July is nearly done

How did I do on my goals for the month of July? I did much better at my quilting goals than my personal goals.  Guess I need to work harder on exercise and decluttering.

One finish that was not on the goal list for July - the strawberry bed runner.  I love the quilting that Carol did on this for me.  It's the same design as we used on a table topper recently.

The bed runner is 18" x 72", and looks great on the bed.  One strawberry on each end hangs down the sides of the bed.  And the pink/white striped binding works so well. 

• Personal goals
• Walk at least 1 mile at least 5 days a week - weather permitting!  The mosquitoes won the walking battle a lot of days, but I am starting again.
• Continue decluttering  - no new progress
• Some summer fun activities like Arts in the Park - CHECK!!
• Binding (hand stitching)
• Rainbow Connections - CHECK!!
• Christmas table topper - CHECK!!
• Bailey's graduation quilt - CHECK!!
• Block of the Month piecing
• Saturday Sampler - month #4 blocks - CHECK!!
• RSC blocks in new color - CHECK!!
• Tranquility mystery quilt clue #2 - CHECK!!
• assemble 1 quilt top from RSC block collections
• finish big stitch quilting and assemble red star pillow - CHECK!!
• UFO projects
• quilt Happy Block quilt - not yet, but the batting & backing are ready
• prep & deliver Ohio Star quilt for long arm - CHECK!!
• PIG of the Month - watermelon door hanger - CHECK!!
• Whatever else I want to play with!!

Bags, bags, bags

There is one finish already this week, and it's a bag.

The 12" project bag pattern I have uses a clear vinyl on the front so it's easy to see what is inside the bag.  Last year's guild president shared the pattern and did a demo one month.  Now there are lots of us who have made quite a few of these, including me.  I think this is the 10th one I've made so far.  I've sold a couple of them and gifted a couple.  This one will be a gift for later this fall.  

 

While in Sioux Falls last week for a Quilt of Valor award, I made a stop at JoAnne Fabric.  They have a great selection of jewelry parts, which I like to use as zipper pulls.   I think this was a good choice to use on this particular bag.  It was a 2-pack so there is another one for some future bag.  

I've been in the mood lately to make more bags, and have been going through the patterns I have.  This one is unique and a new purchase.  The Hemingway Pouch pattern has 4 sizes.  That diagonal zipper is really cute.  I bought the pattern just this week, but have a couple of fat quarters in mind for making a couple of them.

And then there is the Chubby Charmer.  This pattern has been in my hands for a long time, and I've seen so many cute ones done by friends from guild and Saturday Sampler.  It's time for me to dive in and make at least one of these too.  For sure I have several charm packs that would be just perfect for it.  

Hmmm - which one should I make first?

Design Wall Monday - last Monday in July

What is on your design wall today?  

Mine has the parts for 4 new Dutchman's Puzzle blocks, in various colors.  The one closest to being done is brown and aqua, which turned out to be a surprisingly good color combo.  That brown is a nice warm tone.  I think there is at least one more brown in my batik stash that will work nicely with the aqua.  The other 3 that are kitted up are colors I've already used earlier in the year, but will add to - in order to make this quilt big enough.   I was doing 2 blocks each month, but 3 of each color will be better.  

I had guessed orange would be the RSC color for August, then on Saturday I saw that it would be browns and blacks.  On Sunday Angela did some clarification - and it IS going to be orange, with the dark colors for September.  Either is OK with me.  

A small project is in progress for this week.  It will be a gift when it’s done.  And there is some continued binding that needs to be finished as well.  

With a new month beginning on Thursday there will be new blocks revealed for a couple of online mystery projects - Tranquility (Bear Creek Quilts), Carol Doak's paper pieced BOM, and the Star of Wonder mystery from Fat Quarter Shop.  I've kept up with these so far.  I'm anxious to see what is next for Tranquility in particular.

Another project this week is to work on more Kitty blocks, an RSC set of blocks. I made 2 using black prints this weekend, before I saw that orange would be August’s color.  That’s OK because I’ll need some of both - dark colors and orange.  
 

