Autumn is Here (unofficially)

I love the changing seasons. It always reminds me of how I change or how I need to change. It seems like its a pivotal point in the year to have the September Equinox draw near (officially on the 23rd). I am in the northern hemisphere so Autumn has begun. 

I have an early morning appointment at the clubhouse to baste the applique mystery quilt. It won't take me long to do. And then, there is a tenant meeting that I would like to attend, so the morning is already spoken for with these two activities. Because the quilt is a Pay It Forward project, I will not show photos of it. I took advantage of another mystery quilt opportunity and made the back using coordinating fabrics from the top or front. It really has turned out sweet. Not sure how the quilting will go on it yet.

Yesterday, I finally got outside in my South garden to cut down or pull out the dead plant material & cut back some of the plants to ready them for Winter. I filled the big trash container and still have much more work to do in the yard. Its probably a good idea to get it off the property as southern Cali is in its full blown fire season. Watering has been quite curtailed here and the whole state looks parched. Weather is cooling and that means the AC can stay off and the windows are opened. Yaeh! Fresh air again!

I wonder why those Spring & Fall deep cleaning times are so much a part of me, yet they have been almost rituals each year. And living here has sparked my captivity inside because of the weather. Temps can go over the 100 mark during the day, which is just a bit too much to be outside working. While I prepare my gardens for the Winter, I like to de-clutter my rooms, and especially my storage closets and bins so that I can start my work as if it was new.

The other big project I did was to rearrange the studio/office. Last week, I moved my quilting machine in here, but this work took housecleaning to another level. 

I worked on the prayer flag a bit more. I am not as much an artist on it as I am a woman of spirit, and it has another day or two before the partners on the swap are named. I would like to hold off finishing it until I find out who that person is and do work on it that is specific to them. Its exciting to have that swap be an international. In spite of the high cost of shipping, I am loving the world wide connections.

And I found a pattern I want to use for a quilt to give my older Son. The store in town has this amazing dark blue fabric with constellations on it. I knew I wanted it and this pattern is perfect for it as a complement. The stars will take scraps and so its going to be one of those 'stash-buster' projects. 

Jer's Kaleidoscope quilt needs the first border fabric. I worked on that a bit too from laying the blocks out to trying to piece the final three blocks. It is coming along nicely.