Sunday Snapshot #7

Fall has been wonderful here.  Nice sunny, blustery days with those skidding grey clouds across the blue-blue sky.  Trees turned some wonderful shades of golden yellow, rich reds & crisp oranges - mostly set against some of the stubborn holdout green. 

Some of the best days have those wonderfully brisk mornings and the sun peeking out to set the trees on fire.  On those days, I miss being able to smell McCormick spices in the air after stepping out of the door.

 The down side for these days is that it gets dark at 5pm.  It completely screws up the body clock so that I think it's later than it really is.  I figure in another couple weeks that will even out enough.  Here's a great snapshot from the other night.  Taken after I got off work, before it got truly dark!

wedding day finish

A couple months ago (already?) I flew back to Baltimore to be in the wedding of my college roommate.  It was a jam packed weekend full of laughs, hugs, family, tears, friends & good times.  I was glad to be there early and help out with the last minute details.  It made me feel even more a part of the wedding party since I've been out of state for the early planning & parties.  Even after the wedding, I was able to sit down & catch up with more friends before time traveling back home.

C & I wrapped bouquets, ran errands, picked up dresses, set-up the hall and had a grand time all around. Sometimes it's hard to imagine we've only been friends for 5 years and not for always!  Love you Chrissy!

As a surprise for C, I brought her finished quilt! [back story here] I got it all bound, labelled & washed in time to pack it into my carry-on luggage and was super excited to finally deliver it.  I ended up naming it Colorburst, & had some fun with the photo shoot for this one so of course, I had to share with you!  The dress on the quilt is my favorite shot though - such a stunning contrast.  The wedding was beautiful and I'm so glad Chrissy & Bernie found each other.  :)  

happy ever after starts now

mug rug mix up

mug rug    noun
         :: a small, coaster-sized quilt where you can set your cup & snack together


     - I set my milk & cookies down on a mug rug so I don't get crumbs on my papers.







Mug rugs are fairly easy to make since they don't require a lot of fabric, or lots of time to create - and they make great gifts!   You can make them any size, shape and color so it gives you some freedom of expression.  I like that they are quick to make start to finish and give me a break between the larger projects.  I also like to use them to try out some new techniques on a small scale with scraps to see if I like it enough to make on a larger scale.

Oh, did I mention that they are addicting as all get out?  

So be warned: you can't make just one.  :)

Here are some that I am in process of making at the moment.  

(and no, they are not all for me!) 

hiking

The last few weeks have been full of some great Fall-type weather.  It's been sunny and not too warm (mid-70s or so) during the day paired with some cool crisp mornings where you step outside and shiver on the way to the car.  The kind of morning where you're glad to be alive, when you inhale and just feel invigorated from that one breath.

Today was another one of those great days and what made it even better was not watching it through my office window.  While everyone else was heading to work and the usual 9-5, I was sleeping in without an alarm (finally), making bacon & eggs for breakfast and heading out for a adventure.  It was like playing hooky, but actually having the day off  - a win/win!

I haven't gotten out to many woodsy areas for hiking yet.  I try to take a walk each day around the neighborhood, but that's usually in the evenings and not very difficult.  This weekend I finally gave into the urge to go hiking and checked out some of the surrounding places.  I ended up at Ferne Clyffe State Park in IL which was beautiful.  Some muted colors in the trees, huge rock formations 7 bluffs and some easy to follow trails.  

For those inquiring minds, (you know who you are...) I packed a lunch & a snack, my camera, picked up a map at the office, but did not have a compass.  The ranger told me about the easy/moderate trails and even showed me where to go to start so I figured I couldn't get too lost!   ;)

this was huge amphitheater-like cave - awesome!

It was great to get outdoors and into nature for a bit. It was also really good timing as the news informed me that a cold front is coming in this week so I'm glad I stole some outdoor-Fall time while I could.  Tomorrow it's back to work and the busy-busy-busy - hope all of you readers made it outside at some point this weekend.

work in progress

Greetings dear readers!  
   Here's an in-progress shot of my current quilt project and a story:

This is made from purple, pink, orange, yellow & teal fabrics that I had collected at quilt shows and it stayed all pretty & stacked in a box until I found the right project for it.  It uses the Yellow Brick Road pattern and some pre-printed panels with various Psalm verses on it.  The backing is a purple print - her favorite color and the border is pink with a teal binding.  I thought the colors and the Psalms would make a great quilt for my friend - runs with scissors - who is always cold!  After piecing the top together in January I thought I'd have enough time to finish it for her birthday in August as a surprise. 

The surprise was on me however, because I ended up switching jobs and moved several states away! So the quilt had to be packed up unfinished. :(  I had the quilt basted and partially quilted before I moved, but once I settled in & pulled it back out I decided I didn't like the quilting anymore and ripped. it. all. out.   

   The quilt sat, basted & ready to go *again* waiting for the right quilt pattern and time to work on it. Meanwhile, said friend went & got engaged (yay!) and the fact that I will see her next month gave me a deadline to get this finished.   It's quilted with meandering peacock-like feathers, loose threads are tied off, binding made & attached.  

Now all I need to do is trim the extra, finish the binding off by hand and create a label then pack it up and hand deliver it.  Did I say that's all?   It will end up being more of a wedding gift than a birthday gift but eventually make it's way home.  I hope the groom-to-be likes purple & pink! 

Sunday snapshot #6

Who said summer was over? Sure, the kids have been back in school for a couple weeks already, but does that mean we should just roll up the summer fun and store it away for next year? Of course not!  

 In order to keep a few parts of summery goodness a little longer I put together a peach pie. Well, more of a peachberry pie as I threw in some frozen berries that I had to liven it up a little. I found a great recipe on allrecipes.com that turned out to be fantastic!

So drool over this gorgeous pie all you want and imagine just how great it tastes!  Especially with a side of vanilla ice cream.  ;)

yummmmmm

a serious problem

I think I have a problem dear readers - a serious problem.  Right now, I'm currently in the middle of 3 books and ready to jump into another 2 or 3!  Ack! I find it amazing that the brain can keep track of all these story lines and characters and that it hasn't yet driven me crazy to keep slipping from one setting to the next.  Which books am I immersed in you ask?  


1. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - number 2 in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series
         Now that book 3 has come out, I had to go back and start from the beginning again to remember what all what on in Shiver


2. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
       Yes, I'm 1 of hundreds reading this, & technically, I'm listening to this on CD as all the actual copies are on hold for forever.


3. Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling of course!
        After watching the end of the movie series, I got the itch to re-read the books so I started at the beginning and am enjoying my way through *again*


**edit: since writing this I managed to read a 4th book from the library stack! seriously, I'm out of control here.... :)


This way I can read at home, at lunch as desired and in the car around town! I even have a couple other books from the library patiently waiting to be read before their deadlines.  As it happens, every time I have books on hold from the library - they all come in at the same time! - and then I have only 2 weeks to read them before they go back onto the shelf.


I also have a stack of books on long-term loan from mom that are also patiently waiting to be opened and read.  So as you can see, I've got a serious problem at the moment - too many books to read & not enough time or eyes to do it in! What's a girl to do? Cram in as much reading as she can until her eyes go blurry seems to be the best solution. Of course, that tends to be a problem once you factor in all those silly day to day things we do.

What's on your reading list?