Quilty 365 - September's Circles

September 30 marked the 329th day of stitching these little circles, and now we're really on the home stretch! That's such a good feeling, as I'm becoming rather anxious to be done with this phase and to put all these little squares together into some kind of coherent I-Spy quilt for the guest bed.  Not that it doesn't have a quilt (or two) already on the bed!  Never can have too many quilts around the house come winter!  Then again, there's the inevitable "will it all come together into  a coherent, lovely whole with the chosen setting fabric waiting in the stash - oh wait, is there even enough of that setting fabric to finish this gigantic top?"

But before I show you my September circles I have a request.  Does anyone out there have a small square of fabric featuring an Australian Shepherd or Sheltie mix dog that they would be willing to part with?  I'd love to find a piece to use for one of the final circles for this quilt - to celebrate Olie, our 13-1/2 year old Aussie mix.  He's been a fixture in our lives for so many years now, it just seems fitting that he should have his own circle in this quilt!  And, as you can see, he's quite the handsome (and chubby) boy.

I've found a couple possibilities on Spoonflower that might do if I don't find anything else. Haven't used Spoonflower fabrics before and wonder how they hold up to occasional washing and drying, or if they are meant mostly for wall quilts that won't need cleaning often.  Anyone out there have experience with them?

OK, getting back to September:

September's circles in all their haphazardly arranged glory

A lot of red and blue this month - I'm down to raiding the last of my fat quarter bundles and color stash bins for likely candidates, having used pieces of pretty much all the scraps around here a couple months ago.  Though there are still a couple pieces of yardage that I can't bear to cut into just yet, even for just a little 3 1/2 inch square! Why do we hoard cherish certain fabrics so much that we continue to save them for just the right time - that never seems to come - or is that just me?!

The first light frost has come and gone, the canner has been packed away for the season, and I'm looking forward to getting back in the sewing room on a more regular basis again.  A very good thing too since there are two baby quilt tops and several receiving blankets needing quilting/hemming before the first weekend in November - yikes!   Though, we still have 30 to 40 more butternut and acorn squash to carry down to the basement shelves for winter use, and the gardens need to be cleaned up before the snow flies.  And then there are the raspberries - we must have chosen the latest varieties EVER, as they are still blooming and finally ripening now!

Remembering 9-11

Linking up with Audrey at Quilty Folk for our monthly gathering of the circles.