Fall colors and another store sample

This is the view from my kitchen window. Yesterday we had rain and wind and I noticed the leaves starting to fall from this maple tree and decided it was my last chance to get a picture. The bare tree in front of it is a redbud and it lost all of its leaves over a week ago. It is down to 43 degrees this morning and windy. Here is another store sample that I have been working on. I started it during the fair when I was filling in at the store. I had it all done except the top band and the strap. Yesterday I decided I couldn't look at it unfinished any longer. It is HUGE.

I had never used these curtain grommets before. They are easy to install and I hope they hold up well to the wear and tear that a bag will get.

Here it is sitting on a chair so you can see how tall it is. The sides at the top fold in when the strap is pulled up tight so it does open up full size at the top.

I used some leftover strip piecing for the inside pockets, one on this side and 2 smaller ones on the other side.

I have a million things to do today, so I need to get focused or I'll never get anything done. I'm off to make my list......

Washed and crinkled

Wilkal asked yesterday to see the back. It is a black and white fabric I have had for around 20 years (and I'm finally using it, LOL). I washed this quilt and 2 baby quilts to get them soft and crinkly. If you click on the picture you can get a closer look. While moving things in the basement I found a box with this quilt started in it. It is yarn dyed woven flannel fabrics. For some of you who are new to working with fabrics, most fabrics are printed. Yarn dyes are woven with thread that has been dyed and the way the weaving takes place creates the patterns, usually plaids and stripes. Yarn dyed wovens compared to printed woven fabric are more colorfast. That doesn't mean they won't fade, they just don't fade as fast. And talking about fading, I'm not talking about color running, I'm talking about fading from sunlight and washing.

Here are some more pieces waiting to be made into blocks

and here are some blocks waiting to be cut into strips for piecing. Can you see that I pieced the light colored triangle here? I was running out of fabric and had a few more blocks to make.

It is clouding up and starting to rain. I can hear thunder off in the distance. Our warm weather will be gone today.

Another finish

I finished the binding on this zig zag version of Strips that Sizzle. I showed the top a long time ago, showed it on the basting table in late August and now the quilting and binding are done. This one is 52.5" x 74", a good couch (sofa? davenport?) quilt. I feel like I quilted this one to death. I usually depend on a lot of ditch quilting and a little free motion. On this one I only ditch quilted the border seam and along the zig zag colors and all the rest is free motion.

I have seen a lot of vivid blue skies in pictures on other blogs and yesterday we finally had that terrific blue. I took my camera along on my walk to the post office and took these on the way home.

I live in a small rural town with no curbs on the side streets, just on the main streets. We have a lot of poles and wires, and trees trimmed to go around the wires. I have been in this town 49 years and in the same house 36 years. My parents who only moved here 10 years ago are amazed at how many people know me and speak to me when we are out eating or shopping. Living in a small town is nice. It is the big city to me since I grew up on a farm.

We are on the very edge of the building boom from a few years ago. All of the towns east of us (toward Chicago) have grown considerably and we have stayed pretty much the same. Several subdivisions proposed their plans just before the bottom fell out so I'm sure we will have change. Like they say, the one thing you can count on is change.

Find the secret hiding place

I took another picture of my viburnum bush a couple days ago. Another section of it has changed color, but what I noticed when I got the picture into the computer was the hiding place for a walnut. Those clever little squirrels are looking for all of the tight little places they can find. I found another background piece for my baskets and double 4 patches at our local quilt shop. I think I might want to cut out some of the most exciting sections and just use the leftovers for the blocks.

I am going to walk up to my polling place to vote. It is warm and sunny, very unusual for an election day. I'm not complaining though.

A walk through the yard

The lilac bush leaves turned a beautiful rusty burgundy and gold this year. Even the plants in the one flower garden had great contrast in color.

The burning bush finally changed color. A lot of others in town had turned and then dropped their leaves before mine got a good start. I guess there must be a lot of varieties of them.

Actually this is 2 burning bushes planted fairly close to each other.

I am a slow hand sewer so I only got one side of the binding all done and about 1/4 of the way into the next side while I watched TV last night. I am happy with my binding choice. I was asked whether I have a favorite variegated machine quilting thread, and I would have to say no at this point. I have several different brands but I am usually going for the best color match, whichever brand it happens to be.

Machine quilting is not an easy task. I have had people tell me I took the easy way out machine quilting. I remind them that it is faster than hand quilting, but not necessarily easier. I have to pace myself and do no more than 4 hours of it a day, spread out into several sessions. It is hard on the shoulders even if I am sitting very close to the cabinet. The arthritis in my thumbs starts bothering me too if I spend too much time at it. You have to be dedicated to finishing your projects to put up with the discomforts. And then there are the expectations of what the quilting should look like, how big the stitches should be, etc. When you get past all of that, you just do it, and learn to accept your capabilities and always try to be better on the next one.

Closer to finish

I finished the quilting yesterday, doing leaves in the green area. They are easy to do because the center vein of each leaf leads to the next leaf. Here you see a little of the rocks too.

I even got it trimmed and cut the binding. I always trim my quilts before binding them, trimming them an even width from the border seam. This always trims off slivers of a wavy edge, caused by the quilting pulling in on some areas.

The quilt looks pale with the daylight shining across it. I think it is more vivid in person.

The sun is shining this morning and warm, dry weather is on the way. We are supposed to have 70's on Mon. and Tues. I guess I have no excuse now, I have to finish cleaning up the flower beds.

Basket progress

I made a few more blocks last night and added them to the existing layout. Then I had to play a little. I took all of the double 4 patches out put just the baskets on the design wall.

Then I rearranged the blocks and put the darkest double 4 patches in the center area.

And last, I added all of the double 4 patch blocks so you can see I need to make more baskets.

I rarely have the whole quilt idea when I start cutting fabrics. I want to play with ideas as I go and see if something unexpected occurs, like a quilt better than one I could have imagined. I'm still not sure where this one is headed. It may camp out on the design wall while I do some finishing on some others, and of course I just may start another one.