Catching Up With Projects and Plans

September is flying by. Is it already September 28th? We got back from California on August 27th just in time for Labor Day Weekend. On the Tuesday after Labor Day, we went to Wolftrap in Virginia to see Les Miserables. Was that ever wonderful. The staging was unique and the music was incredible. I've always wanted to see Les Mis and I was not disappointed.

The very next weekend I was off to Harrisburg, PA with friends to see the Mancuso Bros. Quilt National Show. We spent Thursday night in Harrisburg and therefore had a good day and a half to see the show and shop the vendors. On Friday, we were back in the car heading for the hills of West Virginia to a retreat house that a quilter friend had secured for us. And it was definitely up in the hills. I stuck with redwork so I didn't have to bring a machine. Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Hannah's affects on our region, we had to leave early. It was still fun to spend time with quilty friends.

The weekend's efforts eventually resulted in this cute little needlecase. The pattern was from a company called Cinderberry Stitches. The designer is from Australia. I also worked on a pattern that I had found on-line and I've managed to finish it this month. I did it because it reminded me of my dear friend LaDonna and since both of us have names that start with "L", well it was a natural. I call it "Ladies Who Lunch". Definitely something LaDonna and I like to do.

While feeling inspired this month, I also made a lap quilt from old left-over strips of fabric. I think some of the scraps went back about 20 years. I'm going to be giving it to my dear FIL in November for his 90th birthday. Of course, first I need to get a label on it.

In about three weeks, we'll be heading our for our grand Spain/Portugal adventure. I've been having a great time shopping at Chico's for travel clothes. I also found a wonderful and (hopefully) secure travel bag that fits neatly over my shoulder and across the front. But I needed something a little more fancy for going out in the evening. Thanks to a pattern from Lazy Girl Designs called 'Sassy Bag', I now have a cute little secure (hopefully) evening bag. I first made the pattern according to directions from a batik. For my 'evening bag', I added zippered pockets and an inset decorative fabric and applique.

And as if I wasn't busy enough, I also found time to work on my small group quilt sampler. My goal is to actually have it quilted and finished in time for our quilt guild show next spring. The top is now done. The sandwiching and quilting......well let's just hope I don't keep procrastinating.

And finally to finish off the month, I got around to working on my September BOM for thequiltshow.com. The picture shows the pieces cut out and laid on the dining room table but in actuality, I now have them fused on the background fabric and ready for stitching down. Two days of September to go. I just might finish before October's pattern is out. This has been a fun project and I'm very proud of myself for tackling it and doing as much as I have. I am seriously considering stopping at nine blocks because Fall is looking pretty busy. I think nine would make a very nice quilt.