Finished (or Not) Friday - Very small finishes

EDIT:  The eye procedure went well yesterday, but it was good that I had written this post early.  Blurry vision was the norm for awhile.  And happens again each time I put in the ointment needed for the next week.  But that's a minor inconvenience.

This week, there are finishes but I warn you - they are small.

The autumn themed mini banner is done.  It's only 10 x 26 - small. I now have 4 seasonal banners, and they fit perfectly hanging on that narrow space in my home office. I may need to eventually add a couple more to the collection for specific holidays. 
 

Have you tried the Diamond Dot craze yet?  I just had to dive in this summer and give it a try.  One of my friends has done dozens of various diamond projects large and small.  Both of my granddaughters love doing these too.  I began with some Patriotic greeting cards decorated with the diamonds in mid summer.  Then I saw these cute 4" snowman on Amazon, and couldn't resist ordering them. For the past couple of weeks they've been on my desk.  A couple of hours here and there - and Voila!!  

Currently they have a little lobster clasp from the kit so they could be key chains, but I'm planning to change those clasps to ribbons and hang them on the Christmas tree instead. I still don't think I have the patience to do really large projects, but now I'm confident I can do the sewing themed picture I got last winter as a Secret Santa gift. 

I have 2 quilts ready to bind, so maybe next Friday will have some bigger finishes to report.    

For more finishes, please visit:  https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

What's next?

Two rows are assembled for Salt Water Taffy, out of 10 needed.  I'll continue plugging away on those rows.  I've promised myself it WILL BE a flimsy in a few days.   

Next project?  I cut the pieces for this super simple Halloween table runner while Olivia was sewing a couple of weeks ago.  I'm going to sew this together this morning.

Then this afternoon I have an appointment with my ophthalmologist.  The tentative plan is for her to open up a clogged oil gland on my right lower eyelid. I had the same procedure done about a year ago on the left eye.  She will have numbed my eye, so most likely I won't be doing any sewing or reading for a few hours. 

Mid-week

Today is a monthly lunch with former coworkers - retired of course.  Last month we got a new member of the group who is newly retired.  And now I feel really old because she was one of my own students (high school).  She did retire a bit younger than most of us, but still . . . it makes me feel like time has gotten away from me.

The procrastination on Salt Water Taffy has ended.  The blocks have been layed out, rearranged, and now are pinned into rows.  There were 84 blocks, which means I have 4 left over - plus a bunch of the solid jelly roll strips.  Some of the strips could possibly become a scrappy binding. 

Progress is steady on the paper pieced fall mini banner.  It has a turkey and 2 acorn blocks, all in a 10 x 26 vertical banner.  I've reached the quilting stage. which will be kept very simple.  The binding in that dusty purple in the turkey feather.  I hope to get it bound today, but probably won't hang this one up until October since it has a Thanksgiving vibe to it. 

This kit had a lot of extra fabric in it.  This is all leftover, so it will go into the brown and orange scrap baskets.  None of these pieces are large, but they're too big to just throw away.

The yellow version of Who Found the Catnip has been cut out, and arranged on a design board now that the paper piecing isn't on the board.  If I had been thinking I would have cut the pieces needed for next month's purple block at the same time.  It's almost September after all, so I could have saved some time. 

Gifting quilts

I love being able to gift one of my quilts to someone, and always hope they enjoy and use them.

My closest cousin had an important birthday this weekend, and I had made this quilt especially with her in mind.  I'm so glad it arrived in the mail safely, and that she likes it.

The pattern was for the local Saturday Sampler program, designed by a local pattern designer (Knight on the Prairie) and called Stranded on the Prairie.  It was designed with stranded knitting in mind, so I knew I had to make it for my cousin.  She is a very talented knitter, and does a lot of stranded knitting.  She and her husband are also talented gardeners, and she is calling it her Coleus Quilt because the colors match the massive coleus plant in their yard.  

Happy birthday cuz!!

Design Wall Monday - August 24

A new week, and the last full week of summer. Yikes!! Some region schools have started already, and others will start this week. The big deal in town this week is the Corn Palace Festival, an annual event with carnival rides, carnival games, and  food trucks, all lined up on the streets around the Corn Palace.  The Corn Palace will host a couple of concerts later in the week.  

My plans for the week include the monthly lunch with the retired group from school, a couple of PT appointments, an ophthalmologist appointment, and some sewing of course.  The main sewing project will be the autumn mini vertical banner.  

These mini banners are paper pieced, and I did get all the parts cut and labeled with the stickers from the kit.  Shabby Fabrics make their paper pieced kits so easy to use.

It's also time to choose another UFO to move forward.  I really need to get Salt Water Taffy back out, because the blocks are all made.  The blocks just need to be assembled into a flimsy and then there could actually be an empty project bin.  I've really procrastinated on this particular project all summer.  

There are so many UFOs, and WIPs and new kits to choose from but I do have one final item on my PHD (Projects Half Done) list at The Pin Cushion - also not started yet.  They challenge us each year to put 12 items on our list, with each finish checked off moving us toward a reward at the end of the year.  So far I've finished 10 of the 12, have #11 in the quilting queue, and #12 sitting in a project box.  It's a kit for a round quilt, with snowmen and snowflakes appliqued all around.  Maybe - IF the first 2 tasks get done this week - I can at least get this kit onto my September To Do list. Maybe I can at least get the applique traced onto the fusible.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #34

Friday was mostly a sewing day.  It felt so good to be in my sewing room for more than just a few minutes.  The hubby left in the morning for a golf tournament, so I had total peace and quiet to do whatever I wanted.  And it didn't involve laundry, cleaning, or grocery shopping.

Originally I was going to make the beehive blocks during the yellow month, but for right now I've just made the 2 bees.  I might still decide to do a beehive but we'll see.  The bees themselves are just too cute. 

A few Ticker Tape blocks were born. Luckily I have a bunch of these cut, and the pieces clipped together in a small basket.  They are quick for when I just have a few minutes.

Each month I've made 4 Scrappy Stars blocks, and the yellow ones were finally finished yesterday.  I've had them cut out for a couple of weeks but just got around to sewing them.
 

One design board had the yellow Snail Trail block parts layed out, but only one of them has been sewn so far.  The other 3 will hopefully happen next week.  Today I plan to cut the parts for the yellow Catnip block and maybe some Vintage Spools with yellow.

Let's go check out more Rainbow fun . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

There just wasn't much time for finishing projects this week, but that's OK because spending time with friends and family is more important.

On Saturday I stopped at Hobby Lobby on my way to pick up my granddaughter.  The plan was to pick up a 24" pillow form to use in the denim and Tilda pillow.  Of course I couldn't leave Hobby Lobby with only the pillow form!  A cute little grey elephant stuffy and some fall silk flowers came home with me too. 

The binding is on 2 more placemats.  These used more RWB leftovers, but didn't even make a dent in the RWB scraps unfortunately. 

That's it for finishes this week!  

For more finishes, please visit:  https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/