A 3-D Christmas Tree

 You may remember I made all those little 3-D Christmas tree ornaments to give out this year at Christmas.

I kept thinking about them and wishing that I could make a big one to sit in the center of my table. In fact, I had decided I might try looking up an image or outline and trying to make one when I got some time.

No need as it turned out. One of the sewing sites I am subscribed to sent me this link for a free pattern to make one. Great minds think alike, I guess.

Having made all those little ornaments really sped things up when I was making this one. I already knew exactly what to do and had done 35+ times.

I actually have a plastic shoebox with all my Christmas fabrics in it and had purchased a couple of fat quarter bundles for my pass-it-outs so I had plenty of choices. You can use 6 different fabrics and I decided I would.

I'm still trying to decide if I want a pompom or something on top. But I really like it like it is so I may just leave it.

The worst part of making this was stuffing the very top. I sent a picture to my mom and she promptly called and asked if I would make some for her. I told her I didn't mind sewing them together but she'd have to stuff them. :)

Let me know what you're already working on for the holidays.

Halloween Table Runner

 I had planned to use my pumpkin table runner for fall but then I saw this cute Halloween one so I decided to give it a try.

I had some Halloween fabric I got on clearance at Walmart a few years ago after Halloween and another Day of the Dead fabric that was also on clearance there. I had intended to make a little Rugrat a dress or skirt for Halloween but didn't really materialize. Yeah, I've had it a few years.

I already had it so I might as well use it, right. The only issue was that the original called for either 6 or 8 different fabrics. I had 3. So I just alternated them as much as I could. 

I also picked up this black center fabric with lighter dots on it at Walmart. I had intended to run by Hobby Lobby and see what I could find but I thought I'd check when I was at the big W to see if there was something I might use. They had this in the 1 yard pre-cuts and it was pretty much exactly what I was wanting.

The worst part of the whole thing was making the half-square triangles that go around the outside. I'm not so good with those. Once it was bound, I drew the spiderweb design on with chalk and then sewed over it with white thread. And it was done.

Certainly not the best work I've done but not too shabby either.  I liked it so I guess that's what mattered.

Now if I could just remember to make them all longer so they hang off my little breakfast table right. 

Quilt Block Lessons

 After having so much trouble piecing the blocks together on the prayer quilt, I decided that maybe I needed a little practice.

So, I decided to try out several different kinds of blocks. A simple Google search will give you dozens of free quilt block tutorials. I picked out a few to start with and I'm planning to keep going and see what I learn. 

And it won't hurt to use up some of my scrap bin at the same time.

The first one was a freebie on my favorite sewing Youtube channel. It's called an economy block.

It is actually a paper pieced block. It came together so easily and all the corners matched up and were where they were supposed to be. I was pretty impressed because I always thought that paper piecing was very difficult. In fact, I kind of felt like it would be reserved for expert quilters. 

But this was not at all like that and I think it has been the easiest to get right so far.

The video is here.

And you can get the free template here.

The next block I tried came from one of her videos as well. This one is called Courthouse Steps. I don't think I am very good at matching up colors and patterns but this one didn't look too bad.

I did learn not to automatically cut all the sizes because I am apparently very bad at getting an accurate cut. And not so great at doing an appropriately measured seam either.

This video explained how to do this one.

While I want to try her sun block, I haven't yet sat down to do it. So my next foray into quilt blocks came from a different source.

This ugly thing is a Windmill block.

I ran out of the larger pieces in my scrap bin. So it was pretty much down to these fabrics. I actually ended up liking the way the red stands out but totally not a fan of the other two.

I found the instructions here. I think I need a little more practice before I can do these.

The next few will involve using up smaller pieces because, as I said, I don't have very large pieces in my scrap bin anymore.

Any beginner quilt blocks you would suggest?

What Have I Been Up To

 I kind of disappeared there for a while. It seems like there is always a point in the fall when life goes into overdrive. And I can't keep up. 

It used to be in October but I think in past years it has moved up to September.

So here's what we've been up to.

I did finally give my prayer quilt to our sewing ministry leader with the caveat that she give it back if it wasn't okay to use and I would make another.

We celebrated a birthday.

Started up that last year of homeschool.

And she's still working at her job. The beauty of homeschool is that she can continue to work and we just do schoolwork around her hours. 

I grew a few more of these.

      

They were beautiful and sweet and delicious!

And, of course, that meant watermelon jelly.

      

Took a quick trip to see these people (and deliver some jelly too).

And got to see a rainbow.

Made a pieced table runner for fall (because everybody here is waiting for cooler temperatures -- we broke all kinds of records this summer with our 107 and 109 temperatures).

