2 more pinwheels and pretty trees.......................

I cut 2 of the Marcia Derse plaid fabrics for the pinwheels.  I made 2 of each of these combinations.  I'm going to use most of the duplicates in a separate project.  

I got 2/3 of a long side of binding hand sewn.  If I keep up this pace I'll get it done this month.

The tree across the street is almost fully turned and has dropped all of the leaves from the top of the tree.  We still don't have a frost or freeze in the forecast for the next 10 days.  In fact we have the 6th warmest October in Chicago records.

Last year I missed taking a photo of this tree south of me.  Their Burning Bush always turns color before mine.  

I love the combination of colors.

 

Binding and pinwheels.................

One short side is hand stitched on this binding.  I'm very happy how it looks.  I hope I can get this finished by the end of the month.

I got a few pinwheel blocks sewn.  The 2 smaller blocks are 6" and the larger ones are 8".  I need to do some more cutting today.

My only cousin on my mother's side of the family is going to stop to see me this afternoon.  He and his wife are visiting family in 2 states before they head back to the east coast.  the last time I saw them was May last year.

 

Cutting and binding..............

I got a few more new fabrics cut for the pinwheel blocks.  I even got 2 sets of the 3" triangles cut.  I thought I would have time to sew a few but I changed over to the binding instead.

This is the shape left over from some of the fabrics (center).  I can cut a 2.5" triangle from one section, and the portion left (right) is large enough to cut 1.5" triangles.  Maybe there will be some 2" pinwheels too.

I got the binding fabric pressed, cut and pieced together, ready to work on last night.

I had to get the first corner hand sewn before I quit last night.  I wonder why those stripes show up on a close-up photo.  It is just a plain light gold background behind the chickens.

In case you think I might be running low on brown, rust and gold fabrics, this is what is still in the big box after making 3 quilts.

I planted all of the leftover Begonias in this pot in the middle of summer.  I have had it over in front of the garage  most of the time but moved it over to the paver area where it will get rain.  Begonias are so hardy and are in bloom all summer.  I think I need to plant more of them in the pots next summer.

 

Binding chosen.......................

Here is a reminder of the pieces I pulled to audition for the binding of this quilt.  I auditioned evey one of them with just 3/8" showing and I liked all of them.  Now I had to decide how to narrow the selection down.  I decided I should find the ones that were unlikely choices in a future project.

These were the 2 that I thought were most unlikely to ever be used.

Then I had just a narrow strip of each showing and decided on the one on the left.  I put the one on the right with my African fabrics where it has a better chance of appearing in a future quilt.  I had the iron on, pressing the pinwheel blocks, and forgot to press this fabric so I haven't cut the strips yet.

While in the basement I cut more 4" triangles to pair with some I showed last night.  There are some more lively colors now.

I changed some of the combinations from the photo above and sewed a few blocks last night.

This is one of the pots that sits in front of my garage.  It almost died during one of the extreme heat weeks with the sun beating down on it from sunrise until 11 a.m.  

Some of the Geraniums in this pot are 4 years old and the rest are 2 years old.  I pull it into my heated garage (55 degrees) for the winter and water it 3 or 4 times and then put it back outside in May the next year.  It is a repainted pot and looking a little shabby but I still like it.

 

Larger pinwheels................

Yesterday morning I got letters ready to mail and made a shopping list.  I did the grocery shopping and the fun part, putting it all away.  Then I went out and cut down a few peonies.  I'm doing a few a day and hope to get them all done this week while the weather is nice.

Last night I sewed some of the 8" pinwheels to go with the 4" ones.  The row of triangles across the top is the rest of the 4" and the variety isn't very interesting.  I'll cut some more fun Marcia Derse fabrics and make new pairs.  I thought I would get around to cutting the 3" ones but it was a busy day.  

 

New plan.......................

I had a change of plans after reading Kathy's comment yesterday.  She said How about pinwheels?  I have been planning to do a pinwheel quilt at some point so this was the perfect start.

Last night I sewed 27 little 4" pinwheels with all 4 segments matching.  I will now make a few more with some 2 and 2 sections.

My plan for that future pinwheel quilt included 3 different sizes of pinwheels.  I had some half strips of Marcia Derse fabric left over from cutting a previous quilt.  I was able to cut 8 four inch triangles from them and the leftovers will be used to cut some more 2" triangles.  I need to cut some three inch triangles next.

Earlier in the day I went through my big bin of brown/rust/gold fabrics and pulled some choices to audition for the binding on this 16 patch quilt.  I'll look at them closer today.  I was mainly looking for fabrics with more than a half yard.

Yesterday morning I was enjoying the gold leaves on the Redbud trees against the brilliant blue sky.  About a third of the leaves have dropped.

In the afternoon I checked out the tree across the street.  It is changing color slowly, giving us a lot of time to enjoy it.

When I was out checking the tomato plants I cut a new bouquet of Marigolds.  They are at their prime now, 5 months after I planted the seeds.  I was beginning to think they were going to just be leaves after months of no buds.

The draping plant is now changing to gold in the pots on the front table.  I think we are past worries of frost for about a week.

Trimming...................

I was going to prepare the layers of a small quilt for basting on my large table in the basement when I remembered I still needed to trim this 16 patch quilt.  I didn't look for binding fabric yet.

This is the one with the rooster fabric on the back.  The quilt was 72" x 88" before quilting so it will need 8 strips of binding.  I'll be searching for a binding piece large enough today.

I got all of these squares pressed and now I need to decide whether I'm going to sew them into 4 patches or leave them loose for a random layout.  

I ran out of yarn 7 rows from the end of this dishcloth so I dug into the little bag of ends of balls and found a blue that matches the flecks in the yarn.  I didn't have an ecru yarn that was close enough of a match to use.

My pacemaker is working properly, the wires to my heart are in good shape, and my EKG was good, so I won't see the pacemaker duo for another year.  It was a long wait for the dr. but my son who drove me there was patient.  We went through a carwash with my van on the way home.  It is 22 years old and looks brand new now.  Even the wheels are the shiniest silver now.  That hasn't happened for a long time.