Where has the Summer gone?

I can't believe tomorrow is September 1st! Where did August go? Forget August, where did SUMMER go? Temps the last few days have been in the 60s to 70s with lows down to 51 at night. You can almost smell "Fall" in the air. But, that's okay .... Fall is my favorite time of year! Give me a crisp, sunny day with a few light clouds in a beautiful blue sky. . . Leaves turning to those beautiful shades of gold, crimson, and orange. . . Pumpkins laying in the fields ready to be picked. . . But then, around here, Fall doesn't last long enough. It's quickly followed by the dreaded "Minnesota Winter". . . . okay, I'm not ready to go there yet, so let's change the subject.

I've been keeping pretty busy the last few weeks -- I've had lots of customer quilts to get done before the end of the month. Business has been so good that I'm already booked for the entire month of September and have started booking quilts for October. I love seeing all of the great projects my customers bring me . . . but what's even better is seeing the look on their faces when they see their quilt transformed by the quilting. Here's a couple of examples:

This belongs to Karen D'A. -- this is her first quilt that she made about a year ago. She told me she was planning on using it as a table cloth; but when she picked it up she couldn't believe how it had changed. Her response: "I don't think I can use this as a table cloth now; it's too beautiful!"

This is one of my favorite blocks from the quilt . . .

As well as this one!

Here's a quilt by Sandy D. This one is a sample for the quilt shop where I work (Fabric Town, Apple Valley, MN). Sandy always does such a beautiful job with applique. This particular quilt was completed with machine applique -- blanket stitch....I was particularly amazed at how she even stitched around the words.

I also pulled out an old knitting project this week. I had started knitting a "Booga Bag" (http://www.blacksheepbags.com/booga_bag.html) last winter. I don't have a whole lot left to knit on the bag -- maybe a couple of more inches. Once I get the i-cord strap made, I can go through the felting process.

This is one I made last year out of Cascade 220 wool and Nashua Handknits Wooly Stripes. I got distracted while this was felting in the washing machine and it ended up going through an entire 15 minute cycle. I was hoping it would be a little bigger than it is, but it does make a cute little purse. I still want to line it with a light green/cream polka-dot fabric and maybe add a magnetic snap. The worst part of the project --- pounding those stupid grommets . . .

I suppose I should end this post. I have the latest issue of Quilt Sampler magazine sitting just a few feet away from me, calling my name to come look through it's pages. A nice cup of tea and I'll be set to go . . .

Thanks for stopping by . . .

Patti

Ta-Da!!! Here they are . . .

. . . the pictures I promised you. A little late . . . sorry!

First up is a quilt top that I pulled from one of my "To Be Quilted" bins. I pieced this 70" square quilt top in 1994. It's a watercolor log cabin. Notice the MAUVE centers in the blocks. I couldn't afford to have it quilted back then, so I just held on to it. I quilted it using a pantograph pattern called "Florine's Flowers" (which looks rather "watercolory" -- is that a word?) and used a variegated thread in pastel pinks, yellows, blues, and greens. Finished it off with a 3/4" finished binding. I think it looks great!

Next I quilted a throw that I made as a sample for Fabric Town. We got some charm squares in and they weren't selling; so, I made this quick and easy throw. We'll be putting together a kit this week for this sweet little quilt. The colors in the quilt are yummy -- chocolate browns, cherry reds, pinks, and soothing aquas ! I quilted it using a new pantograph I recently purchased called "Hyacinth - Grande" -- very botanical! I used a tan thread so it would blend nicely with all of the colors in the quilt.

I also had a chance to finish up a top that I had started a couple of years ago called "Brick by Brick". It's very scrappy and uses primarily 4 x 7.5 inch "bricks" to make up the blocks. Watch for pictures of that one too! And, I finished up the blocks in another throw I had started back in April using a jelly roll pack from the "Snippets" line by American Jane fabrics. I got the blocks sewn together and started putting on the borders. Maybe I'll get than one finished up this weekend!

So, you see I had a VERY productive weekend working on MY stuff . . . something I don't get to do all that often.

Now it's back to working on customer quilts this week! I actually quilted four projects yesterday -- okay, so three of them were baby-sized quilts, but still . . . that's four less customer projects to get done this week!

Later,

Patti

It's All About ME. . .

. . . this weekend, that is! I've decided that I'm going to start making the weekends MINE! That means no working on customer quilts and then leaving myself with no time to do any of the things I want to do!

No this isn't me -- but "she" is so cute ..... mmmm, makes me think of ice cream!

I've decided to pull out some of the quilt tops I've pieced and start quilting them and getting the bindings on them as well. Already this morning I finished one small lap quilt and am almost finished with another top! One of the tops is from those "dreaded blue bins" I mentioned in a previous post. I was even able to find a suitable backing for it in my "Backing" bin! You'll have to wait until tomorrow nite to see what I've accomplished this weekend! For now, I better get back downstairs and finish quilting the one on the machine.

Have a great weekend!

Patti

We made it through the weekend . . .

My "busy weekend" is over and it's back to my normal routine! We had a great time with Harmonie on Saturday. We went and saw "G-Force" . . . Harmonie loved it and thought it was very funny! Papa and I agreed it was a cute movie, but definitely not one we'd rush out to buy when it comes out on DVD! After the movie we went to a local 50's-style diner and had dinner. Then on to Walmart to pick up hair accessories for Harmonie!

Saturday night, after Harmonie's bath, I braided her hair into about 20 little braids. She wanted it to be "wavy" when she woke up Sunday morning. When we took the braids out, it was definitely wavy, but not quite the overall effect we were looking for. . .

. . . so after a little water, blow drying it and then using the curling iron, we came up with a much better hairstyle! Harmonie loved it and couldn't wait to show it off to Mommy and Daddy when they picked her up in the afternoon!

So, now the weekend is over and I'm looking at my schedule for the week -- dentist appointment at 3:00 today, see my chiropractor three times this week, work on website updates for the quilt shop, I'm working at the quilt shop on Friday and in between I have about, oh lets see . . . seven quilts I need to get finished this week! Oh my, and here I thought I'd have a relaxing week.

I better get going and get some quilting done!

Later,

Patti