Sweet Land of Liberty - September

I finished the section for September.   I made the angel block 5 years ago when I first started this quilt so I was a little ahead.    I love the red bird on the star pot!  I wish I had used a darker fabric behind the 1776 but it's done and I'm satisfied.  I try to use a specific fabric in each quilt I make.  I used it on the left portion of the block the angel is flying toward.  I can't remember the name of that block pattern.  I also added a little Debbie Mumm Lady Liberty in the economy block on the right.

Since I finished that section I decided to make some houses for the bottom border, and then I made some stars.  And then I kept on going.  The the border was a little smaller than the lower portion of the quilt so I added my initials.

And it's done!!!  I don't know why the lower section was wide enough without the flying geese strip on the left.  I may or may not put the strip above the smaller stars on the bottom so there isn't such a gap between them and the angel block.  Hmmmmm?

It was such a fun SAL.  Thanks so much Lori.

I just wanted to show you some of our pumpkins.  The pictures above and below were taken on September 9th.

These two pictures are only 2 weeks later.

It's a fun time of year for the garden.

Robin

#9 becomes a flimsy

In my post from August 20th I listed 15 UFOs that I wanted to get ready for the quilt frames.

Well, making a list must be rather motivating because I have finished another one.  That's three this month.  I finished #9 on the list;  the Baraboo Quilt;

It just needed a border.  The toile border may look unusual but when the quilt is spread out it's like icing on a cake.  So lovely. . . .

I also finished #1 on the list; my Sweet Land of Liberty Quilt.  I'm saving that picture till the link up on Friday (I think).

So I've finished #1, #2, #9, and #10. And that brings my list down to eleven.  Feels good!

Two of the four quilts just needed borders.  I've learned something about myself through this process.  Those two quilts got put away because I couldn't figure out how I wanted to frame them probably because I was anxious to sew on something else.  When I got the quilts out again I became fussy with the arrangement and made a lot more work for myself.  I fixed three blocks in the Baraboo Quilt and when I laid it out to measure for the border I found another block I wanted to tweak.  Stop!  Stop!  I quickly put the border on.  So, I need to make a decision for the border right while I'm designing the rest of the quilt and not put it off.

Lilacs

 It's been so dry here this summer that the moisture just gets sucked out of the leaves.

Hibiscus

This is what I wrote down after walking home from church on Sunday;
     " It is so dry out there that the air snaps when I walk.  I'm afraid to say the word "crisp" out loud for fear it will cause a spark.  That wind yesterday made the leaves on the trees cringe.  I've never been aware of it being so dry."

Looking forward to some rain. . .
Robin

Path finished, sashing begun

I finished the flying geese path from my house to my great grandmother's house and put some of the green blocks in place.   I also put a strip of mountain fabric on top because this neighborhood reaches to college hill (very steep) and eventually on up into the foothills of the Bear River Mountains and is part of the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains.  Whew!  That was a mouthful!

I should also mention the orientation of my map is not normal.  The top is east instead of north.

I didn't know till I looked it up that I grew up at the feet of the Bear River Mountains.  It is interesting because my great grandmother emigrated to America from Bern Switzerland.  Bern's mascot is the Bear and they have live bears in an enclosure by the Aare River at the south of the old city center.

My high school mascot was a Grizzly  (not surprisingly).

Photographs are great things.  I now notice some sashing strips that I want to change.  AND, I need another row of blocks between what I have and the mountains.  That also means more flying geese.  It may seem like the quilt isn't very balanced but we lived on the north edge of town and it was mostly pasture land to the left of the blocks that are there.  Maybe I'll just put a long strip of green on the left - hmmmmm?

I think I'll stop for today and think about what else I want to do.
Robin

A new beginning

Trying to decide what size flying geese to use.

I began my Improv challenge quilt this afternoon.  I want to make a map of my neighborhood when I was a child.  I'm trying to make a path using these tiny flying geese units.

These five units just measure 3 1/2".  I want to make the path from my house to my great-grandmother's house just a few blocks away.  We lived just a few blocks away from each other 50 years apart.  Does that make sense?

I thought it would be amusing to use this Red Riding Hood fabric because I'm going to Grandma's but I think I'll save it for a baby quilt instead.

 I want to put a bunch of greenery for the city blocks and I found this scenery fabric in my stash..  It has rocks, trees, foliage, bushes, and boulders.

I hope to work on this a little every day and post my progress .

Robin

Just a quick post

to show my Halloween Eve cross stitch piece all framed and ready for next month.  If you look closely you can see the sparkle in the threads of the Aida cloth.

Also, now that the temps have come down a little at night our pumpkins are reinventing themselves.

I did 12 qts. of tomatoes yesterday and sent the peaches, cucumbers, and grapes with my youngest daughter.  Fall is a mixed blessing. . . so many good things to eat. . . so much work to preserve it.

Robin

Sometime things have a mind of their own

This has been one of those projects that had good intentions but just didn't turn out like I saw it in my mind.

The border looks atrocious in this picture - thank goodness the color isn't accurate.

Actually it matches the yellow prints in the quilt (look at the yellow and blue block on the left) and looks much better than I had hoped.  (Big sigh of relief)

You can't tell in these pictures but the alternate block is goldfish bowl fabric and the border matches the goldfish perfectly.

Regardless, #2 has it's border and so I'm down to 13 UFOs.

Robin

And also, while I've been rummaging through my UFOs I found a finished quilt top  that I no longer liked the border I had sewn on it.  So, I took off the offending part and fixed it.  I like it much better now.  It wasn't on the UFO list but it done (again).