I finished this little tag. 

In the evening I sewed on a some pocket prayer squares. If you have not heard of them, you can check out this YouTube video from Shabby Fabrics and get their free pattern. 

It was easy to order the little crosses online. My group decided to make our prayer squares finish at 3” instead of 2”. That is still small enough to fit in a pocket. We also printed the prayer on the backing fabric instead of printing and attaching a paper. 

     Halloween will also be different this year and needs more precautions. Some towns may not allow trick or treating. The granddaughters decided they want the dress their dog Dosi like a s'more. I made a simple white dog coat. They just need to add the chocolate fabric and cardboard cracker. This photo was the inspiration. 

I pulled out my small Halloween table quilt and that is it for decorating. 

In my son's garden the Swamp Sunflowers are making a great show. Most are at about 10 to 12 feet tall and some taller which is much taller than mine.

Hope you stay healthy and enjoy some sewing or quilting.

I'm linking up with Alycia's Finished or Not Friday

Small Finishes

     I have a couple of small finishes to share since I did not post last week. I finished this lap quilt. 

The fabric squares were a charm pack and a matching 2 1/2” sample pack (I don't know if that size pack has a special name.) I rarely use or buy precuts but these were donated.  First I FMQ a wavy grid on the diagonal and then quilted a continuous line motif using the grid. Here is a close-up.  

    I love this cooler fall weather so I have enjoyed time in the garden. My Swamp Sunflower is blooming beautifully. They usually only bloom in October into November

    Thinking fall I pulled out 2 placemat tops and finished them. I had some leftover fall motifs with fusible web and each granddaughter designed a layout.

    I save scraps of batting and fabric to fill pet beds for the local pet shelter. This week a friend called to say she had fabric for the pet beds. She brought several bags of fabric. Most of it is not small scraps but usable for charity quilts. I sorted it by color and threw it in the wash.

Church sewing friends will help cut it into squares or strips for our scrap system and then also fill pet beds.

Hope you are enjoying some time sewing or quilting.

Check out what others are getting done at Confessions of a Fabric Addict blog for Whoop, Whoop Friday. 

Take care and stay healthy.

Finishes

      We have had beautiful cooler weather here this week so it was wonderful to spend some time in the yard. I did not spend every morning outside and made time for quilting. I finished my modern sunflower quilt.

It is lap size and for donation at church. It started with scraps of the sunflower fabric that I wanted to use and it grew improvisationally. I planned a free-motion motif to use and played with leafy vines. I am not real happy with how I chose to quilt the background when I ended the plants. The next time I quilt something similarly I will try to choose a better background motif. Here is a close up.

     I also completed more simple holiday placemats for donation. I have made a good dent in the Christmas fabric stash but there is still too much.

      After reading about requests for quilts for fire survivors out west, I went through my quilt chest and pulled 2 to donate. Members of my family have received many. We have much for which to be thankful. If you have a stash of finished quilts, I hope you will consider donating one or more. There are several groups collecting and some will finish the quilting for finished tops. Here is information about one group that was shared by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

“I am a volunteer with Quilts for Riverside Fire Survivors from Clackamas County, Oregon. You may have seen on the news recently that our state has had terrible wildfires this month after a once-in-a-hundred years wind event. Our group is collecting quilts so we can give a quilt to every person whose home burned in Riverside Fire. 

You can learn more about us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/783966792403623

Anything you could do to help us spread the word about our need for quilts would be deeply appreciated. These families have lost everything and we are committed to wrapping them in a quilt. 

We need quilts of all sizes. Quilts can be sent to:

Attn: LLF

Easy E-Office, LLC

24361 S Upper Highland Rd

Colton, OR  97017

We appreciate it if people include their name and a way to contact them so we know who to thank for their generous, loving donation.”

 Like others I am having some trouble with Blogger which changes the font size settings and will not let me. 

Hope you are staying safe and healthy while enjoying some sewing or quilting. 

I am linking up with Alycia's Finished (or Not) Friday.