We've had "Culture Days" in the last weekend.
Both guilds that I belong to were asked to participate.
I volunteered to demonstrate machine quilting.
I took one of our Out Reach cuddle quilts with me to quilt at the cultural centre.
Boy, it doesn't take long for me to remember WHY I don't like sewing or quilting away from home.
The table that I work on at home is low, very low.  My chair is set so that I can reach the machine comfortably.  My foot control is raised at least 2 inches off the ground.   Even then, I sometimes find myself over stretching.
When I was quilting at the culture centre I was really uncomfortable and my quilting showed it.  The table with my machine on top of it was far too high for me.  I brought my own chair, that helped a bit but I could barely reach my foot peddle. I raised it, but I had to chase it around. 
I muddled on....
Some little kids came into the room with their parents, they watched for a few seconds, then I asked them if they wanted to try sewing.   I ran the foot control and let the kids guide the quilt in the machine.
It was a BIG hit!   Even the boys tried the machine...What fun!
I  finished quilting and binding that quilt at home and started on the third quilt I took home last summer to quilt.
This third quilt has the older type batt in it.  You know fluffy poly type thing that was the only thing we could get more than twenty years ago.
I now realize how lucky we are now to be able to find the better quilt batts available now.  This one is real crap.  I actually hate to use it.
But, I guess I will just muddle on with this one too.

Boy oh boy!
We have just had the longest stretch of nice weather!
It has been sunny and warm (sort of coolish), perfect for fall walks and leaf peeping.
That's what my sister says people who sight see the fall colours are called down in New Hampshire..."leaf peepers"!
The birds, squirrels and chipmunks are cleaning out the feeders faster than I can fill them.  We must be in for a long winter.
I still have lots of tomatoes in the garden...I still have some blossoms on the pepper plants, but no more peppers.  I don't usually get a lot of peppers and now it might be too cold to produce more peppers.
One of my neighbours squash plants has invaded my garden..it has taken over!
hehehe...AND producing squash!   I love squash!....I an watching those carefully.
The other day I made a large pot of chicken soup....then decided I didn't feel like just chicken soup, so I put a bunch of tomatoes from the garden in it.
Oh my,  was it ever good.
Now I am considering just making tomato soup.
The mister will eat soup anytime, summer or winter.  When ever we go out to dinner, he starts with soup....
When we were first married and I would make soup, he would complain it was too thick, more like stew.  He didn't really like stew.  He doesn't complain about that anymore.  Now he likes stew.   
Now the weather has gotten cooler still, and we have had a bit of rain.
Soon we will have to pull out the tomato and pepper plants and the neighbours squash plant.  The trees out the front are getting hit with frost, it won't be long and the plants out back will be nipped too.

Time for getting down to brass tacks!
I had offered to contribute to block of the month (but only one month) for quilt guild.
Now I have to find a nice block, make it up...write a little blurb for the newsletter, copy the instructions for the block and turn it in to the BOM lady at guild.
I chuckled when I told her I would do a month for her....she was giddy with delight.  I think she has to twist a few arms to get people to help.   What am I saying!!!??  I KNOW she has to twist arms to get people to help!
So I spent a few hours looking for a nice block, I visited  http://quilterscache.com a few times.
I wanted, or really needed, a simple block for my contribution.  Not that I needed to do a simple block, but if the block is too hard, or takes to long to make,  ladies will not participate.
So I found a couple that I liked and mulled it over.  I decided on a block called calico puzzle.
Not too hard (really easy) to scare anyone away, only two colours to deal with...hopefully it will be a winner for everyone.  And not too much stress for me.

Speaking of stress....I have given up my library helper's job for right now.  It was just too hard to get there with the girls here until 6.  Especially when I have to leave just after 6.
Next year, my daughter says the granddaughters will go to a different school.
Well, Hayley will for sure....she'll be in high school.  Mommy says Courtney will go to the school near them, and she can go home right after school, so my job will be done.
Hayley feels she is too old to be babysat and I agree with her.  I tell her that I am not babysitting  her,  just her sister.  She just comes here to "visit".   Poor girl is in a catch 22 situation.
Her school is here, her friends are here.  If she goes home, she won't see her friends after school.  If she changes school, she would need to make new  friends at school.
 Growing up is sure hard on kids!  Lol!!
               

The other night was the first meeting for the second quilt guild I belong to.
Dorothy, the lady who made the quilt in the previous blog, saw her quilt on the back of my chair.  She was thrilled to see it all done.  She says she doesn't see many after they are completed....this kind lady donates quite a few quilts to our Outreach program!

Dorothy's quilt

I told her of my trials and tribulations with the setting triangles and borders, but she loved how I had quilted it.  I am relived.  She does such beautiful work...the piecing was accurate, so it was easy to quilt.   I just didn't want to screw up such a beautiful quilt.
I've quilted a couple of her quilts for Outreach...one was a picture of a doll...such a cute little quilt.  not really little...it's cuddle quilt size!  It was a dream to quilt too!

We are celebrating our twentieth anniversary for this guild this year and the executive have a wonderful year planned for us.
We are having free workshops.  Everyone of us can sign up for a free workshop, we can also sign up for any of the other workshops they have planned..
We are having a challenge, the guild is giving everyone 3 fat quarters of our own choice, for a wide open quilt challenge!
We are having a fabric exchange.  Two and a half inch strips ...we should end up with enough strips to have a whole jellyroll.

We are going to have a FABULOUS year....

Boy, the weather has sure been strange this year.
Experts said we would have a hot dry summer, but it wasn't at all.
Then this last week we had a couple of  blistering hot days, then a couple of cold days.....Chances of FROST already!
Boy!!!
I love this time of year...the changing colours...the fresh crisp air.
What I don't like is the mildew on some of the plants and trees.  I am allergic to the mould.  I don't have really bad symptoms. But the constant headache and sinus pain is unsettling.
On the quilting front, I have finally finished quilting this quilt.

 I had it mostly done except for the setting triangles and borders.
I had a scroll that I planned to use.    made up all my patterns, pinned them in place and could not, for the life of me,  bring myself to sew them.  It just didn't go!
Then I saw a quilt on Pinterest and it gave me an idea.
I decided to quilt multiple rows, incorporating the borders and the setting triangles.
I really like how it turned out.
Took me a few days to sew the binding, and now it is all done and ready to be handed in to the OutReach program.

Courtney had a birthday this week...10 years old ...my, time flies!
Mommy said she could have a party.
Her party will be delayed a week or two for her,  Mommy doesn't like sending her to school the first week with a fist full of birthday invites.
And...
She wanted to make her own invitations for her party.
I went upstairs and used the oldest computer (that's where I had the program) and made up some cards...then, after school, Courtney came up and had a look at what I had done.
It gave her some ideas and she made her own....adjusting colours, pictures....just making it hers.
The printer connected to this computer is older and I can't seem to get the ink to flow (I've put new inktanks in and it still won't print).
Smart *ss me, I got the cord I use for the laptop and plugged the computer into the newer printer. 
Darn!  The computer recognises the printer and needs drivers....HAHA..I have the disk.
I loaded the disk.....crap..the computer isn`t compatible with the printer...I can't win!
So I decided to load the program into the newer computer...it took hours to load.
This computer is SLOW!  REALLY, really slow.
But then I was able to save her cards to a disk and open it on this computer.
She printed them off and gave them out. 
She is a very happy camper!

My Greatest  fear is
 when I Die
My HUSBAND  will sell my
 SEWING MACHINES

FOR WHAT I TOLD
HIM THEY COST