A mini finish & more from the quilt show

The November mini for the Year in Spools really was quick to finish once I got the pieces cut.

There were not many small pieces in this one, unlike a couple of the other months.  The little leaves in the middle of the spools was the only thing that took very long.  For some reason this one did not want to lay flat when I got the flimsy done. But once I had it quilted I was able to square it up and it's fine.  These finish at about 13".

I'll leave you with 3 more photos from our quilt show . . . 

Our guild is small but we sure have some talented ladies.

Mid-week progress

There has definitely been progress on the sewing front so far this week.

The cactus bloom blocks for Cactus In the Cabin are all done, and I've been playing with some layout options.  A flimsy by the end of the week?  Maybe . . .

Yesterday I mentioned having way too many kits waiting in drawers, and deciding that would be my next PIG project as I'm reaching the flimsy stage of Cactus In the Cabin.  Kits and fat quarters tend to be what I can't resist buying, so yes I have too many.  Time to make use of some.  I've pulled out 4 small kits, and will try to work through them - along with the Bah Humbug pillow kit I just bought at the quilt show.  That makes 5 kits. 

I have a good start on the November spools mini quilt.  All of the pieces are cut, and actually the 2 pumpkin units are already sewn.  This should be a quick finish for this week. 

The Bah Humbug pillow is all applique.  There are a lot of pieces, but many of the pieces are pretty big.  The pieces have been traced onto the fusible, and fused onto the fabric.  Once the spool mini is done, I'll move to the next step for this one. 

Quilt show report

The Heartland Quilt Guild had our quilt show over the past weekend, and it was a good time.  The committee did a great job organizing.  There were demos and speakers, and awesome vendors as well as beautiful quilts.  It's always amazing to see all the talent our small guild has.  It's so much work for the committee especially.  

Our Featured Quilter this year is very talented but humble person.  Wow!  She had some lovely things to show.  And her "style" has such a wide variety.  This applique quilt was exquisite!!  I was working the registration table during her trunk show but everyone said it was wonderful. She even had her granddaughters on stage with her holding up quilts she had made for them. 

We always have a Viewer's Choice award and this was MY favorite quilt.  It won 2nd place in the viewer voting.  Isn't this beautiful?  If I remember correctly she made it for a granddaughter.    

There is always some kind of small Challenge project for each quilt show.  This year the challenge was an adaptation of the show them - Quilting Stars.  The winner was top center, #2 was the middle pillow on the bottom.  #3 was top left.  Mine is top right.  

Each vendor had such interesting things.  And I'll admit that I bought something from each one.  The Bah Humbug pillow kit for Christmas was one of those purchases.  This may have to be one of the projects I do right away even though I already have kits coming out of my ears.  It's so stinking cute!!   And I'm looking forward to some Christmas sewing.  

More from the quilt show to come yet this week.   

Design Wall Monday - Oct 20

 What a weekend!  Our quilt show turned out really well.  I do have plenty of pictures to share this week, but need to find time to go through them before posting.  We had awesome vendors and speakers.  And we had a Quilt of Valor award on Sunday.  I didn't win any ribbons or any of the raffle baskets, but did have a very good time.

As for my "design wall" for this week . . . I really want to finish up those Cactus in the Cabin blocks.  The blocks are trimmed but still need little black corners added where the green meets the black strips.  Once those are done, there is a bunch of other projects calling my name - loudly.  

I'm signed up for a fun class on Friday, adding applique to a jean jacket.  Plans for what to add to the jacket are still pretty fluid in my head, but I've pulled out a couple of possibilities to consider.  Do I want it pretty?  Or whimsical?  Colorful?   

While looking for something to use on that jean jacket applique, a couple of small seasonal kits were re-discovered in my sewing room that may need to become priorities soon.  And the Bad Kitty pillow still needs some stitching too, so there are WAY TOO MANY things tugging at my attention right now.

What's on YOUR design wall today?
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RSC25 - Week #42

How is it possible there are only 10 more weeks in 2025?  This year is going by much too quickly for me.  Today our guild quilt show opens!  I really hope we have a good crowd over the weekend. 

Another scrappy quilt top is done - using the Potato Chip blocks.  There were 19 of these 12" (finished) blocks hanging in the closet, so I made 1 more to finish it off.  Ten have the neutrals on the outer ring, and the other 10 have the colors in the outer ring.  There are also 6 more blocks clipped to a hanger in the closet with a totally different color arrangement.  Of course there is a small bin FULL of more Potato Chip rectangles to use for more blocks. 

Two placemats used nearly all of the brown batik scraps from the quilt top I made for the Jelly Roll sew-along a couple of weeks ago.  It's good not to add these pieces to the scrap bin.  The big stack of placemats (right side) keeps growing.  I'll be donating these, hopefully to Meals on Wheels or some other local group.

Are you already thinking about what blocks or projects you want to do in 2026?  I am of course because I always have multiple blocks sets going for RSC.  This week I looked through my binders of "favorites" and decided that I haven't made this block in several years.  Snail's Trail or Virginia Reel - 2 of the names this block is called.  I made this one just to play with some brown this week.  The pattern in my binder called this Virginia Reel, and I squared it up to 12", so it will finish at 11.5".  Now it's hanging in the closet with the pattern, waiting for the New Year to get some friends.    

What other fun projects are happening in the RSC world?

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Cactus block progress

Hmmm . . . it's already Friday, and there has been good progress on a couple of fronts.  A flimsy from Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks has been completed.  I'll share that tomorrow on the RSC post.  

Yesterday morning was spent sewing all of the Round #3 strips onto the cactus bloom blocks, and then trimming them.  Last step for these 20 blocks will be adding the little squares onto the green/black corners so they will look like the other rounds.  With the quilt show happening all weekend, this step probably won't happen until sometime next week. 

Today is the set-up day for the guild's quilt show held every other year.  It's a huge job setting up the poles and hanging the quilts.  The vendors will arrive today too.  The committee has been so organized with all the details, so I'm confident all will go well.  My rolling cart is packed with the 3 quilts and 3 small items that I'll be showing.  No sewing will happen today as set-up will be starting already this morning.  

Blockheads & cactus

 This is the 20th installment of Moda Blockheads for this year.  We're nearly at the end of this particular free sew along.

It's called Cross Training by Jenelle Kent.  The 9" finished block is a perfect example of one that I love the final look of - but didn't enjoy making it.  It wasn't difficult and didn't take a long time to make.  I think the problem was knowing that there were 48 of those little white corners to stitch and flip.

There is progress on the cactus blocks for Cactus in the Cabin sew along too.  The 2nd round of strips have been added, and I've trimmed all of the blocks to the correct size. 

 

This next step involves adding those little black pieces onto the corners where the pink meets the black strips.  I didn't get as much progress made as hoped because my husband has "gifted" me with another big box of paperwork to shred for work.  But since I haven't had any actual work hours since August, I guess it won't kill me to spend some time shredding again.  But it does cut into my sewing time.