Beautiful October

I don't think I have a favorite month,
or even favorite time of year....
But this October, here in central Ohio?
It has been awesome!!!
The weather has been almost Summer-like,
with lots of family fun times,
many special times with friends, too,
some stitching time thrown in,
and even a little fall decor I've put out! 😄

Here are a few of my favorite, Autumnal, little quilts:

Geese in the Cabin small quilt

12x12 Fall Colors, hand tied

Pumpkins and Geese - 
this pattern was in a quilt magazine 
a handful of years ago, 
that I free-motion-quilted on my long-arm

Bringing out and seeing those little quilts makes me reminisce...
Don't you just LOVE all those fabrics???  
Even if you're not a real fan of Civil War era repro fabrics, 
I think they're so home-y, so warm and vibrant.
Those little quilts, above, I made while working at a 
reproduction fabrics quilt shop, The Good Wives Company.  
The Good Wives Co. was a totally awesome shop, with such inspiration, creativity, quilty love, and wonderful people, and we were all just devastated when they closed four years ago.  I feel there's still a hole in our quilt shop community from them closing their doors. 
I'm thankful for my time there and all the quilty friendships made, and still think about them often, and miss their fabric availability, too, as you can probably tell from this writing. 

Do you have a favorite month, or favorite season for quilts??  
What's your favorite style of fabric?
And do you have a favorite quilt shop?
I try to support all the local shops, and online shops, too....
 - and laugh as I say that, 
because I don't truly NEED any more fabric,
or any more projects, either, for that matter,
to add to my Want-To-Make-Someday list.  

Happy, beautiful October to you!
I wish you wonderful Autumn weather, 
crunchy leaves, and plenty of stitching time in your day.

almost the middle of October!

Beautiful Sunday to you!

I'm still busier than ever, but enjoying it all!!!
Attended a wedding last Saturday, and a baby shower last Sunday.

Here's the baby quilt I did for the new momma:

I left the bottom/center area un-quilted so when the new little guy arrives, I'll quilt in his birthday and name.  Also, don't know if you can tell from the picture or not, 
but I didn't finish the binding on the bottom, left hand corner.  
That's where I'll put a label on, too.

So I was an Indian-giver at the shower. lol  
Gifted it, then took it back home with me.

This pattern is the 16-patch/X-block,
aka Goodnight Irene pattern.  
Over 60 different fabrics used (a 2.5 inch strip of each) 
to make it Eye Spy-ish.

Seems like this is now my go-to for baby quilt gift making.
Do you have a favorite pattern for a baby gift?

The weather is finally cooling down here - and just a touch of color in the leaves on the trees,
so Autumn weather seems like it finally has arrived.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

quilting in the heat

Welcome to Autumn!!!
I love all the seasons and the changes brought by each.
I always think that my favorite season is the one that's here now...
then the next season comes in and it's my favorite! lol
89 degrees and humid here today, so definitely NOT Autumn-like.
In preparation for the change of seasons, 
I've not changed out a single bed quilt or quilted wall hanging, either.
With all the heat, it just doesn't feel like the time to do the change over to Fall.
But still nice to have the warmth and sunshine,
even at more than 15 degrees above normal.

My machine quilting slows down a little because of 
the aforementioned heat and humidity -
as my long arm machine is in the back sun room.
But just beautiful, early in the morning:

Even with the extreme heat, 
I do have a couple of customer quilts to show for the last few weeks, though.
First is a baby quilt that I got to meander over for Janet:

Just perfectly made and oh, so cute!!!

The second quilt is a larger-than-king-sized that I got to quilt for Jackie:

Flannels front and back.  And it was so large that it was hard to photograph - I had to take it out to the back deck!

It's pictured a little in the shadows, so the colors are a little dulled in the brighter areas, but you can see the great fabrics used.  She used the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern.

That's all for today... Hope you've had a nice welcome to the first of Autumn!!

dappled sunshine on my Vintage Farm Girl blocks

We've had our killing frost here in central Ohio,
and Autumn weather has arrived.
Sunny, crisp, and a warm breeze trying to warm things up!
It was such a beautiful day today,
so I went out and walked around the back yard
(rather the back garden if you're from the other side of the pond - 
or so my Dutch friends tell me).

