Red is Coming to an End

We are nearing the end of September which means the end of "Red Month". My fellow quilters are betting on yellow for October. Will they be correct? We will find out from Angela on Thursday, October 1! And speaking of Angela,  she has provided our Linky Party for us Rainbow Scrappers to share our RED and whatever else we have going on. You can enjoy visiting at SoScrappy here too!

I finally finished up ALL the red Awesome Land blocks. Last but not least was #9 who is dressed for Christmas!

And here it is with the other eight red blocks.

This being the 9th month that I've been working on these, I've grown quite a stack!

I'm looking forward to October's color (yellow?) and then trying to figure out how I want these all laid out. Probably won't finish until sometime next year.

In the meantime, I've been happily knitting along. Finished my socks! The one on the wooden form is just finishing up blocking, still a little damp. The other one is done!

Pattern: Destination Unknown
Designer: Very Busy Monkey
Yarn: Blue Moon Socks That Rock Lightweight

These socks are going to be so WONDERFUL this winter. They're soft, they're squishy, they're beautiful!

Afternoon Delight had another block finished this week. This is #27 and check it out -- bits of red!

I hope you stayed with me this far. Here's the biggie for the week ..... drum roll, please! My Tiny Tuesday quilt top is all together! So many fun little blocks. So much fun working on this top. Thank you, Angela, once again for helping us all stay on track. This was the official (?) RSC2019 quilt.

So cute all dappled in the sun & shade

My layout

I can also share with you that yesterday I got it pin-basted and I'm itching to get started quilting this one up. The size at this point is 59" x 78". That'll make a nice couch quilt when I'm done!

Fred & I decided Thursday was going to be the day for us to get our bloodwork done for the doctor. We were both due in the Spring but due to COVID & honey's kidney woes it was delayed. We like to celebrate getting our fasting bloodwork done by the vampires by treating ourselves to breakfast out. We went to the usual IHOP to discover that outside dining was the only option. Thankfully we were a late breakfast couple because only 6 of the 10 or 12 outside tables had guests. It was a beautiful morning and we had great service from Mary.

Ahhhhhh! Food & coffee at last!

Honey enjoying the fresh air & my company, of course!
(Still got the red theme going! Check out the red umbrellas!)

Fred is doing much better, Thank you all for the prayers, hugs, and best wishes. We see the kidney doc this Wednesday and hopefully we will be DONE! Fred still needs to put back on some weight, gain some strength, drink more water, and stay off the smokes! (Don't I sound like such a nag?!? Lol!)

Wishing everyone a good weekend!

I Like Thursdays #8

Once again we're sharing the positives in our lives. I hope you find something here that makes you smile. If you would like some more uplifting reading, visit hostess Leeanna's blog Not Afraid of Color to find more!

I love that we have such good neighbors. It makes us try to be better neighbors ourselves. Anyway, our neighbors were out of town for their son's wedding so watched their dogs for them. Below is Gracie with her "boyfriend" Odie.

Although Odie normally loves to see us, he was on the lookout for his family's return and really didn't want anything to do with us. Poor Gracie!

There is a house in my neighborhood that has the two separate garage doors. In between they have this planter spilling with petunias and vinca (I think) with some grass in the back. Isn't this pretty! Love the petunias wildness!

Of course I'd like to take you for a trip around my front yard. Fall truly is trying to arrive and, after all, we did just have the equinox. The flowers are looking a little spent but they are still trying to make a statement with the last of their blooms.

Please pardon the dirty house in the background. This WILL be taken care of before spring!

What really makes me happy is this little weigela bush. It was all knocked over into the street and was very leggy. My other neighbor (not Odie's folks) said she was probably going to rip it out. I told her I wanted a chance with it because it could be beautiful. Besides, weigelas are great hummingbird & butterfly attracters!

So I lifted it up out of the street and pegged it up. Then I trimmed off quite a bit of the straggly limbs but not too much as I didn't want to shock it.

I've been watering it lately too since we've had no rain in about 2 weeks. Can you see the new growth? Do you see the flowers?

Here's a closer look. Now I bet you can see the improvement! I believe this little plant is going to be gorgeous next spring!

If you've made it to the end of this post, I hope I managed to spread a little good cheer your way!

(Is it me or has Blogger changed once again and grafted the "new & improved" version with the old?)

