Pumpkin Season and To-Do's

Happy pumpkin season, quilty friends!


After a hot, dry holiday weekend, today temps will
drop way down today.  Besides great fabric, nothing
makes me want to quilt more than fall weather!
It's coming in wonderfully early and it's very welcome.
After spending most of the weekend in the sun, I'm more
than ready to stay in over this spell of rain and cold.

With all of the outdoor work and pool time, I still did
a pretty decent job with the to-do's:

✓ 1) Quilt one, or more, of my 3 finished tops.

I finished quilting Meow but I was just all off.
Am I that rusty?  After just a month?


Somehow I'd forgotten my coffee that morning
and it was already past noon.  After some caffeine,
it got a little better but I'm still pretty disappointed.


Hubs says "oh, it's fine" so I'm trying not to let it
bother me too much.  Still, I'm not posting any
close-up finish pics.

Next I loaded up Squirrel in the Secret Garden. 
I'm a couple rows in and it's going okay.
 I think I've just been a little tired and a little achy with
the cool weather/rain moving in.  Add in the disruption
of having the hubs working from home and things are
just a little off.  But, I did meet my goal so there is that.

✓ 2) Sew garlic knot blocks together.
Also, choose borders and come up with a name.


I sewed all 120 blocks together and put a small
strip of the background fabric around it.
With the simple piecing, I'm wanting more out
of this quilt so I'm thinking about a pieced border.
Adding more color is probably not a good idea so
I might do something in all black--like maybe
flying geese or saw-tooth?  No name yet.

✓ 3) Garden work
Roast and freeze peppers
Prune, can tomatoes
Weed
All done but there are tons more peppers
to pick, though we don't really need them.
I'll leave this up to time.

✓ 4) Enjoy September!!!
So far, so good.

5) Just maybe:  choose and start a new quilt
For now I just have my eyes on some.

In other things:


Our front porch got a thorough cleaning before I started
placing pumpkins all around.  The huge jack-o-lanterns
are still growing and there are other pumpkins and
gourds to come but this is a good start.
And you can't have a fall scene without some mums!


 The entire thing just evolves over the season as I
add various touches here and there.
Every year is entirely different.

In the garden:

The 6,000 ladybugs laid eggs all over the place.
These moved into stage 2 larvae and within a
couple days, the one billion-zillion aphids almost
disappeared.  I have never seen anything like it!
The craziest thing ever to watch and I'm now
a believer!  I just didn't realize the entire
process took weeks and involved stages.
And I was ready to give up!
It seems like there is always something to learn
from the garden.


The chickens are now 12 weeks old, though it seems
forever-ago that I got them.  We really miss fresh eggs
but those probably won't start showing up till November.
Hopefully in time for holiday baking!

My to-do's for next week :

1) Bind and label Meow

2) Finish quilting Squirrel in the Secret Garden

3) Choose and start on border for the garlic knot quilt

4) Other things:
Continue canning tomatoes, fall decorating and 
make something yummy with the first pumpkin.

Happy quilting!

Linking up to:

Comments

Debbie said…
Lady bugs to the rescue! Great story from the garden. The garlic knots looks grand....I love the unexpected softness that the different values give it. You probably don't notice it up close, but from a distance it is striking and keeps the eye moving. It's the secret of the knot...like Celtic knots. I'm not sure about a busy pieced border....I would keep is simple, maybe a couple of strips in different widths????
Your pumpkins look good. Autumn fun.
Sherrie said…
Hi,
Love all your quilt projects...I'll agree with Debbie..a busy pieced border would be to "busy...maybe a couple colored borders...light green or blue...love the pumpkins...have a great day!
Home Sewn By Us said…
Hi Cheree! Oh, your pumpkin and Fall decor look so welcoming. I just love mums and they really signal the start of Fall for me. I think Meow looks so pretty with the soft green and pinks. I'm certain you are being too hard on yourself - no one else looks at the quilting that closely! You garlic knots came together quickly! Flying geese or something like that going around the border would really finish it off nicely. I can't wait to see what you decide. Thank you for linking up today! ~smile~ Roseanne
I love your pumpkins and the ladybug success story! The garlic knot top looks great - I like the layout you've used where the 4 patches really stand out! I'll enjoy seeing what kind of border you decide on.
Needled Mom said…
The fall decor looks so pretty. Your Garlic Knots looks fabulous. I agree with your husband. Once the quilt is washed those blemishes disappear.

There was a movie out called Biggest Little Farm and it was so interesting as they tackled all of those pest and other problems. You'd enjoy it if you can find it somewhere.
piecefulwendy said…
We bounced from hot/humid to downright chilly in about 24 hours. It's been rainy and gloomy here today, and I'm dragging. But I've been playing in the quilt room and it helped a bit. Sorry you are disappointed with Meow, but I'll bet it's not as bad as you think - if you're anything like me. Most of my quilty friends tell me those little hiccups won't even be visible after the first wash. Your pumpkins are so nice, and fun to see the chickens!
I love the squares that come out in your garlic knots quilt so personally my vote would be for a border with squares or rectangles, not triangles. We got 3 chickens in May (so lucky to order them just before the whole world went crazy in March) and it wasn't until the combs developed that they started laying, and one took almost 4 weeks longer than the other 2! They look sweet, I'm sure the eggs will come soon enough.
Vicki in MN said…
Oh gosh I love seeing your pumpkins! I hope to get some soon. Those squatty dark orange ones are so awesome! What are they called? It is cold here again today. High of 50 yesterday and today along with drizzle. A good day to quilt or bake!