Happy Halloween

 Well it's a weird Halloween,  isn't it?  This is the first year we won't be with the grandkids, who used to trick or treat at our house.  There's nothing going on here in Sunriver and it's pretty chilly so I'll probably sew and finish my October mini. The kids are going to a friend's house for an indoor, private party.  My how things are different this year!

I am excited to share with you the little pin cushion I was lucky enough to purchase from Kelly Cline. I love it!

My October mini is something I made years and years ago!  It just needs some quilting and binding.  I promise to get it done today!  There are the Cascades, seen from Bend.  I can't even remember when I paper pieced this pattern!  It has to be at least 10 years ago...maybe more.

My daughter and I took a drive into Sisters today and it was a sad reminder of past events. My quilting friends and I  were there for the quilt show nearly 18 months ago.  We went into the Stitchin Post, usually the center of the quilt show and hub of activity.  Sadly they were selling bags from the quilt show -that wasn't! ;-(. And the story was pretty empty.  There wasn't even a lot of fabric!

I did buy some fabric of course...and thought this one was too cute to pass up!

I have no idea what I'l do with it but it seems like. one of those fabrics that is too great to cut up.  Maybe I need to cut it into strips using the sayings in various places.!

Here's an update on the sourdough bread-- it was interesting to see that probably half of you who commented thought I shouldn't accept it.  Well, karma works in mysterious ways.  My bread did not rise and after baking, I  literally had two hockey pucks!  UGH...  Now it's possible that my kitchen is just too cold for bread to rise.  I'm going to stick with that story!  In the meantime, I went to a bakery yesterday and bought a loaf of sourdough bread already perfect (and sliced).  

There's a full moon tonight.  I read that it's called a Blue Moon because there are two full moons in October.

Have a good one! 

The kindness of strangers

 

Are you noticing that selvages have the most interesting sayings?  I found this one over the weekend while working on more stars for my Sprigs and Stars quilt.

I've been agonizing over the alternate star blocks and I think I've finally decided to use a variety of soft neutrals. I found some unusual ones at a quilt store in Bend.  I'm going to eliminate the one with the dark purple background;  the one in the top right corner is BLAH so it's going onto the back as well.  If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!~

My favorite flying geese ruler is now the Creative Grids one.  What do you use?

We went to Whole Foods on Saturday and I was hoping to purchase new sourdough starter since mine was tossed last month.  The store doesn't sell it but a woman overheard me asking someone and she offered to give me some of hers!  Really!  For a moment, I hesitated in light of Covid and our complete change of habits.  But I decided that I'd wear a mask and maybe meet her at Starbucks.

We met and she gave me the best smelling starter!  She even named it "Randy's Little Monster" since I guess hers grows like crazy!  I thought that was so kind of her.  My daughter thought I was INSANE to accept it, suspecting it might be poisoned or full of virus particles!  What kind of a world have we become?

My first loaves are rising as we speak. And hopefully the oven will kill the virus! ;-)

Hope everyone has a great week.  It's very chilly this morning in Central Oregon (down to about 19*) but it should warm up mid-week for a bit anyway.

Back to the stars!

Change of seasons

Well, summer is definitely gone and fall was over in a blink.  Central Oregon is now getting cold!  Yesterday I went hiking with a friend along the Deschutes River (sadly no more kayaking!) and my new header photo was from our hike.

I'm busy trying to make headway on the sprigs and stars quilt.

 I have to admit that they are a lot of fun.  I'm experimenting with color choices.  I started off being completely random.  Now I'm trying to do some organized chaos!!

I've also been working on finishing up this donation quilt for the children.  This has been fun and I really just want to get something DONE.  Know what I mean?

You know how much I love sunsets!  This was from Saturday evening.

Just breathtaking!

Back in Central Oregon and thrown out of hospice

 We took the past week to go back to the Bay Area to check on our house and visit with the grandkids. The drive enabled me to finish another wool appliqué block from the Primitive Gatherings Twilight SBOW 2018.

