My Quilty World: September 2021 Monthly Quilt Update

Taking stock of one's own self requires patience, love for self, objectivity, discipline, and incredible forgiveness. That pit that calls us all now and then is strong and doing the analysis required to step back from it can be challenging. This month, as we go into my all-time favorite season of the year, let's find joy in the simplicity of things. Let's let THIS be enough - find your I AM and let the joy shine through.

If you are new to the blog, you may be asking, "just what is a monthly update?" I decided long ago that I just can't keep up with blogging daily. I just can't. Sooooo, what happens is I document a day in my life within one post and if something special happens, a separate post takes place. See, you can stay caught up with a once a month check and then, if you're interested, see the other posts too. It's a great system for me.

In years past, I have set goals for each month and I will continue to do that simply to keep myself on track. I AM still in an ongoing UFO mode around here and trying oh so hard to use or clean out the stash. It will be an continuing project this year. If I want something to come in -- something has to go out. That is one goal. The balances change each month (hopefully) and will always show up at the bottom of the update if you read that far - and they are joined by links to the previous monthly updates for the year.

Now, grab a cuppa and sit back for a fun read and perhaps a new idea or two. (P.S. I format on a computer, so if you are reading on a phone, well sometimes the pictures will be before or after the story. It is what it is.)

So --- here's September and all the wonderful fun it provided. Please remember that any links in here will open in a separate window so that you can keep your place on this page at the same time and there are no ads or popups EVER.

1st - Hello September! For me, this is the beginning of fall. My scarecrows will go up this weekend and I will start to be surrounded with the glorious reds, golds, and oranges of the season. Yippee! Since I posted early evening yesterday, I didn't have these pictures ready to go yet. I managed to get all the dog-ears off of what was sewn. SOM parts:

and RC parts:

Now, for today! On my way to the studio I notice that the basil is ready once again. We have harvested this numerous times during the summer, and I guess there's at least one more pesto batch happening this weekend. Yum. The studio goal this morning is to make sure my machine is running properly. It takes me a bit of adjusting, but she is stitching beautiful, only shredding the thread. A call is in to find out what changes were made to the needle while in the shop. Hopefully, answers today.

Okay, moving on. Perhaps the other quilting set-up will go better. I promised myself an hour but by the time I made breakfast, cleaned up, got lunch in the oven, and cleaned up - I knew an hour was too much for today and said if I got half the quilting on my skeleton finished, that would be good. Mission accomplished. I then head to the regular machine for some piecing and get the last 3 border portions together for SMM.

Leader enders were these BAD blocks - and a few HST's for RC as well (not pictured) - THEN, lunch was done. Oh Yum.

After lunch and clean-up, it's UFO time since it is Wednesday. I pull out Midnight Flight and see a note on top that I'm short 4-patches. OMG. I don't think I even have that yellow fabric anymore. A mad dash to the studio and I'm right. Grabbing another yellow (to use in the binding), and the blue along with some toasty bits, I zip back into the house. There are yellow strips already cut for the binding and they match so I can just cut them down and make it happen. At the last minute, I decide to count the four-patches, just in case and guess what? Yep, I made all of them and didn't update the note. UGH. I've also counted out the other parts and sorted into units to sew. All in all, I've spent over an hour and not taken a stitch. I'm now sick of this UFO and counting this as forward progress this month. It is what it is.

The black BAD blocks were the last of those kitted up - onto orange -- I have sixteen ready to go now.

AND, my little pillow is taking shape. It's been a pretty good 1st day of September.

2nd - For some reason, I am just struggling a bit with my schedule today. I don't really want to go out to the studio this morning --- so I don't. Look how easy that was. The truth is, I am to the point of quilting out there and I don't want to start a quilt on the frame until I have the baby ones ready to go, thus, not much to do out there right now. I move into the front room to work on my skinnie and, again, it's time to punt. I thought about it last night while I couldn't sleep and there are a LOT of threads to bury before sewing the second set of lines to create the cross-hatch. I've decided to bury first, rather than just making more. Moving the project to the den, I notice the pink/white fabrics still sitting on the cutting table along with the totes from the BAD blocks. Argh --- I really need to clean up a bit. I quickly kit up the remaining BAD blocks - purple this time - and put the other pieces away again. Then, into the pink/whites I go. It's 11 by the time I have the quilt cut and ready to go. Whew.

The next 3 hours are spent burying threads. THREE!!! I said there were a ton of them. At some point I made the decision to just be happy with the one set of lines. It is what it is and I add binding quickly, then change the thread color on the machine and get the borders added to my scarecrow skinnie. Forward progress is happening.

Now, to settle into a chair for the evening and see what I can do. It turns out that TWO TA-DONES can occur. I'm starting to see a dent in the stack of projects being worked on all at once.

