Doing some cutting

 You all know I like to kit up blocks and whole projects, so when sewing time comes I'm all ready to go.  And I definitely like to have choices. 

Yesterday was a busy day with errands and some housework that I had been putting off.  My sewing room time was mostly spent doing some cutting for current projects.  The RSC colors for October are black and brown.  I've pulled together the parts for some black/white blocks - Give It a Whirl and 4-patch Fun.  There is also a light green Paint Chip block to finish up the September colors.

One of my errands included a bit of fabric shopping to add more variety to the batiks I'm using in the Cactus in the Cabin quilt.  Now I have the strips all cut for the 2nd and 3rd rounds on the Log Cabin blocks.  We'll see if I get any sewing time today.  I know there won't be any time tomorrow with a DAR meeting and an afternoon of cards with some girlfriends.  But the next tutorial for this sew along won't come out until October 16 so I have plenty of time.

If I do get some sewing time today I'm planning to quilt the challenge project for the quilt show coming up in less than 3 weeks. 

Design Wall Monday - Sept 29

Wow!  The last Monday of September is already here.  We had a really beautiful month of September around here with sunny warm days, and not windy for a change.  I'm hoping October is just as nice so the pretty leaves stick around longer.

Yesterday I posted about some of the projects I want to work on during October.  The main new project that I'm beginning is a sew along from Bear Creek Quilting.  It's called Cactus in the Cabin and has only 2 different types of blocks.    

The September tutorial is for traditional Log Cabin blocks.  There will be 16 of these made.  I spent some time cutting the strips needed for them.  I even got round #1 added to all 16 of the center squares, but realized that I need a bit more variety of my pink and orange batiks before getting much further.  I'll have to stop in at both local quilts shops this week to see what I can add to those pink and orange strips. 

I'll also be working on some WIPs this week including the Windmill quilt top that is nearly done.  There are only 4 rows left to add but I keep procrastinating.  It's now laying on the floor in my sewing room now so I have to step over it or around it every time I go in or out.  That should force me to finish it up, right?

Last week was a catch up week for Blockheads with no new block posted, but I've kept up so far anyway.  This week there will be a new block posted again so there will be a bit of red, white and blue coming out to play midway in the week.

And you know there will be some RSC blocks taking shape all week too. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog    

Thinking ahead to October

 It's almost October and my mind has been on new project goals to work on. I did no sewing at all yesterday, but did do some cutting and organizing before spending the afternoon at a golf outing.  Our neighbors host a big 9-hole golf and barbeque party every fall for friends, family, and clients.  Afterward the golf we normally come back to their garage and yard (next door to us) for food and fun.  This year the party will be a local brewery.  

Dark neutrals - blacks and browns - are on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge calendar this next month.  My dark scrap bin is overflowing just like the other colors.  But I see some possible string blocks happening.  I really should sort this bin better to separate the blacks, grey, and browns.  

Pulling out the bin of 2.5" squares, some black and brown squares are now sorted out, along with light neutrals, and they are ready to become Paint Chip blocks.  I also cut the parts for a couple more of the new spool blocks I've been playing with.  

This Halloween piece was made last winter but has hung in the closet ever since.  Time to turn it into a pillow cover.  Bad Kitty is the name of the kit that came with laser cut kitty and moon. The background came out of my stash.  I forgot to measure this when I took the photo but I think it's about 14", so just the right size for a fun pillow.

Cactus in the Cabin is my next new big project, with a black background and bright batiks.  It's a sew along from Bear Creek Quilting Co.  The sample is done in red/green for Christmas, but I'm using pinks and oranges in place of the red.  The pattern is available to purchase from their website to download.  The first tutorial was actually posted on September 16 but I was still gathering fabrics, and wanted to finish a couple of other things first before starting something new.  I'm planning to get started on it today with at least some cutting.  The next 2 tutorials will be posted on October 16 and November 16.  The pattern has all the cutting and sewing instructions but the tutorials are providing some helpful steps and hints. 

On October 11 for Saturday Sampler we'll have the reveal of finished quilts (or tops) from the program that just ended, and then they'll introduce the new program.  It's always amazing to see how different everyone's quilts are when we "shop our stash" for them.  I'm very excited to see all the different color choices.  And it's always fun to start a new Saturday Sampler program too.  