So far, only the top 2 rows are sewn together.  The quilt would be 63 x 81 if I stick to the number of blocks I have made at this point.  Set 7 blocks across by 9 rows - it's not a bad size, but it might be good to add another vertical row and another horizontal row (8 x 10) so it would work better for a twin bed.  That would require 17 more blocks which could certainly happen by the end of the year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday . . .

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

I'm also linking up with Monday Musings . . .

https://songbirddesigns.blog

Weekend stitching

Saturday was hot, humid, and quite windy.  Pretty normal SD summer weather.  The guys left the house for the golf tournament before 9 am, and I headed downstairs to my sewing room.  One of the projects that saw progress was the Star of Wonder wall hanging.  

There is one more week to go on this mystery, and I'm guessing that will be an outer border.  A simple one or a pieced border?  We'll see on Tuesday.  I have 3 different Christmas-y fabrics pulled out for a possible border but won't make any decisions until I see what it looks like.  I'm really liking how this is coming together so far and would be perfectly happy leaving it AS IS if the final border doesn't excite me.  

My guess of the color orange for August for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge turned out to be very premature.  Dark colors - browns and blacks will be the August focus.  I have a lot of dark strips and strings in the scrap bins, so I see more string blocks happening for sure.  I did make 2 Kitty blocks using black scraps.  I'm going to lay the Kitty blocks out today to see how many more I may want to make yet.  

There was a LOT of cutting that went on Saturday too.  Some of it was for Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks to make this next week.  Some of the cutting was for other projects, including the project using that map print I posted about.  With a new month starting next week several new goals have been spinning away in my brain.  

RSC24 - Week 30

 This is a transition week, moving from aqua to orange.  Oops - my color guess was very wrong!!  Dark colors like browns and blacks will be interesting too. I may have to rethink my August goals a bit. Only a little time was actually spent working on any particular color however, as I worked on several other projects this week.

Four new Kitty blocks were made using scraps - 2 of them are aqua and 1 is orange.  But the other is lavender.  As I looked through the big stack of Kitty blocks already made, I see that I do need to make a couple more orange ones for a better color balance.

I did make some string blocks this week - 2 orange and 2 red.  One more orange one is partially done.  Turns out that orange scraps were not terribly plentiful, but there is quite a bit of orange in the stash drawer so we'll see how this month plays out.

Looking through the block sets hanging in the closet at the beginning of each new month gives me a good idea of which sets are getting close to DONE.  And which ones need to be a focus going forward.  The Dutchman's Puzzle blocks have been pairing up aqua/teal with another color each month.  I made an orange one at the beginning as a test block, and I made a second one in June - because the pieces were already cut anyway.  I plan to make another orange one, and maybe another green one to fill out the numbers.  There are 14 of these blocks so far - getting close to enough.  I am aiming for at least 20. 

The orange RSC blocks I want to focus on the next couple of weeks . . .
**  16-patch churn dash
**  Stashbuster

**  Brighten

**  Night Vision

Some additional planning for this month was needed.  That map fabric (above) has a bit of orange in it, but after auditioning some options I've decided to pair it mostly with brown.  The map project is for a gift that will be needed this fall.  The tropical print is something I want to use for a summer wall hanging for myself.  A perfect orange was found in the stash, along with a yellow.  But I still need to choose a green to go with it before cutting parts for the blocks.  

Both sons-in-law are here for the weekend and playing in a golf tournament Friday through Sunday.  Their wives and kids had other things going on so they stayed home.  What do I have planned for today?  Sewing maybe?  LOL

I'm linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge today . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Another week

What has this week been all about?  Lots of different things . . . had coffee with friends one morning, was part of 2 Quilt of Valor awards one afternoon, read a really good book, finished a quilt top, layed out the parts for a new holiday wall hanging, pieced a backing for another UFO quilt, worked on some binding, and sewed a few quilt blocks.

The book - Lessons in Chemistry was a fairly quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Interesting characters and clever writing.  I'm not at all good at writing a book review, but must thank the bloggers who recommend awesome books.  

One of the UFOs hanging in the closet was this Happy Block quilt top.  It's a nice child sized quilt and destined to be donated.  I dug deep into the leftover backing pieces and found the multi-color batik.  It needed to be pieced to work, but luckily there was enough to do that.  I really need to try quilting this one myself.  