3rd - The goal for today is over 1,000 HST's. Crazy right? They are all cut out and I sit and run them through in groups of 100. Once that is accomplished, it's off to the ironing board for a couple of hours. Ugh.

Mister and I have an appointment at 6:45 so showers and off we go. After, a stop at Intrinsic and some outside balcony sitting while listening to the evening entertainment. What a nice evening.

Back home, I settle in with snips and accomplish the crazy task of removing all the dog-ears from over a grand of these buggers. It's done and my fingers actually are a bit sore.

4th - I've had this niggling pain behind my right ear for over 24 hours now and it's driving me nuts. Living on either Aleve, Tylenol, or Ibuprofen, seems to be keeping it at bay but it sucks. I'm thinking a minor ear infection. Needing a bit of exercise, Mister and head over to the lake to watch the waterfowl. It doesn't go as planned and you can share in our sadness in this Lake LINK.

My daughter calls and wants to know if we would like to meet up for the rodeo tomorrow and then have them over for the night. Well --- one look around my house and the thought of guests right now just doesn't seem feasible. Yes, I'm willing to share the disaster. First, we STILL have two dining room tables. I really need to get pictures taken and one listed to sell. Perhaps this week. There are also LEGO's all over that are for sale. In addition, I have a sewing table set up in the front room that I'm using to quilt the small items. The main dining room table is a cutting board and the coffee table is another one. Oi vey.

My guest room is a whole other story. It is the staging area for the many projects I have going at once. Company is not really a great idea right now, but we do agree to meet up in Fort Worth tomorrow. No rodeo for us, but some family time.

It's Saturday and that usually means that I don't get a lot of sewing accomplished, but . . . TA-DA! Threads are buried, buttons are on, and binding is done. Woohoo. Another one down.

5th - My sweetheart had previously signed us up for a Member Morning at the Dallas Zoo so that is our first destination today. Fort Worth is the second location and time with family makes it a wonderful day. You can follow along with our joyful day in this LINK. The Water Gardens, Funky Picnic Brewery, and Texas longhorns all share a part of the adventure before family is reunited.

We've met our foreign exchange grandson today and it's nice to have Rintaro as part of the gang for the school year. Home and relaxation is the ending to a fantastic day. We are tired.

6th - Today is Labor Day and my sweetie doesn't have to work. That's usually a YAY, but today it's just an AHHHH. We are both so tired and needing a day of nothing much so start out that way. By afternoon, we're both itching to move around and, tired or not, set about on some projects. I follow a calmer path than Mister (who decides to work in the yard - crazy man) and start in on my BOO pillow.

By the end of the afternoon (yes, it was THAT quick), it have a TA-DONE. It needed a 12 x 20 pillow form and I just wasn't sure I could come up with that, but a quick look out in the studio and I had the PERFECT one that I made from a pillow cut-off a few years ago. Hoarding comes in handy now and then.

While in the studio, I located the pattern and fabric for a tricot quilt that needs to be marked and hand stitched this month. YES, this month. Go, go gophers, watch 'em go, go, go.

I started pulling out the fall linens/quilts and am ready to change the colors of the house for a bit.

Mister makes the trek up to the attic and soon my scarecrows/fall decor is all down and ready to play with. If it went outside, it was put up quickly.

Inside? Well, that will take a bit more work and another day or two. My mess is still raging.

Before bed, a quick layout for SMM. This really needs to be finished. Yeah, some of the blocks don't have enough color variation, but I was working with ONE layer cake and it is what it is.

7th - I'm shooting for one hour a day quilting on the domestic and get this far today.

Back to SMM -- I AM FOCUSED. It takes most of the morning, but I have a flimsy. I've used every spec of that layer cake. What didn't go into the blocks, went into the border and I only had to add a wee bit of gray to finish it off.

The tiny bits went into the label and blue binding completes this part.

Now for the backing. I have pulled a bunch of leftover minky and want to piece a back with grey, brown, blue, and white. Hopefully, I will have enough. It takes a bit, but I make it happen and only have a couple of 9 x 12 pieces left at the end. Whew. That is it for today. I'm already sore from crawling around on the floor so much today and if I'm this sore today, tomorrow will be a doozy. It's quitting time.

8th - I have an early morning dentist appointment today and am ready just a wee bit before I have to leave so get in 30 minutes of quilting. It looks like I can finish this one later today -- sooo happy.

After the dentist, a stop at the bank and then the grocery store ensues. I mean, after all, if one has to get dressed to leave the house, one might as well get a bunch done, right?

Somewhere along the way I decided I wanted to work in the kitchen a bit so I start with popping some cucumbers into a jar and creating some pickles A cake is baked as is a banana bread. Lunch of pork cutlets, mashed potatoes, and a salad fills in the free time. All of this in 2 1/2 hours. Someone please tell me how these cooking competitions on television NEVER have enough time.