RSC25 - Week #39

There is a bin full of fat quarters in my sewing room closet, because I have a weakness for purchasing fat quarters when on shop hops.  And because I won a big bunch of fat quarters at a retreat.  That bin is overflowing and it seemed like a good time to dig through it for some light blue and light green options.  I ended up pulling out a small bundle that turned out to be fat eighths, with those colors plus some light rust.  Two new Give It a Whirl blocks were born from those fat eighths, but while they were out I used them for another small project. 

Four placemats also came out of those fat eighths.  These aren't quilted or bound yet, but it did use up some fabric from that bin.  The placemats will eventually be donated. 

In between sewing some block sets into rows I've been working on some string blocks again.  These are sewn onto 6.5" squares of phone book papers.  The stack is definitely growing, but without a firm plan at this point.

The Windmill blocks are a step closer to being a flimsy, as I've been making rows this week.

And I have 13 Vintage Spool blocks made, mostly using light blue and light green scraps.  I bought a new book this week and just had to play with this pattern for RSC.  Since I've finished up a couple of flimsies from RSC block sets this year, I wanted to find something ne to add to the mix.  These are small blocks - 6" finished - so I'll be making these for many months I'm sure.  The book by Joanna Figueroa is Scrapbook of Quilts.

What other fun projects are happening in the RSC world?

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Playing with something new

Yesterday I took my scrappy Buckeye Beauty up to the local quilt shop (The Pin Cushion) to have it checked off my 2025 PHD list.  Projects Half Done has been an awesome motivator to actually finish some projects the past few years.

I love scrappy quilts, and this is one of my favorites this year.  The new owner of the shop has actually quilted several of my scrappy quilts herself, so she showed me a new book the shop had just gotten in.

Of course I had to buy it.  A Scrapbook of Quilts by Joanna Figeroa is a delight.  AND, I finished assembling 2 quilt tops this week so I have earned a new project.  See that quilt on the cover?  More spools . . . and I've been attracted by spool patterns lately.  

So I just HAD to do a little playing with the Vintage Spools pattern which includes 2 different spool blocks.  Gathering scraps was easy enough.  I have a whole bin full of 3.5" squares, and another full of strips and strings.  I use scrappy white-on-white very often for backgrounds, so there is no shortage of those scraps either.  

Since light blue and green are the colors this month for RSC those are some of the colors I pulled out of the scraps.  I think these will be lots of fun for Rainbow Scrap Challenge going forward.  Both blocks end up finishing at 6" so it will require a big stack of both versions.

Candy Lane flimsy

It is amazing how fast a quilt top can go together when the rows are already assembled.  Earlier in the week the Contessa (jelly roll) quilt top was finished.  Yesterday afternoon I had a couple of hours to sew, and the Candy Lane quilt top is now a flimsy too.  

Candy Lane is 48 x 58, and made from a kit containing 5 half yard cuts.  The pattern is part of the Half Pack Quilts from Sassy Sunflower that I bought on the August shop hop.  We picked the pack of fabric we wanted, and then selected a free pattern from the Sassy Sunflower options the shop was offering.  This one is neutral metallic prints in a Christmas theme.  It should make a good snuggle up quilt for the couch.  

Midweek progress

This has been a very busy and fun week - so far.  Monday I spent most of the day getting ready to host the monthly pinochle group that evening.  Tuesday morning I was at the golf course helping to check in golfers for a tournament.  And today is the monthly coffee/lunch meeting of the retired group from school.  Not as much sewing time as usual so far this week but plenty of time actually NOT being a hermit hiding in my sewing room.  

Contessa was the jelly roll project I worked on Saturday (National Sew a Jelly Roll Day).  The jelly roll and background yardage became 42 blocks on Saturday that finish at 10".  On Sunday those blocks became rows.  And now it's a completed 60 x 70 flimsy.  Brown isn't one of my preferred colors so I'm not even sure why I bought that jelly roll.  But I do love batiks and these are very pretty - for brown.  I'm glad I paired it with a cream background because it needed to be lightened up.  I definitely like it. 

There has been some progress on a couple other WIPs.  Candy Lane is starting to take shape.  Each pinwheel block has been sewn onto a big rectangle.  Now these units will become 2 columns alternating which end the pinwheel lands.  

In between things, a few string blocks for RSC have been happening. These will be trimmed to 6.5" square, and be added to the growing pile.  The foundation under the strings is old phone book paper, which I have not removed yet for any of them.    

