September finishes

I'm sliding in under the wire tonight posting my finishes. I actually got them done before I left for quilt camp on the 21st but haven't had time to post them until tonight. Camp was a lot of fun but exhausting!

OK, here they are. First up is the clothespin bag:

Next is the crazy quilt padded topper for my basket lid. It turned out way better than I had expected it to:

Here is a close-up:

I didn't get a chance to work on my yo-yo animals at all so they'll have to wait another month to get finished!

Tag!

Kelly over at Charming Chatter has posted September's tag questions for the Charming Girls Club. Without further ado, here are my answers:

1) When I look at the darling sample that Kelly is making for our upcoming Quilt-Along, "Half-pint" is what comes to my mind. For some reason, the quilt with its tiny nine-patches and half-square triangles, makes me think of Little House on the Prairie and Pa's nickname for Laura was Half-pint. However, when I think of actually making those tiny little half-square triangles, "Lilliputian Nightmare" also comes to mind, but somehow, I don't think that's the sort of name Kelly is looking for!

2) E- enthusiastic about starting new projects and learning new skills

S- self-reliant, I've always been a pretty independent kind of gal

T- traveler, nothing thrills me more than getting on a plane and going somewhere

H- "How hard can it be?" A thought process that gets me into trouble project-wise more often than not...

E- earrings! Let's just say that I have earrings the way Imelda Marcos had shoes

R- reader, I was one of those kids who always had her nose stuck in a book and it still is

Fall is almost here!

Anybody who knows me well knows that I don't like hot weather very much (the main reason why I no longer live in Southern Arizona) and that Summer is a season I can happily skip past altogether. As a consequence, I pretty much live for that first hint of Fall with its promise of cooler weather and this past weekend was it. I'm in heaven! It's time to put away the sandals and break out the tights and all my lovely shoes to go with them! (Yes, I'm a shoe addict.)

Aren't those flowers pictured above pretty? The big guy sent them to me at work last Friday "just because." Labor Day weekend had pretty much been a bust: It was hot and I had a miserable sinus infection to contend with that left me feeling pretty cruddy for the rest of the week. He must of thought I really needed a day brightener and it worked. He even made sure that they used Fall colors, too!

September projects

Since I am going to be going to quilt camp for a week at the end of the month and my time for getting projects finished is limited, I looked around my sewing room for small projects in need of finishing and came up with these:

Crazy quilt padded basket top:

Clothespin bag:

Yo-yo stuffed animals:

Thanks to Kelly, these UFOs will finally get done! The clothespin bag is another gift that I'll finally be able to give once it's finished. It's for a friend who has never had a dryer, she likes to go the old-fashioned route when drying her laundry!

Here we go!

Ok, here goes my first post! I never in a million years ever thought that I'd be starting a blog but after I joined the Charming Girls Club, it just made sense. I always have some sort of project going on and it will be nice to share them with other girls who also feel the need to create!

Whew! I really slid under the wire with my August finishes. My patriotic banner is the first quilt that I've pieced, quilted and bound and I was feverishly sewing the binding on the back up to the very last minute. I had no idea it would take me so long! Although I've sewn for a long time, I'm relatively new to quilting. I've got some finished tops that I've pieced, but up to now, taking that final plunge and getting them sandwiched and quilted was something that I've really kind of freaked out over. I've finally gotten myself over that hump! Someday I'll be brave enough to drop the dogs and do free motion quilting. I have no excuse not to learn how, the local quilt shop that is my home away from home is Harriet's Treadle Arts, owned by Harriet Hargrave who pretty much pioneered the art of quilting on home sewing machines. Harriet has a whole bunch of classes that are on my wishlist to take.

I noticed in the comments for our August finishes that some of you are wondering if there's a pattern for one of the tote bags that I made. And the answer is yes! The tote in question is the one on the left:

I made it using a Recipe For Friendship charm pack and the Charming Totes 4 pattern from Whistlepig Creek Productions. The pattern has three variations and all are designed to utilize charm packs. A terrific friend made me a different variation in fall colors for my birthday last year and I liked the tote so much (it is a really nice size, approx. 14 x 14 inches) that I decided to make a different version for each season. This particular one is my summer one. I already have my charms and pattern picked out for my winter version and will probably make that one in the next month or so. The other tote bag was a long overdue gift for my friend, Holly, who just adores polka dots. I gave it to her today and got a big hug in return. She really loves it!

Last but not least, here's a picture of the lovely tea towel that Katy made me for the exchange. Since Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays, I just adore it! The print on the band has a cute vintage look to it which I also really like. Mr. Duck is proud to show it off for us:

Katy also included a delicious recipe for Cookie Salad which I'll try over Labor Day weekend. I have a feeling that it will be a huge hit with the big guy (aka as my hubby) who has never met a dessert he didn't like.

Here's the towel that I made for Katy:

Let me just say that those Clover yo-yo makers are the best invention ever!