I finished the quilting on the wall hanging and then set the table up to start on the borders for my Whims quilt. Deciding on how I want to quilt it, templates have been ordered so I'm on hold for a few days.

I am not ready for the weekend posting on SOM and that means I need to settle in and get some sewing done today. All of these HST's need to become something.

I get them all together, but a few need to be redone -- I don't think I paid attention very well while sewing. That's a great lesson --- stop hurrying and pay attention. Grey's Anatomy was just so riveting. Finally, stopping for the evening as Mister is calling, I crawl in to my favorite chair and start the binding on my skinnie. An hour later --- it is TA-DONE!

9th - FIRST thing I do today is some cleaning. I want to start putting the decor up and off the floor. Seems like a good idea, right? Starting with the den as it is the least messy, a few steps are made.

A few areas in the living room can be tackled.

And that's about it for today. The rest goes in the dining room/bedrooms and I have a LOT to do to get them ready. Baby steps, baby steps. Now, back to my SOM blocks and even though it takes the remainder of the morning, they are done. They're not perfect, but I'm okay with them.

While working on them, one of the ladies in our Emerald City QAL did the math and found out that the book is wrong. ARGH. That means I have more parts to make too. I spent some time chatting with Bonnie after that and so in a way it was a blessing. In a way. I still have 72 more units to make, but . . .

SAMANTHA - that's far enough now. I'm sorry, but reading any further will ruin your surprise.

Part of clearing the bedroom in order to change the linens, I need to get more projects off the bed. One is the Round Robin I've been working on so today I'm finishing up my border.

And it's ready to mail. What a lot of points and not all are perfect, but then neither am I. They will quilt out, right?

10th - It's FRIDAY!!! That brings both a smile and some trepidation to me. A smile because I get a couple of days with my sweetie and the trep because this month is zipping by and I'm not ready to mail all that needs to go. So, so much still to do. Tomorrow is also the QAL posts and I'm not ready there either. OMG. Out to the studio to find red/white strips for the pattern mis-print found earlier. Now, you would think it was easy peasy right? Cos I cleaned it earlier. Somehow, during the past week, I've created this -

Taking the time to clean all up except the neutral bin because I pulled some red/whites to take in and cut seems the best plan. I also didn't put the rolling totes back yet because I have fabric in the house that needs to go back into a tote behind them. Maybe I can get it cut today. Maybe not. At any rate, in I go with the red/whites. A short hour at the table and I have all the remaining pieces I need.

Straight to the machine -- HST's and units for RS are well underway.

My template for the Whims quilt arrives and the packing for shipping has ruined it. Seriously? I'm so frustrated. Contacted the seller instantly and another one is on the way. Brain cells, people, brain cells.

Well, punt. Grabbing the pink/white strips, I settle in to start sewing these blocks. I all of the first two strips sewn and start in on pairing them up when my bobbin runs out and, guess what? I'm just kinda done for today. It seems like a good stopping point for the sewing machine. I head to a comfy chair and with a wonderful pair of snips in hand, tackle the RS units and extra HST's. Dog-ears are off and I'm ready for tomorrow's posts. Breathe ---

After Mister finishes work, I sneak into the office and get the tricot quilt taped down so that I can mark it in the daylight tomorrow. That's it for today.

11th - Good Morning. It's Saturday and also 9/11. It doesn't matter who you are - if you are over the age of 30, you remember this day. Some younger will also, but not with the detail of most. I will never forget standing in the living room with my children watching it all unfold and then having to send them to school. That was the last thing I wanted to do. All I wanted was to hold them close and never let them out of my eyesight again. It was irrational, I know, but very real to me. It's a great day to reconnect with family and let them know how much you love them. Every day is a great day for that, but today, perhaps a bit more so.

A white chalk pencil and a few minutes in the office nets me a marked quilt top. Can you see the duck in the water? Well, I can and that's all that really matters. Now to get it on the frame.

Mister and I are being incredibly lazy and other than making a wonderful salmon lunch, the only other thing I have is some work on my stocking. I've sat and stitched while watching shows with him - the hat is done and attached, candy canes done and on the tree, star tacked down, drum tacked down, arm made and attached. I know -- I could be doing so much more, but go back and read the opening paragraph for today. I just want to stay close to him right now.

12th - Well, this day started out quiet. I woke before Mister and went to the den to read. When he rose, he commented that there just wasn't much space to walk in the den. I told him I had thought about it and had an idea. That set the wheels in motion and the rest of the day was spent cleaning/changing the den. My Hinterberg quilt frame came down. It's been up since April of 2013 with the SAME quilt in it. That pretty much says that no matter how much I love it and all the work Mister put into it, well . . . I don't use it and it takes up a whole wall. Time for a change and, yes, it is for sale at a great price. With that wall open, we moved the sofa table that has been behind the sofa to that wall and I sold the sewing machine that was sitting there as well. There is more walk space AND we were able to move the sofa back a bit to get more walk space in the den as well. Win - win. See that quilt on the loveseat? Yep, it was on the large frame and will now be worked in my lap with hoop. I think it may happen that way.

