Pumpkins In The Air.....................

 Pumpkins!  The fresh air of Autumn!  And I want to harvest pumpkins!  Eat Pumpkin pie, drink pumpkin spice, anything, everything Autumn--cooler breezes, shorter days, time for a sweater--

one of my pumpkin projects is from an older BOM at Fort Worth Fabric Studio--

Fall 2020 will see another exciting Quilt along with FWFS --join the Facebook

Page to receive directions--all Free!

Diary of a Quilter has this tutorial to make one pumpkin block or a table runner--

The Little Fabric Shop has this super tutorial to make chevrons--I see these as eerie! 

How about some embroidery stitching?  I feel "Batty" a lot of times--maybe, this would be a good

one to leave up all year!  Flamingo toes has the full pattern with instructions for you.

Make a Fall Shenanigans quilt from Missouri Star Company

Virtual Fiber Happenings!

 I don't know about you, but I'm missing some of my favorite 'need' to attend festivities!  Especially the one that takes place in Taos, New Mexico every October!  I love, love, love Taos Wool market event--lots of workshops, shopping and time to meet up with friends.

Well, you know the story, Taos Wool Market has been cancelled this year--that's the in person one--  BUT, there will be a virtual happening of the Taos Wool event--just pop over to Facebook and look up Taos virtual wool market, join the group and be part of the event.

Part of me is excited to visit and I don't have to leave my comfy chair--the other part of me is wanting to make that road trip to beautiful TAOS!

Here in is another special virtual fiber fest that was always a blast to attend.  Former Kid 'N Ewe is undergoing several changes--check out the webpage to see how you can access all the happenings.

Hopefully, there will be an opportunity to buy a T-shirt too!!

American Quilter's Stitch Along

Something about patriotic quilts that just catch one's eye!

Here is a stitch along that will be a must for the new year--begins in January 2021

If you fancy her fabric line, there is the option to purchase these.  Otherwise,

use from your stash if you have.

I found some other patriotic quilt tops that I have on my agenda list.

This pattern is available from Cupcakes and Daisies

This is a free pattern from Missouri Star Quilts

Spirit of 76 Quilts

To honor all veterans, join in on this Quilt along

 

It's Growing........................

 I SWEAR--this stuff is growing in the closet overnight!  Just when I think I've spun up all that fiber--I find another FULL bag--does this stuff really have a factor that lets it multiply overnight?  I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks this happens either!

This is a blend of tencel and merino--nice to spin but I'm getting bored!!

another bobbin filled--oh hum!

More finished----will it ever end??

Decided to ply--not so boring--but still the same fiber--need to find a large project to use up this...

Look!  I can see the end..................unless, I walk into that closet and find

another bag--

AT least, there was plenty of spinning time with Tour de Fleece and we can

say--FINISHED! with that fiber!

Remembrance of Nine Eleven

 

September 11th is Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance. On this day Americans across the country are called to volunteer in their local communities in tribute to the individuals lost and injured in the attacks, first responders, and the many who have risen in service to defend freedom.

Let's Mangle!

What is a mangle you ask??  "A mangle or wringer is a mechanical laundry aid consisting of two rollers in a sturdy frame connected by cogs and in its home version powered by a hand crank or electricity. 

Acadian Brown Cotton Exhibit

 Acadian Brown Cotton: The fabric of Acadiana--September 11, 2020-February 27, 2021

This is a must see exhibit!  An exhibit presented by 

My passion is brown cotton!  I grew brown and green cotton for years

and now have tubs filled with sliver and cotton fuzz ready for spinning.

64 Parishes  has a nice article about this lovely cotton "stuff"

I found this video that shows how a newbie came to plant cotton! 

Enjoy!

 

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Plan for the Future

 When we are young, we think about today only!  Why plan for the future?  We are strong and sturdy- no need to plan for tomorrow or old age.  As you edge closer to your 40's, you begin to think about retirement--what will we do?  Will we have enough money?  Where will we live?

We planned for our retirement--worked hard for 40+ years, saved in our retirement fund, thought long and hard about where we would place ourselves for the next 30+ years.  Sometimes our plans work and sometimes, our plans need to be adjusted.

Here are some quotes about future plans--good quotes!  The reason for this blog post, you wonder-- we are getting older by the day, hour, minute--this year has been slowly creeping though our lives and sometimes, you want some inspiration to carry through difficult times.

The other day as we headed home from Luckenbach cowboy church, we ran into the general store manager, Vigil, who is resident cowboy from Sweetwater, Texas.  Now, Virgil isn't a spring chicken--he must be near 80 if not over 80.  He has a hearing problem but he does love to chat.

"Hello Virgil!  How's it going today?"

"What? Oh, it's going good, even though it's hot"

"What's your plan for today Virgil?"

"No plan for today but when I retire I'm going to Silver, Texas and make the town into a event center.  you see Silver is no town at all so I bought it."

We were amazed--Virgil has a retirement plan when he leaves Luckenbach, which is no town either.  His plans are for a future day when we can be in Silver as city planner, manager, boss of another no town! 

 Good for you Virgil!  We love your determination about your plans for the future!

