Binding a UFO

I am really excited to be finally putting the binding onto my Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018 quilt.  It is a bright, happy quilt that contains traditional blocks done in a rainbow of colors.  I'm loving this one and plan to put it on the bed in our guest room.

Lots of other sewing happened this weekend too because it was too hot and humid to be outside. I made progress on the most recent Simple Whatnots project, made a couple of the Iowa Shop Hop blocks, and sewed the little drawstring bag that was a kit in our bus trip bags.  I'll have plenty of fun stuff to share this coming week. 

Summer flowers

I really wish these lilies would continue to bloom all summer. This orange one is in the front of the house next to the porch. And I have a dark red one next to the back deck.  They are so pretty but don’t last long - especially when it is 100 degrees like today.

Halloween 60 degree runners

This border print was so fun to use for these table runners and toppers. The dancing skeletons and mummies in the purple section just make me smile every time I look at them. 

Obviously I ordered too much of this fabric when I wanted it for the border on the Saturday Sampler, but it's OK because I've used up all but some scraps for these.  I had enough for 3 of the 60 degree runners, 2 of which are identical.  I think I like the purple on the outside the best but all of them are cute.  Then I used leftover triangles to make these hexie table toppers.  The one with the purple outside is slightly smaller because the white ghosts were a bit distracting in the center. 

Now I need to get these quilted and bound.  They should make good gifts.  And I shouldn't admit this but I did find another Halloween border print plus a couple of other border prints in my stash.  I may have a problem.  LOL  So there are probably more 60 degree runners in my future -including the red geranium ones made with the fabric I just bought.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - dark blue

The 6 inch flower blocks are from Lori Holt's book Spelling Bee.  They are so cute.  And now I have a dark blue one to add to the garden.  So I'm caught up with the blocks I've been making for RSC this year - flower, cat, and star blocks. 

I actually have more than these 6 blocks - see the other peeking out from under the red one? But these are the ones made following the RSC colors so far.  I definitely may make more of each color of these since they are small.  And I have no idea what they will become yet, although they would make a fun outer border to a quilt. 

My cat block was made at the beginning of the month as soon as I knew the color.  I used a beautiful blue batik for his body.  And the Ohio Star that I made yesterday has the same dark blue dot that I used in the flower block.  I keep thinking that I need to make a black and white cat block to look like our cat Sammy (nearly 18 years old).

RSC - dark blue

A little early morning sewing (highly unusual) gave me a chance to finally get a little fabric therapy in.  I'm not sure why I was awake that early, but for once I decided to make use of the time.  First I made a dark blue Ohio Star block to join the others in my Rainbow Scrap Challenge collection.  The Ohio Star blocks are so clean and crisp looking, and of course I love star blocks of all kinds.  

There are now 6 of them clipped to a skirt hanger in my sewing room closet.  They join the 6 rainbow cat blocks.  And I have the dark blue flower block to make yet, which may happen over my lunch break from work.  Dark blue was the color for June and the month is almost over so I wanted to make sure I had all 3 of my chosen blocks finished before a new color is announced next week. 

I also sewed one of the remaining 2 Halloween 60 degree runners and one of the 2 hexie Halloween runners made with leftover border fabric from my Saturday Sampler.  More about those another day. 

Shop hop purchasing

The past couple of years I've been trying to use what I have and not make so many random fabric purchases. It's not easy sometimes, but I think I've done pretty well. That being said, I was just on a 3 day "shop hop" - so yes, I did buy fabric. But I think I was pretty conservative for the most part. 

This quilt was displayed in one of the shops and was so beautiful that I couldn't resist buying the pattern.  And I bought enough of the fabric to make a small version with half the blocks.  

Quite a few fat quarters came home with me - with a focus on patriotic and neutral pieces. I also picked up a few that just appealed to me because of the print or colors.  I can picture a couple more Sew Together bags made with the 2 florals. 

Four patterns were purchased (without corresponding fabrics) and they were all for small or even miniature quilts. These 2 are my favorites. The one on the right has cats and tulips - and finishes at 13" x 18".  Too cute!  And the one on the left is a 24" table topper or wall hanging. But it might make a good center for a Quilt of Valor.

And one of the shops had TONS of border prints.  You all have probably figured out already that I love the 60 degree table runners made with border prints. So I purchased this roll that has enough to make 2 of the runners plus 1 of the hexie shaped toppers, and it has backing in the roll.  Who can resist red geraniums this time of year? 

So - other than Row by Row license plates and some Iowa Shop Hop block kits - this is pretty much it.  Oh - and I bought enough of the Iowa Shop Hop fabric with the bicycles to make another pillowcase and a pot holder for my daughter who does the distance bike rides.  All-in-all I feel like I kept my spending on the conservative side considering I visited 11 shops. 

Road trip by the numbers

One bus, 3 days, 43 ladies, 1170 miles, 9 quilt shops - and lots of fun. Our guild-sponsored bus trip shop hop is now in the rear view mirror.  We made a circuit from Mitchell, SD to the Amana Colonies in Iowa and back again.  I actually visited 11 shops because my dear friend Sylvia is currently living in the area and picked me up for a quick side trip and lunch on Saturday afternoon. 

I've been collecting Row by Row license plates for several years, and picked them up in the shops that had them.  Some plates are from previous years but that's OK as long as the plate was one I didn't already have.  The Iowa state-wide shop hop was also going on so there were block patterns to collect at each stop.  More on that another time. 