FNSI & RSC Reports

Oh my goodness, it's hard to post anything as nice as our weather has turned lately. No heat! No humidity! That makes me a happy girl!! I know there are those out there that think it's too cool already. I think it's perfect weather for fall clean-up in the yard. Those early morning temps are perfect for walking the dog. Speaking of Gracie, she is thrilled with the lower temperatures. She's truly a 50s girl!

Yesterday and today we have the privilege to dog-sit the dogs next door. Gracie just loves to romp with the boys but they're getting up in years and they can't play like they used to. 70 pounds of happiness that is leaping and jumping at them is just a little too much for them to handle for long.

Gracie & Odie

Odie looking for his folks

Last night was Friday Night Sew In and I decided I felt like knitting. My socks are really coming along. I'm on the 4th pattern chart and it is going quickly now. I'll be knitting the toes soon and finishing them up. I love this yarn. It's really soft and squishy. When I take the final picture of the completed socks, I'll give all the details. In the meantime, just imagine!

Many thanks to Wendy at Sugarlane Designs for getting us all together virtually for some sewing (or knitting) with like-minded folks. I'm linking up with her there and will spend some time visiting to see all the beautiful things everyone worked on last night.

Red is really going well for September's color of the month. I think that's what I like about the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Every month there is a focus color. Here are the six blocks I managed to sew this week.

When added to the two I finished the previous two weeks, they look like this. Only one more to go of the Awesome Land blocks this month! I'll be sharing my red progress on Angela's So Scrappy blog along with many others. Such beautiful work to admire there!

These blocks have actually been my leaders & enders for an even bigger project. Last year we made Tiny Tuesday blocks with the RSC. The blocks finished 4.5" and then they were framed either straight or on point to finish 7". I'm working on getting this quilt DONE!

I decided that my 44 blocks were not enough and what a funny number to have gotten done. I looked back on Angela's blog and found a couple of bonus blocks after deciding I wanted 48 blocks total. So I counted up how many of each color I had and then I counted up how many were set on point and how many were set straight. Turns out I needed one extra yellow, orange, purple, and green block -- 3 needed to be on point and 1 set straight.

I also decided that I would turn four Tiny Tuesday blocks into one larger block, adding a 2" sashing strip with a tiny 4-patch center. I managed to get 4 of these done and I am LOVING how they are turning out! Here are my first four in no particular order.

(The orange block was an additional block)

The purple block was a bonus block

And here they are laying together.

Here is a picture of  my organization. Looks more like chaos but there really is a rhyme and a reason to this mess. The Tiny Tuesday blocks are grouped in fours and the 4-patch that will go with them is attached too.

I'm thinking I will separate the larger blocks with 3" sashing and scrappy 9-patches. You know, just a larger version of the squares. Thoughts?

Lately we've had a praying mantis visit our hummingbird feeders. DH says the larger mantises will actually catch and kill my hummingbirds. We've pried him off with a stick and removed him but he has returned three times now. Each removal he was relocated further and further. The last time was to the far side of our property into the woods. I'm keeping an eye out for him everyday. Looks like he's keeping an eye out for me too!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I hope Fall has returned to your area. Enjoy!

I Like Thursday #7

Welcome to my post where I show you happy things in my life this past week. There's a group of us that enjoy sharing the goodness in our lives and we are all linked up HERE on Leeanna's blog Not Afraid of Color. There's a lot of interesting things to read about if you happen to wander over there yourself!

I know everyone keeps talking about the Fall weather and we are most definitely enjoying it around here too. We're about to get a cold blast from the north so our temps are going to be dropping even more this weekend. I am a little concerned about my friends in the FL panhandle. Miss Sally has sure been dropping bucket-loads of rain down there and my husband's cousins are on the shore of AL. We've heard from them and they haven't floated away ... yet!

What's going on around here? Folks in my neighborhood are putting out their Autumnal decorations. So pretty!

Mother Nature is dressing up the neighborhood too. Such beautiful colors.

And colors yet to be ....

Mr. Blue-Tail Skink was seen scurrying for the once-beautiful day lilies and irises. The bricks warm up nicely for him there on the south side of our house.

Having a hard time seeing him in there? How's this?!

Yes, that's much better! Ha!

