Much needed vacation

 Our daughter and hubby recently moved to a different city in a different state. They bought an older house that needs work but when they first walked into it, they "felt happy" and I now know why. This is their view out the living room window and off the patio. I may never go home!

Also while here, daughter gave me an older i-pad that she is not using. I'm now considering a Mac desktop as I discovered that Mac designers think a lot more like I do than the people at 'you know where' and my mind seems relieved. Time will tell. It could be relieved just from the views out each window in this house. Until then, we are enjoying 100 foot trees in fall colors and the peace and quiet of hearing only the occasional 'ping' off the 18th tee.

The to-do list and UFOs seem far, far away...

So Much Fun

This week demanded a break from making big quilts that match up with photos people sent me, so decided to hit the blue scrap box. Picked blue because the quilt on the roster was mostly blue and had leftovers. Dug out some orphans, noted that the scrap bin had a few little blocks in it too, ranging from 1.5" up to about 12" plus lots of pieces and strings. After sorting and making a few more odd shapes, they went on my design wall, got moved around and shuffled and sewn together. So far, this is the result. Any white showing still needs something stuck in there and I can see a couple of needed moves that would add rather than be a distraction.

Doing this is like playing... so much fun. I am hooked and forget to eat some days. Improv takes many forms, but for a person with a mind that thinks like a jazz jam session, this works for me. I don't add from the stash, at least not yet, just use the bits and pieces. Also discovered that I can throw other colors into the mix, any other colors, as long as they are used in at least three places. What a joyful discovery. 

It also works with the blocks... put in a few that are the same block, different sizes and colors but it hold this mess together, at least in my mind. The title of this one was easy: I'm calling it Bye Bye Blues... but saying bye to all of them is not quite true. From the looks of things, I might just have enough unused scraps to make another one.

Two Done, Two more in Progress

A refugee family of six arrived the first part of the month. They are super people. One of our friends described them as "pure gold." So mom and dad's quilt is done and two for their daughters. The top for one son is done and I'm cutting out pieces for the other son. All these are in their 20s so these are full size.They are designed according to photos they sent me, sort of. I took liberties with their choices. They do like bright colors however both these photos are not right. The gold/green one is actually brighter and the blue one is not this bright. Go figure?

I'm also working on scrap quilts. Pinterest has several layouts for orphan and scrap blocks so will try one of them soon. 

 

 Also, my bruises are almost all gone. Most came  with no pain but those still on my legs hurt to touch. I'm thanking God for surviving such a tumble. My daughter keeps saying, "Why didn't you break something?" as if it were a given for someone my age. We just rejoice that this turned out the way it has. I went to a specialist today, and he just shook his head and told me to carry on!

September starts and stops

The start for this month: I finished a little fall quilt to hang in my window. It was easy and a temptation to do some free-motion practice, but maybe later. I had other things happening...

One was a quilt for a refugee that is now on the longarm. Picture later. It is coming along fine, but I'm off my feet a bit, but not fully stopped because of this other thing that happened...

Our youngest son got married on Friday, the first of September. We prayed for good weather -- it rained Thursday and the smoke from wildfires in BC was so bad Saturday that people were advised to stay inside. The wedding was outside on Friday and the weather was PERFECT! Thank You, Lord. Our kids were all here and the wedding was lovely. The bride > stunning. The photographer is going to try and get her on a magazine cover. Then we drove from the botanical gardens to downtown, and my hubby dropped me at the restaurant where the reception would be. The foyer was dark, the curved staircase long and when I stepped off to go down, I stepped into thin air.

Headfirst. I thought instantly to turn sideways and roll rather than go head over heels, so stopped about halfway and could not move for a long moment. Then, with a little help, got up and walked to the banquet room and sat down. Ice packs, concerns, but the good Lord had me focused on the wedding and the guests, even though they were not there yet. I had bruises on my arms, but they vanished before the meal was over. 

Then I slept all night, and was feeling okay next day except for two places: left foot and right shoulder. The foot was soon black. The shoulder bruise came up today, six days after getting battered on those metal-edged risers. However, I'm not broken and not sore all over, just bruises everywhere. Our oldest son remarked that he thinks I must be moonlighting as a stunt woman. 😄

So if anyone reading this wonders about guardian angels, wonder no more. Thank you God, for not only protecting me from far worse, but also giving me peace and joy so I didn't whine and feel sorry for myself and put a damper on an incredibly lovely day. 

Now, back to that quilt...

August Quilt

Had to make this in a hurry then forgot to hang it until August 2 and forgot to take a photo. So here it is, as promised. Told you it was simple. Making plan for September but don't you know it . . . making plans does not equal making the quilt! 😊

Also finished quilting a lap quilt and will post it soon. Life has been so hectic that I have to write everything down or it will get lost in the pile. Sigh. Wedding (youngest son) soon, good and sad family events, invitations, meetings, friends that need prayer, invites to dinner, appointments, and all sorts of calls and texts that seem important at the time. When this rush is over . . . 

I'm still here...

Whew, has life been busy. I have finished another quilt for a refugee couple and have four more on the go for their family. Also whipped up a little August landscape for my dining room window. We have had so many things going on that I'm too tired to describe them all, but healthy, enjoying lovely weather, trying new recipes, and quilt, quilt, quilt 'til I wilt... literally.

This is the quilt for the refugee couple. They asked for this but sent a picture of a knitted afghan... fortunately there is a pattern online for the quilted version. It is called "Pixelated Rose" and the pattern is pink but their photo was blue. And no, I did not cut a zillion 2.5" squares. If an area was bigger, then it was cut accordingly. It is quilted with a panto called "Leafarama" using Glide in white 60 weight, which amazingly shows up as texture on the white background and almost disappears on the colors, even those dark leaves. If you have never tried Glide, give it a go. It never breaks and comes in many colors and variegated also.

The August window quilt was a quick one I just sketched on an 11.5" x 17" paper and cut out/pasted/sewed the pieces and put a backing on, turned it and did a bit more quilting. It is little but kinda cute.

Oops, thought I took a photo. Here is the sketch showing the values. I stuck to normal colors except the upper sky has a strip of blue-green that we really don't see very often!

Added to this, we welcomed a refugee family of five plus grandma, in July, sponsored by our church, at the airport and helped get them and their luggage to their new home. It was instant bonding, just like our own kids/sister/brother. Feel like we've known them all our lives. Lots of emotion and joy and getting them settled. And the hubby and wife are both world class cooks as well as being all-around incredible people.

Besides that, our youngest son is getting married in 3 weeks. Glad he and his honey are doing everything. I just have to tie balloons to some chairs and loan him my easel! At least so far...

More Scrap bin browns. . .

 I took the last quilt top posted and two other tops plus a table topper finished to the 'sew days' of our local guild outreach department. This group will quilt and finish the tops, including labels, and give them where needed. We support several charities and gave away about 200 quilts this past year. If I go to the place where they work together, I talk too much and don't get much done, so I drop in, pick up fabrics etc. and take them home where I can work without the lovely distraction of gabbing with friends. Of course, when dropping something off, I get in on the chatter.

These are the tops and the little quilt that went in today... and the one yesterday also went in. See it here.

This one has peach even if the photo looks pink. The one below it has a soft warm beige sashing that looks grey on my screen. Sigh.

The little one is a truer color.

Now I'm making more refugee quilts for another family arriving next month. The family of five came last week. We were part of the group that met them at the airport. What a night that was! I will never forget the instant bonding. They and us too felt as if we all belonged together. They were in danger for nearly 10 years and are thrilled to be here with no need to look over their shoulders.