Eureka! I Have Found It!

First things first. After probably about two years, while looking for a misplaced pattern, I found the missing Awesome Land blocks. All 81 of them with a side sashing attached!!! I was sure I must've left them at a retreat because that was the last time I saw them. These blocks were listed on my 2021 UFO list so I presume I made the blocks during RSC2020. Here they are laid out on my living room floor yesterday. I am so doing my happy dance! I will work very hard to have the top done by year's end.

Yesterday I worked very hard finishing Block #8 of the BOM at my LQS. It is called Illusions Sampler.

Block #8 Illusions Sampler

I don't quite know why I did Block #9 before this one but now I have the first nine blocks done. These blocks are 24" square - HUGE! Here they all are, in no particular order.

I have to tell you a "funny" story. At my quilt group the other day, one lady had all 12 of her Illusions Sampler blocks put together and the borders on. When she showed it at show 'n' tell, I couldn't believe I saw a HUGE boo-boo right in the middle. It was Block #8 which I had been working on so the mistake was glaring to my eyes. I now had quite the dilemma -- do I say something or not? Well, since it was only a top & not yet quilted AND because it was right square in the middle, I braved it and told her. Now it's on her to fix the mistake or not. Has this ever happened to you? Not making the mistake but letting someone know that they did when they were so proud of their work?

The other big news around here: This morning I woke up to SNOW! So pretty! Just a heavy dusting but the grass is covered up so it counts in my book. Hard to believe but a few days ago we broke the High Temp record with 83 degrees. Crazy funny!

Gracie & I have a FUN walk ahead of us this morning. Wishing you a great week!

Linking up with all the RSC quilters HERE!

I Like Thurs #93

After quite an absence, I'm back from retreat and vacation. I've been doing my best to get caught up on my happenings but today -- it's all about I Like Thursday! I'm starting this post with how I like Fall. I love the weather, I love getting ready to settle in for the Winter, I like knowing that the air will be turning colder and sweaters and turtlenecks will be worn soon. I like the color of the leaves against cool, crisp blue skies.

Taken on my walk this week

Taken at my son's house last week

I like teasing my sister. She likes owls but not to an excess. I saw these key chains at a convenience shop and kidded her that she should want one.

I didn't see her name but "special sister" would work!

I like special events that happen within my family. This happened for my niece when her boyfriend proposed to her right before Halloween in the pumpkin patch.

The happy couple! We are already looking forward to a September 2024 wedding!

I have been enjoying Survivor on TV. I got caught up during this past week on the episodes that I missed while away. As for a book, I've been reading "Every Last Fear" by Alex Finlay. It is quite a story and has me wanting to read, read, read!

What have you been liking lately? I'll be sharing my likes with Leeanna @ Not Afraid of Color and others that share their likes each week too.

Have a good week!

The Last Half of October (Part 1 - NC)

This post is non-quilty so you can leave now if that's not what you want to see. However, it furthers explains why I've been missing from Blogland. There are lots of pictures to look at though if you decide to continue.

Three days after my friend returned home after visiting with me and going to retreat, my mother, husband, and I hit the road for Little Rock, AR. Good-bye, St. Louis! What a beautiful travel day and the Gateway to the West was standing proudly to wish us a safe journey! 

The Arkansas mission: meet my Texas sister and deliver her new-to-her sewing machine. I'd acted as a go-between and it was time for her to play with her new toy. One thing I'd like to add is that the missing knee lift was discovered in the bottom of the sewing table! What a great place for it when traveling!

We visited with her and her husband that evening, shared breakfast together the next morning, and then we all went our separate ways. It was so nice to see my TX relatives!! As we went through Memphis on our way to NC I thought we'd accidentally gone to Las Vegas! Doesn't this look like one of the casinos there? I told hubby we should return and spend a long weekend in Memphis. There's much to see!

The drive though the Blue Ridge was so scenic on the western slopes. Fall was at its finest. Look at those colors!

We had a wonderful time in North Carolina visiting my brother & his family. My niece Kelli gladly gave up her bedroom for me & hubby which also meant moving her office since she works from home. We're so proud of her! She interned for Wilson Sporting Goods after graduating this past Spring from NC State and the company liked her so much they kept her on. Now she's got benefits plus more responsibilities! Just because she works from home does not mean that she didn't need a new car. She had driven my daughter's old Ford Focus to over 260,000 miles and it was time to get reliable wheels. She decided on a 2022 Toyota Corolla Night Shadow. It's a sporty beauty!