Our Iowa shop hop stops included:

1. Sioux City - Heart 'n Hand

2.  Ames - Quilting Connections

3.  Cedar Rapids - Inspired to Sew

4-5.  Williamsburg - Woolen Needle + Rainbows and Calico

6-7. Amana Colonies - Fern Hill + Heritage Quilt Shop

8.  West DesMoines - The Quilt Block

9.  Clive - Creekside Quilting

And my bonus shops were in Kalona, Iowa:

10.  Willow Creek

11.  Stitch n Sew

We left at 7 am Friday and returned at 8 pm Sunday.  Now - I haven't even unpacked yet this morning.  I overslept and was late for my 8 am hair appointment today, and now I need to sit down in my office and catch up on work that piled up while I was gone.  Time for sewing - and admiring my purchases - this evening, maybe. 

Design Wall Monday posts can be found at: https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Check out what other quilters are up to this Monday.

Interesting side trips

Just south a bit from Iowa City is the small town of Kalona, Iowa.  The town is “decorated” with a quilty theme all over. Large quilt blocks appear on over 40 street corners along with plaques explains the block name. Quilt block banners hang on every light pole and there are 2 fun quilt shops within a block of each other. What a fun little detour from the bus trip shop hop today. My friend Sylvia picked me up for a local side trip. Google “street quilt blocks in Kalona Iowa” for more information.

Halloween 60 degree runner

Here is runner #1 made from the leftovers of the border print on my Saturday Sampler.  Judging by what is left I think there is enough for 2 more of these. They should make good gifts next fall.  I may have to play with the next ones a bit and maybe reverse the colors so the dancing skeletons are going around the outside. 

Design Wall Monday - a flimsy

Yay!  It's a finished top!!!  This is the Halloween version of the latest Saturday Sampler and it's ready to quilt.  I do think the border print that I used for the outer border draws the eye away from the snow fence sashing - at least a little bit.  I was trying to lay this out on the deck this morning just as it was beginning to rain, so forgive the slightly dark and fuzzy photo.

The border print has the same green and purple found in the green print in the blocks.  I got very lucky in finding this print.  I have lots left over and plan to make several 60 degree runners from those leftovers. 

My mitered corners turned out pretty well.  And my favorite part of the print is actually the purple strip with the dancing skeletons and mummies.  So cute. 

I'm linking up today with Design Wall Monday at: https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Almost ready for borders

I have one final sashing piece to add to the last row.  And then I can sew the last 2 rows onto the quilt top of my Halloween version of Saturday Sampler.  The borders are ready to attach once the rest of the top is done.  I'm going to miter the borders because they are a wide border print.  

My cousin says it makes her think of a snow fence - which makes sense to any of us who live in the northern part of the country.  LOL  I'm hoping the borders tone down that snow fence look a bit but we'll see.  

I'm determined to have this Saturday Sampler top ready to quilt BEFORE leaving on the guild bus trip shop hop next Friday morning.  It's good to have a goal, right?

A 15 minute block

For the first time in over a week I got to sew.  I escaped to my sewing room for only a few minutes this afternoon while waiting for an email response for work, but it was enough to be therapeutic.  And this 12" block is the result of 15 minutes of play time.  More patriotic scraps were used here - actually 2 leftover jelly roll strips.  I think this block would lend itself to a Quilt of Valor very nicely.  

Different variations of this block have been popping up online on several blogs that I follow. Each quarter of the block is a half log cabin.  I've also seen the whole block called a Bento Box block.  

First family vacation

We took both daughters’ families on a vacation to the Black Hills. I wanted one good photo of all 5 grandkids taken at Mt. Rushmore. That was WAY too much to ask . . . But the 6 year old who was unwilling to cooperate to have his photo taken was the same kid who cried when it was time to go home. So maybe we’ll do this again after all.

Road Trip

Perched on a bluff high above the Missouri River, along Interstate 90, is the statue Dignity. She’s magnificent and I don’t get tired of stopping to see her. This statue is only an hour away from my house.  The artist is Dale Lamphere of right here in South Dakota.  Notice her Lone Star quilt?  The diamonds in the star actually “shiver” in the wind. At night Dignity is lit up and looks bronze.

Chaos

My house is in a state of chaos this week, and I am just going to have to take a deep breathe and remind myself that the mess will be gone by the end of June.

There are 45 gift bags in my dining room.  Our guild bus trip committee met at Holly's house on Saturday afternoon and began the process of filling these gift bags for each person going on the bus trip in 3 weeks.  We added the snacks, a fold-able nylon shopping bag, coupons and pens.  I have a stack of quilting stencils to add to each bag, and next week Trish will deliver the t-shirts.  I have the name tags to finalize and then can add all of the rest of the "stuff" - and tie their name tag around the handles so each gal gets the correct bag based on the t-shirt size they requested. 

These are the kits for a small surprise project that each lady will also get in their gift bag.  The fabric is cut, but I still need to run off the instructions and then pack each kit into a gallon zip lock bag.  And then drop them into all 45 gift bags. 

What you can't see however are the stacks of supplies for a family trip we are taking soon.  I have birthday gifts for 2 grandsons and a son-in-law, And there is a large container of supplies such as paper plates, cups, plastic silverware, napkins - and more for the cabin/house we are renting. Eleven people in one house - and we don't want to spend all of our time cooking or cleaning.  We'll buy groceries for breakfasts and suppers once we get there.  But in the mean time I'm "collecting" things we plan to take with us and it's all in my kitchen - taking up floor space.  Chaos!!

Cats, cats, cats

The June color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) is dark blue.  The navy seemed too dark in comparison to my other kitty blocks, so I chose a medium dark batik for the body. I had about 8 charm squares of this fabric left from something, so I did have to piece that bottom body section. But it worked out nicely and I used a navy blue for the tail and ears.  I'm really happy with the pink heart.

Here he is - joining the rest of the group of happy kitties. These are 12" blocks so one each month should make a nice sized quilt. 

Now I'm off to see a play this afternoon with one of my daughters and one of my friends. The sewing and the golf course and the laundry can wait for another day.