Therefore, never give up planning for your future, no matter how old you are!!

Look Virgil Holdman up on Linkedin--he's quite the character!

Tour de France = Tour de Fleece

 Stage one of the Tour de France began yesterday, August 29--just a little late posting about this-- this year has been crazy as you know.  Usually Tour de France is early in the summer but was postponed, as many other events.  

We as spinners like to 'run' this race in the hot days of early summer, but here we are going into September.  Jump on board--spinn as much as you can, as often as you can--doesn't matter if it's just 10 minutes every day or every other day--JUST DO IT!  And if you can, watch come of the race as you treadle.  

I find myself treadling harder and faster as some of the stages of the race!  Funny, how you can get caught up in the action!  Here are couple of things you can do with your spinning--check out Tour de Fleece on FAcebook, talk to other spinners, show your progress and if you want play bingo

Some of us spun during the regular scheduled time of the event, even though I like watching the race on those days (actually, I would watch on the recap times).  Above all--enjoy your wheel and your fiber!

Let's Cool Off...............................With Snowflakes!

A snowflake table runner sounds perfect this time of year

and Kathy Schmitz has giving us some nice stitching techniques

to use to make a lovely piece to grace our table

Using simple stitches, adding buttons, and beads, you will create a quick

snowflake--First, you whip stitch the small circle to the medium circle--then

embroider the two before stitching them onto the large circle.

Snowflakes in nature are not regular, so if you make a small mistake, it's okay--

just eyeball the stitches and circles.

You can find Kathy on YouTube

Dream Trip!

Have you been? Do you want to go? Is AQS on your bucket list?
Paducah!!! 




This is just a small taste of what you'll find when you attend!  I wish I'd taken more money--there are shops everywhere!! I mean everywhere!  And you can find quilt leaders everywhere! Everyone is sharing and assisting you in your dream trip!

Keep your fingers crossed that we can attend in 2021!

Happy Birthday Dr. Dawn!

This little girl melted our hearts day after day!

That little girl is now a successful woman

and she still melts our hearts!

Happy Birthday Dr. Dawn!

 

Harvest time!

In our area of Texas Hill Country, it's time to harvest the grapes! If your winery is plush with money, then you can use one of these machines--

So many of the wineries in this area are small family owned vineyards, so they use volunteers to walk through the vines and clip by hand.  Early morning around sunrise, we don our hats, gloves and grab our shears--off we go!

 Semillon grape was our first pick of the morning.  Each row is marked at the front with one of the markers--so we wouldn't pick the wrong rows.  Of course, it wasn't hard to  decide either--as the nets were taken off!  The nets are placed over the ripe grapes so birds will not eat those nice juicy bites.

These little clusters grow around anything in their way--not easy to find their fix state.

These are Tannat variety--so lovely!

Found a bird's nest among the vines--with couple of Tannat grapes!

Hubby is in the background working his row--look how long those rows--

it seemed the rows just got longer and longer!

Okay--after 5 hours, we had harvested 5 tons of grapes!

Must wait now for the juice to become wine!

BAM!! It’s Autumn!

Time for another sewing adventure--yes, it feels like Autumn when you

roll out these colors.  You can join in on this free mystery on Facebook page

of Fort Worth Fabric Studio/Absolute Autumn

This is their kit--but I chose to  use my own fall stash--and there

is lots of it!  I love Autumn/Fall.

 First block--always love Maple Leave patterns!

Second block--Acorns!  Yay!

Third clue = Sunflowers--all 8 blocks of them!

The last clue--soon there will be the final layout suggestion.

I saw this pumpkin table runner on the cover of  "Quilter's World"

fall magazine--love pumpkins!  This pattern is called Pumpkin Patch! 

I'm on the lookout for other fall related patterns--

About Time!

This book has lingered in my stash basket for ages--let's not count the number

of months--it's just one of those 'aged' projects or UFOs if you prefer.

Quiet time was spent as I stitch--this 'lock-in" pushed me to find something

to do with my time and hands.

Completed all the embroidery on the blocks this week!  Just need to do

the interlacing stitches between the blocks, add borders and we're good to go.

I liked doing all the blocks--at one time, I ran out of black thread & had to

wait for an order to replenish my stock

I cheated at times for the small pieces--used a permanent marker to

fill in--e.g. light bulbs on Kingle block, lights in Village, etc.

Doodle Cloth

Do you Doodle??  

YES!  There are videos for doodles!  I usually doodle if my brain is in overload or someone is lecturing--it's a way to not think about what your fingers are doing.  But, my doodles don't look like the above!

IN hand embroidery, a doodle cloth is usually an extra piece of fabric that you keep on hand,
to practice embroidery stitches on before you apply those stitches to am embroidery project.  A good idea if you are a beginner and want to see how your stitches will look.

REasons for doodle cloth:

1. Practice makes perfect
2. A doodle cloth saves your project
3. A doodle cloth creates a record
4. This doodle cloth can become a project!

And it opens up possibilities for endless projects--one stitch becomes another stitch and so on and so on.

I love these handy ways to learn as you stitch!