It Pays to Dig!

Last week my friend/neighbor, Karen and I went to Sedalia to visit a quilt shop that was closing.  The BIG sale is going on this week, but with my schedule, there was no time to go this week.  There was a sale last week, just not as good as this week.  I was just "Going along for the ride"!  Yeah, right!  I had told myself that if I saw some flannel to use as a backing for the Christmas quilt I'm working on, I could buy that.  Well, I did find some flannel and since I took the whole bolt, the price was better.  Then I noticed this lady digging through 2 rubbermaid tubs outside.  It was fill a bag for $5.  I didn't need anything, but thought it would be fun to "look".  Well, by digging deep into the tubs, I found some great pieces of fabric and ended up with 2 bags!  Here is the haul............

And here are the 2 bags unpacked..............

These are quarter yard cuts and fat quarters.

Half yards and 1 yard cuts.

And the scraps!

It was so much fun unpacking my bags!!!!

 I spent Saturday working on this Halloween wall hanging.  I have sent it to be quilted.

And I worked some more on the Christmas throw.  This is what the gray checked flannel backing was for.  I still want to add another border.

I did some outside work this weekend as well.  I emptied almost all of my potted flowers.  They didn't really look very good and I think I know what the problem was....

Some little pests had infiltrated them and were using them to nest in.  So cute!

Since Jason and DD went to college, Cici has taken to playing with Muffin when she gets to come in the house.  That's really nice because I'm sure Muffin missed playing with Jason.

She did get to Skype with Jason and DD one day.  It was pretty cute to see!

She's also enjoying Cici's window seat.

Cici has taken to trying to blend in with the stuffed animal display outside DD's bedroom door.

Apparently everyone misses Sarah!
Christi

Quilting Updates!

I started working on a new quilt while I listen to my nephew's football games.  I'm calling it "Friday Night Lights".  I made a rule that I can only work on this while I listen to his games on the radio.  I started cutting the pieces during the first game thinking that I might get everything cut by the end of the game.  However, the Greene County Rams had other ideas.  They had 18 penalties in that first game which made the game last over 3 hours and allowed me to get started sewing the blocks.  They did win though, tying their win record of the previous year.  Now, with 4 games in the books, they have a 4-0 record and my awesome nephew leads the state (Iowa) in touchdowns.  He's gotten at least one a game.

 I am using all Kim Diehl fabrics.  I had a jelly roll, 3 charm packs, and a little yardage that were all Kim Diehl fabrics, so decided to put them together to make a quilt.  

Cici is guarding the project box to make sure that I only work on it while listening to football games.  This includes any pressing, ripping, etc.  I am really enjoying the fabrics and can't wait to see how it all comes together.

I finished this table runner in August.  I machine quilted it myself using my walking foot on Tucker, my 301.  I think it came out pretty good.  I have already given it away.

 I picked up this Christmas panel, black snowflake print, and buffalo plaid fabric at Cuts 'N Bolts in Chillicothe.  It was totally an impulse buy.  I did cut the pictures apart and have made them in to blocks.........

 Cici is helping hold the blocks on the cutting table.

I am working on making this a throw for a Christmas gift.  

We stopped at Cuts 'N Bolts on our way to Bethany for a family reunion over Labor Day weekend and were able to pick up On Ringo Lake which they had quilted.  It is bound now.  The Hubs is up in DD's tree house holding it.  We have a lot of trees in our yard, and it's difficult to find a good place to take photos without getting light and shade.

For the next 3 photos, The Hubs is standing on the swing in our front yard to hold the quilts.

 This is a quilt that I quilted myself on my friend Gina's quilting machine.  I don't think I did too badly for my first try.  It will be donated to something before the end of the year.

 This is my "Roof Raising" quilt made from homespun fabrics.  It was my main UFO for quilt guild this year and I had it done by our September meeting deadline.  It will be a Christmas gift.