Whilst enjoying the weather and my walk, 
I realized it would be a great idea
to photograph my lastly made blocks
from the Vintage Farm Girl sew along!
(Yes, the sew-along is finished, but I'm still working on mine!)

I had a whole STACK of VFG blocks I'd made
and sandwiched in my pattern book,
so I checked to see what I'd already photographed, and
I guess when you have a stack of blocks almost 20 high
that it's waaaay past time to share!! :)

Notice the leaf that came to visit in the last picture?  
The wind picked up and that beauty fluttered in!

 I left the leaf there when I placed my next blocks:

 I laid out the following blocks, and another leaf came to visit, too:

 I LOVE all of the blocks, and have been doing them very scrappy.
I did do just a little fussy-placement of fabric when I did that last block, above ^.
Here's a closer view:

Wowza!!! NINETEEN blocks I hadn't shared! 
I didn't know it was that many!
I already have the next few blocks cut out, 
which leaves maybe only another six, so the end is in sight!!  

Oh, but I don't have my border fabric chosen for this.
I really should think about that, shouldn't I?

Thanks for visiting, 
and I hope your day has been filled with dappled sunshine, also!

things I haven't shared... and small quilt swap

Sounds deep, doesn't it.
Well, some of it is.  Deep that is.
Personal grief is something I've not shared here much.
(If you are a pray-er, please add me and my family to your list, thank you.)
But I believe there is a higher power
and a reason for things happening - reasons I just don't know, yet.
And out of it, comes strength, and deepening love.

So, out of the deep and into positiveness -
Also lately, I haven't shared much in the way of quilting fun.
I participated in a small, primitive quilt swap
and this is what I sent to my swap partner, 
Roberta of New York.
So My Ohio Geese flew to New York:

Not the greatest of pictures, with no staging or softness, but at least I got a picture before I mailed it!  I almost had it packed for shipping when I realized that I didn't have a picture.

I love flying geese, and I love the log cabin block,
so I put those two together and made her a 'Geese through the Cabin' little quilt!
I used some of my favorite browns and oranges, and some muslin for the geese,
and quilted it with my Sashiko machine in a dark ecru quilting thread.

I have shared the next photo before,
but I think, it's nice to put the two swap quilts together in a post -
the little quilt I received back in exchange -
the New York Geese that flew to Ohio:

I think it's great that we both did flying geese in our swap quilts
even though it wasn't a theme!! 

Thanks for visiting, and thanks in advance for prayers sent my way.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

getting ready for Autumn

Long time no visit!
Lots of stuff going on around here -
some good, some sad,
but all in all, life is good.

I received a little quilt in a swap that I participated in:

It sure is a cutie and I love it!
I love the flying geese, especially.
Thank you so much, Roberta!!

Today, I mailed the little quilt that I made for the swap
(for Roberta),
so she should have it in time to welcome the arrival of Autumn.
I won't share the quilt top, yet,
but here's a peek of the back:

Also, I've been doing some cleaning in the 
sewing room, aka studio.
No pictures of that, but
does anyone else have enough fabrics and supplies 
to last more than their own lifetime?

That's all for now - I've been doing some commission quilting,
so pictures of that to come.

ready or not, Autumn! quilts and stew

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to let Summer go.
The Autumnal equinox is today.
Well, actually tonight, around 10:30 EST.

Crisp, cooler nights,
shorter daylight hours,
comfort food cooking,
and time to get the quilts changed around.

A table quilt that I made a couple of years ago,
with great Civil War reproduction fabrics and muslins -
a great scrap quilt that I love!

I pulled the summer-y table-topper quilts (from every flat available surface in the house), and threw them all in the wash, then hung them out on the porch to dry.  And, I even dusted a little
before throwing the Autumn inspired quilts
onto the tables and stands
where they can be admired for the next couple of months.

I don't have the wall quilts changed out yet, but that will happen sometime this week.  Maybe.  Probably.

And, since the weather has started it's Autumnal change, 
I even made a Stew for dinner.
My favorite Stew recipe came from 
a quilt shop owner/friend (Thanks, Linda!- I miss you guys!) ,
and I like it because it can be made as is, doubled or even tripled EASILY as needed for family gatherings.  It takes just a little (easy) prep time, then slide it into the oven to finish up while you go to church or play outside with the grandchildren.
And, since Autumn has arrived, ready or not,
I thought I'd share my Stew recipe with you...

