Saturday, October 03, 2020

Slow Sunday Stitching

It's been a busy week once again, and time to check in for Slow Sunday Stitching on Kathy's Quilts.  

This week I have been trying to catch up.  It is also the end of the quarter for the 2020 Finish-A-Long, and I looked at my list sort of late in the game and realized I am nowhere near close to being finished.  

This week I finished another block for the QAL by the Sea, the Mariner's Compass designed by Kathleen McMusing.



It was paper pieced, and not as bad as I thought it would be.  Paper piecing is not my favorite thing to do.  It looks pretty good with the other blocks for this section.


I also got my Ella Maria Deacon blocks done for last month.  This also included a paper pieced block!


I also got the newest block done for the Pieces From the Past Sewalong on Melva Loves Scraps.  This block is called the Rolling Stone, and was published in 1936 in the Kansas City Star.  This will be my grandson Jaeger's graduation quilt next year.  


This week also found me adding some patches on Jaeger's letterman jacket.  I told him last week I didn't think I could go down any further on this sleeve, but I did manage to add one more star on, plus on swimming guy.  He said there might be one more star at the end of the year.  I think it might need to be glued on.  



I also managed to put a border on this scrap quilt I made during the Star Kissed Quilt Along @Wedding Dress Blue several months ago.  I didn't have enough of the pirate fabric for all four borders, so I added some leftover sailboat blocks to the corners, and cut out some sea creatures with my Accuquilt die.  This will be my One Monthly Goal for October to quilt this.   A former roommate and bridesmaid of my younger daughter Katie is having a baby boy anytime this month.   I plan to try some of my FMQ skills I am learning on the FMQ Academy at String and Story with HollyAnne Knight.  I also am going to try out my newly returned Juki that has been on an extended stay in Texas for warranty work.


What I will be working on for my Slow Sunday Stitching will be my Cassandra's Circle block for September, and maybe stitching on this little redwork piece.




I'll be linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.    Head on over there and see what everyone is up to! 

Yesterday was grandson Keaton's BD and we had a family dinner at Spaghetti Factory.



I've had some lovely things to look at in my garden this week.   This plan, a dahlia I had planted in my new garden out front several months ago.  This was in a pot in my backyard for at least 8-9 years, and never bloomed.  In fact all it ever had was leaves and I wasn't sure what it was.  I usually only buy plants that have flowers, so it was a mystery until this happened!  It grew huge, and bloomed!


I have also had some beautiful sunflowers happening.




Lastly I have been having a heck of a time with critters around here.  I have had a mole problem for at least two years.  First in the back yard, then they moved to the front.  I have tried these stake things you put batteries in and it is supposed to drive them off, I have tried bait which they push out of the holes.  I have tried to drown them with water down their holes.  They moved to the front yard about a month ago, and they are going crazy and making me crazy,  I think there must be a whole commune. I have even tried Siracha and castor oil.  I just wish they would leave!  I would welcome any suggestions!

The past month or so, I have been trying to clean up my gardens, trim bushes, and get ready for the winter, and when we hopefully get our rain.  I cleaned out this area, trimmed back some bushes, and lavender, gotten old leaves out, planted some sunflowers, and put down some fresh bark, really fine stuff.  We have a circular driveway, and this area is between the driveway and sidewalk.  We have a 3 acre park across the street, where a bunch of wild turkeys live.  

The turkeys usually make their rounds each day around the neighborhood.  Today I found about 5 of them out there sitting in my bark, swishing their tails around like they were getting comfortable, leaving big mounds and indentations in the bark, plus finding a bunch of bark in the driveway.  I ran them off, but I am sure they will be back tomorrow!  

Well that is all for today.  I have had to put in comment moderation, as I found about 50 spam messages in various posts this morning, all from the same entity, Apna Showroom which is on Amazon.  It took me awhile this evening to delete them all.  They come across as a no-reply commenter.  They did all this in about 10 minutes this morning!  

Thanks for stopping by!

15 comments:

  1. You've been very busy, the star kissed quilt is very pretty. I want to make that pattern some day. Sorry about the spam and moles. Have you tried milkly spore in your yard? We had a lot of moles many years ago then I spread milk spore over the grass. It helps by reducing the amount of grubs in the soil, depriving the moles of their food source. It's available at a garden center, at least it used to be there. We no longer have moles. Have a great week and happy stitching!

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  2. Gosh turkeys and moles....what a pain! I hope someone can help you eradicate those moles. Loving your Mariner's Compass block. Doesn't it look fabulous with the other three blocks. This is going to be a beauty of a quilt, Karrin. Those sunflowers are a happy sight. One couldn't help but smile when they see them. I must say your Keaton has the coolest hair. Why is it that boys always seem to get fabulous curly hair?? =) Those sailboats in the corner of the quilt for the baby are an excellent thought...they look fabulous along with the cut out sea creatures. Jaegar's quilt is looking great, too. As always you exhaust me with all that you seem to achieve in your very busy week.

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  3. I know what you mean about paper piecing but don't those points turn out beautifully! It's a great addition to the other three nautical blocks too, the red really pops. You have certainly had a productive week!

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  4. The spam comments like that are bot driven. It's so obnoxious! Love all the block finishes; you have been super busy! Your stitchery is sweet! I love your scrappy quilt with it's new border--beautiful! Happy birthday to your grandson! It's nice you got to celebrate with him! :)

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  5. So many wonderful projects going on there! Love that little redwork stitchery!
    The trials of a blogger are endless... the spam comments seem (to me) to be a easy thing for Blogger to fix but it has been going on for years without a fix. Surely the system could flag and shut down any account that leaves 50 comments on one blog!?
    Keep on stitching!

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  6. Hi,
    Beautiful blocks...love the Star Kissed quilt...so pretty. Your
    garden looks great. We had moles...but I think the cats got them
    all. We have 3 barn cats and lots of strays. Have a great day!

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  7. My goodness you have some lovely projects in the works. You garden flowers are lovely.

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  8. those blocks are gorgeous! I really love the waves one with the dolphin/whale tails. fabulous

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  9. Oh I do love that Mariner's Compass block. You made me smile with your turkey story, but I am sure that you weren't at all pleased. Your garden photos are very pretty. Love the family photos too. Your scrappy quilt is fantastic. I hope you do well with the FMQ. I need to get a new machine before I can learn that as you can't lower the feed dogs on mine. Enjoy your stitching!

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  10. You've got a lot of stitching done this week, it's always great to move the projects along. Wonderful that you could celebrate the birthday boys birthday with a family dinner out.

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  11. PS. Turkeys and moles in the garden, my goodness! I can understand them making such a mess and driving you to distraction. Turkeys are big birds too, they must have loved messing about in your bark garden. No such critters here where I live. Are they protected species in your country?

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  12. I'm so sorry about the spam comments! Isn't that frustrating?! I love seeing all your projects - the Mariner's Star block is beautiful! Adding things to your grandson's letter jacket reminds me of sewing Boy Scout badges on the uniform. That is not the fun kind of sewing! It must be fun to see those turkeys!

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  13. Around here, it’s the rabbits and moles that are out to destroy the gardens. Love your Mainers compass block. You must have lots of quilts underway at the moment. Sounds like most quilters I know...

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  14. Look at those points in the compass design. Perfect!

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  15. Just put small pieces of gum (unchewed) down the holes. They like the gum and it will plug their digestive system and die. Our elderly neighbour told us about this a few years ago. They never have this problem on their lawn and we have taken their advise and now don't have this problem anymore.

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