This is our Halloween table runner. I am going to square it up and put it on the table, then I will bind if after Halloween.
It just came off the frame just this morning. I really enjoyed this McTavishing practice and, by the time it was done, felt a little better about my attempts.
Also off the frame is my Weave quilt.
And now it, too, is ready for binding. I plan to bind it with brown and it will be a charity/comfort quilt.
I quilted it with a large meander so it didn’t take too long. But it didn’t get off the frame until the table runner was done.
I also appliqued another owl. I am amazed at how long it takes to do one of these: in, out, stop, start, and all that over and over again.
And here is the real problem: he is only the first of three in this block. I have made 6 of the 18 blocks, with only 1 1/3rd appliqued. I think I better get a move on if I want to see this completed. I love owls and really want this quilt to reside on my bed.
I have been doing some knitting, too. Here is slipper #2 and the heel is done: gusset coming up. I also have done the heel and gusset of a second sock, first can be seen here, and I am well on my way through the foot.
These were my knitting buddies to begin with, and
then there was a switch. Please note that the cat is still in place. Although we are having cool mornings the afternoons have been very pleasant and perfect for swinging and knitting on the deck.
This coming weekend our grandson is getting married. The wedding is about 50 miles from here in a somewhat remote area so I spent about 40 min. looking at maps trying to figure out how to get there. And then a wonderful idea came to me. There is a quilt show about 30 miles south of the wedding site. If we go to the quilt show in the morning it will be really easy to get to the late afternoon wedding from there. How about that!! It looks like Saturday is going to be a really great day!
Hope you have fun, too. gari
I have a finish: Grim Ripper. She is going to hang in my sewing room, right near where I keep my sewing tools. I see her handing me the ripper, even before I need it. The funny thing is that I don’t use a seam ripper but a small pair of scissors, but I have the same “grim” feeling when I need to rip out a seam. I should say that the quilting you can see is done using a couple of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine.
I also finished the first sock of my third pair. I have started the second sock but forgot to take a picture. I have been spending mornings knitting on the deck and some evenings when I am not on the computer.
I even got into the quilting room and began quilting this top which has been on the frame for 3 weeks. I am quilting this with a large meander and it went so fast that I got it done today. Of course part of that is because my stitch regulator has gone whacky. Right now it is not regulating but acting like a manual stitch but I cannot slow it down so we are “off to the races” when I turn it on. Yes, I will be calling Handi Quilter tomorrow (first time in 7 years).
I did have to piece the batting but with quilting I cannot even feel where the piecing is.
I did make sure that the side grippers were used over the lap of the two pieces so there would be no movement while I was quilting.
But when I was done I realized that I still had about 18” of extra backing. So on went this black batting piece, and
And on went this great Halloween fabric. I am going to quilt it with a bit smaller meander for placemats. There will be some leftover and I will use that for a table runner but I won’t quilt it until I get the stitch regulator fixed.
Oh, and I started a new BOM. This is the first block from Fat Cat Patterns. But the difficulty is that I believe she is giving us 2 blocks a month. When I started pulling fabric for this I realized that none of my white fabric is thick enough to not shadow the black wings. I have looked at almost all the white I have but this may mean I get have to go fabric shopping. Tough job but somebody has to do it. Anyway, these pieces are not put together because he is having to wait for me to come up with the white fabric.
Now one might ask how I came by so much energy to do all this. Well, DH has been gone for 3 days and, except for taking care of the dogs, birds, and cats, I have had all my time to myself. It’s amazing what one can do when there are no interruptions. 
Sorry Sweetie!
I did take a little time out to redress Fred. He is now “Harvest Fred,” wearing the hat we found on our trip. And frequently I am finding Stubby, the cat, sleeping in his lap. Unfortunately she jumps down before I can get a picture so you will have to just imagine our black and white cat curled up there. Really cute, huh?
Monday I need to do laundry and dishes but that won’t stop the sewing, quilting, and knitting, I’ll just have to work around them. 
If you have read this far, be sure to take a break to get ready for a really GREAT week.
Gari
Tomorrow, November 1st, is the beginning of BIRTHDAY MONTH. And this is a really important birthday: I will be turning 70. For that reason I made sure to dress holiday appropriately for Halloween even though I spent most of the day at home. It’s funny how many holiday pieces of clothing I have accumulated over the years. 
And they never wear out when I only wear them once or twice a year.