Oven Beef Stew
3 tablespoons olive oil, heated in dutch oven on stove top
1 1/2 pounds beef cubes - 1 inch, browned in hot oil on stove top
After browned, remove from heat and top with:
1 pound carrots, cleaned and cut into 1 inch chunks
~1 pound new potatoes, cleaned and quartered
half of a large, sweet onion, quartered (or jar of 12-16 small white onions, not pickled)
10 oz. peas, frozen

In skillet, make a sauce - start with:
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 cups cold water  
Stir over medium heat until thickened and smooth, then add:
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf, whole
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Bring sauce to a boil, then pour over beef and vegetables.**
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one and a half hours.
Makes 6 hearty servings.

(** at this point, you can put it (covered) into the fridge overnight, 
then just pop into the oven the next day - just add an extra 15 minutes baking time.) 

Remove bay leaf and serve with a green salad and some crusty bread or biscuits.
Delicious!!

Oven Beef Stew - half gone,
because we ate before I remembered I was going to take a picture!!

My notes:

• When I make this, I usually double the carrots & peas, and make a double sauce, too.

• Sometimes I set the oven at 325 degrees & bake for 2 hours, if I need the extra time to play!

• I use a cast-iron/enameled dutch oven, and this seems to cook a little faster.  If you don't have cast iron, you may have to add 15 minutes baking time to the above times.

Stripping. And strip give away.

Last week or so I shared with you the stripy quilt table-topper
that I made with some of my left-over stripy-strings of fabric:

I think it might be my favorite quilt ever!!!

(But I guess I say that after every finish, don't I? :)

And I heard back from quite a few of you that you also
STRIP
do the Strip-y String quilt thing too.
There are some really GREAT quilts and quilters out in blogland!

At first, I thought I'd make another quilt with the left-overs. 
If you can imagine, 
I didn't use all of my Autumn colored strings. :)

(see that nice pile of Strips below my finished quilt?)

After more thought

 ("who am I trying to kid- A.D.D kicking in here!"),

I decided I'd rather move on 

had already moved on to another project.

I've had so many comments and compliments

(thank you very much!)

about my little quilt,
that I thought that there might be someone who'd like
to have my left-over stripy-strings.
They are random width & length strings -
predominately browns, with some blues, golds and brick reds thrown in. 
Most of the fabrics are reproduction fabrics, but a couple are not. 

If you are interested
in adding these STRINGS to your collection,
just leave me a comment on this post
before MIDNIGHT, Saturday, October 19th.
If there are multiple folks that would like them,
I'll do a random draw  on Sunday, the 20th.

Make sure I have a way

to contact you in your comment;

as I'll send you an email

to get your snail mail address.

 

Happy stripping Stitching!



I String Thing... Do you?

String piecing with foundation, that is.

A friend got me started on these stringy things...

Don't know if she is

more of an inspirational instigator

or trouble-maker, :)

but, I do thank you, friend - you know who you are.

Like most quilters, I have plenty of scraps to use...

 String Things sure make for great use of scraps.

And use scraps I did!
I used some of the great colors of Autumn for my strings -

browns of all shades:  

from warm golden browns to deep, almost blackish-browns.

Throw in a little Autumnal accent:

brick-y red, some mossy-greenish-teal and dark, stormy blues.

I made four- 20" string squares and put them together for
a very nice table-topper size.
Since the strips on top were random in size and spacing,
I quilted using randomly spaced squares also:

Perfect for my Autumn table!

Thanks again, friend, for getting me started with a new addiction.
Just what I needed - another fabric addiction!
Albeit an addiction that's totally worth it!!!

If you do the String Thing, let me know...
I may just have some Autumnal Strings to share!

Happy early October Stitching!

signs that Autumn has arrived

Pumpkins

(my quilt, pattern and quilting)

 

Apples

(and apple pickers).

 

Nights cool enough to need a quilt

and turning leaves.

Happy October!