Then there is this. My arm just doesn't want to heal. It's still sore and so tender to the touch. This is 9 days after injection. Ugh. I remember when I had a tetanus shot a few years ago, it took forever for my arm to return to normal. I just don't handle this stuff well and getting old sucks. I have bruises every time blood is drawn and those last weeks as well. Okay, okay -- back to quilting. Or at least away from whining. Mister and I have worked hard and deserve a little break. We are off to Vector for some dinner. A great spot outside away from others and we have the corner seats. Love it.

Oh yum. Pizza and beer --- an award winning combination.

13th - The quilt is in the hoop first thing this morning. Yes! I am THAT determined. In the hoop is a start. Right? From there it's onto laundry and cleaning the master bedroom and bathroom. Every so often it's required. There are STILL parts of this house that I shake my head at but I'm so involved in getting projects out the door this month that I just don't have the time to tackle it all at once. My bedroom - oi vey. They say this is a sign of a creative mind. Let's hope that is it. It's worse up close, I promise - BUT, I am getting closer to being able to clean it all up.

As for the living room --- well, still a disaster BUT we did find the pictures of the older dining room set and can now get it sold. Hallelujah!

Just to show that SOME rooms in the house are coming together --- TA-DA - the master bedroom is cleaned and ready for fall.

With laundry and two rooms finished, I get to sew for a bit. I should go out to the studio and quilt but it's afternoon now and quite warm out there. That gives me a chance to get a step finished on the RS quilt-a-long. I do love these beautiful red and whites.

I also finish up the blocks for Maireads quilt. One step closer - inch by inch. I am DONE for today though. So, so tired.

14th - The dining room set is SOLD. Yay! That's one less thing in the living room - well it will be when it's picked up this afternoon. Now, trimming the pink blocks and the layout for Mairead's quilt.

Once that task is finished, my time crawling around on the floor isn't. I REALLY need to get the tricot quilt on the frame so that I can get started hand quilting it. That means lots of crawling, and pinning, and twisting and turning and also lots of ibuprofen tonight. It goes from this:

to this (although it takes a couple of hours):

Mister said I filled up the den rather quick. He only had two nights where he could walk around in it. This won't be there long though as it needs to mail Monday. More cleaning commences and another bathroom plus is done. I have a bit of time still so I settle in with the aqua strings that have been sitting on the machine and I cross my fingers that I can get all the papers filled up without having to search for more strings. My accomplishment for this sitting. Is it enough? I doubt it but won't know until I start cutting.

Trimming takes place and I'm settled in a chair removing papers when Sam and her hubby, Jim, arrive to pick up the dining room table and chairs. Fortunately, she is able to visit for a bit before leaving and I soak up the time with her but don't have any photo evidence that she was here. So sad. However, I CAN show the table she is taking to her family.

Some late night cutting lets me know how many more centers I have and I'm only short about 80 or so now. Fortunately, I still have strings.

15th - Oh my goodness, it seems as though the days are going by in a blink of an eye and I REALLY need them to slow down. First thing, its out to the studio and quilting has commenced! Grassy Creek was already loaded when my long arm had to go to the doctor so it's first to get quilted even though I really don't have time for it right now. I get two passes done before I'm warm and heading back into the house. More strip sets are sewn and I've now used up all the odds and ends of my strings and only have a package that I bought in Virginia left.

But first, I have a Red Hat Event to dress for. Here is the LINK to our day and it's worth a peek just to see this dang cute restaurant.

Some quick stitching and KNOWING how many units I can get from the remaining string sizes (they are uniform), I have 8 strips sewn and ready for trimming/cutting. These centers are done. Now for the bazillion sides that go onto them, but not this week. It's at this point that I realize my priorities HAVE to change. I simply cannot focus on these units THIS week. Baby must come first. So . . . . a little adjusting on the quilt-a-long and I've realigned the priorities. Since I'm hosting, I have the power. Bawahhhhaaaa.

Now to set Mairead's unnamed quilt. It's done and I already know I've made a mistake. Drat --- I just don't have time for this.

I did manage to get some BAD blocks finished as leader/enders and that makes me smile, but the remainder of my day needs to be spent hand quilting. That means the fingernails need to be trimmed and I want you to know --- this is hard for me. They had gotten so long and lovely. Ugh.

I managed to get this much done before calling it a day. I'm done.

16th - Studio time first thing and another two passes are done. It is actually off the floor --- yay!

The rest of the ENTIRE day is spent hand quilting. At one point, Mister comes out and spots me sitting on the coffee table. A girl does what a girl has to do.

