October 2015: Yaya's Retreat

As we do every fall, the Yaya's went up to Marty's cabin on Lake Livingston in Onalaska, Texas.  This cute little place on a slough of the big lake sports views of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons stalking their prey, fat brown squirrels nearly as big as a cat, and folks riding around in their golf carts to visit their neighbors! 

Here are pics of the projects we were working on:

Lynn created a pieced front and back for our 1-yard military fabric challenge.  Great colors!

 

Brenda made 2 quilts with 2 yards of different military fabric for our challenge. 

Brenda also pieced this Take 5 pattern with Aggie fabric. 

She plans to sneak an "LSU" into the quilting.

Marty brought over the top she had just finished. 

These are all batiks!

I finally created that pillow from my flippy corners from this quilt:

Yay! Finished and on the guest bed!  Fits perfectly, too!

I also completed the top of my Juggle pattern quilt, as well as a back!

Lillie was piecing the store sample for the NEW block of the month from Paula Barnes at Red Crinoline Quilts.  The pattern is called Latimer Farms, and y'all, these are the prettiest blocks!

 

Lastly, these are the string blocks that the Yayas and Thimblelinas are sending to Kat of Kat and Cat Quilts for Covered in Love.

 

 

 

I am so proud of my bee friends for contributing this month!

 

Have you had any finishes lately?

Linking up with Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday (click on button on right side of blog to go to the link up!).

October Yaya's Bee

I went to Yaya's bee on Saturday, and here are pics of what was going on!

I completed my October Stash Bee blocks for Hive 6:

Improv star blocks

Lillie finished the top for her military 1-yard fabric challenge donation quilt:

It's Airforce fabric, and she created a propeller out of pinwheels!

 

Marion had a few finishes and was burying threads, sewing down binding, and completing labels.

 

Halloween Quilt #1

Marion did her own quilting!

 

Halloween Quilt #2

Marion is peeking over the top!

Love that variegated thread!

 

Marion also brought in a beautiful top, and she was deciding on whether or not it needed an additional border.

 

K Fasset quilt top

 

I think we convinced her that a narrow border from the setting triangles fabric to float the blocks is all she needs!

 

Did you get any quilting or sewing done this past weekend?

 

 

Linking up with Freemotion by the River's Linky Tuesday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.  Buttons with links are on the right side of the blog!

 

Monofilament Thread Cuts Bobbin in Half!

Folks, this could happen to you!

Don't wind so much monofilament thread on a bobbin that it cuts right through it:

Bobbin cut in half by monofilament thread

 

I tried to rewind some of this mess onto other intact bobbins, but it quickly snarled (a la fishing line), and I gave it up for a bad job and chucked what was left, which was most of it!

 

In other news, I have made several sachets, one of which I've kept, using nothing but some fabric, some leather cording, and some cedar shavings.  And I added a bit of essential oil for some more nose appeal.

 

This is really easy, and I'm planning to duplicate but with Christmas fabric, ribbon, and scent.

 

Sachet

using Tina Given's Opal Owl fabric

 

Cut a rectangular piece of fabric.  You'll fold it in half, so keep that in mind.

Press the top over twice, ~1/8" first, then ~1/4".  Put your leather cord or ribbon in the crease.

Sew about 1/8" from the edge of the fold.

So it looks like this:

 Fold it in half right-sides-together (RST) and sew down the side and bottom from your stitch previous stitch.

I stuffed mine with cedar shavings. 

There's a Texas company called Wondercide that has lots of cedar oil-based products.

I use them in my house, on my yard, on my dog, and on myself. 

No toxins = healthier people and pets!

I gave my mom my leftover products last December and ordered new for myself.  She says it works better than the Neem oil she was using.

I love that after I spray the yard, it smells like a cedar chest, and my dogs smell good when I spray the pet stuff (for flea and tick prevention) on them!

Because I can't do things simple or by halves, I decided to up the ante and add a piece of leftover quilt batting sprinkled with a few drops of Lavender essential oil that I got at a local farmer's market a few years ago.   Together the cedar and lavender smell AWESOME!

 

My sachet went in my new storage ottoman that smells kinda funny.

 

Now my quilts and throws will come outta there smelling AWESOME!

 

For Christmas, I'm thinking Christmas fabric and ribbon and add a drop or two of Douglas Fir essential oil.

 

Are you planning any homemade Christmas presents?

 

 

Linking up to Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation - button on the right!