I didn't sleep well last night, only a couple of hours. I was lying in bed at about 4:00 this morning, awake, when the phone rang. I hate it when the phone rings at hours when most folks are in bed. It scares the dickens out of me. Always has.
I stumbled over several dogs and got to the phone (which for some reason is located on the other side of my king size bed) to hear this deep husky voice ask, "Hey, hon. How you doin'?" With heart pounding and nerves wracked, I asked the gentleman who the heck was he calling? He informed me that he was trying to call his daughter. "Well I'm not her," I answered in my you-woke-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-scared-me-to-death-and-I'm-POed voice, and I hung up. He called right back, but I didn't answer the phone that time.
I didn't go back to bed. I made a pot of coffee and drank two cups while watching the the bad news on CNN or MSNBC or one of those bad-news channels.
What an awful way to begin one of my favorite days of the year, Autumn Equinox. Autumn is here officially. When daylight finally came, I saw that we had a wonderful autumn fog after a night of heavy rain and thunderstorms. I love autumn--love it, love it, love it.
I haven't made hardly a bit of UFO progress this week, except to press and trim my cottage blocks and choose a fabric from my stash to sash them. I could show you that, but Andy has my camera. She took it to the Little Yellow House to make some photos.
But I do have a couple of photos that Blogless Barbara sent me with her UFO report. She has finished both her "Pretty in Pink and Green" and "Stars in My Garden" quilts. Aren't they pretty?
"Pretty in Pink and Green"
"Stars in My Garden"
Since I have no UFO photos to show today, I thought I would post the first quilt guild block of the month, which I gave out to guild members at our September meeting. Members will be returning blocks at the October meeting for the drawing. Here come the instructions.
(Note to UFO Busters: Go to bottom of post for Mr. Linky.)
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City Leaves - October 2011
BQG Block of the Month
1. From tan or beige fabric, cut 1 (7” x 10”) rectangle.
2. Trace pattern pieces (leaf & stem)** onto paper side of fusible web such as Wonder Under, Steam-a-Seam, etc.
3. Following manufacturer’s instructions, adhere pattern pieces to wrong side of fabrics. Use brown or dark green print or solid for stem and a small-scale autumn print (yellow, orange, olive, gold, rust, burgundy, etc.) for leaf.
4. Cut out pieces on solid lines.
5. Place and adhere pieces to approximate center of the 7” x 10” rectangle.
6. Using black thread, machine blanket stitch or machine satin stitch around edge of leaf and edge of stem.
**I'm not sure if the pattern pieces will translate to your screen at just the right size. So here are the measurements. Leaf piece is 7 3/4" from upper tip to bottom of leaf and 4 1/4" across it's widest part (first e in the word green in color instructions). The stem piece is 5 7/8" long from upper tip to bottom and about 5/8" across the bottom. Check dimensions of your pattern pieces after printing them out and make adjustments if needed.
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Below you'll find Mr. Linky for all your UFO Busters who would like to show what you've been up to this week.
This post was migrated from the old blog. To see the comments on the original post, CLICK HERE. To add a new comment, click "Post a Comment", below.
On 09/23/2011, Barbara Anne said ...
OH! I'm right with you on hating middle of the night calls - or someone ringing the doorbell when it's that time of night. Shudder! Adrenalin rush to the max but it's understandable you didn't get back to sleep. Methinks a nap would be in order on this soggy day.
Cheers for finding a sashing fabric for your charming cottage blocks!!
Thank you for posting the photos of my two finishes. Both still need labels, but I still count them as completed.
Thanks for the leaf block pattern, too!
Happy Autumn Equinox! Hugs!
On 09/23/2011, Jen said ...
Happy Autumn! I posted a Finish (kinda) today! Then I updated my UFO list on the side of my blog. I have 7 more UFOs. I'm going to try to get them done by the end of the year! Hope your Autumn gets better than this morning.
On 09/23/2011, Diane W said ...
Barbara's quilts are so lovely. I really like the pink and green one. I have made one similar to the star quilt. Love them stars. I haven't done very well with my UFO's but still think I can finish something before the end of the year.
On 09/23/2011, Lynn said ...
Beautiful finishes Barbara!
I didn't make any real progress on my UFO's list week either.
On 09/23/2011, Kentish Keg-Meg said ...
Hope you have a better night tonight. Like you I love Autumn.
On 09/23/2011, Sandra Neel Hutchins said ...
Happy Fall! I say a nice afternoon nap is in order for part of your fall celebration!
Lovely quilts Barbara! They are both super. The pink and green looks so peaceful.
On 09/23/2011, Kai said ...
That's one MORE reason I DON'T turn on my phone's ringer! Seriously! Unless I'm expecting a call at a specific time, the phone is ALWAYS silent. I have Caller ID so if someone really needs something, I'll return their call IF they bother to leave a message. I guess you could call me a true 'phoneophobic' - LOL! LOVE the quilts. And while I don't quilt (more's the pity) I WILL use that leaf template, so THANK YOU! One last thing: do you s'pose you could send a bit of Autumn this way? We will see 98 degrees by Sunday. Ugh.
On 09/23/2011, Joanne Cage said ...
I won't have a phone in my bedroom for that very reason.
On 09/23/2011, Deb said ...
Congratulations, Barbara Anne!!! Love both of your quilts, but I really like the pink and green.
Susan, my fall leaf wall hanging is in the exact same spot it was the last time I posted about it. We've been getting ready for my mom to return from SC for her next 3 months at our house. I leave this weekend to spend a few days with my sister before bringing my mom home. So it looks like next week is not a UFO week either!
After a phone call like you got, I would have gotten up, too. No way could I have gotten back to sleep. Hope your weekend is good!
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