I am sooooo close ,but done for the night. So are my fingers.

By "done for the night" I mean that project. I still have to fix the mistake on Mairead's quilt. I put it together 8 x 9 and I need to move one entire row so that it will be 7 x 10. The row comes off and then the blocks have to be taken apart as well as they are no longer going the right direction. Once that is finished and I have a stack to re-sew --- I'm DONE for the night.

17th - Determination is the key today. No matter how warm I get, I am not leaving the studio without making tremendous progress. I truly have very few days left and these next ones need to be crazy productive. Grassy Creek is done and that little strip of clover fabric is all that is left of the backing. Wow. It is sooooooo hot out here that I have sweat dripping off my nose but I need to keep going. My hair is falling in my face, complicating matters and after a hunt around the studio, the only solution I can come up with is this.

As soon as I have it off the frame, the little car quilt goes on and gets quilted instantly. Fortunately, a simple meander is all that is required here.

Immediately --- the quilt is removed and SMM goes on. It's next in the queue, but I'm so hot and heading back into the house. Grassy Creek and Car Quilt both get trimmed and I want to add the binding Car Quilt so I can hand stitch it down tonight, but that means the label needs to be finished. Grassy Creek will wait until later --- it's not on a deadline.

The quilting on the tricot baby quilt is finished and it is off the frame as well. My den is back - messy, but back.

Here is the tricot quilt before trimming.

Label - check. Binding and label get added to the quilt.

Cotton Candy Rails (CCR) (I think that's the name) gets its blocks reattached and borders on. One small white one and then a bright pink outer.

Sham is ready too ----

AND label.

Now ---- to get that binding stitched down on the car quilt. It's the perfect task while talking with my daughter on the phone and before I know it ---- I have a TA-DONE. Front -

and back - all that is left now on this is to write on the label.

One final task before calling it a day. The tricot quilt has been trimmed and now all I have to do is pin the edges so they can be sewn together by hand and this one will be done too. One more night, I hope.

18th - The day begins with a mile walk to the coffee shop and back. It's nice to get out and stretch the legs a bit but the list at home is still huge and I need to mark some things off today. The backing for CCR still needs to be made as well as the binding. After a couple of attempts at locating pieces to put together for the back, I opt for a single fabric -- two seams and it's done. I had been piecing scraps of strips for the binding and then changed my mind on that as well. One of the fabrics I had planned on using in the back became the new binding.

AND the backing for the pillow sham. I think I'm finally ready for quilting.

We took a break to be fed and watered and really came across a crazy cool couple of things. Check out this LINK to share in our wonderment.

Back home, I settled in with a phone call to Mom and proceeded to get the edges closed on my tricot quilt. It turned out pretty cool and I'm over the moon happy to have it TA-DONE!!! Each day gets me a bit closer to being able to get this package in the mail and it also gets me a bit closer to that new grandson. Goodness.

19th - Day 2 of a non-typical weekend for us. Usually, I am not this focused on projects and devote more time to my love, but this dang clock is ticking away like crazy. Rising early, I am out to the studio and quilting away on SMM when my thread breaks and then won't pick up the bobbin thread. It's SOOOO hot out here and my stress release button has been hit. I'm literally sitting out here crying. Giving up, I go back into the house, let Mister hold me for a bit, feed me, and cool off. Then it's back to the salt mines and I FINALLY find the elusive thread that was hiding down in the bobbin area and soon I'm back on track. I want you to know that I had a 6 x 6 square left on the quilt when this all took place. GRRRR. At any rate, it's coming off the frame.

A change of needle and thread happens and then I quickly load the sham for Mairead onto the frame and follow that with a super fast quilting. It's ready for a back and binding now.

I've had as much of this heat as I can stand so I simply load CCR onto the frame and call it done for now.

Into the cool house, a nice glass of water, and I'm ready to get the binding on SMM and the backing and binding on the sham. Once that is done, I settle into a comfy chair and start stitching down the binding on SMM. Within a couple of hours, it is TA-DONE!

Right as I was finishing up the label, Mister asked if I wanted to get out for a bit. Absolutely. OHB is having Octoberfest and it's always worth a Sunday afternoon stop. Upon our arrival, we are surprised that the food truck is lobster (not really too German, right?) but I'm up for anything right now. A meal and a drink later and we are on our way back home, but . . . hot fudge sundaes finish it out. Yum. Oh yeah - the sign. Welcome to what? There is no other sign near this one. Things like this drive me crazy.

My comfy chair soon has an occupant once again and this time pink thread is being pulled through a binding. I can say that this is a TA-DONE as well today. Whew. One more item to go and I can mail AND one more day is all I have. It all needs to be in the mail by Monday as baby arrives Thursday at the latest. Sew, sew, sew - but not anymore today.

