Fall is HERE

We are in a drought so I gave up watering the container gardens the other day when a deer came through and feasted on lots of plants. The escargot begonia was especially enjoyed by him/her. The containers are now cleaned out and some replanted with mums and pansies and the garden beds are put to rest. I enjoyed this field of sunflowers today.

I made a couple batches of soap. Bay Rum for my DBIL and DS and a batch just for me - Musk. I'll have to give my sister a bar or two of the musk. When we were in HS, she came home with a little bottle of RH Musk oil. I LOVED it and wore it constantly through HS, college and beyond. I've only made a few batches of soap just for myself and I hope this one is a success. The last batch I made for myself with lemongrass essential oil, revealed to me that I'm allergic to lemongrass. What a disappointment as I love the scent of lemongrass.

Evan decided he needed to make a fall tablescape for his PaPaw with items from our yard: tomatoes, an apple, pine cones, grass, flower petals, a pepper, logs, seed pods, acorns etc. It was quite inventive. He's so cute.

I was lucky to be able to attend a stitch retreat in September. If you notice, some are wearing crowns. We were all to bring them and wore them off and on during the weekend. This stitching group is called the Tiara group thus, the tiaras. A lot of fun, good food and lots of stitching.

The wildest we got was this dance to 'Proud Mary' (rollin' on the river).

Here are some of the projects in process, Dutch Beauty, Christmas ornaments, Inspiration and snowmen.

Patti finished this with black crystals in the center. It is awesome and much brighter in person.

Lisa taught Christie how to put together the fob with a beaded edge. So, they each have the same fob with slightly different linens. Very cute.

Jenny and Lisa are masters of smalls. Jenny stitched and put together the cabinet in the middle. It has a ton of little shelves and drawers inside - incredible.

Today my DH, DD and DGS went to the Fall Festival at Blooms and Berries Farm Market Loveland. We took a hayride, played games, walked through a sunflower maze and enjoyed the brisk autumn day.

A view from the hayride. Those are pumpkins on surfboards in the pond.

Evan called this 'lift weighting'.

The great little pumpkin race

The hay bale maze.

Hope you're having a fun and busy fall season too.

Marsha

Gifts

Boy has it been HOT!!! I took this picture about two weeks ago when it was just blistering. I saw this squirrel laid out on the shaded part of the concrete patio and thought he was too cute for words (I don't usually have kind words for squirrels - just ask my DH). Just trying to chill. What a crack up.

My delightful secret stitcher sent me a new Blue Ribbon Designs chart. It will be perfect for small items; fobs, ornaments etc. Thanks you so much secret stitcher for this nice surprise.

Today I received a package from Heidi in the Netherlands. I knew it was coming but I didn't know when or what was coming except for the fob. Oh my. How exciting to open all the packages. Heidi is so talented and I enjoy reading about her projects, home and travels on

All My Scattering Moments and The Cranberry Chronicle. I enjoyed taking my time opening everything and then taking their pictures so you could see too.

Heidi made a project bag for me in my favorite colors. It has long straps so I can throw it over my shoulder. I love it.

Threads by Nina of Hungary were also included in my package. Hand dyed cotton floss in yummy colors - Aztec Red, Chili, Bark...... I think they will work well for Christmas ornaments.

I also received one of my favorite designer's patterns. 'Pears' by LHN with all the threads. This will make a nice ornament to go on my 'natural' Christmas tree in our sunroom. Heidi said in her note that the pears are now in season in the Netherlands.

Heidi made the scissor holder and the scissor fob and gifted the scissors to me also. Aren't they beautiful? They are so delicate, especially the stitching on the felt. The scissors have a great feel to them and have narrow sharp points for card making and stitching.

Thank you secret stitcher and Heidi. You are generous stitching friends. I'm grateful for nice people in this world.

Marsha

Queen City Sampler Guild's 15th Anniversary

The Queen City Sampler Guild recently celebrated their 15th year in existence. We had a nice party with a buffet lunch, favors and a raffle. Stitched pieces were brought in to share. I took pictures of a few of them for you to enjoy.

One of our guild members is programs chair for another guild and designed all these smalls to fit in the basket of the second picture. Aren't they fabulous. I believe she said she has one or two more designs then she's DONE. What a lucky guild they are.

Here is a Betsy Morgan smalls set from 'Inspirations' magazine. Betsy taught a 'Toy chest etui' class for us. She is a really good teacher.

This next piece was designed by Catherine Theron as the guild's 15th anniversary piece. It is gorgeous and done in all specialty stitches. Quite a few members signed up to take the class. It will be nice to see their samplers come alive.

As you can see, our members are a very talented group of stitchers. This is a very small sampling of what they stitch. We meet to stitch together once a month in the morning and once a month in the evening. It is fun to walk around the room each month and see what everyone is working on at the moment. I am so glad I joined the QCSG. They are fun to be with and an inspiration.

Marsha

Isn't this a beautiful treasure?!? Get yourself over to Happiness is cross stitching to enter the second anniversary giveaway.

Marsha

So, DH went off to PA for his annual men's party and visiting his family. I stayed home and got to sew and stitch pretty much to my heart's content. bliss. I did throw in chores such as gardening and picked a bouquet of flowers.

Miss Cleo kept me company. I call her Princess Me Me 'cause she's like a two year old following me around meowing at me, especially when I'm on the phone - just like a toddler.

When I went to the Creative Festival in June, one of the booths had tons of Indygo Junction patterns. The ladies working in the booth were wearing items made from the patterns and I fell in love with this apron pattern (and others too). I had material for an apron in my stash and decided this was the pattern for it. The fabric is in my favorite color with a favorite motif - bees. I had fun sewing this up and can't wait to wear it.

I sewed a couple of tank tops this summer and the pattern called for bias tape. I used the packaged stuff and wasn't thrilled with the feel of it. So, while at the Festival, I picked up two bias tape makers 1/4" and 1/2". This pattern called for bias tape too so I gave it a whirl. Wow, it was so easy and cool to use. Like magic!

Here's the front.

This is the back.

A close up of the bees.

I heart my new apron.

Marsha

Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation on Fripp Island in South Carolina. It's been a hot summer and South Carolina was even hotter. Thank goodness for the beach and ocean breezes and air conditioning. My middle son flew in from California and drove with my DH and I. My oldest son drove with my daughter, her husband and our grandson. Fripp Island has lots to offer with golf (which none of us do), 3 pools, a marina with boats and fishing tackle to rent, and of course the beach. It was a great vacation.

Here is the street we lived on for a week, Bonita Road.

We spent an afternoon on Hunting Island which is one island over from Fripp Island. We visited the Hunting Island museum and lighthouse.

This is a display at Gay's Seafood store. Isn't it wacky? It has skeletons, skulls, alligator, roses? Their place was featured in Forrest Gump.

Blue Crab. What a delight. There was much crabbing done on our vacation. I missed the first couple outings so, Adam and I went together one afternoon. It was good to visit one on one with my middle child who lives in California. The thing about crabbing is picking them when they are cooked but mmmm it's worth it.

Here's Evan enjoying the boat ride but not so much the hot, uncomfortable life vest. I'm sure he had a great vacation with grandparents, parents and two uncles for companions.

The last catch of the day, a flounder, which was too small to keep - darn. The boat ride was great - thanks Joe.

I'll have some stitchy photos next time.

Marsha