I hate the idea of all the fires burning up all those acres in CA and CO. Animals and people live there! Although I can appreciate the beautiful sunrises we've been having clear out here in IL due to the hazy skies from the smoke.

Wherever you live, whatever you do, I hope you can appreciate all that you have. Wishing you a wonderful week!

Red Week #2

So far I haven't been able to really get going on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks even though I was quite happy when Angela picked red for September. I'll bet you can find a lot more red blocks if you visit So Scrappy. I'll be visiting there over the next few days and in the meantime, I'll show you the little bit I did manage to get done.

How about some lambs? I will be very sad when I eventually run out of this fabric from Primitive Gatherings. This is the only red block I got done  for Awesome Land this week.

Here is Block #25 for Afternoon Delight. This project isn't part of RSC and contains no red ... but I did finish it.

Hey look! I spy red on Block #26 of Afternoon Delight. Both of these blocks were assigned for August and I finally finished them up Friday night. I've already downloaded the two blocks which are for September. Need to get busy on those pronto!

Tuesday night we had a Zoom guild meeting. Due to cancelled programs because of COVID, the guild's board decided to do a Make & Take project. About ten days before the meeting, every member in the guild received a small kit with written instructions and a supply list for what we needed to have on hand to complete the project. Nothing weird -- needle, floss, glue, optional beads, etc.

Our project was a scissors fob and it is cute as can be and very doable. Here's the front of mine. Check it out -- red!

Kind of looks like a bloodshot eyeball, doesn't it? Hahahaha! And here's a peek at the back.

More red thread with navy background and white stars. I love the charm I got in my kit -- a sewing machine! Perfect! I want to give a special shout out to the Hearts 'n' Hands Quilt Guild board members for really coming through to entertain us. I forget who we our guest was supposed to have been this month but I know last month we were supposed to have Gudrun Erla of GE Designs! Bummer! I had requested her, the board got her, then the Corona hit. Argh!

Anyway, I certainly appreciate how my guild is doing their very best to be sure that we have quality meetings. Next month we will have a guest Zoom her program for us and I am looking forward to that!

Have a great weekend!

I Like Thursday #6

Sometimes it feels like there is so much trouble everywhere that it is hard to be optimistic. That's why the I Like Thursday posts are so wonderful .... it gives every sharer a chance to speak positive and shove the negative aside. Leeanna from Not Afraid of Color is our host and there's a lot of goodness to be read if you'd care to take a gander!

Of course I'll start with a walk with Gracie. This was taken last weekend. I don't like to walk a ways and then turn around and return on the same course. Gracie & I can go down the bike trail to the right and then cut through to a private gravel road that runs alongside the bike trail. We get to see different things. In order to return to the bike trail to go home, we have discovered that someone mows a trail to connect the two -- the gravel road to the bike trail. Look how thick the growth would be to go through. Nope! We would not be taking this little side trip if not for the nice person that mows us a path. Thank you, nice person!!!

Wednesday morning the air was so heavy! We had fog or haze or something. It was pretty with the buildings in the back and the mature corn in the front.

This was also taken Wednesday morning. I call this the "Bunny Trail" because Gracie can usually spot a bunny or two along the way. Look how mature that corn has gotten. Fall is certainly around the corner and the farmer will have this down before long. Notice it is still foggy-ish!

Speaking of Fall, last Sunday the neighbor's tree went from this ...

To this ....

I've starting noticing leaves on the ground around here. Yes, Fall is coming!

Saturday was the Kentucky Derby. Can't watch a derby without a mint julep! Thanks to my neighbor for providing the mint!! It was strange to be watching the derby this year at Labor Day instead of Mother's Day but Mom & I still had fun!

Dinner needed to be easy after all that derby excitement (and juleps!) so it was salad, home fries, and bratwursts. Oh yes, and of course a glass of wine. The brats were jalapeno & cheddar cheese. Needed something to help wash them down.

I did get these pictures from my son & DIL over the weekend.

Brody waiting patiently to eat breakfast al fresco.

The chef on the outdoor Blackstone Grill. My son loves cooking especially if it's outdoors. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Blackstone Grill, charcoal, or smoker. He's game!

Yay! Chow time!

I hope this post has brought a smile to your face or at least caught your interest in the name of optimism. Have a great finish to your week!