20th - Okay, this is it! Everything needs to go my way -- no unexpected troubles please. Off to the studio before it is even light out and 2 hours later --- YES! This quilt is coming off the frame. I don't have time to celebrate though as there is still a lot to get done. Into the house, trimming and attaching of binding comes next and then into my chair - Grey's Anatomy on the screen - and stitch after stitch for 2 1/2 hours before I can say that Cotton Candy Rails is TA-DONE as well. OMG.

I still have labels to write as well --- that's next. One, two, three, and they are done.

Now to box it all up and get to the post office. My round robin is going out today as well. It's a "feel so relaxed at this point" hour. I'm thrilled.

When I return from the post office, it appears that I have a package of my own. I shopped an online destash for the first time and picked up a few treasures. I'm sure fun is ahead. I now have 10 more days in this month --- what else can I mark off the list?

At this point, I just want to breathe. Some simple embroidery, phone calls to loved ones, and a pair of scissors keep me happy in my comfy chair. The end result is a warm heart and the beginnings of the tiniest quilt I have ever worked on. Stay tuned.

21st - So ----- I've come to the conclusion that a small amount on the longarm each day will bring rewards. Now that the massive push is over, I want to keep making progress on some UFO's. Early morning time in the studio lets me clean the frame (oh so dirty) AND the machine. I am not sure I've ever seen so much pink lint. Goodness. After that, DEL is loaded and ready to go. Tomorrow - we begin.

Today, however, I must focus on SOM. It is a BIG week and even though I have already tackled a major part of it, this next step will take some time as well. Those lovely little triangles of mine need their sides attached.

I get about halfway through and stop to make our noon meal. Yes, I'm cooking again now that the craziness is subsiding. Meatloaf, cauliflower mash, and a salad. It's all wonderful and while it cooks, I tackle the table full of trimmings from the weeks madness. One less bunch of "stuff" hanging around.

After lunch, back to the machine I go and by the time I have gone all the way through the stack of triangles attaching the first side, this is what I have under the machine.

To the ironing board and since I have quite a few side triangles left over, I have to count as I press. I guess I just cut too many sides. Oh well. I'm halfway there and ready for side two -- tomorrow.

Handwork is next and I get the little quilt all pinned and start the first stitches when Mister announces that I need to go and say good-bye to my peach tree. Oh my. I knew this was coming, but still . . . it's hard. To top it all off, the sun is just starting to set and is glowing off of another tree in the yard - yes, we planted it too. Here is the LINK to watch her go if you wish. Oh, and the post also shows how tiny she started out. Life is so full of joy and sadness, one just has to find the joy and not let the sad take over. Hence the sunset on the tree instead of the one is pieces (although you can see the branches at the edge of the picture, sigh).

22nd - It's the FIRST real day of Autumn!!! That means we all need to do the happy dance and seriously think about the colors of our life for the next few months. Oranges, Browns, Golds, Greens, and Yellows will fill the pages of our lives and we will all be happier for it. It was about 65 degrees today and I am absolutely in heaven. Even the sunrise felt the need to brighten the crepe myrtle out front.

I woke to sprinklers running in the yard and blocking my dry entrance into the studio. It's okay. I am still in the deep thought stage of quilting DEL and another day won't hurt. Instead, I turn to making a yummy breakfast for Mister and I and then . . . . . off to the machine for the second half of these dang SOM units. There are just so stinking many of them.

After sewing all my units for SOM, I remember that it is Wednesday and at some point I need to follow the UFO plan or get off the pot. I choose to follow today and locate the Pfeffernusse tote. Pulling the fabrics for bindings and borders --- it's off to the machine I go.

When the stitching finishes --- ironing is next I know it will be several hours. Oh --- wait --- how high is the stack today.

Press, press, press ---- this is what I'm left with and all that I have to do now is remove the dog ears.

AND two borders plus binding are also ready to go. It's been a good day and it is just after 2. Now what?

Marking. That's what. I have been putting this off FOREVER and today is the day. All of the sashing for Whims are marked and ready to stitch. They are sandwiched up so I am actually going to be quilting them. Yep --- this is a good think.

After playing with crayons for a couple of hours, now I have a pair of snips and am taking all those dang dog-ears to task. When finished --- this is my tray of SOM parts.

All the blessed units are finished and I have about 1500 little bits in the bowl. Whew.

When Mister finished work --- he switched out the quilt on the wall and Autumn is once again coming around here. I still have a bit to do, but we're getting closer for sure.

23rd - I am awaiting the arrival of a new grandson today so am awake early and needing to keep the mind busy. My office is a mess (par for the course), making it my first task of the day. Once that is under control, I am going to tackle over a thousand hst's.

With the inability to avoid mistakes, it takes me ALL day to accomplish this step, but I do get it done. Oh my --- so many seams ripped out and miscounts consistently. Ugh.