Star of Wonder is the free mystery going on at Fat Quarter Shop.  Week 4 added an "inner" border, which tells me there is one more clue.  I haven't sewn the blocks into rows yet, but this is probably going to be my layout.  

The Quilts of Valor for this week's award were shipped to me by the family members who made the quilts for the recipients - a married couple who are both veterans.  I especially love how this quilt looks - very scrappy and beautiful.  They even sent special patriotic pillowcases for the school age children of this couple.  As always I'm honored to be a part of this program.

Outside of my home office window is a bird feeder, and most of my mornings start with at least one cup of coffee while I watch the birds on that feeder.  But the wild turkeys have also discovered that feeder - or more accurately, the ground under the feeder.  They scratch and dig into the landscaping rocks to get to the seed scattered by the little birds.  So each week when my husband mows, he has to rake the rocks back into place.  

My "garden" is doing pretty well, except for the pot of petunias drowned out by 9" of rain in about 30 hours last month.  I've even harvested a few little tomatoes from the one tomato plant in a pot on  the deck.  This geranium is on my front porch and I love the color.  The one on the back deck is a similar color, but a different variety. 

Well, it's Friday and the first day of Arts in the Park.  I do believe part of my day today will involve checking out the vendors.  It has been 19 years since we had Arts in the Park here, so I've been looking forward to it all summer.  And both sons-in-law arrive today to play golf for 3 days with my husband.  Should be a good weekend!

QOV plans

You all know I'm an absolute sucker for just trying out new block patterns - with no actual plan for those blocks.  That is why I make test blocks in red, white, and blue a lot of times.  Well . . . actually, most of the time to be honest.  Then the good ones can end up used for Quilts of Valor.

Moda Blockheads are some of my favorites lately.  This is Blockheads set #5, and block #30 in that set.  Lynne Hagmeier (Kansas Troubles) designed Shadow Star, and it was posted just this week.  

I just couldn't resist making some of these.  Another awesome block for a Quilt of Valor!  And the Blockheads patterns always have 2 sizes - 6" and 12" finished.  So they are really versatile.

One finished, and 2 more almost finished.  I love it.  

Riley Blake challenge is a flimsy

I've always loved a sampler type of quilt, maybe because I enjoy sewing just 1 random block at a time.  And a scrappy sampler is just the best of both worlds. That's probably why I jump right in when there is a BOM or Block of the Week going on. 

One example - Riley Blake Designs does a set of challenge blocks each year.  The RBD24 had 16 blocks posted online for 16 weeks.  Then I added 4 blocks from the archive of previous year's block patterns because I prefer a rectangular quilt instead of square. And then one more addition happened.

I was using my stash of 30s prints and Kim Diehl fabrics for this project.  The row with the little heart and the word Blessed was actually a mini quilt kit that I bought.  Each month this year the Pin Cushion has been doing kits with various words, all using the Spelling Bee book from Lori Holt.  The kit used Lori Holt fabrics too, so I couldn't resist adding it to this quilt.

This flimsy is about 60 x 80. 

Strings and small finishes

There are 2 small finishes this week, mainly because I worked on the binding on the shop hop bus ride on Thursday, and while going to our granddaughter's softball game on Friday.  

The summer watermelon door hanger is done, except for adding the hanger at the top.  This will go on my front door for August.  

The paper pieced star block has become a nice table topper.  It's about 24" square, so it will fit on my table nicely but can also work as a wall hanging.  

My scraps are sorted into canvas bins by color - for the most part anyway.   
 

The pink canvas bin actually holds pink, red, and orange scraps.  It's overflowing and messy.  Orange will be the August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so I need to get the orange scraps sorted out and ready to actually use.  And since I hadn't made any red string blocks yet, it was as good a time as any to get strings pulled for a couple of those as well.  I've quickly realized that orange was the color here with the fewest scraps to choose from.  Hmmmm . . . 

Design Wall Monday - July 22

 Hmmm - I have a strange combination of projects going on this week.  There is something Christmas-y, strings and other scrappy play, and finally some 30s vibe things.