October's mini quilt

The October mini spools quilt is so stinking cute!  It might just be the cutest one so far in the series.  That orange and black plaid binding is perfect.  I just leaned it up against the September one for a picture.

This makes 4 of these minis so far.  So fun to make, and they look awesome displayed on these little wire hangers.  

Design Wall Monday - Sept 22

Did someone push the fast forward button on the calendar?  I can't believe September is more than halfway gone.  This week I plan to focus on setting blocks into rows, with no expectations of having any finished tops done by the end of the week.  There is also a mini quilt to bind this week so it's ready for October.

There are the brown batik blocks from this weekend's Sew a Jelly Roll Day.  All 42 blocks are sewn for this one.

Next there is the Candy Lane quilt, with metallic silver and gold.  Again, the blocks are all made for this very simple layout.  Each pinwheel will be paired up with a long strip.  

And as a break from lots of brown and beige, there are the wildly colorful Windmill blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This isn't the final layout, but I have decided to just make 1 quilt with them rather than 2 small ones.  There will be a few blocks left over, but they'll be the beginning of another set for the future. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog    

National Sew a Jelly Roll Day

Thank you to Viridian for the inspiration for the "Sew a Jelly Roll Day" project.  I had been trying to decide on a project because I wanted to sew along on Saturday just for fun.  Viridian shared the link to a free pattern from Moda called Contessa and it's just PERFECT to use for a quick jelly roll project.  Plus I realized I already had the pattern printed out and in my binder of "some day" projects.   

https://viridian61.blogspot.com/2025/09/contessa-pattern-again-in-30s-repro.html

Some prep work happened on Friday.  The pattern calls for 7 strip sets of 5 WOF strips, so I sorted the jelly roll into groups to be ready for Saturday sewing.

My jelly roll is Java Batik, and has a rich mix of browns.  It has been sitting in my stash for awhile.  My first plan was to use a Christmas jelly roll, but I think this one was a much better choice for this particular quilt. 

Sew a Jelly Roll Day was chilly and damp, so it was an easy decision to stay in my sewing room a good share of the day.  Saturday morning, the 7 strip sets came together quickly.  In the afternoon I got all 42 blocks finished with the cream batik side rails.  These blocks will finish at 10".  Today I'm planning to work on assembling some rows.  

RSC25 - Week #38

That week number just keeps getting bigger!  Can't time stand still for a bit?

This week my RSC focus was going to be taking another big set of blocks out of the closet and turning them into a quilt top.  I chose the Windmill blocks because the collection was already too big for clipping to the skirt hanger.  Since they were falling off the hanger, the Windmills got my attention.  I made these blocks in 2023 and 2024.  If any were made in 2025 it had to have been very early in the year.

There are enough blocks for 1 quilt top about twin size - OR enough for 2 smaller kid sized quilts, and now I need to decide which direction to go. 

I did finally finish an August project - with the aqua.  This doll quilt was cut out in August, but then I got sidetracked of course.  

Since it's National Sew a Jelly Roll Day - I have a jelly roll sitting on my sewing table right now, along with a pattern I plan to use.  Yes, I know I'm starting a whole new project but it will be so much fun.  

What other fun projects are happening in the RSC world?
https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished or Not Friday

Small finishes this week . . .  Earlier this summer I donated all 12 of the critters with their little doll quilts.  They went to the local safe house facility.  I also donated 10 quilts, both kid sized and adult size) at the same time.  So this little (24") doll quilt is the first one of a new batch.  The lamb was one of the cuddly critters I had left, but as always I'm on the lookout for more at good prices.  

The mini Christmas stockings are also finished.  I needed one for a December gift exchange, but forgot to cut the back as a reverse of the front. Duh!!!!  So I ended up with 2.  The snowflake trim worked out nicely.  I have a small drawer full of ribbon, lace, trims, and little doodads to embellish things like these stockings.  Much of it was left over from other craft projects and other decades.   

This week's Moda Blockheads 9" block was Ninth Wonder by Jessica Rose.  If you look at the pattern (top left) it is a really plain block.  Instructions said to make 8 of them if we were doing a specific layout that was shared in the group and use these as spacers.  I don't know what layout I plan to use, so I thought I would wait to make some later.  But once I saw a lot of variations to the block posted in the Facebook group I dove in.  I really like the version on the left side with the narrow white frame around that center 9-patch.  This is block #17 out of 24 in this year's program.  I've easily kept up so far. 

I'm linking up with Finished Or Not Friday . . .
https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

This n that . . .

