How do you all get rid of flies in your patio area? I don't want to use a chemical or spray and for years, I have had plants around the patio that I read were great for keeping mosquitoes away. They have really worked! But we like to sit in our patio for morning coffee (when its not so cold and windy) and usually in the evening before dinner with a glass of wine. But, there is always a half dozen or so flies that fly in circles right in the middle of the patio. We do have a couple of outside dogs but we keep the patio washed down to try to keep the fly population down. I read a couple weeks ago that there are some plants that give off an aroma that flies don't like and they are pretty much the same list as for mosquito repelling plants. But, I thought I would put a couple planters with these new plants – Sweet Basil, Lavender, and mint – in a smaller planter with some others to add color. I've had them out there for about three days now and I do believe they are helping! If you have any other ideas, let me know, please.
Our friends, Ed and Deb came over yesterday for a visit. Debbie has been working on a t-shirt quilt for her son. She sews a bit but has never made a quilt so we are taking this slow and easy; but I am afraid we are converting another one to love quilting! Yippee! She has the t-shirts sewn to our foundation backing and has trimmed them up and laid them out so she knows how she wants them to go together. Then we sat down at the computer and looked for fabrics. We found exactly what we were looking for so we got them ordered. Now we wait!
The brown strip of fabric hanging down the middle is NOT what we are going to use. I'll keep you posted on her progress.
Meanwhile, I went through a huge stack of projects and sorted them by their various stages of completion and then put them in order of importance. This project was started almost two years ago. When Donald was serving one of his tours in Afghanistan, his buddy did some amazing things while their group was under fire and for that, he received a Silver Star. His friend had a black lab for years and she was an awesome dog. At one of our quilt shows, I saw a fellow vendor with this panel hanging on the wall and knew immediately what I wanted to do with it.
I am making a pillow from patriotic fabrics as a long overdue gift. It makes me want to cry, it makes me think of his unbelievably heroic acts and what a "brother" he has been to Donald. I have made one more block since I took this picture earlier today. I am determined to get it finished tomorrow. I will post pictures.
This is another project that came from the stack of UFO's. I had made the top about six months ago and had it hanging on the design wall since then. I got it quilted yesterday before Debbie got here and this morning I got the binding on it. I guess I will sit in my chair at home tonight and stitch the binding down on the back. This Heart Banner is about the fifth or sixth banner pattern we have available. I have several others that are in progress and we are hoping before the end of this year, we will have all twelve done, patterns written and available. We are thinking we might also offer them as a block of the month. This will probably be the one to start us off in December/January to give time to get it done before February. We will also keep you posted on these. Each pattern has three different blocks (finish at 6") and there are two complete sets of foundations included, so you can make two banners (they make great little gifts!). I like to make the second set of blocks into pot holders to match my seasonal wallhanging.
I have been waiting to hear if any of our Quilt, Craft, Sew Shows will be taking place. Currently, there are two scheduled for the end of September/beginning of October but PIQF and Houston were both cancelled and were scheduled for several weeks later. We will keep you posted on our schedule. I would love to get to see the friendly faces of people we have gotten to know over the years at these shows. But, until all this craziness is over, I guess we stay at home and keep ourselves safe and healthy! HAPPY QUILTING!