Veni, Vidi, Vinca

Our leaves aren't really changing just yet, but acorns are constantly dropping and leaves are starting to come down.

We have some slight change in color...

...berries too...

...which seems odd, with the random juxtaposition of early-blooming camellias and azaleas.

I always assumed that it was a temperature drop that caused leaves to start changing in the fall, but we're still in the mid-80s and I'm starting to see glimpses of color.  Apparently the length of daylight can also be a trigger for the reduction of chlorophyll production in plants.

Our vinca, too, is still going strong.

We have thousands of them.  Hard to believe that they all came from 2 or 3 plants, just 3 years ago!  They're rampant re-seeders and I let them do their thing.

Our evergreens are still as vibrant as ever.

Still, it feels more like fall when I see our empty birdhouses.

Our randomly-blooming gardenias are definitely done for the summer.

The turkeys have returned, although I've only gotten a few late-dusk glimpses.

When this recent bout of 99% humidity breaks, we can go back to sitting by the pond again. 

So peaceful, and even the many fallen trees contribute a little color and texture to the scene.

Our "goz" are really active right now, mainly in the early evening.  It's easy to see evidence of their presence.

I'm not seeing many insects, although they're still pretty active.

Where there are flowers, there are bees, butterflies, and skippers.  They may be the last to go!

It seems like the insects are hiding away, and we are too.  Until this weather breaks, we'll continue to find our fun indoors.

Have a great week!

cookie dough and color woe

Twice in one week is kind of a cookie record for me, since I don't bake as much any more, but I couldn't resist these no-fail pumpkin snickerdoodles.

I replaced the white chocolate with cinnamon chips (of course) and they are officially my go-to snickerdoodle now (which might sound dramatic, but I have collected over 20 recipes for snickerdoodles alone, so being able to simplify my life here is very pleasing!).  I just ordered Sally's new cookbook and think that I'll be baking cookies again this week. 

I've been sewing quite a bit.  I've started on my Farm Girl Vintage Sampler quilt and have put together four squares so far.

I continue to struggle with color choices.  I was thinking, "Bright, bright!" with gritted teeth and put together the upper left block, which has a pop of red, but wouldn't exactly be considered colorful.  I'm more pleased with the stacked bowls and chick (embroidered legs forthcoming!), but I'm going to have to toss the block on the lower right.  The pink tulips look annoyingly like leopard print from a distance, the center pinwheel doesn't "pop," and the frame around it fades into the background.  I've remade two squares three times, which might sound insane overly careful, but I really want to push myself to work with color and make squares that go together, even though a wide variety of fabrics are being used.  I spent hours this weekend tidying/organizing some "bright!  bright!" scrap fabric into mix-and-match piles...

...and hopefully it will become intuitive by the end.  I have gotten pretty good at something I used to struggle with:  fixing mistakes.

Here, a piece of fabric was probably accidentally sliced, then frayed.

I'm a perfectionist, but there's no way I was going to pull out that green piece and try to re-sew it accurately, or toss the block altogether.  I cut a piece of matching fabric, folded it, and pinned it over the mistake.

I used clear thread and whip-stitched the edges.  It took about 5 minutes to do three sides.  Then I sewed this half of the block to another one, and the "fix" basically disappears.  All you see is matching fabric.  Once this is quilted, it will be even harder to see.  Hooray for quick and easy fixes!

Other than work and sewing like a maniac, I've been enjoying the cooler weather.  We've had a resurgence of gardenias:

More beautiful fungus:

Actually, I'm not sure what that bottom one is...an insect gall, maybe?

Pretty seed pods:

Berries...

...and more abandoned webs.

I've been growing cat grass in our sunny window.  This is FIVE DAYS OF GROWTH...from seed!

Bosewichte loves it.  He sits on the kitchen rug and waits politely for me to notice and bring the pot down to his level.  It's a nice treat for him and keeps him out of my house plants.  Tabitha isn't interested, though.  She's more interested in sleeping than eating!

Have a great week!

the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad quilt

I finished my snails quilt!  But I had more struggles with it than any I've done before.

The piecing itself was more difficult because of a few really tiny pieces. They frequently got sucked into the needle plate and I was ready to pull my hair out by the last snail!  When I was ready to sandwich the layers together, I laid strips of leftover batting down instead of buying a new sheet of it. I was nearly out of adhesive spray but was determined to complete this step, so the various layers only got a light misting instead of a heavy dousing.  It seemed to work, but once I started quilting, the layers separated as I constantly rotated the quilt and shoved it through the small throat space of the machine.  Unbeknownst to me, the back became detached and started to wrinkle and bunch, and soon that extra fabric caught up in my concentric spiral stitching.

So you can see that because of the pleating, the quilt backing no longer reached the edge of the quilt.  I could either pick out all that stitching (NEVER) or sew new strips of fabric along the edge.  I chose the latter option and did a contrasting color to make it feel more deliberate.  It was a ton of work but now I can say...it's done.  In the end, the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad quilt turned out all right!

Here's the spiral design!

I've already started another quilt!  It's a sampler quilt, so every block is different.  It's definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone!

I had forgotten to post this baby cardigan I'd knitted for a friend's daughter.  I am a total convert to lining baby cardigans now.  It only takes a little while to whip stitch a soft piece of cotton fabric to the inside!

I also started a pair of Halloween socks.  I had this yarn from years ago and wasn't sure what to do with it, so I thought, I'll just add skulls!

But alas, I forgot my cardinal rule to never knit light-against-dark designs where I have to catch and carry the dark yarn behind the light.  It ALWAYS shows through on socks because they're stretched, although you might be able to get away with it on a hat or looser sweater.  I ended up frogging this sock and starting another!  Hopefully I'll be able to show an entire sock next week.

Lots of wildlife to be seen around the house this week.  Our cats keep us informed about new arrivals.

Here a titmouse tidies up in the gardenia tree outside my office window.

A Ceratonia undulosa - a waved Sphinx moth - rests on one of our screens.  They're nocturnal and so never active during the day.

More empty webs around the yard.

Male spiders abandon their webs in the fall to go hunting for mates, but female spiders only abandon the web if it proves to be in an unfruitful location.  I haven't seen the female garden spider in the top web for at least a week, so that must be the case for her!

Although we'll be in the mid-90s through the week, we're supposed to hit the upper 70s by Sunday. I'm so excited for fall weather to really start!

Have a great week!