Design Wall Monday--November's End

 Design Wall Monday--see more Design Walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

Playing with scraps again, I made a mini or doll quilt.  Initially it was only 4 rows tall, but seemed far too small so I rummaged about in the 2.5" scrap drawer for more pieces.  The HSTs finish at 2 inches.  I haven't decided if borders will be added.  I have just enough of the silver and white dot for borders on two sides, probably.  

I've not worked on the bookshelf quilt for my niece in over a week, but did reread directions and cut some of the strips narrower, due to the recommendation of cutting most of them about 2 inches wide.  I assume this is to get more books on the shelf :)  Since I did a big clean up after my scrap play, the sewing room is ready to go. 

I ventured down to the Harbor to watch the sunset last week.  The sun sets behind our Channel Islands this time of year.  In the left  middle of the photo, you can see two figures--some teenaged girls were bearing the cold Pacific.  On the right middle of the photo is the harbor entrance, a man-made rock jetty, like the one I was standing on  jutting out from the beach.  Some buoys also mark the entrance and I watched a number of fishing boats make their way home.

From the Harbor entrance side of the jetty, lots of pelicans favor the calmer waters.  This pic is looking toward the northwest edge of town.  There is a lot of flying back and forth between the jetty and some nesting grounds south of the harbor.

I love going down there any time of day, but sunset is my favorite. 

Slow Sunday Stitching--last of November

 Slow Sunday Stitching--see more lovely projects on Kathy's Quilts blog. 

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.  We had a small gathering and clean up went pretty quickly. There were a lot of leftovers that my sister and our son helpfully took portions of home!

I have continued adding to the Cat stitchery and introduced a few more colors. 

A little pink in the flower, some more red, and the dark blue.  There will be a lot of white added later but for now I'm focusing on the colored sections.  

The flower shape to the right of the cat's head is actually the end of its tail.  Plenty more color changes and stitches to add. 

Got to see this little grandson a couple of times this week.  Today he helped sweep up as his Dada was assisting his grandfather move furniture around our living room :)  I'll spend more time with Dane on Tuesday afternoon.  

Slow Sunday Stitching--Cat stitch progress and Birthday

 Slow Sunday Stitching--see more stitchers' projects on Kathy's Quilts blog.  

I've continued working on the kit I bought at my local quilt store--I previously said that it cost $5 for this DMC kit, but I was wrong.  It was $5.99 :)

Lots of stitches were added when we were vacationing recently at my brother and sister-in-law's in Arizona for a few days.  The cover photo isn't quite true to the floss shades, but I don't mind the warmer blue for the kitty. 

Our son and daughter-in-law and third grandson Dane were also spending time with their Uncle and Aunt. DIL and I went to a local park one day with Dane.  There was a huge reclaimed water basin and we were surprised and delighted when a huge geyser went off. It must have been over 100 feet high--can you see the rainbow?

Our timing was lucky as it goes off every 90 minutes or so.  Dane (bottom left of photo) liked the play equipment and the ducks and geese in the water too....but his favorite thing was giving hugs to this little girl.

They had a mutual admiration party going :)  Her brother/cousin/relative was counting the hugs.  "That's five hugs!"

I got a lot of love from family too...

I had a birthday recently and got some lovely handwritten cards from the older two grandsons.  This is Hunter's (age 5).  We are having fun in a garden, I believe. Look at all the hearts and love.

Cove, age 7, did all his own spelling.  I am happy to know he thinks I am OSOM !!!!

Design Wall Monday--Winding Ways and Winding Up

 Design Wall Monday--see more great quilts on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

I've again reached maximum density in the sewing room and need to thin out the overload.  Soo many baggies with leftovers from quilt tops and HSTs/leftovers I hate to waste!  

Purple block left over from My Lupine Heaven quilt top  got some borders and quilting  to become a tablemat (Bonnie Hunter's My Blue Heaven pattern).  My sister/sales rep marketed this to Dad for $25, lol.  I'll need to deliver it soon and collect the fee. 

This should be the last batch of Easy Breezy blocks for the layout I chose for another Bonnie Hunter design--this was her 2020 leader-ender project. 

This container holding leftover Accuquilt die cut Winding Ways block pieces has been sitting here for years. In 2015 I finished a commissioned quilt for a family friend's relatives as an anniversary quilt. I got out the die cutter and, amazingly, found a leftover strip of the turquoise print in the fat quarter dresser big enough to cut more shapes.

They are fiddly blocks but the notches and precise die cuts really help.  The hardest seams are the last ones joining the two sections. 

Well hi, Skinny Mini!

--here's a cat-free version :)  That copper color was--and is-- difficult to find.  

I made a clip cushion by request for my sister for her birthday, from some other solid scraps, but couldn't help throwing just a little pattern in the mix.  I cut the cushion pieces 6 x 7.5" and the clip holders 2" wide, as per the pattern instructions I found on thesewingdirectory.co.uk.  I again used scraps of fusible batting to give them body, and for cushion stuffing thriftily sliced up and pulled apart more leftover wool batting cutoffs that have been hanging around for ages.

Kathy put it right to use :)  It holds a lot of clips and hopefully is large enough to keep from getting buried on her cutting table too often!

Design Wall Monday--Plus Halloween

 Design Wall Monday--see more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

I got started on a promised bookshelf quilt for my niece, Emma.  A collection of fabrics from the scrap drawer has been awaiting finalization of the construction method.  

There are many tutorials out there, but my favorite was from the Fabric at Work website. Her method included cutting different widths of background fabric and sewing the book pieces to the strip. 

The seams are pressed to the background strip--I'm using Kona Black. 

I cut random lengths up to 10" and widths up to 3.5" per the tutorial and cut them apart with the rotary cutter and a ruler. Here they are on the ironing board. 

And now all cut apart.  Once arranged in the order desired, the background/book lengths are sewn together and trimmed to the desired shelf size,  about 11-14" inches.  I will add different pieces to the shorter pieces you see here, for striped or labeled ends.  There will be some objects and perhaps a plant or extra block in a frame tucked in here and there.  My goal is a couch quilt size and I hope to have it completed by December.  I'll need to pick out a shelf fabric--a mottled or wood grain fabric is suggested for interest. Surprisingly, solid fabrics were not recommended for the books.  That's fine with me!

In other business, Thanks for all the compliments on the Hedwig the Owl costume I made.  Here's a pic of the older grandsons as Harry Potter and Hedwig. 

Cove and Hunter had a great time trick or treating in their neighborhood.  Daughter Elaine also sent a video of Cove (Harry Potter) casting a spell:  "Winguardium Leviosa!", and Hunter flapping his owl wings.  Youngest grandson Dane cried when posed by the carved pumpkins, but was all smiles when he was free to move about. 

A cute little ghostie :)  

Our neighborhood was slammed with trick or treaters.  DH was being very generous with handfuls of candy at first, but then had to slow down with the crowds.  We came very close to running out of candy and I had to try three stores before I came up with ONE bag of chocolate coins!  Fortunately, being a Sunday night, the crowds were gone by 8 pm.  Wonder what I'll make next year?