A Rose and A Hummingbird

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
~Les Brown

I didn't make it to the moon yesterday, but I definitely made it among the stars.  I had a very productive day for a change.  Even with my cleaning lady scrubbing my home from top to bottom, I managed to get quite a bit done.  A few blocks were made and a Christmas gift was cut out.  And that's not counting the time taken by the computer to answer email and reading blogs.  (I really wish you all would quit writing such fascinating posts out there - I can't keep up with them all and am sad every time I miss a posting! *sigh*).  Hopefully the rest of the week will be just as productive!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHOTO OF THE DAY

My Japanese Maple

Now that we are heading into winter, my Japanese Maple is finally in full autumn color.  I wish the sun had been on it but I think you can still see the deep red color.  Autumn is another word for fall. It is defined as the season when the leaves change the color and fall from the trees, leaving the ground with a splendid array of brilliant red, yellow and orange dried leaves. It is the season the marks the end of the summer season and the beginning of the winter season.  It occurs approximately at the same time when the sun is close to the winter solstice.  Pretty soon all the leaves will be off of the trees and winter will be visiting us here in central California.  Winter here means bone chilling fog and no sun for days on end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday I stretched my brain's creativity to its max.  I am a member of Block Lotto and as a thank you to our administrator, many of us are creating Rose Blocks to help her complete her rose quilt.  I think I've stated before how my brain does not do wonky well.  It took me three tries to get anything that I thought was even near acceptable.

I really struggled making this.  Looking at examples helped but I'm still not sure about it.  Maybe there should have been more variety in the reds.  Maybe it should have been bigger.  I won't be disappointed if Sophie should decide that this will not work in her quilt.  And, besides, how will I ever know - lol!  Give me instructions and measurements and I am a happy camper.  I supposed it was good to stretch myself a little.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday I also made a block for the International Friendship Quilters mosaic swap.  Nellie sent me a 4 1/2" block of cute frog fabric that I had to work from.  There is a set pattern for making this block.

After making the wonky rose this was a breeze.  I matched the colors in some of the frogs and went from there.  I hope that Nellie likes her block.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also cut out this fabric by Hoffman International.....

I purchased this fabric several years back and each piece was missing the name of the line.  I am going to make a Reusable Market Bag that I found on allpeoplequilt.com.  This will be my cleaning lady's Christmas gift.  She loves hummingbirds so I thought this would be a perfect match for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY

Janet over at A Hug Delights is having a birthday giveaway.  She is giving away three books to three lucky winners on Friday, December 10th.

Emily, over at Em Celebrates! is having another fun giveaway.  You have to go over to blog to find out the details but involves sending her a picture involving a word from a book that is soon to be released.  How fun!!

There are still a few days left to enter my Big Giveaway!  Remember to enter by Friday, December 10th.  It looks like I might have to have another giveaway before Christmas if I reach 300 followers!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FINAL THOUGHT

Some days are just made for work.  The phone doesn't ring and no one comes to the door providing peace and quiet, allowing thought and creativity.  I certainly could use several more days like yesterday.  I even prepared a crock pot meal so I didn't have to do much prep work right before dinner and could work right up until the DH gets home from work.  It was one of the few days that I didn't feel totally exhausted after being in the sewing room all day.  Hooray for that!  I hope your day was productive too.

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.
 ~Voltaire

Be thankful it's Tuesday - you still have most of the week to accomplish your goals.

Autumn Into Christmas

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
~Albert Camus

Cooler weather is finally here.  I actually had to turn the heater on yesterday morning.  As I write this, I'm sitting here with my hood up to keep my head warm and have a quilt wrapped around my legs for warmth.  I also have Snickerdoodle being a little oven on my lap - under the quilt of course.  I am thoroughly enjoying this change in the temps - I was wondering if it would ever arrive.  Now I feel like we are on course to head into the holidays.  Bring it on!! LOL!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the first autumn leaves to arrive in my yard

Autumn is another word for fall. It is defined as the season when the leaves change the colour and fall from the trees, leaving the ground with a splendid array of brilliant red, yellow and orange dried leaves. It is the season the marks the end of the summer season and the beginning of the winter season.  It occurs approximately at the same time when the sun is close to the winter solstice. It is the season that usually begins in the month of September and goes on until the month of November in North American and Europe, which lie in the northern hemisphere, and the season that occurs between the months of March and May in the southern hemisphere, which includes the continent of Australia.  If expressed in astronomical terms, the autumn season refers to the season which starts from the autumnal equinox and extends up to the winter solstice. Autumn or fall, in fact, mark the period of transition between the summer and the winter seasons.  Autumn - my favorite time of year!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was able to sit at my sewing machine yesterday and it certainly felt good after leaving it idle for 6 days!  Poor thing is not used to such a long hiatus.  But it purred along as usual :)  I was in the mood for another Designer Mystery BOM - follow along and see if you can guess what I made before the final picture.

This is the fabric for the third block - bright and Christmasy like the others.

First I made these four blocks.  Any guesses yet?

Those four blocks turned into this block.  What could it be?

Next it was snowballing two corners.  Still no ideas?

Then this block was created.  Do you think it might be a present? 

Another rectangle with two snowball corners.  Not much help, is it.

Put the three units together.  I bet you have some ideas now!  Did you notice the cutting error on the middle block?  It ended up 1/4" of an inch too narrow so I had to be very careful when sewing on the next two pieces.  I ended up double stitching the seams so it won't come undone from washing.  I know.......measure twice, cut once!!

These are the final two pieces to the puzzle.  Now I know you know what it is........

It's a Christmas Wreath.  And you can't even tell I made that cutting error (thank goodness!)

I have had a lot of fun making these first three blocks and look forward to making more BOM's.  I hope you have had a little fun too trying to guess what they will be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REMINDER

Don't forget to enter my giveaway.  You could be the proud winner of 5 fall colored fat quarters.  This giveaway will be open until November 2nd.  You can enter my Just Because giveaway HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final Thought

Cooler weather means time to snuggle, time to relax, time to reflect.  Enjoy this cool weather while holding a warm mug of coffee or hot chocolate.  Enjoy the sites of changing colors, the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations appearing on front steps, being able to see your breath as you step outside first thing in the morning.  In other words.......Enjoy Life! 

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.

~Henry Van Dyke

Thank goodness it's Thursday!!!