The Christmas project in the works is the free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop called Star of Wonder.  I wasn't planning to do this one but I really liked that big star block for the first clue, so it was inevitable that I jumped right in.  One clue per week is manageable when you only have to make 1 or 4 blocks.  This was the block for week #3.  It's kind of an odd block until you lay it out with the others.

I'm assuming that next week we'll see exactly how these will go together, but the look definitely changes depending on the direction you spin these blocks.  This way it really does look like a star.

But with those week #3 blocks turned around you get kind of a diamond effect from those slanted white sections.  And rotating those green blocks changes it even more.  So it will be fun to see what's next. 

Friday was Crazy Days in our little city, with lots of bargains everywhere.  My craziest purchase was a big bag of . . . wait for it.  SCRAPS!!!  Just what I needed right?  At The Pin Cushion they had a what appeared to be a kiddy wading pool filled with bags stuffed with scraps, at a tempting low price.  How could I resist?  I chose the one I did because I saw a couple of good sized pieces of something I knew would work perfectly in a project I've been planning.  Once home and opened up I discovered nearly every piece in here was at least a 10" square or more.  And there were several pieces that were a definite score.  

Four new Kitty blocks were quickly assembled from that scrap bag.  I'm getting near to having enough for a quilt top.  More rainbow string blocks are under construction too. 

And the 30s vibe?  My Riley Blake Design challenge quilt top is getting close to total assembly.  There are 2 more rows of blocks to add, and then the final outer border.  I'm excited to get this top complete this week.  

What else is going on here?  The binding is complete on a couple of small projects that I'll share another day.  And the binding for 2 more projects is being prepped today.  

What's on your design wall this week?

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

I'm also linking up with Monday Musings . . .

https://songbirddesigns.blog/

Shop Hop report

35 quilters
2 states
5 quilt shops
a couple of detours
lots of summer road road construction
all in . . . 17 hours  

All of my purchases fit into ONE cloth shopping bag!  That's a first for me!

Every shop we visited was friendly and welcoming.  We were given "goodies" at every shop, ranging from bottled water, homemade muffins, locally made chocolates, fat quarters, mug rugs, and sewing notions.  Zoom in to check out the cute wording on that white printed square.

I had a list and fabric swatches so I could look for specific things to finish a variety of projects.  I stayed pretty disciplined - spending less than I have on past shop hop bus trips. Yardage purchases included Christmas fabrics to finish a current holiday project, a dark blue for a border on a nearly finished flimsy, black print needed to finish a WIP,  a pink/white stripe to bind 2 projects, a map themed fabric for a gift I'm making, and some light colored fabrics for a Quilt of Valor project. 

Of course there were impulse buys as well.  What fun would it be if I didn't make any random purchases . . . just because?  Two panels and a charm pack came home with me.  No plan yet for these items, but I'm sure something will come to mind.

I'm always on the lookout for great fat quarters to add to the stash.  They are great for small projects, and for fun additions to Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.  In one shop I picked up a pack of 5 fat quarters with sports themes from the sale bin.  With the final discount they were $1 each.  I got the Cornhusker (University of Nebraska, Lincoln) fat eighth and a cowboy boot FQ to make 2 more of the suitcase blocks I've been making for a "travel" quilt.  I got my masters degree at UNL many years ago so that seemed appropriate.  There are 2 Halloween prints with cats.  The other FQs choices were just because they caught my eye.  

Our bus left town at 7 am, right on time.  We hit road construction and detours that put us behind schedule.  Our driver was awesome, and the shops were very accommodating with late arrivals.  Our supper stop was at 8:00 pm.  I pulled into my garage at the stroke of midnight.  Long, but very fun day.  So, what shops did we visit?  

*  Sassy Cat (Yankton, SD)

*  I Bee Quiltin (Norfolk, NE)

*  Creative Notions (West Point, NE)

*  Nebraska Quilt Co. (Fremont, NE)

* The Quilt Shop (Wakefield, NE)

What was my favorite stop?  Each one was unique for different reasons.  The shop in Fremont had the best selection of batiks I've ever seen.  I love batiks but didn't purchase any.  Discipline was difficult.  The Norfolk shop had the best goody bag ever.  The Wakefield shop had a huge selection of panels.  The Yankton shop is closer to home so I stop in there a couple times a year.  They always have wonderful patterns and especially fun Christmas and Halloween projects.  The West Point shop had a couple of beautiful fabric lines that I haven't seen anywhere else.  I would recommend visiting all of these quilt shops if you're in northeast Nebraska or southeast South Dakota.  

