Happy Halloween!

The Twister Witches Hat quilt on the front door welcomes all of the Trick or Treaters to my house. This was a scrappy project I did a few years ago. It all came from the scrap bins, including the border print at the top and bottom.  It's quilted with glow in the dark thread and has a fun spider web design.



There are several 60 degree table runners in my house - for virtually every season.  This one is a favorite because I just love the witches feet and crazy stockings.



The light up jack o lanterns and the bucket of fall leaves is currently sitting in my entry way, but I may move it onto the front porch later this afternoon and put it right next to the front door.  How do you all decorate for Halloween?



I used to go kind of crazy with Halloween (and Christmas) and decorate the whole house, but I've pared it down considerably in recent years. 

And most years I dressed up in costume at school even though I taught in a high school.  It was fun to dress up for the day and the high school kids seemed to get a kick out of it.  Our little community had a huge costume party every year for adults as a fund raiser for things like kids' summer programs with prizes for best costumes and even best groups.  My sister-in-law and I always got a bit carried away with costumes.  We won prizes several years.  Eventually I had a whole trunk full of great costumes: Care Bears, Fruit of the Loom guys, gorillas, and many many more.  It was great fun - except for the time I scared a couple of little kids when I answered the door in a scary witches costume.  I gave them extra candy.   Happy Halloween!!

Jack's pillow

I finished Jack's pillow yesterday.  The quilting looks so white in this photo, but it really isn't.  The white marking chalk needs to be wiped off better and then it should look normal.  The colors are not very true in the photo anyway. That blue is really a more of a teal.  I ran out of the teal and had to piece it across the top, so I used a leftover hourglass block from the baby quilt this fabric was in. Not sure I like the end result, but maybe a 3 year old won't care. 

So now I have 2 of the 5 grandkids' pillows done.  Three more to go and I pulled the fabric out for Jonah's pillow yesterday.  These are 20" square. 

Design Wall Monday

This was a very lazy Sunday.  Laundry, a little hand work, and reading - with my ankle propped up as much as possible.  My Achilles tendon is acting up again and was very swollen up yesterday.  I'm so frustrated to have this happening again! 

On a brighter note - it's Monday and I'm ready for a fresh start in a new week.  What's on your Design Wall this morning?  Check out a few others at:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

I have plenty of hand work to do, so that was my main activity while I watched football with the hubbie.  I'm on the third block of my Patchwork of the Crosses project.  The plan is to make a table runner, so 3 blocks may be all I do.  They are so pretty and I'm sure someday I'll want to do more.  I saw a picture on Saturday of blocks done in bright modern prints and they were gorgeous.  Mine are mostly Civil War reproductions.



Another small task was also tackled.  The bodies of all 4 Christmas stockings were done, but 2 were not turned right side out. So I trimmed them, clipped the curves, and turned them right side out - while sitting on the couch with the leg propped up.  The cuffs are cut and I'm procrastinating on getting the names embroidered on those.  I'm hoping to hobble down those stairs and get the linings and hanging loops done later today.  Then maybe next weekend I'll try to embroider those names finally.

The "car" stocking will be for my son-in-law and the candy cane looking one will be for my daughter.  The other 2 stockings (not pictured) will be for their kiddos.  This is a project that should NOT be taking me a whole year to complete, but here we are!



My husband left this morning on a 2 week road trip for work.  He'll be on a job site in Iowa, which means I'll have lots of alone time to fill up.  And I'm hoping that means lots of sewing time for me. I've having a little mojo slump, possibly because of the unfinished projects laying around in various stages.  It's a little overwhelming right now.

Grumpy cat

This poor thing just came home from spending the morning at the vet, getting shaved and having a bath.  He’s a long haired cat and at 17 years old he isn’t as limber as he used to be. So he doesn’t groom himself as much and that long hair gets matted.  We cut out some hair clumps but just couldn’t keep up.  We were concerned that at his age he might not survive the anesthesia they do in order to shave him but decided to risk it.

No food or water after midnight last night meant we had a very unhappy hungry cat this morning. And then there was the indignity of getting put into his carrier and put in the car.  Not a happy kitty!  He still looks a bit grumpy but dug right into his food and fresh water as soon as I got him home.  Grumpy or not I’m just glad he is home safe and sound.

Brief autumn colors

The brilliant colors of fall are way too fleeting.  And I just couldn't capture the deep red of this maple tree just off my back deck.  During the brief sunshine yesterday it looked like it was on fire.  So beautiful.  And in my front yard is this golden beauty.  But the next time our South Dakota wind comes up most of those leaves will be on the ground. 

Design Wall Monday

My Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018 blocks are done and I did lay them out to admire them over the weekend.  Each of these blocks is an old traditional pattern that the RCS18 hosts found in old publications.  It was fun to see the unusual block names and when they were published. I love these blocks, and there are a couple of them that I want to use for whole quilts in the future.  You can find the patterns and RSC info on So Scrappy's blog.  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/p/rsc18.html

This is the best photo I could get and it doesn't do justice to the colors.  Right now I'm thinking about doing a simple narrow white sashing between the blocks.  But I'm leaving my options open as I might see a different layout that I like better before I get back to working on these.  Too many projects that I want to work on right now, and not enough time or energy.

Check out Design Wall Monday for more fun:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Playing in the scraps

I wimped out this morning and just couldn't bear the idea of sitting outside in 40 degree weather to watch my 7 year old grandson play flag football.  I know - I'm a terrible grandmother.

However, after the "good grandparent" left the house to drive to the game, and I put in a load of laundry, and emptied the dishwasher . . . then I figured I had a little time to spare for my sewing room.  I was planning to clean off the cutting table and do a little organizing - not sew.

While cleaning I was  watching and listening to last night's Quilt Cam (Bonnie Hunter/Quiltville) and Bonnie was talking about her Chains and Hourglass block in the summer issue of Quiltmaker magazine.  She was doing hers in Halloween fabrics with black and orange paired with a neutral background. In the magazine the photos were just 2 fabrics, a light and a dark. The block was kind of boring (my opinion). But with the Halloween fabrics this block really came alive.  And I just HAD to dig into the drawer full of hoarded Halloween fabrics to see what I have.

Next thing I knew, there were 2 blocks made and a mess on my cutting table again.  I think 2 more blocks added to these would make a nice little table topper.

If you are interested in Bonnie's archive of Quilt Cam videos full of tips, tricks, and show n tell - go to her blog:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/  She has links for Quilt Cam archives, tons of wonderful free patterns, and much more.  And if you follow her blog, this winter's Mystery Quilt will begin soon. Colors and yardage will be revealed around Halloween, with the first clue released as always on Black Friday.   Check out other scrappy projects at:  http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/2018/10/oh-scrap-cleaning-up-small-bits.html