It's getting to be FALL!!!

We're getting ready for fall!

 

We went to Bethany for our annual Labor Day gathering.  Mom had planted all sorts of pumpkins, squash, and gourds in her garden which had somehow thrived in the summer drought, so we all helped harvest some and I brought some back to put in front of the deck.

I didn't bring any of the small gourds as I knew that would just be something for Willow to carry around the yard.  My piano students have already commented on how nice it looks.  

All of this fall goodness, put me in the mood to get the fall quilts and decorations out inside the house.  First I had to do some deep cleaning (actual furniture polish was involved!).  I spent several days cleaning and rearranging some stuff (mostly quilts), and we are now looking very fall-ish!  I can't believe how many fall quilts I have.  It is my favorite season and I just love all the colors.  

I should show you Jackson's quilt after it was quilted.  I was really trying to keep Esme off of it, but I turned my back for one minute and look what happened!

What can I say, she's a quilting cat!

I used some of the scraps to make a pillow to go with it.  He's going to have the best looking college room at Iowa State!

And here is the completed Bars and Stars quilt.  I really tried to pace myself on the binding so that I wouldn't stress my thumb.

I thought it turned out pretty well.  Sorry for the light/shadows on this photo.  I'm going to take it to quilt guild tonight for show and tell.

It was loaded on the longarm for a couple of days before I got around to quilting it.  Someone thought it made a nice tent!  

My yellow/gold, and gray scrap tubs were running over.......like lids were sliding off, they just wouldn't balance on top of the pile, let alone snap shut.  So, I started making some hourglass blocks with them.  And they evolved into this which will be a gift for David's great nephew who got his first tractor ride when he visited us in August.  I have the top blocks together and am working on the bottom portion now.

I also made snowballs from an old chenille bedspread for the bazaar we have with the quilt show in October.  These are now sitting on top of the piano to keep them away from the paws that like to play with them until the quilt show.  Yes, we are definitely mixing our holidays/seasons up a little bit.  

And, lest I forget, I want to wish my cousin Pam a very Happy Birthday later this month.  She's celebrating seven decades!  We had a cake for her at the Labor Day gathering.

And a couple of other pictures to wrap up summer.............we celebrated Willow's birthday at the end of July with a trip to the lake at Bethany.  And she enjoyed her usual McDonalds cheeseburger on the way home.

And we saw this at a Mennonite restaurant we ate at down by Tipton on a late summer road trip.

Well, that's it for now.  Today's plan is to quilt my challenge project.  I keep thinking about different ways to do it.  It is definitely a challenge.  It's got to get finished though because projects are due at the October meeting.  Wish me luck!

Christi