As for my new grandson --- he arrived around 1 and is such a cutie. His name is Torstein.

24th - Friday!!! Six days until retreat and a list a mile long still. So much to do and so little time at this point. I really need to get the October blocks for Farm Girl done and ready to post. THAT is today's agenda and with other items on the docket, it may or may not happen. By the time I need to get ready for lunch with a friend, I have accomplished this much. It's not enough, but it is definitely a start. Perhaps I can get a bit more after lunch and grocery shopping -- yep, it's that time again.

Lunch is at The Original Chop Shop. The place is new to me and I'm surprised as I would have though it was a steak house just from the name. Nope --- Sandwiches, salads, soups, etc. Perfect for an afternoon visit.

We spend almost two hours just visiting and having our souls nourished with love and laughter. I am so thankful to Stephannie for all that she does to support me and the other women we both dearly love to have as part of our circle.

Back at the homestead, I get Book 1 finished and am working on the Quilty Barn but it's just been one cutting mistake after another and now I've sewn the wrong parts together. Enough for one day.

After an evening appointment, Mister and I make the trek to Intrinsic for a drink and snack. We've another picture of our sweet grandson and he's just super cute.

I'm tired this evening and ready for some sleep -- in fact, I leave Mister still watching television and that's rare. Some days are just like that. I wonder what tomorrow will hold.

25th - The blog called and while I was working on it, Mister decides to get dressed and go outside to work in the yard. I mentioned that some of the tree branches needed to come down as they were no longer in the living category. He tackled all of those while I moved to sewing and working on my Farm Girl blocks. After a bit, I hear him on the roof. What???

Naturally, that makes all kinds of sense when no one is outside with you. There's not much I can do now except open the doors and windows in case he hollers for help. Goodness. Back to the machine and by the time I'm ready to stop and spend time with my sweetie, I am down to one block remaining. I'll get it tomorrow and be ready for the new week.

All I have heard this month is that Strangeways is having their sour week. I know you have no idea what that means, but sour beers are one of my sweethearts loves. If he mentions something more than once, I KNOW he wants to do it. THIS --- he has mentioned numerous times. They open at 4 and we will be there.

The selections is wonderful and he is sampler bound while I settle for a single, no-so-sour one. With a kitchen also available, I'm starving and dinner is soon on the table. Oh yum.

By the time we are home again, it's almost 8 and time to snuggle in for the first episode of Great British Baking Show Season 9. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this show.

26th - Super tired and lazy today --- kind of a couch potato and so is Mister. I can't just sit here with my long lists of things to do so I grab the tiny quilt I was working on and set to finishing it. All the patches are sewn on and a quick run to the studio for a piece of white felt has a backing. Now to quilt it up and finish off the edges. TA-DA Now to figure out how to attach it to Santa's lap so that it can be removable. I'm on it.

Picking myself up off the sofa, a quick trip to the kitchen and I have whipped up Mindy's famous Coconut Cream Pie. It's just soooooo good and soooo simple to make. I did plan ahead a bit but still . . .

Mister is all caught up in his show (which I am not interested in at all right now) so I zip off to the bedroom and finish up my last Farm Girl block and get the others ironed. I am ready for the posting on the first and that's another thing off my git-'er-done list. A little more embroidery on my stocking project and some planning for the upcoming week makes me realize that I'm a crazy person and I will really have to kick things in gear if I am to meet the QAL posts on time. I have A LOT of travel coming up and, well, that just means I need to bust a move when home. At this point, I call it a day and just settle in with my sweetie.

27th - It's Monday and I'm leaving for retreat Thursday. I have a ton to accomplish before that so no rest for the weary today. SOM needs at least two weeks worth of sewing done. I'm off and leaving Mister to fend for himself for breakfast. A little housecleaning in the bedroom first --- I've finished a few things and can put some stuff away AND that helps. I've gathered a few BAD blocks to add to the tub and the orange is almost done. Now, for SOM. Pieces are out and it's time to sew. I love these blocks and thankfully we don't have hundreds to make so within an hour --- all are finished. Woohoo.

Next, some of my previously made parts just get joined together. Easy Peasy and this step is done too.

One more step for today requires a few string pieced parts. I get them finished and head to the cutting table to trim them and discover that I sewed them on the paper wrong. Back to the machine and four more are made going the correct way. The others? Something will come up that I can use them in. Once they are trimmed and sliced in half, a little more sewing and I have these cute blocks all ready to go. Woot woot AND I even enjoyed a video call from my daughter and new grandson. Life is good today.

Over lunch I was able to chat with Paula and put a call in to Val, which she returned shortly after. While we chatted, I took apart stacks of leaves. Why? Well, you'll see at some point. I still have a lot of leaves but will take them apart as needed. So much fun in the week ahead.