I'm actually pretty proud of this. It's the first time I've had so many pieces to put together and it turned our pretty well, I think.

Then, we finished up with a trip to the state fair this past week.

They're celebrating the anniversary of Route 66 so a lot of displays had to do with that...

plus the whole 250th of America.

 Hubby gave me one good one then played a monkey.

And you know what happens when you monkey around too much.

Lots of fun but, as with any busy season of life, it's nice to slow back down and enjoy the simple rhythms of your days too.

And that's where we have come back to. 

It's A Big One

 The combination of high temps (we're nearing the record for the number of 100 degree or above days) and very low precipitation (it's the middle of August and we're at 0.11 inches according to the news) has NOT made for a very good garden this year.

Mine didn't really start out well anyhow. I got started late then a crazy rainstorm came through and destroyed everything except one little watermelon sprout. I replanted and then came a hail storm that damaged a baby watermelon and sliced the top of one of my tomato plants right off. So my garden has really had to persevere this year.

I have my trusty timer going so it was getting watered for 10 minutes every morning. But even with the regular watering, it wasn't doing so great. Every tomato I've gotten has been split -- badly. I've read that over 95 degrees, tomato plants go into survival mode.

And, after we got the whole 0.11 inches during the one rain we had last week, one of my smaller watermelons cracked too. That makes two that I've lost. The first had decided to grow off my tomato trellis. I made a sling for it but it got large enough that it broke the sling on one side, fell out, and broke right off the stem.

I've changed my timer now to 5 minutes every 8 hours and I've got our patio umbrella in the middle of the garden to help offset the heat and water evaporation some. Just a few days of doing that has made some of the plants look a little better.

But, suffice to say, I wasn't hoping for much this year (and most of my gardening friends are having the same kind of luck).

I have, however, been anxiously watching the largest of my watermelons closely. I figured it surely might make it because it seemed pretty large and the plant seemed healthy still. I've checked that little tendril so many times to see if it was ready, just hoping it would make it. 

And, last night, was finally the time.

It was ready to harvest. And it was big -- 30 pounds as it turned out. Twice as big as both of our two little dogs put together.

Check out this scar left from the hail storm that came through when it was a baby. 

But it still made it! Now for some chilling and to cut in to it. Here's to perseverance!

Prayer Quilt Follow-Up

 You might remember that I had begun a prayer quilt. That post is here. I decided to try putting it together even though some of my corners were off. After all, taking a hint from the women of the past, only God is perfect. I just didn't have to purposely put any mistakes in -- I am already skilled at doing that naturally. Ha ha.

So I made my quilt sandwich and secured it with as many pins as I could stand to put in. I tried to stretch each of the layers tight but still ended up with a wrinkle here or there. Quilting is really not my forte.

Then, I added the ties (without tying them). Not tying the strings kind of drove me nuts. I didn't realize it would bother me but it really did. I guess it's something about leaving it unfinished. But, of course, that's the point of the prayer quilt. Each knot is tied by someone who has prayed for you.

Then, I squared it off and added my binding. Still really not my forte. I tried to pull it taut as I added the binding too so it got a little better.

It wasn't too bad when I was done. I still told our leader not to fix anything if it wasn't good, just to return it to me and I would use it for a tv blanket. I didn't want her to have to redo anything or spend time trying to make it right.

I haven't gotten it back yet so I am assuming she was okay with it. I'll let you know.

Mini-s

 I think I may be a little obsessed with the pyramid pin cushions. My mom visited us at the beginning of July for a week. Before I went to get her, I whipped up one for her that I thought turned out quite cute.

Her favorite color is red and this pattern combo is just whimsical enough to fit her personality. 

Of course, my invisible stitches are still not that invisible -- one reason I hate hand sewing -- but my mama doesn't care. :)

Then, Chick mentioned that she might make one for herself. She thought the design was better too, I think.

I happened to have a Beauty and the Beast fat quarter piece from making her a tissue holder so, when I was bored one day, I made one up.

My goal was to put a picture on each side. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough pieces spaced well to do so. 

Therefore, three sides have different scenes from the fabric and the fourth is a tilted castle (kind of like the Ripley's Believe It or Not we went to in Florida). 

That's okay though. It turned out well.

I thought I might have made all of these I could for now. Then, recently, I was going through my small scraps fabric bin and realized it was getting too full.


It occurred to me that there was a mini version of the pyramid pin cushion with the pattern. So I took a look and decided I had plenty of time to make some minis for my sewing group.

I don't know if they'll get them or not. You could tell I was getting tired of stuffing them because some of them are a little ... lean - y. And, of course, my invisible stitching has a problem being invisible.  

Maybe I've gotten these out of my system now.