Sunday Smiles

The Collin Firth version of 

Pride and Prejudice

has always been my favorite :)

Can you believe it's been

18 years

since this film was made?
*Image found on Pinterest

Rene's Tuxedo Quilt and More

 Rene should win the second prize

for most quilts completed this last month

when we met Wednesday with

Those Mesa Ladies

She calls this one

Tuxedo

Table Topper size which will be a gift for a daughter.

A nice version of a Drunkard's Path

I love the black and white contrast.

 Rene is very good at 

making her backs as beautiful as her fronts.

 Beautifully machine quilted by Pat Roche (Pat's Just Quilting)

Belgian Waffles

Free Pattern and Tutorial

by Happy Zombie

on Moda Bake Shop

HERE

 Most of the ladies in our group

made this quilt together a few years ago.

 Rene gives so many great ideas 

for designing backs to quilts.

 Honey Bun Hourglass

Pattern by Sandy Workman

of Pine Needles

I love this quilt!

Pine Needles  also gives a free tutorial 

complete with cutting instructions

HERE

Rene used a great selection of 

Mary Engelbriet fabrics

and again made a terrific back.

I am hand delivering this one to Pat 

for her to work her magic

with the long arm quilting.

Those Mesa Ladies/ September

 Yesterday was that favorite day I wait for each  month

the 3rd Wednesday

where I get together and sew with

Those Wonderful Mesa Ladies

We meet at the church

and spend the day working on our projects.

One of the parts I look forward to the most

is seeing the progress the ladies have made

on their quilts during the month.

 This month, I think Peg won the prize

for 

Most Completed

 Celebrating

 births

and 

birthdays

Peg completed 3 quilts

for her grand children.

 This Chevron quilt was made from left over scraps.

Don't you love the long arm quilting pattern, too?

 Peg put soft Minkee on the back

for a cuddly snuggle.

 The same pattern made in Pink 

 Wonderful fabric choices

 If you look closely

you can see the same 

Scrappy Chevron Block

I just did a tutorial for 

HERE

*Peg's Half Square Triangles 

measure at 5 inches.

The only difference is that half of her

triangles are one solid color.

 More soft Minkee for the back.

 Scrappy Strip Quilt

 Can you see the cherries in

several of the fabrics?

 Peg's long armer followed that same theme for the quilting.

Very cute!

 The quilting pattern is even more noticeable when viewing the

Minkee back.

 And then there is the food.

Janet really outdid herself 

by providing the most delicious lunch.

She made Stephanie's 

BBQ Chicken Salad

that is to die for!

Recipe can be found on Steph's blog

Stuph From Steph

HERE

 

 Rene made 

melt in your mouth

homemade orange rolls.

Not only can these ladies quilt,

but they CAN COOK!

More Show and Tell tomorrow

from the group.

Our Little Slice Of Heaven

 We think September is a wonderful time

to play in Southern California.

School has resumed and the crowds have lessened,

especially at the beach.

The weather is usually

PERFECT

 We have a family tradition of 

renting a beach house

right off the ocean

in beautiful 

Newport Beach

and spend the week

relaxing

and just being together.

 Blissful days spent building sand castles,

gathering seashells,

 swimming and boogie boarding.

This year we had almost the entire section of our beach

all to ourselves.

Hours and hours of play time

from sunrise to sunset.

  Mr. Cactus taught

the grandbabies the art of

wet sand sculptures.

 Gather up hand fulls of 

wet sand and let it 

drip 

drip 

drip

into a formation of your choice.

 Let your creativity and imagination

flow

 A forest of sand Christmas trees?

Our little 

Slice of Heaven

Cars Land

Lisa E. was right on

when she guessed we were in

Cars Land

 Disney California Adventure

 Such a cool ride!

12 Acres of fun

where you race through

desert scenes 

and Red Rock mountain ranges.

 Even though we were in California

we felt we had been 

momentarily morphed

back to Arizona.

Disney's Ornament Valley

is patterned after

Monument Valley

located along the Arizona-Utah state line.

 We are here with our 3 oldest children and grandchildren.

I'm an especially happy mama 

to have our son Scott who lives in New York

fly in for the week.

 And with only a 5 1/2 hour drive from the Phoenix Metro

our daughter Aubrey was also able to join us for a few days.

 Being with family is the best part!

  We are big Disney Fans

even during the competitive parts

Although I am a little worried they

might not let us back in :)

Can You Guess Where We Are?

 I know it's been a little silent

here at 

Cactus Needle 

during the last week.

 Can You Guess Where We Are?

 I'll give you a few clues:

That's Butte

pronounced like "Ute"

or like "Route"

as in 66

(not what you were thinking at first, was it?)

 We had to leave our home in Arizona

to see Arizona
(*we are not in Arizona)

 And we parked our car to ride in a car.

 Does this help?

 Come on!  I'm almost giving it away!

Any ideas?

I will leave you with

some sage advice :)
*last clue:
some say this is the happiest place on Earth :)

Starry Eyed Quilt Block

 The Bees Knees- A Quilting Bee

is hosted this month

by the wonderful 

Sinta Borland (Pink Pincuhion)

 Sinta sent each of us in the group

 the fabric to make  the

Starry Eyed Block

Free pattern offered by

Angela of Fussy Cut 

over on Moda Bake Shop

HERE

 This really was a fun block to make

It ends up being quite large

finishing at 16-inches

 I have never made a 

wonky star before

and it was quite a freeing technique.

This is one of the things I love about being part of a Bee.

I am trying new things I have always wanted to learn

but probably never would have taken the time for.

 Sinta chose some really cute fabric.

(although it did remind me I need to get the laundry done:)

The original quilt over on Moda Bake Shop

I like it!

This would be a great stash buster.

I just may have to add this to 

my to-do list.

Love those Bees Knees

 Thanks Sinta!