RSC24 - Week #29

No, no, no - it can't be nearly August already!!  Wishing we could slow down time.  

 But since we can't slow time down, I'll share a little wisdom with you.  This little fabric square was one of the items in a goody bag each shop hop participant received at I Bee Quiltin (Norfolk, Nebraska).  Guess I've been living this life lesson for decades then, because my sewing room is full of "perfect fabric" that I haven't cut into.  LOL  I'll do a separate shop hop post tomorrow.

This RSC quilt isn't finished yet, but it IS a flimsy and ready to quilt.  The Zipper blocks are just so much fun to make. Mine used 2.5" strips and squares, but they could just as easily be made using 1.5" or 2" pieces - or even make them Super Sized and use 3.5" or bigger.  

I posted this finish just yesterday . . . a graduation quilt for my grand-niece.  Teal counts in the "aqua" family, right? 

I finished this rainbow string quilt last week, and this week I donated it to the local Sleep In Heavenly Peace organization.  It's twin bed size.  This quilt was also an RSC project.  I love how a few blocks every month suddenly add up to enough to become a whole quilt.

There wasn't any actual block sewing this week, in aqua anyway.  I made the 8 blocks for this month's Saturday Sampler quilt.  No aqua there.  I did finish up the various string blocks I had started.  The 2 aqua ones were made last week.  Now there are 2 each of 6 colors.  The only RSC color missing right now is red, and those will get added at some point in the near future.  The blocks are 9.5" squared up and pieced on muslin foundations.  The actual layout won't be determined until I have enough for a whole quilt, and I'm aiming for at least 24.  With the white centers there are several ways to lay these out to show off that white.  

What's happening with the rainbow at your house?

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Graduation quilt is done

Since I'm most likely sleeping in this morning - after a long day quilt shop hopping yesterday, this post was written Wednesday evening.  I was planning ahead, right?  A shop hop report will have to wait for another day.  

One of my PHD (Projects Half Done) projects this year was a graduation quilt for my beautiful, smart, and ambitious grand-niece in Texas.  She'll be a senior in HS next fall.  Her passion is horses, and has won numerous awards for both rodeo and for English riding.  

I bought the horse panel 2 or 3 years ago because I immediately thought of Bailey when I saw it.  It's been waiting all this time.  The horse graphic is black and white.  

The pattern I used was a Peach Tree pattern called Twisted Panel, but I added borders all around to make it a bit larger.  The teal fabric was purchased in Minneapolis last March, and the grey and black fabrics I found here in Mitchell.  Once I had the fabrics gathered the quilt went together quickly. 

It's always nice to finish a quilt, but especially sweet when there is a particular recipient in mind.

Shop Hop day

It's bus trip shop hop day today!!  Yay!!  The bus leaves at 7:00 am from Mitchell, with stops in Yankton, SD (Sassy Cats Quilt Shop) and then on to Nebraska.  We'll be visiting shops in Norfolk, West Point, Freemont and Wakefield.  Norfolk and Freemont shops are ones I've visited in the past, but the other 2 are new to me.  

When I'm on a shop hop I like to have a plan for what to look for.  A week or so ago I received a very generous gift from quilting friend Nancy at Wyoming Breezes.  BTW - Nancy is my inspiration for getting our Quilts of Valor group going here.  She sent me 5 Villa Rosa patterns with the sweetest note.  These will all work nicely for QOV, and I'm taking 2 of them with me on the shop hop in case I see just the right patriotic panels.  I actually have 2 of these already, so I'll be passing those along to other gals in our QOV group.  

I also have small fabric swatches (with notes on yardage) along to look for some fabrics to go with them to finish some PIGS and WIPS.    

Also I have 2 small projects with me to hand stitch binding while riding along.  This will help pass the time in between shops.  I cut my sewing time down significantly on Wednesday to go play golf with my husband.  So the only sewing I actually did was attach these 2 bindings.  It was such a beautiful day, in the upper 70s, so golf was good.