I Love Snowmen!

I must be hooked on snowmen because everything
I am working on, with the exception of a table
runner, involves snowmen!  They are either
pieced or stitched!

Today I was able to prep my snowman ornaments
so I can start stitching them.  

Over the years I have collected patterns from
magazines, etc. and put them in a file thinking
I would either make ornaments or a little wall
hanging. 

Recently I came across them and decided this
was the year.  I need new ornaments! I do love
handmade ornaments and I think these little
snow people will be perfect for my tree. 
Will have to decide what I want to go with
them.

While chatting on the phone this afternoon,
I was able to stitch this little guy.  They
will all be done in redwork.

A little running stitch will be done around
each snowman when I add the backing
and they are washed.  The edges will be
pinked.  I used transfer-ez to save time tracing. 

Well, I'm off to do more stitching!

What Is This?

I can't believe how fast the weather has changed today...
from sunny to this:

No, that is not smoke from a fire....

...actually I'm not sure what it is.  It may be salt from

the Great Salt Lake Blowing in, but whatever it is,

it's a MESS!  It isn't the usual brown air when dirt

is floating around in it.

Just came back from my son's and visibility was

almost zero.  Mixed in with this is a few drops of

rain which has made my car windows almost

impossible to see out of.  Everyone needed their

headlights on.

We had been told by the weatherman that we would

probably get a little storm and strong winds.  Well,

the winds came during the night and blew off all the

leaves from my tree in the backyard spreading them

all over.  So, deciding it was a nice morning I 

worked with my blower and mulcher gathering up

leaves.  Ended up taking several bags to my son's

for his garbage pick up just as this dust storm or

whatever hit.

Sadly, now my neighbors leaves have filled up my

backyard and I'll need to start all over again.  

Haven't even moved to the front yard yet.  Maybe

the wind will blow them away and I won't have

to go out.

This past week was the Beehive Shop Hop and

although I didn't visit all the shops, I did stop by

my local shop and was able to pick up a little

kit for this snowman block: 

The kit was just $2.50.  Thought he'd look sweet
on my 12" quilt stand and would go with my
snowman table topper.  Now to get him done!

Finished another little Christmas gift today.  I will
have to show it later, but I'm very pleased how it
turned out. One more gift project can now be
crossed off my list!  Only two more tea towels to
stitch and they'll be finished.  Think I'm making
progress!

Finally! A Little Motivation!

I'm not sure just what it is that has got me motivated
to get back to sewing.  Perhaps it is the cooler weather
and the realization that time is passing me by so
quickly.  But, whatever it is, I'm happy to be back
working on projects other than fall housecleaning
and getting the yard ready for winter.

Since some of these have been given to family and
friends, I can share what I've been working on.

While searching through my files for a Halloween
project, I found this pattern and thought it would
be great to stitch up for Thanksgiving.

The pattern is from Pine Bough by Holly Draney.  I'm
not sure how long I have had it but I love the verse
from the Book of Mormon and it is one I will probably
leave out most of the year.  It is a wonderful
reminder to me to be grateful for all that I have and
to express gratitude daily for my many blessings.

This little pumpkin design is a freebie from Bird
Brain Designs.  I found these towels already to
stitch from last year.  Apparently I never got to them
so they were finished and given as gifts this year.

This delightful little turkey came from Fons and
Porter's  "Quilting Quickly" Fall 2013 issue. The
fabric used is "Posh Pumpkins".  I have
always wanted to do a little turkey and thought
he would be perfect in a frame for Thanksgiving.
The pattern is for a table runner.  Maybe next
year I'll get the table runner done.

This little snowman is from Crab-apple Hill.
Can't believe how quickly he stitched up.
This is just the first of several tea towels that
are prepped and ready to be stitched for
Christmas gifts. 

It will be nice having projects to work on
when the time changes and the evenings
are so long.

Last weekend was the neighborhood
Halloween Carnival at my son's.  This is
a tradition for us.  The family that hosts it
has been doing this for about 8-9 years
and it just gets bigger and bigger each year.

My granddaughter on the left and two grandsons in
front.  The sun was still a little bright as you can
tell.

Hailey in the cheerleading out fit with her two
best friends.

It was a perfect evening to be out until the sun
went down and then it turned really chilly.  So
glad Brian had us all back to his house for
hot chocolate!

Fall Colors and Quilts

Last weekend I went hiking with my daughter and her
family up to Snow Basin, a local ski resort.  It is
a tradition we have done for a few years now.  We
take a lunch and munch on it while we hike the
trails and enjoy the beautiful fall leaves.  This year
due to the hot, dry summer the leaves have not
been as vibrant, but they're still pretty.  Sadly, many
had dropped their leaves early.

My grandsons--anxious to be off

My sweet daughter with her family on the trail

Love walking through the fallen leaves

Grandsons having fun climbing on fallen trees

Taking a brief time out

All though colors are not as brilliant as past years, it's is still beautiful

Ty anxiously waiting for us to catch up