Speaking of the week ahead. It's retreat time and I need to start packing. Today, all the projects, swap table items, and class samples are packed up and ready to go. It's a beginning and if I can get the rest done tomorrow, I'm in good shape.

One more thing for today that I REALLY want to get done on the machine. The binding for Grassy Creek is going on! That's all there is to it.

I've NEVER been this close on the binding. I literally put the two ends together and that was it. Perfect fit. Nothing left except the two triangles that were trimmed off at the seam. Wow. Crazy. Now, I have a couple of nights to try and stitch this down so that I can count it as a September finish. I'm gonna give it a goo shot.

I manage to get two sides finished by the time my eyes and hands give out for the day. Perhaps one more night will do it depending on how committed I am. Time will tell.

28th - I had a bit of a rough night last night. We have SO much to do and just not enough time right now. It's also one of those moments when my love's procrastination makes me go bonkers. I've sold a car and he doesn't have it ready for a Sunday pickup. I'm leaving and then . . . . not good for the blood pressure. Sewing is a better plan. Today, I'm hoping to tackle two weeks work of RS in preparation for upcoming trips. All my parts are out and the first thing I do is fix the problem unit.

Several hours of sewing has one side attached and everything pressed. A break to make lunch (meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, green beans, and a fruit salad) and then back to the salt mines I go. This is my stack of completed units by the time the sewing machine is walked away from. Wow -- that was such a poorly constructed sentence and I just don't care.

Onto the second half of the units and almost 300 total seams for the day later, I have another opportunity to stand at the ironing board for a bit. Whew. They are done and I'm on happy camper. This gives me a bit of breathing space until I'm back from retreat and then I'll really have to hit this one hard to be ready to go to the beach and then fly at the end of October.

I even managed to clean up the dining room and clear the cutting table. Yes, my dining table has be cutting central for months now. Poor thing.

Now for some more binding. Two more sides and I have a TA-DONE. Here is the last Grassy Creek LINK for this mystery. So, so much fun.

And the back -

A little bit of up close to actually see that the fabric is white with clovers. It looks blue in the full picture.

Label is done and I'm putting this in the done column for this month. Woot woot.

29th - Some days just don't go according to plans. Today was that day. I discovered that it was I, not Mister that needed to go and have the Taurus inspected. That turned into 2 hours of an adventure but I got it done. Next, it had to be licensed and I planned to go to Garland, but first, we needed to sign over the title and have our signatures notarized (or so I thought) so I dragged Mister out for a quick sign. Then HE decided that I could get the license at AAA so we went there only to discover that I was correct and needed to go to the DMV. Dropped him off and another hour and a half later, I had the license and could put this behind me. Why today, you ask? Well, cos my grandson wants the car and is picking it up on Sunday and I'm leaving town and that procrastination I was complaining about yesterday came into play. What it all meant is that I lost about 5 hours of time I planned on using to pack and make my costume. By the time the costume was done, it was after 6 and I still have to pack so no travel tonight. It will be a VERY early departure tomorrow morning. UGH. OH - I DID get another room put back together though.

30th - I am off to retreat before the light of day begins to appear. After getting lost twice and two almost accidents, all I can say is I was so thankful to arrive. I have three hours until people arrive and so much work to do but all goes well and I even have the nametags finished before start time. Whew!

For lunch, we are off to Babe's in Granbury and a stop at the quilt shop. Traditions must be upheld.

My biggest goal for today is to make the backing, binding, and label for SOM. I brought a bag of fabric and start the layout process.

About and hour and half later --- the backing is made and I'm really glad I had the fabric with the anchors -- it really fits the theme.

Up close and personal -

I did it!!! Backing, binding and label are done.

That's it. I'm calling it a night and getting ready to post. Another month has come to an end. Do you know what that means? It means October begins tomorrow and that is the bestest month of the year. The world is changing around us -- yes, I mean nature and not the craziness of people -- and we need to stop and embrace it. It's a wonderful time to be part of this beautiful world ---- I AM going to enjoy each and every moment outside and bring the joy into my heart. Coming along?

Thank you for reading this far. If you made it here, kudos to you. Hope you have a great month and find a way to bring joy into your life. Stay creative y'all.

UFO's to quilt:

BOM #1 - quilted and bound -
BOM #2 - quilted and bound
BOM #3 - quilted and bound
Winter Wonderland - quilted and bound

Witch's Night Out - quilted and bound

Quarantine Challenge - quilted and bound

Dawn's Early Light - quilted and bound - loaded onto frame

Grassy Creek - quilted and bound - DONE

Xing - quilted and bound

Current Projects:

Farm Girl Blocks completed - October DONE

New Baby Car Quilt - DONE

New Baby Regular Quilt - DONE

New Baby Tricot Quilt - DONE

September Skinnie - September AND October AND November DONE