We’re on the verge of my favorite season: FALL!

While the list of things I love about fall is way too long for this post, here are a few of my top picks this month.

1. Soup weather is almost here!

I recently discovered a super delicious Kale & Quinoa Minestrone recipe that I’m completely smitten with. I knew I could pick most of the veggies up at the market since they were mostly in season and I actually had a lot of the other ingredients on hand. So as soon as the weather had a hint of fall (meaning: upper 70s 😉 ), I dusted off my stock pot and gave it a shot!

There are a few tweaks I’d like to make to the recipe so keep an eye out for my version on the blog soon! 🙂

2. Half marathon training.

This summer I felt a little like this guy…

But now that the weather is finally cutting me some slack, I’m starting to remember why I love running so much: all the time alone with my thoughts, soaking up the fresh air and wandering through my sweet city.

Last weekend I knocked out a 9-miler so it looks like I’m going to be able to run the Governor’s Cup half marathon (rather than the 8k – which by the way is a great course!). Fingers crossed that all goes well and I’ll be able to also run the newest half marathon in Columbia (well, Lexington) in December: Run Hard Lexington. That means – I will have run FOUR half marathons in 2014! 🙂

3. Quilting!

As if you didn’t know I was yet again going to bore you with my quilt progress! 😉

I’m happy to report that I’m almost done with my very first quilt – all that’s left are a few more rows of stitching and then on to binding. Stay tuned for the full recap when I’m done!

4. Adding personalized applique detail to all my sewn gifts.

You can bet that if I’m invited to celebrate anything, I’m bringing a handmade gift. My sewing addiction has led to my inability to buy gifts from big box stores (well, mostly. I’ll admit that on occasion I’ll throw the recipient a bone and buy off their registry).

In the bottom corner of my quilt, I added my favorite scrap applique:

In my heart of hearts, I imagine my quilt being passed down to my future grandkids who will of course love and treasure it and think I’m just THE coolest thing since sliced bread (obviously), so naturally a heart felt like the right addition.

While hearts are my favorite applique, I was recently invited to a baby shower for a childhood friend who married a Royals baseball player. I have heard that minky is all the rage with kiddos so I figured I’d give it a try.

I’m not gonna lie: working with minky is kind of like knit – it’s a love-hate material.

On the bright side, minky baby quilts are pretty easy to make. There are tons of tutorials out there, but basically you just lay a square/rectangle of cotton fabric on top of the same size minky with the right sides facing and stitch all the way around leaving a small opening on one edge so that you can flip the blanket. Then top stitch all around and – voila! – you’re all set for the baby shower.

I’d love to tell you there’s some great / highly sophisticated method that I use to make my applique shapes, but realistically this is what I do:

– cut the shape out from my fabric of choice

– iron light weight interfacing to the back (optional – it just makes it a bit sturdier / less likely to move around too much when you’re stitching)

– set my machine to the zig zag stitch, tighten up the width so there is little space between the stitches, test on a scrap until I reach the desired look then slowly stitch all the way around the shape.

5. My new mug

You’re probably thinking: that mug doesn’t look very new and what’s the heck is so special about it?

Well, friends: I found it for a dollar at the Salvation Army and just had to have it.

Here’ why: as soon as I saw it, memories of my Gammy’s frail hands holding her cup of steaming hot black coffee sitting at her kitchen table watching the humming birds come and go from her feeder in the window in between smoke breaks on her patio. I miss her tea parties, I miss the nicotine kisses she smothered us with, I miss finding tiny tubes of lipsticks everywhere, I miss her telling stories about the hummingbirds she’d named after the Muppet Babies. I miss everything about her.

I’m kind of sucker for pretty coffee mugs and nostalgia so naturally I love this mug. The fancy shape of the mug + the vintage floral pattern make me feel all warm and fuzzy (the warm coffee helps with that too 😉 ).

6. My new car

I know, I know. I’ve been very quiet on this one. 🙂

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Kia, but I’m happy to report that I understand why there are so many Souls on the road: they are very affordable and super fun to drive!

My Dad has a Kia Soul and he loves it. When I told him that the Hubs and I were considering trading in our 100k+-mileage money-pits (the Hubs got an Optima), he said “you know, they make the Soul in a manual transmission.”

I always told myself (and my Dad…) that when I was fortunate enough to actually pick out my car (rather than having to buy the one they hide around back), I was going back to a manual transmission. [My first – and second – car was a stick shift]

I was a little nervous during the test drive because it had been a few years, but I tell you: it really is like riding a bike.

And so – if you see me & Betty White tooling around town, be sure to give us a wave!

 

What are some of your favorite things about September? I’d love to hear what’s on your list! 🙂

 

{Catch up on all What I’m Lovin’ monthly posts here.}