I will admit that I added little feet to the birds! ;-)

 It was a great weekend.  We had the 3 oldest grandkids for the weekend and the 4 yr old just for Sunday night, which we totally enjoyed.   Great story:  the 4 yr old didn't come for the weekend but we went to my son's on Sunday.  As we were leaving, the 4 yr old climbed into my car, into his car seat, buckled up and said he was ready to go.  "Bye Mommy"!! Never asked if he could come over.  He was ready.  Fortunately my daughter in law was on board and got his overnight clothes and away we went.  so we got to have Eli by himself on Sunday night!  Love the time we spend with the kids.  We even went to the pumpkin patch and got them pumpkins!  

 

Last week I also participated in an online workshop being led by Maria Shell through the Brownstone Quilt Guild (my friend Barb Vedder alerted me to that).  It was called "kitchen sink" and was based on utilizing orphan blocks!  I have quite a supply but pulled a handful to start with.  This is what I first put on the wall:

The center 6 blocks were made following Moda Blockheads 1 but I lost the patterns I had printed out (no clue where they went to!) so just gave up.

I played around with them and added a little bit and got this much done:

Janet O may recognize one of the larger blocks, as she'd sent it to me years ago and I decided this was the time to use it.

I left the blocks on my design wall in California since I hadn't sewn them together and they'll be my project next time I return there in a few weeks.

It's gotten quite chilly in Central Oregon and I think my days of kayaking are over for the season.  Next up:  hiking until the snow falls.

Funny story:

My mom has been on hospice since she got Covid 19 back in July.  They really didn't expect her to live.  Well, she sure showed them.  She "graduated" from Hospice this week and they "kicked her off" their program.  That's a huge step.  Who gets to be kicked out of hospice?? VBG

But it meant they were reclaiming the hospital bed they'd set up for her.  What does a 93 yr old say about her comfy hospital bed being taken away?  NOT HAPPY, to say the least.  I had gotten my mom a nice queen bed when she first moved into assisted living, nearly 3 yrs ago.  She has NO recollection of ever having slept in that huge bed "for 3"! And she wanted NO part of that bed!  So I went today and bought her a twin bed and bedding to try to make her happy.

So it's a good week for my mom, getting thrown out of hospice!

I'll take it!!

Have a great week!

Stay safe!  Mask up! oh and VOTE!

 

Making progress

1st of all I can't believe it's early October.  Honestly this year has just been a complete blur, and continues to be that way.   I am trying to make the most of it!

Best news on the Covid 19 front is that my mom's facility finally allowed in-person visits this week so I was able to see my mom from 6' away outside.  She's healthy, which is a miracle.  She's a bit more confused than before but still, for almost 93, she survived Covid 19 and is moving around.  I'd say it's a win-win!

We went kayaking yesterday probably for the last time this year.  Weather is going to change this weekend.  We went to the second largest lake in Oregon called Waldo Lake.  These lakes were all formed by volcanic eruptions so the depth of the lakes is amazing and the water is aqua blue!  The air was perfectly still so the water was like glass.  I have to show you the reflection of this rock formation!

My friend took this of me in my boat.  It's a bit far away but you can get the idea.  It's been a great year of kakaking and I'm sorry to have gone on and on about it.  All I can say is if you ever have the chance to go out on a kayak, do it!  There is something incredibly serene about sitting in a boat in the middle of a body of water with mountains around.  It makes all of the rest of the world disappear for a short time!

I've been plugging away at my Stars and Sprigs quilt, still not convinced what my alternative block is going to look like.  I've been doing the appliqué blocks and enjoying that!

I've made two more and have tried to be a little less chaotic in the fabric choices.

You'll see I haven't washed out the purple marker yet for the placement lines.

To top off my week, a very special friend sent me a package of purple scraps (!), some great selvages, special glue for my appliqué AND a beautiful large mug rug which can hold my cheese and cracker plate at happy hour!  Thanks for thinking of me and being so generous, Barb!!

Have I told you about the visitors we've been having almost daily?  They seem to like our yard for resting!  They are quite large, except for the little fawns.  I think deer are really pretty creatures but I wish they'd stop eating my plants!! vbg.  I also keep my distance away from them. This area we live in is their country and we are the interlopers!

This is the view towards the back of our house from my sewing room window!  We head back to California tomorrow for the weekend so we'll get a chance to have our grandkids visit!!  WOOHOO!  Stay safe!