Anticipating October's Bright Blue Weather

 Hi, I hope you all are experiencing an extended summer as we are, with mostly sunny warm days, near frosty nights, the beginning of the autumn colors, pumpkins, mums and everything else that sings October is near!

Being the last day of September it seems like a perfect time to show my latest finish, a little girl baby quilt.  Once again I wasn't entirely happy with this group of photos, they seemed a bit blurry (and maybe they are). But, this morning it occurred to me that the pink print fabric bordering the center panel and near the outside edge is the likely culprit.  It's a perfectly lovely little print in person, but the pattern just doesn't photograph well...that's my story anyway!

I'm setting this one aside for a future great-grandbaby, or possibly even another granddaughter as it seems that there's a possibility of both in our near future - color me delighted!!

The next two photos show that pink fabric in a bit better detail - you can click the photos for a larger view if you wish.  

Love the little teddy bears in each corner!  They're the last pieces from some yardage in the baby fabric bin for the last umpteen years.

This little quilt finished at 36x36 inches - a bit on the small side but easy for a toddler to drag around.

A question for all you bloggers out there - do you ever check your blog stats, particularly how many "views" each post received?  It seems entirely out of the scope of reason that my last post should have received over 14,000 views (according to Blogger) when for the life of this blog I rarely exceeded 3-400 views!  So, what do you suppose?  Anyone seeing anything similar?  

I'll close with a photo of my view from the kitchen window this morning as the sun shone brightly on our side porch.  When the cold wind blows in another month or two I'll remember this morning and those sunflowers glowing in the early morning light.

Til next time, listen with intention and understanding, speak softly with love, and cherish the Light!

Finished on Friday, Gifted on Sunday

 A fairly quick last-minute finish for August, and already gifted to a sweet young girl, I'm calling this quilt Butterflies and Batiks.

Simple patchwork and bordered with my very favorite batik fabric.  The quilt measures 70x58 inches.

I took these photos quickly just as the sun was about to set, so rather weird lighting on some of them.

Shadowlands!

I made a quilt similar to this but baby size around 40x40 inches a few years ago.  The remaining pieces of butterfly fabric were just sitting in a bin at our ministry closet, and so all I had to do was add another soft pink print, and the light purple batik and green stop-borders and the outer batik border from my stash to bring it to a size just perfect for a 7-year old cutie.

Here's a photo of the back, fun large dots!

I machine quilted all over with a leaf and loop design, you might be able to see the quilting a bit better in the following photo.

Sometimes the simplest gift can bring both the giver and recipient much joy.  My heart is still smiling!

So, what's on tap for September?  I'm planning to work on a Christmas gift for a family member, so no photos will show up on the blog.  The blocks were completed in August and I just need to add sashing and borders before it can be machine quilted.  Beyond that I'm planning to spend the rest of this year trying to finish at least one of my Bramble Bloom tops, and complete the quilting on a long-neglected historic panel quilt that really needs to be finished before next year's bi-centennial + 50 (whatever it's called) celebration.  That one is currently my oldest ufo and really really needs to come to a conclusion!

Our last week of August has been Cold!  Two nights we just missed having a frost by a degree or two.  Some areas near us were not as fortunate.  Our tomatoes are just beginning to ripen and the deer are decimating anything in the garden that hasn't been doused with chili powder or cayenne pepper. We haven't yet figured out if either are effective.  The bucks are gathering in our hayfield every evening, some days as many as eight.  The does and fawns come out in the early morning to browse whatever is left.  Early one morning last week a flock of about 15 turkeys wandered into the hayfield and side yard, the first wild turkeys we've seen here in the past 4 or 5 years.  It was nice to see them back again, all looking very healthy and well fed!

That's about it from my little corner of the world.  Til next time, hope, love and joy to you all.