In the big collection of Brighten blocks were 7 made with red, white, and blue patriotic fabrics.  Those were not going into the RSC quilt with the pinks and yellows, and other rainbow colors.  But I did use 6 of them for placemats.  All that was needed to bring them up to size was adding a strip across the top and bottom.  There are now 30 placemats in the donation pile, and I have the tops for a couple more just waiting to be quilted.

More progress has been made on the doll quilt binding, and on the Christmas stockings, so I'm anticipating more small finishes to check off the list. 

Not on my To Do list this week was the October mini quilt, with spool-shaped pumpkins for Halloween.  Oops!!  I want to at least get this one cut out this week to sew over the weekend.  These kits from Shabby Fabrics are all cute as can be. 

Also not on my To Do list this week is this bunch of 1.5" stars with fusible ironed on already, and being this small they are in serious danger of getting lost.  Once I get these cut out they will maybe go onto a mystery project.  

Indigo Way is done

Another UFO can be checked off my list. 

Indigo Way was a Bonnie Hunter mystery.  I made fewer blocks and added plain borders to my version.  It will be donated to our local Quilts of Valor group. 

The miniature Christmas stockings are almost done, so maybe I'll have a picture tomorrow.  A couple more of the pinwheel blocks for Candy Lane are done.  The binding on a doll quilt got done too.  A picture should happen later this week.  And I also worked on the challenge project for our guild quilt show coming up in a month.  I have the flimsy done.  It's small, but has taken me lots of time figuring out what I wanted to do.  

Monday evening we were in Sioux Falls for 2 flag football games. And I finally got some photos with the boys.  

At 6:30 Jack (grade 4) played.  They won by 1 point.  This grandson is the only one of the 5 who is not as tall or taller than me.  I'm guessing that won't last long though. 

 At 8:30 Jonah (grade 6) played on the field next to the one Jack's game was on.  We literally turned our lawn chairs around and drug them about 15 feet.  Pretty handy that both boys play in the same league, in the same park - just different times on Monday evenings.  They won by 7 points.

Christmas progress

After not stepping foot in my sewing room over the weekend, I was ready to dive in to work on some of the things I have in progress.

The big Christmas stocking has a front and a back, and is ready for me to decide on how I want to quilt it.  I'm considering hand quilting it.  The pattern - Winter Birds - is a free one downloaded from Tilda's World.  There are so many fun things on that site.

The pinwheels needed for the Candy Lane quilt are coming along nicely.  I need 18 of these 7" blocks, and have 10 of them sewn.  

Design Wall Monday - Sept 15

 Welcome to a new week!  Last week I promised myself that if I finished getting 2 quilt tops assembled, and 2 table runners finished then I would work on something fun and new, possibly with a Christmas theme.  I met my self-imposed goal and this week will be full of Christmas cheer - or at least Christmas fabrics.

  The parts were already cut for the Candy Lane throw quilt.  This was a kit I purchased in August on the shop hop, and it's all soft neutrals with a touch of metallic.  The pieces are all quite large so this should be a quick project.

The other Christmas projects are stockings, and are all quite different.  There will be one gigantic stocking, a couple of tiny ones, and a normal size one to hang for the holidays.  And look - there is NO BLUE in the mix!!  LOL  

There is still some blue happening this week as I work on getting these QOV blocks sewn into rows.  Once the rows are done, then I can decide on border fabrics.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog    

RSC25 - Week #37

Brighten is a flimsy!!  Yay!  This top is 47 x 62, so a good size for a child.  It's bright and happy, which is definitely what I need this week.  There are 5 blocks left over, and they will be "seed" for another RSC quilt in the future. 

Light blue is the dominant color in this flimsy I finished this week. It's actually kind of "dusty" shade of light blue, and does NOT show up accurately in this photo.  

I did work this week on a small project from August.  This little doll quilt (24") was something I cut parts for in August when our color was aqua.  But then I got sidetracked.  This week I sewed it together, sandwiched it with leftover backing and batting pieces, and even got it quilted.  The binding is yellow and ready to attach. 

  And the next set of RSC blocks for flimsy assembly has been chosen - Windmill.  These blocks kind of chose themselves, as the 2 hangers these blocks are clipped to were so full the blocks were coming off.  Looking back at my blog I see these blocks were part of my RSC sewing in 2023 and 2024.  

Let's see what else is happening in the RSC world . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/