I got the quilt top "almost" finished this weekend. I still have the borders to put on, and a good pressing is needed.  Flannel seems to need more pressing than the usual cotton to look sharp.  I like it!

 

The first of the leaves are falling - I spent my first morning of the season raking/shredding leaves on Saturday.  AJ helped with the raking, but the shredding is a one person job (though he did change the cutting line in the shredder for me.)  I'll be spending the next few weekend raking and shredding....and green-waste runs.  At least the shredding keeps the number of runs down. Saturday's leaves weren't even close to a full trailer, so maybe next week - depending on how many leaves fall.  Without shredding, it would have been a full trailer.

Ripley was helping though - she was keeping an eye out for intruders and any rabid squirrels....

 

One of my recent quilting upgrades was the purchase of a roll of batting.  Up to now, I've bought pre-cut pieces of batting, which worked fine, but I ended up with either needing something just a bit smaller and had lots of scraps of batting left over or just a bit bigger than what I had on hand.  (I use the letftovers  in my potholders and other projects, but I still have a lot!!)  I also had to run in to town to pick one up when I wanted to work on a quilt (since I'm not that great at planning ahead...). The roll should make 6 or 7 quilts,

And yes, I had a helper....

 

AJ watched Alli for me this weekend and I took the dogs out for a run in the field.  They had a great time while I grabbed some pictures of the changing foliage.

 

 

Alli and I went shopping at WalMart this weekend, and the trees are turning colors! It does make the WalMart parking lot a bit prettier....

 

 

It's done!  I got the border on and got it washed.  The only thing is I forgot to put a label on it. My new labels are sewn into the binding, and I forgot! 

 

 

 

My next piecing project - a flannel quilt!  It's super soft - light grey for the back ground.  Super simple piecing, but a very pretty quilt.  I have the blocks made (such as they are - just quick 4-patch blocks) so it's ready to put together. 

 

 

Done!  I finished the table runner for fall - and I'm impressed both that I finished it, and that it wasn't as hard as I was making it out to be.  I used a different technique for quilting it, which is what was making me hesitate - I've gotten used to (maybe not good yet...) quilting  on my frame with an all-over pattern.  This was done at the machine I use for sewing and each block is different.  There is still a large learning curve there, but....I like it!

 

 

 

With the recent time change, we have almost lost the opportunity to walk the dogs after work.  I have collars for them that light up so we can see them, but letting them run loose in the field in the dark is more than I want to do (I trip over the rough ground in the daylight.....just sayin')  We do get some nice sunset photos though.

 

At least they are equal opportunity helpers - now they are sitting on my crochet instructions for making snowflakes....so not helping....

I found boarder fabric for the Goose on the Loose quilt.  I was looking for something a bit less orange, but...it's not bad.  It's ready to get sandwiched up and quilted.

 

I got the table runner put together, ready to start practicing quilting!  I did have more "help" than I needed though.  I keep trying to tell her that quilts are supposed to keep us warm, she doesn't need to keep them warm.....

 

My newest project - a fall table runner.  The blocks are pretty simple, which provides room for some fancy quilting - in my case, an opportunity to quilt something small and if I do it wrong, it was just a table runner.  The idea is from one of the quilting books I picked up in Paducah this summer.  It has the pattern for the runner and several different ways to quilt it - a "sampler" of quilting patterns as a way to learn.  Hopefully it's successful enough I can use it!