As August Draws to a Close ...

... all I can say is “thank goodness!”   We had some incredible heat this month, but luckily the last several days have finally given ‘way to cooler temps. While I can’t exactly say that fall is in the air, it does feel as though we have turned the corner and left the worst of summer behind. The mountains are beginning to show bits of color, and evenings are pleasant enough to open windows and let in fresh breezes. I expect that even the kitties will be showing signs of growing thicker furs soon!

As far as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge goes, August was a bust for me. The colors of muted/misty purples and hazy/fugly greens were already incorporated in their prior respective months, so I concentrated on the alternate color of gray, which I expanded to mean any gray/black neutral.  The only thing I have to show for this week (and it was really sewn a couple weeks ago) is a light purple “crayon” (missing the contrasting white to finish it into a block) that I decided to make from light purples to get a start on one of next year’s colorful projects.

Since the pattern for the crayon quilt calls for two purples; a light/lavender and a dark purple, I did this lighter one with scraps I scrounged in boxes that were going for donation to a crazy quilting “Stash Dash”. I added a few light purples of my own... and a crayon was born.

So, my totals for this month were only my 12 RSC sampler blocks plus one crayon block. And I did sew together 50+ HSTs, but they are now put away for some future use. And I did a table runner out of black, white and orange for Halloween.

In mid-month I began stitching along with Lori Holt’s Cozy Christmas sampler. This week we made the second block, the Cozy Cottage. The beauty of this sampler is that you cut all the center pink pieces out at once, as well as the strips that surround it, and then you can make all the flying geese and HSTs for the block borders ahead of time. I did a lot of cutting and sewing, and got those done, so that future block construction time will be cut in half. As the blocks are completed, I am sashing them and will construct the rows. By the time I finish the 12th block, all that will be left is adding the quilt borders for an easy finish.

In other sewing, my Aria blue/orange top is done except for the final borders, which I am wrangling with now. And I am almost done constructing the monstrous back. This will be delivered to a long-arm quilter next week, so I don’t expect to see it back in time to add the binding and call it a finish for the 3rd quarter Finish-Along. This is only the second quilt I have ever farmed out for professional quilting, but I`m a wimp. I don’t feel like wrestling it through my Bernina; it’s about 86x102” (but I know Cathy L in Iowa could do it!)

Finally, DH is going to use his electric sander to finish up the door frame around the new basement door. I have caulked and hand sanded it (and given it all a base coat), but it needs a smoother, more professional finish. When he does that, I can paint the final coat and he can add the hardware. No news on the start of the living room remodel yet, which is OK. We are harvesting and doing yard maintenance.

Next month I will be spending a week in Missouri at a Crazy Quilting retreat. This is the 10th annual Crazy Quilting International gathering, and I have been to every single one. One of my dearest friends, who always used to come from Canada to spend a week with me before or after the retreat, passed a year ago. I still miss Diane. But many sweet friends from Florida, Washington state, Nebraska, The Netherlands, and Kansas will be there. In fact, three of us will be making an afternoon jaunt up to Missouri Star Quilt Company the day before the retreat officially starts. I was there last year, but haven’t seen the main shop since its remodel. We can’t wait!

I think that’s about it for now. Today I will get that border sewn on Aria and finish piecing the back. Then I need to begin focusing on packing up my lace (etc) inventory to sell at the retreat so I can finally close up my Etsy shop next month.

Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy.