Where Did the Summer Go? Garden Shots

Fall arrived last Friday.  It's only three months until Boxing Day.  Where has our summer gone?  I have been doing lots of sewing, but have only some scrap blocks to show for it.  Nothing I can share at this time though.

I thought you might like to see a bit of my garden.  Just a bit, because almost everything has finished blooming.  There are still several Geraniums (Pelargonium) in full bloom.  I love the colours on this one.  I might try to take a few cuttings or move the whole plant inside for the winter.

And here are some Ipomoea.  The first one is a sweet potato vine.  And the second one is a morning glory.  The morning glories volunteered themselves.

This wonderfully large bloom is a Rose Mallow.  I bought this plant at a variety store just a few months ago.  It is supposed to be a perennial.  I've never had one of these before.  I'm hoping that it will come back next year.

And do you remember my Leopard Lily, sometimes called Blackberry Lily? 

They have finished blooming and have formed seed pods.  They really do look like blackberries. 

Mimi is still happy to be able to look outside and see the sunshine.  I took this photo as a practice shot with my new camera.  I still have a lot to learn about that thing.

A New Camera

My old camera stopped working on the weekend.  I had taken it with me to Edward's Gardens (a beautiful park).  I wanted to take some photos of the fantastic scenery and gorgeous flowers that are there.  But it seems that my LED screen stopped working.  It showed some bands of colour, but not what was in the view finder.  It wouldn't let me take any photos.

So I stewed about my camera for a couple of days and then went out to Staples and bought a new one.  This camera has a few more bells and whistles, so I am spending all of my spare time today, reading the manual.

I did manage to make some fabric this morning.  I am going to make another bag and maybe a baby quilt with these string blocks.

I have also been busy with my hexies.  Three more were sewn into the quilt top last week and 6 more hexies were made this week.

When I went outside to take the photos, Felix tried to follow me.  He only goes as far as the doorway.  Then he gets scared.  It's a big world out there and this morning there were several cats who came visit.  So he placed himself at the top of the stairway so that he could keep an eye on me.  When I came inside I still had my camera turned on - and like I said before - I need all the practice I can get. 

So I took a photo of Felix.  He is a big cat!  I am sure he would qualify as a watchcat.

Flower Power

Remember this quilt?  I think I was working on it last year.  I decided to take it out and try to finish it.

 So here are three more flowers.  They are not sewn together yet, but they are prepped.  I will sew them this evening in order to stay awake while watching television.

Yesterday I told you that my sewing room was a huge mess.  Today I found Mimi in the midst of all that.  She looks pretty comfortable, doesn't she?   

Playing with Scraps

Hi Folks!

Our summer is over.  It is still very warm, but school has started and our mini quilt group is back to meeting once a week.  We met this morning and it feels like we have been doing this forever.  Where did the summer go?

I am still playing with scraps.  I have several Oak Park bags at various stages of completion.  And I also have been making these cute little square within a square blocks.  They measure 6 inches before being sewn together.  The blue and red ones were started about a year ago.  I just keep making them whenever I have some blue scraps.  No two are alike.  I have no idea how big this will become.  So far I have not had any desire to sew them together.  I have about 75 of them so far.

And here are some more square in square blocks.  They are also 6 inches X 6 inches.  I am using up lots of scraps.  As long as a piece of fabric measures 2 inches wide by at least 14 inches long I treasure them and turn them into these blocks.  The narrower scraps are being made into scrap fabric.  It's the mindless sewing I need sometimes.  As you can imagine, my sewing room is a huge mess!  Sorry, my camera refused to take a picture of it.

A Scrapbag or a Bag Made of Scraps!

I had a few low days.  Not feeling much like quilting, yet wanting to sit and sew.  So... I made some fabric with my scraps.  Then I used that 'made fabric' to make another bag.  This is not an Oak Park bag.  Oak Park certainly inspired me, but this one is more or less my own design.  I took it shopping yesterday and was amazed at how much I could stuff in there.

I took the first photo of the bag in my garden, but then decided that a close-up would be better.  Anyway, most of my perennials have finished flowering for this year and my garden is not looking as good as it could.  I still have a few things that look nice though.   That is a perennial rose mallow in the front.  These things are fantastic!  The flowers are at least 6 inches across!  The blue flowers on the right are an annual sage or salvia.  I planted some last year.  These came up from the seeds.   There are also some morning glories that volunteered themselves.  But they have all closed for today.  I guess I wasn't early enough with my camera this morning.

We are having a long weekend.  It's Labour Day tomorrow.  That marks the last unofficial day of summer for us.  On Tuesday schools will be open again.  My DD has already been in her classroom for the past two weeks, cleaning and decorating the cork boards etc.  And my DS will also return to his teaching duties at Centennial College.  The support staff are on strike there, so I hope that it won't be too difficult to cross the picket lines.

Okay - So I'm Addicted......

Didn't sew much this week.  But I've been reading and reading some more.  I did, however, finish another Oak Park Bag.  I just can't stop making these things!  Very addictive!  I used a lot of scraps for this one.  But in order to make a dent in my scrap bag, I would have to make a hundred of them.  Hmmmm... maybe.

We have a bit of sunshine this morning, but it is still early and we are supposed to get showers this afternoon.  Here is what the inside of the bag looks like.  Don't you just love the Kaffe fabric I used for the pocket, handles and bottom of the outside of the bag!

Happy September everyone!