While in NC I made a quick pitstop to Pineapple Fabric/Keepsake Quilting. Still can't believe that huge warehouse/store is located in my brother's little town! Gives me another reason to visit! Ha!

Fred spent a couple of days of fishing with my brother. Happy faces!

One of the days we all packed up and went to Ft. Dobbs in Statesville NC. We enjoyed our visit, the history lesson of how important the fort was during the French & Indian War, and the weather was wonderful! We would gladly pay the $2/person admission fee again!

The reconstructed Ft. Dobbs

Our tour group

Mom warning me not to let the bed bugs bite!
Sawdust bunk was more comfy than it looked

Our wonderful guide

John getting a lesson on gunpowder

On another day, us girls decided to revisit Allen & Son BBQ in Pittsboro to see if the sandwiches were as good as we remembered from years ago. Turns out, the joint we visited used to be in Chapel Hill but now had a new owner with the same recipes in Pittsboro. Let me tell you that was one of the best pulled pork sandwiches I've eaten EVER! It was juicy, vinegary, and delicious!

After lunch we decided to see what Pittsboro was all about. We'd seen a sign pointing the way to "Historic Pittsboro" and thought we should check it out. We ended up touring this lovely building which used to be the old courthouse and is now a museum.

Pittsboro's old courthouse now museum

Very old safe with our docent in the background

Looking inside the safe.
Below was another safe spot for documents.

Another day we visited my brother's property. Between him & Karen, they have really made some major progress clearing the way for their eventual home.

The driveway (Haha)

Mom & I checking out the homesite.
Behind us leads to the lake.

Mom getting some help maneuvering the turf

30' path for electricity leading to the pole in the background.
Power company now says it must be cleared 40'. UGH!

I think that's enough for now. I'll continue with our trip to MD in another post, probably not until next week. Until then, enjoy your week, your family, and whatever hobby gives your joy!

MIA with My Friend at Retreat

Hard to believe but my last post was almost a month ago, October 6. The last month just flew by and I was gone for much of it. Let's continue from October 7 and see how far we can go. I sure don't want to overwhelm anyone!

My best friend arrived on Friday, October 7th, traveling in from Knoxville TN. We got squared away on Saturday and left Sunday for retreat at Kinderhook IL. If you're wondering where on Earth that is, it's about 30 minutes due east of Hannibal MO, home of Mark Twain! The grounds are lovely and there were about 16 of us in the main retreat lodge. Another group of my friends happened to be retreating at the smaller lodge so there was plenty of fun.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures that I took while there from October 9th - 13th. First up is my friend and me with our matching quilts. Primitive Gatherings had this pattern in their book "American Gatherings" and all it took was 5 charm packs more or less. We loved the scrappiness which also made our quilts similar but not identical.

I'm on the right

Here is a quilt I put together using a panel from quite a ways back. The yellow was a fabric that I bought at my LQS. It was the "color of the month" and I believe it was called Highlighter Yellow. The corner stones of two bats, one skull, and one pumpkin were freebies from April Rosenthal, a talented Moda designer. Visit her website here and click the Free Patterns tab at the top.

Take a look at this beautiful Christmas plaid quilt that my friend made. Isn't it gorgeous??? She found the pattern in a Quilts & More magazine. I don't know which issue -- sorry. I think this quilt would be a great gift for a graduate in their school colors too!

I managed to get another word sewn up in the Letters to Santa QAL. They really are fun to sew!

Of course I have to include a few pictures of quilts made by some of the others. This one was Sandy's. I just love the colors and the striped border she made for this panel.

I just LOVE this quilt by Jody. Wish I could remember the name of the pattern she used. Could it have been Flip Flop? Hmmmm. I don't know.

This quilt was nicknamed The Green Monster by its maker. Michelle had it all put together, didn't like the way the colors went so she ripped out A LOT of stitches and resewed it back together. Turned out  beautiful!

While I was retreating, hubby had his quarterly endocrinology appointment. He is a type-2 diabetic and once again his numbers weren't good. The doctor decided to slap one of these on him to help monitor his sugar levels for two weeks.

After a few days, it looked like this. Does anyone know if this is normal? He is on blood thinners so maybe normal for that?

When we removed it at the end of two weeks, it looked like this. We're thinking that if it was stuck somewhere else it might not bruise so much? We'll get the report from the doctor at the next appointment. I just thought I'd share since it was so odd! Ha!

I think that's enough for now. Stay tuned for the next October Chapter post.

Have a great weekend!