The only real sewing I have gotten done this week is to get this chicken appliqued. I still have two to applique and then tomorrow a new one comes out at Fat Cat Patterns. Oh, joy, it is fun with batiks, again.
I know that most people have been glued to the TV watching Sandy working her way to the East Coast. As one who has experienced several hurricanes while living in FL, my thoughts and prayers were/are for the people who probably didn’t have any idea what they were in for.
We lived through Erin, Opal, Dennis, Ivan, and Arlene before deciding to leave Florida and return to Alabama. To work through the trauma of the storms and the difficult decision to move I made this:
This is “Flight to Alabama.” At the bottom you can see the sandy beach, water and seagulls under a blue sky. Then, going up, the skies darken and we see the whirling storms. In the quilting are the names of the significant storms that I didn’t want to experience again.
Then the sky lightens again and we see the clay colored soil, the trees, and the path through the trees to my swing, all on our 5 acres in AL.
All of the above is leading to my idea for a quilt: Tracking Sandy. Both because I relived my own hurricane experiences while watching this and because our youngest son and his wife live in MD (and are all right) it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this on our TV. I am still thinking on this idea but don’t be surprised if it shows up in fabric sometime.
And now Halloween night is coming to a close and, yippee, tomorrow we wake up to BIRTHDAY MONTH.
What a great week, so far.
I finished quilting Jack and was going to bind it but decided I need to get back to the deadline projects. I brought it in to put on my end table and decided I like the rough look so it is going to stay that way until after the first of the year and then a quick binding, just because I will tire of this look pretty quickly.
This is the backing on Jack. It is fabric I have had for at least 7 years. I had planned to make a vest but, as you can see, that didn’t happen. I used to really enjoy Halloween when the kids were little but now, way out in the country, we really don’t celebrate it much. I have put out some of our decorations but we don’t get very excited over it.
Monday night was another of our great grandson’s soccer games. We really do have fun watching them run and kick with almost no idea of which way they should be going. 
Tuesday I spent trying to sort out a closet. I have filled 3 bags with clothing and old comforters that will be going to Goodwill tomorrow. And, of course, I haven’t made a dent in what needs to be sorted. 
And yesterday, well for the most part it was spent sitting on the deck with a good book. It was one of those beautiful Fall days, warm, sunshine, breeze, leaves falling, way too nice to be inside doing anything productive.
But late in the afternoon the book was finished so I went inside and appliqued one chicken and cut the pieces for the Carol Doak BOM for October. Here they are all stacked up and labeled, ready for stitching.
And this is where I stopped: 3 sections done and one to go. However, it was my turn to cook dinner so I had to leave.
Today it is raining. I can sit on the deck but, after the obligatory housework is finished I am headed back to the studio to finish what I started and move on to other fun stuff. Interestingly, I will be all caught up on the 3 BOMs I am doing. I was very careful to not let me get overwhelmed this year with BOMs and that has worked out great. I have had to miss out on several I would like to do but the lack of pressure has been wonderful.
Since I stopped working for Weight Watchers I have found that I have been “forgetting” everything I was taught and had been teaching for the last 3 years. So I am back on plan. I hadn’t gone very far astray but I could see the old habits coming back and I just can’t have that. This was my breakfast this morning: whole wheat toast with sugar free pumpkin butter (yum), sliced apple and coffee. When I am thinking about it I eat slowly and that means that when I am finished I feel satisfied and comfortable. I did share some of the apple with my parrots: they love 0 points fruit and veggies. 
It just came off the frame just this morning. I really enjoyed this McTavishing practice and, by the time it was done, felt a little better about my attempts.
Also off the frame is my Weave quilt. 
And now it, too, is ready for binding. I plan to bind it with brown and it will be a charity/comfort quilt.
I quilted it with a large meander so it didn’t take too long. But it didn’t get off the frame until the table runner was done.
I also appliqued another owl. I am amazed at how long it takes to do one of these: in, out, stop, start, and all that over and over again.
And here is the real problem: he is only the first of three in this block. I have made 6 of the 18 blocks, with only 1 1/3rd appliqued. I think I better get a move on if I want to see this completed. I love owls and really want this quilt to reside on my bed.
I have been doing some knitting, too. Here is slipper #2 and the heel is done: gusset coming up. I also have done the heel and gusset of a second sock, first can be seen here, and I am well on my way through the foot.
These were my knitting buddies to begin with, and
then there was a switch. Please note that the cat is still in place. Although we are having cool mornings the afternoons have been very pleasant and perfect for swinging and knitting on the deck.
