Last Summer Saturday

Yep, summer officially ends tomorrow! I'm sure I'm not the only Coloradoan who will be glad to bid farewell to this summer -- from fires to floods, we've about had enough this summer!

To celebrate, the DH and I are going to farmers' markets today. So I'll post just a quick glimpse of what's going on in My Happy Place.

At quilting class on Wednesday, Cathy shared the clever idea of making a "mini" design wall from a foam core board and flannel.  I didn't have any foam core at home, but I had an old, worn-out June Tailor reversible cutting mat and pressing board. And some fusible fleece. Et voila:

A mini design wall that fits perfectly on my sewing table!

I really need it for the Jelly Roll Party Sample I am making for the November class. The pattern is "Mirror Mirror" by A Quilters Dream. 

The pattern is a little sketchy on details, so I worked out my own cutting directions. The fabric is Basic Grey's "Little Black Dress," which DH picked out at Sew-ciety in Castle Rock. After the farmers' markets, we'll scoot up to Castle Rock, where I'm hoping the shop will have some yardage from this collection for a binding.

In case these photos are a little dull, here's a photo of the DH's running shirts. Aren't the colors great? I think I'll make a modern quilt from all solids using this collection of bright colors!

Happy autumnal equinox to those in the Northern Hemisphere and happy September equinox in the Southern Hemisphere!

From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday: Getting Ready for Halloween

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Dress up in costumes, ring doorbells and demand candy from your neighbors? What could be better?

Today at Ruth's Stitchery, Cathy taught a fun class that has me all excited about the upcoming holiday.

We learned how to use the "Twister Tool" to turn small squares into even smaller pinwheels.

Here is my Twister Jack as squares:

I made the mouth and eyes yellow to look like there is a candle burning inside my jack.

I got started marking the squares with the "Primitive Pinwheels" tool from Primitive Gathering.

Because of the black background and orange pumpkin, I had to use a white pencil and a black sharpie to mark  the squares. 

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Next Tuesday, I'll demonstrate the Twister Tool for Tuesday Tool. I hope you'll come back and see how this clever little template turns squares into pinwheels!

From the desk of your

Working with Winnings -- Design Wall Monday

My "13 in 2013" UFP Challenge quilt for this month is "Cobblestone Road" from Cozy Quilts.

 I'm sewing it with the Circa 1934 fabric I won in my very first "Schnibbles" entry. That was back in June of 2012 -- I guess the fabric has aged enough that I can actually sew it up now!

Here is the quilt so far. It is supposed to have two borders, but I'm leaning toward "Skip the Borders" for this one:

Linking up to Design Wall Monday.

Still raining in Colorado, but it's supposed to warm up and dry out as the week progresses!

From the desk of your

Sunday Scraps

Another rainy day in Colorado. The floodwaters are rising, but I am thankful my house is at the top of a hill. Sadly, one of my new windows is leaking -- luckily, I wanted to take a photo on the coffee table, and heard the "drip drip drip" of the leak!

Here is the project I was photographing:

It's a sailboat mug rug for My Little Sailor. There was an umbrella design in the pattern -- should have made that one!  The pattern is "Last Minute Mug Mat Extravaganza" from Doodle Time Designs by Faith Wellman. Mug rugs are such a perfect "scrappy project."

Linking up (at the last minute!) to Kim's "Scrap Basket Sunday."

I have a new quilt on the design wall -- come back tomorrow for Design Wall Monday!



From the desk of your