November Awash

November 1st and I thought I should get out in my yard, pull the thistle that still seems to grow, pick up my yard lights an put them inside for the winter, get some straw to protect my roses and my Japanese Maple, maybe get the water off the top of the pool cover and leaves.

I love raking the leaves into a huge pile, and here I can burn them.

But mother nature had other ideas.  It has been pouring since the middle of the night, in fact it continued to rain until Friday afternoon.   I should sew so I could be ahead a wee bit and not be under a time crunch. 

Remember I jokingly said I had the epic HST quilt going on?  I showed the trimmings. 

The quilt had 2 blocks block A, and block B.  Each block has 25 parts, and the pressing was a wee bit overwhelming. 

Block A.  I decided instead of sewing each block separately I would sew each row when they were all done I would press each row correctly.  I then decided to do the same thing for Block B. Also there is a lot of pinning so I decided I would take a wee break and work on my Bee Blocks.

I will say that this block frustrated me to no end and it was paper pieced.  When I was done I wrote some instructions as to how big the fabrics need to be while paper piecing.  I am embarrassed to say that it took me almost 3 days to get these done.  The block is called Star Plus. 

I took a mini break after tearing out the pattern above one more time and played with the scraps.  I saw a Christmas Quilt and I thought I could figure it out on my own.

It was easy.  Just 2 1/2 inch strips and squares.  Each letter ends up being 6 1/2 inches square.  What a great way to use up some stash!

After I finished my bee block my next task was my friendship block.

I used an ombre for the yellow tree, but I didn't have one for the orange color I wanted to use.

I had seen the Vintage Christmas book by Lori Holt, and while I won't be making a quilt right away I just had to get the book.

I also saw a really neat pattern made by the Deb Tucker Studios.

Finally I like the Ghastlies, but I have never made anything from it, but I saw the newest line where they are crafting, and decided I had to have it. 

Saturday has dried out a bit.  We are supposed to be dry for a couple more days.  I may attack the leaves and garden tomorrow.