 

Pumpkin Pie Cake and Bonfire

Crumb-topped Pumpkin Pie Cake

As we all know, the weather across the country

during the past few weeks has been,

to say the least - bad.

And that includes the Halloween/beggars night time period.

BUT,

this past weekend was beautiful here in central Ohio.

So, last hour (really two days ahead of time),

after I saw the weather forecast, 

I sent out e-invites

for the Annual Chili Cook-Off and bonfire

that I usually host on beggars night.

 
And we had a great turn-out!

Not as many chili entries

(that's what happens when I don't plan ahead :)

but what was here was Tast - y!!!

Yum, yum!!!

The "blind" taste test was close,
but the "Turkey Chili - medium hot",
was the winner!!!

I have to say, to my taste buds, 
the "medium hot" was a 
little under-rated in the heat department...
To my thinking, medium hot shouldn't make your nose run!!
But it sure was good!

I think the pot was licked clean!

No, it was NOT me licking the crock pot!!

  Anyway,

I had a request for a recipe that I thought I had posted before,

but I couldn't find it, 
and it definitely is an Autumn dish,
so...

Collin - this is for you!

Crumb-topped Pumpkin Pie Cake 

Crust:
1 yellow cake mix - dry (reserve 1 cup of dry mix for topping)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
Mix those three and pat into 9 x 13 greased pan
Filling:
16 oz. canned pumpkin
3 eggs
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
Mix the above ingredients and pour over crust.

Topping:

1 cup reserved dry cake mix

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup soft butter

Cut soft butter in with dry ingredients until crumbly, then stir in:

1 cup chopped pecans

Sprinkle topping over filling and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 5 to 10 minutes.  Cool and serve with whipping cream.  Refrigerate leftovers.

A beautiful and clear November night, a crackling bonfire,

great food, and some Pumpkin Pie Cake...

that's what I call the a WONDERFUL night!!

September finishes

 I LOVE Autumn! 

All the changing leaf colors. 

Cool nights.  

Soup!!!

Also, decorating... 

pulling out those garlands

and candles

and quilts!

I was commissioned to make this table topper for Jennie:

 Autumn Concentric Log Cabin

The kit is available from The Goods Wives Co. -the instructions are in the kit- and those strips are cut 1" wide.  I believe there are 27 "rounds" of color.  Isn't it fun?  (: I now have the kit to make one for myself...  'Cause I needed another kit in my life:)  The picture turned out a little more orange-y than it really reads, but I now think I "need" one of these in my home :)!
 Then I made up these table mats below

Fall Geese in the Cabin



Fall Hour Glass on left, Fall Steps on right

Each one is 15" to 18" square and was so quick and easy to make.  They are all in my local quilt shop - The Good Wives Co. now (as samples with kits and patterns available)

but will soon be back at my house,

helping to

welcome Autumn to my place!!!

Are you ready for the changing of seasons?

Autumn-y GIVEAWAY & smiles

See that cute little cinnamon-grungy candle?

For no reason other than because I like cinnamon-grungy candles,

I'll give a couple of them away (one each to two different people).

These grungies 

have a battery operated tea light

that drops down into a grungy-wax "shell".

Too cute!

Anyway,

leave a comment on this post and

I'll do the random number thing

so you can have some cinnamon-grunge in your home, too!

I figure cinnamon-grunge is great any time of the year,

but especially for Autumn  through Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Don't forget - I need to have a way to contact the winners-

if you are a no-reply blogger, leave your e-address in your comment, please.

Yes, I will ship to winners "across the pond"!

more smiles

As you can see in my header picture,
I have a wardrobe cupboard in my living room

in which I have stacked my old, family quilts.
Also stacked are some newer quilts
that can be pulled out and used on cold winter nights, for couch snugglin'.
In the bottom of this wardrobe cupboard,
I have a very large, 16 inch-tall, "Ball" canning jar.
It's wired with a "candle" bulb/candlestick,  and bottom-filled with rose hips and mini pine cones.
I needed a replacement bulb for this great jar...

this is exactly what I was looking for:

While shopping for said replacement bulb,

I found this:

It's in the candlestick on the front porch table vignette...

and it

makes me smile!

Happy October!

(ps...I found something else that makes me smile,

so watch for a great little autumn-y give-away

in the next couple of days)