This is my Pinwheel quilt made from Kansas Troubles fabrics.  It will also be a Christmas gift.

 This was Mary's UFO that she showed at our guild meeting.  It's a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Roll Roll Cotton Boll.  I think it is beautiful, but would never want to do all those string blocks!

 Kris showed her Seeing Stars top.  She added some extra pinwheels and borders to make her top bigger than the pattern called for.  I love the variation!

 Kaitlyn (former piano student) showed her Bonnie Hunter Fair and Square quilt that she made as her 4-H project this year.  She even quilted it herself.  Some of my fabrics are in there.  Every week when she showed up to piano lessons, I would have some string scraps on the table, and I let her clean out my box of 1.5" squares.  I can get the lid to close on that tub now.  I wish she would do something with 2" squares because that tub is a long way from closing!

This is Nikki's quilt she made as a 4-H project.  She is also a piano student.

I have been looking at different quilting machines.  There is a shop in Boonville that will let you quilt a quilt on their machine.  I made this baby quilt to take there to practice on their type of machine.  And that's what I have been up to in the sewing room!

Christi

Patio Palooza!

Rain delays kept causing the concrete guys to push back our patio, but it finally happened in August!  It seemed so awful to be complaining about the rain after the extremely dry summer we had.

After they finally got it poured (during a fine misty morning), they had to wait until just the right time to start stamping the concrete.  

 This was done to make it look like slate.  After they finished, I kept saying, "I thought it would be darker...."

So finally on a sunny - no rain - day, the hubs put the sealer on and that made it darker!  I think it's beautiful!

 My parents came down for a couple of days after Labor Day so that my dad could help build the roof.  In two days, they got it up and over half shingled before it started raining again.

 I think Dad was a little tired the first evening....apparently so was Muffin!

Thanks to some machinery breakdowns, for which we really aren't that thankful, the hubs had plenty of time to work on the finishing while waiting for the combine repairs.....hopefully he will get it back today and get to go to the field.  This gave him time to finish up all the trip on the roof, build some temporary stairs, and add lights and a ceiling fan.  

And we harvested the pumpkins!  

So this is the project currently.........he has even reseeded the yard around it.  The composite boards for the stairs, railing, and posts are ordered, so that's all there is left to do!

Christi

And now September is flying by.........

Linda Kowalski was the guest at our August guild meeting........and here it is, September guild meeting tonight!  I thought I had better get these photos posted before the meeting so that I wouldn't have too many to share!  Linda shared some beautiful and unique quilts that she had made.

I loved this sunflower quilt.  It was a block exchange with a sunflower theme.  Linda commented that she would want there to be a size specification on the blocks the next time, but I think the different sizes of blocks make this quilt very interesting.

This one caught my eye as well.  I found it interesting, but am not sure that I would ever try it.  

And then my favorite from our guild show and tell was Carrie's quilt with all the animals.  I just think this is so much fun!

DD headed back to college mid August as well.  Here she and Jason are saying goodbye to Muffin.  

We were worried that Muffin might miss Jason, but we weren't worried about Cici missing him.

You can see that she has become much more relaxed.  She even waits for Muffin to come inside to play with her every morning.  She has also started sleeping on our bed again, usually on my pillow right next to my head.  Sometimes I don't even notice her, but sometimes my hair is in her way and she has to scratch around on the pillow to get my hair where it's not bothering her.  

The Hubs started working on our covered patio project mid August as well.  I'm pretty sure that's why we started getting all the rain.  Here are the photos of the first part - getting ready to pour the concrete patio.

Of course, anytime there is reason to use his Bobcat, he's happy!  It has progressed much further, but I'll have to post more photos later.

Here is a quilt top I finished in August.  It's called Kitchen Sink!  I have sent it with my sister to take to a lady in Iowa to quilt for me.  Not sure what I'll do with it as it turned out to be smaller than I was thinking.  Probably a gift for something down the road.

And that's all for now............
Christi