On the Fritz

Nothing like the last day of the month to hasten a blog post, whether or not I met my goal for the month. I did not finish my September goal of completing Amber's baby quilt, but it is NOT my fault. My sewing machine is on the fritz again, and I am taking it to Boise to get to the bottom of this.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the almost completed baby quilt and big sister dolly quilt, with some of the fabrics I auditioned in the last post.The inner purple borders are folded and dimensional.

Sweet and simple.

Dolly's quilt is 16" sq.

The back of each is soft flannel.

My favorite fabric enabler, Pam, sent me some super duper Kaffe Fassett fabric for my birthday last summer. I finally got around to setting the colors, along with some Moda fabric from a local shop. As I admired the colors of the fabrics hanging on the clothes line, I realized how well they work together. The coral and tangerine don't quite match the Kaffe colors, but all the better. The colors are pushed and really glow. The lime green really makes the aqua and turquoise ZING.

My solar dryer.

Mmmm baby, I love colors.

Today's harvest included chokecherry bark for cough drops. I also gathered hawthorne berries for heart tincture, and elderberries for Wild Elderberry Chutney. Spoiler alert!! Holiday gifts!!

My Busy Happy Life

I am always busy at the end of summer, garden produce on overdrive, quilt club starts up again, weather changes and it's time to pull out warmer clothes, fall birthdays coming up, literal and figurative harvesting and storage. I have to keep reminding myself that I have time for all that needs to get done. Enjoy myself, it's later than I think.

I am almost finished with the last bumper pad that I mentioned in the August post. I have one more to sew. Here's a sneak peak, they all have jungle babies on side A as well as some fun zebra stripes, and side B is coordinating with the changing pad and crib skirt.

Prairie Points coordinate with the quilt (see June's post.)

And, my next goal, patiently waiting it's turn, is a little baby quilt for Amber's soon to be born Kinsley. Amber asked for purple, grey, and aqua. I have some left over grey and lavender squares, and will put these pieces together into something modern and sweet.

I think the batiks may pull it together. 

I am settling in to my work schedule, and have found my energy groove. It means letting go  of some other activities, and remembering where I get my strength. Being outdoors and either gardening or harvesting wild plants is my solace. I have harvested hawthorne berries and chokecherries on our road and veggies in the garden. AND, sewing is my solace. I got my beloved Viking machine back and it works great! Yay! I am making time to sew every day.

And, the other fun event in my busy happy life is participating in Stash Bee. This month is my month to post a tutorial and get blocks from the other busy bees. I chose this wonky churn dash:

I have already received 4 blocks in the mail, and they are adorable. How fun!! Dreaming of sashing, maybe in yellow piano keys... I love the impracticality of a red and white quilt in my home with black fur babies.

A couple of eternal optimists.