I Like Thursday #92

Many thanks to LeeAnna for reminding all of us to share things that we've liked over the past week. If you'll hop on over to her blog Not Afraid of Color, you can see a lot of fun things. Then pop back here to see what I've got this week.

My first LIKE has to be these two. Polly (kitty) was just patting Gracie (dog) playfully, of course. Gracie is just never too sure about Polly and if the play might turn into something less friendly. Ha!

Now that it's October, I decided to bring Fall in by making pumpkin pancakes last weekend. Of course they needed to be served with a side of bacon and a nice cup of joe. Doesn't the placemat let you know that it's Fall also? I made four of these many years ago and decided it was time to actually use them!

My son lives in Maryland and was sad to say that it had been about three weeks since he'd seen a hummingbird. Later I saw one on our feeder. I've actually seen at least one the last couple of days. I'm not sure if there are a few or if it's the same one I continue to see. I wonder if my son's disappeared due to Hurricane Ian. The weather in the DC area sure went to pot lately.

Someone is getting ready for Halloween. Brody has been crazy for dinosaurs lately.

I think Brody is explaining to Jacob about Jurassic Park where dinosaurs rule! Jacob believes everything his big brother tells him. He's so fascinating.

 

I've been very happy to watch Survivor again this week and this house is looking forward to Blue Bloods starting this week. We're very proud of our Cardinals baseball team and look forward to watching the playoffs. Cardinals vs Phillies this Friday afternoon!

In case you missed it, I finished my Autumn Jubilee 2021 quilt. Every year Carole at From My Carolina Home shares quilts, books, food recipes, tablescapes, wool projects, stamping projects, and more to celebrate the arrival of Autumn. I have a button on my sidebar that will take you to her post that is all about the start to her Autumn Jubilee 2022 wool project. It looks very Fall! There you will also find  information about prizes and rules & regulations. Not much is required and you can't win if you don't visit her blog.

My Autumn Jubilee 2021 quilt is seen below. You can find more about this quilt (and see more pictures, of course!) if you click HERE. It was fun to make and Carole's directions were spot-on.

So that's my LIKES this week! I probably won't have a post next week because I'll be on retreat with best friend and lots of other quilters. You can believe I'm going to LIKE that! *wink*

A Finish and a PHD Report

Today I'll share with you a quilt I finished a couple of days ago. Give me a couple minutes to tell you the story behind it. Each year in October, Autumn Jubilee begins. Who wouldn't love quilting with friends while celebrating one of the most beautiful times of the year? Autumn Jubilee is sweetly given to us by Carole @ From My Mountain Home. Over the course of this month, she'll offer her original projects freely which include a quilt of different sizes, wool applique, card stamping, recipes, you name it -- she's got it! So much fun to see what she's offering each year and I'm really looking forward to this year's group. Oh! And did I mention that there are prizes??? Haha! She has rounded up oodles of prizes from her sponsors and others. There's plenty to go around so you really ought to jump on board. Click the Autumn Jubilee 2022 button on my sidebar to see the rules and regulations. There really aren't that many and they're sensible but just need to be said. So hop on over but come right back here.

Last year's Autumn Jubilee 2021 quilt was offered, as always, in many sizes. I chose to do the wall hanging size 42" x 42". The pattern was thoroughly explained and wasn't too difficult to make. The fabrics were mostly bought at Rosemary's Quilts & Fabrics during her basement sale. I picked up a baggy full of Fall scraps for a couple bucks and the background fabric was clearanced out as well. So here we are -- Autumn Jubilee 2021 wall hanging.

Ta Da!

A close-up of some of the quilting

More quilting and a look at the variety of fabrics
from that bag of scraps

Such beautiful Autumn fabrics!

A look at the back

A close-up of the back to see
more of the quilting

Relaxed over a lawn chair

We all know that the quilt isn't finished
until it's labeled!

I encourage you to read all about Autumn Jubilee 2022 by clicking on the button on the sidebar. There's sure to be something of interest for you over the next few weeks!

Autumn Jubilee 2021 was on my PHD (Projects Half Done) list and I'm happy to say I FINALLY got to check another project off. Thank you, Gail @ Quilting Gail, for helping to keep us focused ... too bad I just started another couple of projects. The Letters to Santa QAL is being offered through Moda's website and I found it just too adorable (and challenging!) to pass up. The other project, Sweetheart Sorbet, has been added from a class I just took on October 1. It might be a good car ride project! So, to sum up my PHD, there was one finish, one new QAL project, and one class project. Man, oh, man! Here we go again. I just can't say NO!

A last look --
relaxing on the deck!

Have a great month. October looks to be wonderful!