Sunday, October 2, 2011

Falling Into October



I really did fall into October and like so many, have asked "how did we get this far into the year"? Haven't even flipped the calendar - will that hold it off?

Pumpkin Facts:

Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts. When they immigrated to America they found pumpkins plentiful and easier to carve. Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings! Pumpkins are a member of the squash family. They are grown in 6 of the 7 major continents. The "pumpkin capital" of the world is Morton, Illinois.
The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake. In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.


BLOCK PLAY


This is my first block for the FQ Stars Quilt A Long over at Moosequilts. I have a pile of my sons' old shirts that I have been saving for a project - pulled a few to play together with some orange FQs, shirtings and scrap pre-cuts from my barrels.


Some orphan 9-patch worked into Jo's Crumb A Long adventure.


Free form houses and orphan HSTs found in the bin are going into the crumb quilt.


More free geese and worked those tiny trees I found in the scrap bin into blocks


The next block for Clover & Violet's stitch and quilt a long. I think there is one more block so better think about block settings and finishing.


The wheel barrow block for Regina's Garden Fun quilt. I found a scrap with pumpkins and fussy/fused a pumpkin in the barrow and a button for the wheel. It needs more embellishing.


And after the wake-up on the OCTOBER arrival, made this mini pumpkin wall hanging. I think I will mail it to my grandsons.

FINISHES


The scrappy half log cabin got it's scrappy binding finished up. This will be donated to our community flood victims quilt drive.


This house quilt was a flimsy donated to our LQS for the flood victims quilt drive. Its quilted, bound and ready for a new home.


Actually an 'in-progress' finish. Another donated flimsy that I am finishing off. As this goes to post, the quilt is ready for the binding to be finished off. I have one more donated flimsy to quilt up and finish. Then I need to work on some of my own quilts and projects.

REMINDERS

Traveling Stash Box # 1 - being moved on to Bernie.
Traveling Stash Box # 2 - being moved on to MamaSpark.


CLOSING THOUGHT

Q: What do you use to mend a jack-o-lantern?
A: A pumpkin 'patch'

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

23 comments:

Miss Hillbilly said...

I LOVED the first star in that FQ Stars quilt along. I want to do it but am scared to get bogged down again. I have saved the first star to see if the second interests me as much as the first.

I enjoy your use of shirtings and orange together.

Anonymous said...

good heavens Sharon you have been busy,what lovely projects,well done

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

It is a great block. I wished I could figure out plaid and directional. I've only been successful if I cut twice the pieces and hope I had a couple right.

Deb said...

Oh you busy wee thing! Great that you have got so much done. Some great finishes.

Wilma Lee said...

Dang girl!!! You are so productive. Tell me again what a flimsy is....

Roma said...

Love the Pumpkin wall hanging..
Name of source please..

And like all the others you have been on busy Lady.! My progress dwarfs!!

Have a great day!!

Barbara said...

Such cute quilt blocks!

Sarah Craig said...

So much pretty stuff, but I especially love that pumpkin wall hanging!! I think you are the queen of paper-pieced vegetables!!!!

Kat Scribner said...

You got some awesome blocks going on there, Sharon. I wonder if that pumpkin wallhanging is the mystery block from panache??? lol

Vicki H. said...

I love the orphans that are going into the crumb quilt. The fall pumpkin quilt is really adorable too. You have been very busy!!

Sue said...

I love all the blocks...and as for the log cabins....be still my beating heart! Fabulous! The info about the pumpkins is interesting. Now I have a yen to make pumpkin pie....I've not made it before, but need to do it soon, before the weather heats up!

JudyCinNC said...

You sure do not let any grass grow under you - beautiful projects again and thanks for sharing. Judy C

Eat Sleep Quilt said...

I love how you're using your "found" pieces, great going! I'm starting to feel so guilty (not "quilty" LOL) because I'm not finishing a lot right now.

Thanks for sharing!
Linda

Me and My Stitches said...

Wow! You put the rest of us (especially me) to shame! Thanks for sharing all of your awesome projects!

Me and My Stitches said...

Wow! You put the rest of us (especially me) to shame! Thanks for sharing all of your awesome projects!

Quilter Kathy said...

So much creativity going on in your quilt studio! Cute pumpkin wheelbarrow!

Denise :) said...

Sharon, I might could get exhausted just from reading your blog post today! Whew! Love the pumpkin facts and the joke. Happy quilting to you -- have a GREAT week, and Happy October! :)

Jane said...

That's worth two or three weeks of design walls. You've been busy. My favorite is the plaid block. Sucker for a plaid!

Snoodles said...

I enjoy seeing your use of "orphan" blocks to make something great. My favorite is the block with the shirt scraps...I have some shirting that I want to incorporate into some blocks. Sigh. So many projects! :)

Brita said...

Nice! Love the autumn feel throughout. And I'm inspired to drag out my plaid stash. Thanks for sharing :-)

Michelle said...

What a nice post! I LOVE Fall!

Gari in AL said...

Well, you make me feel like a really lazy person after seeing all your blocks and tops/finishes. I like you star block. I need to get something together to make mine pretty soon. I never get them done right away but I always finish.

Char said...

I love the free formed house and tree blocks.
Great finishes especially the log cabin.
I'm sure your grands will love the pumpkin wall hanging, it's great.