Poking along

Wednesday morning I had PT, but had a little sewing time once I got home.  This morning I also have PT, and then I'm hosting cards this afternoon.  But I should have a little sewing time in between PT and cards.

The first priority yesterday was finishing the 4 Dutchman's Puzzle blocks for the Marigold mystery.  These are 8" finished. With these 4 blocks joining the 5 star blocks already done, I'm caught up with the August prompt for the mystery.  

I also worked on the yellow Honey Bee and yellow Scrappy Star blocks that were already cut out, and waiting on design boards.  Progress was made on them.  A little sewing time today and tomorrow should finish these up.

And I got a start on the 12 blocks for August's Saturday Sampler prompt.  These finish at 6", but I'm trying to make sure none are identical so I'm poking along slowly on them. 

Progress

While my granddaughter was sewing a couple of recent days, I did some prep work on a couple of my own sewing projects.  One task was prepping more of the small snowflakes (about 3") I'll be adding to my Saturday Sampler in a future month.  They had to be traced onto the fusible, and then ironed onto the fabric before cutting them out.  This month's assignment will be some fairly simple blocks, but I haven't started those yet.  

The Marigold mystery (Meadow Mist) for August has us making 5 sawtooth stars, and 3 Dutchman's Puzzle blocks.  My stars are done.  

Back to routines

After having 3 of the grandkids here for a few days, we're back to our usual routines - golf for grandpa and sewing for grandma.  Pretty predictable aren't we?

The boys fished every day, sometimes twice.  LOL  And they played golf. 

Olivia sewed with me Sunday and Monday.  Her very first sewing project was her pillowcase, and then she began working on a table runner. She sewed it and she quilted it herself, but I did do the binding for her.  She did a really good job on all of it.  My daughter said when the grandpa dropped the kids off at home she put her pillowcase on her pillow, and the table runner on her nightstand.  So I think she was pleased.

The final project Olivia worked on was a doll quilt.  The flimsy is all done, including the borders.  So I'll find something for backing and binding and then this one will go into the donation box with a stuffie.

Design Wall Monday - August 17

Wow - how can we be halfway through August already!!  Summer flew by like always. 

On our road trip to Omaha, granddaughter Olivia picked out fabric for her first sewing lesson with grandma.  She is a huge animal lover so this dog fabric isn't surprising. 

She did a great job on her pillowcase.  She started on a second project - a table runner.  Maybe we'll work on it a little more today before they head home.  

My own goals for the week are pretty fluid for right now.  But I do know that finishing the August blocks for the Meadow Mist mystery is my first goal.  I have some yellow RSC blocks cut out and waiting to be sewn.  And then I need to work on this month's Saturday Sampler blocks.  We'll see how the week goes.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #33

There was little time for sewing this week, except for this 1 block for Marigold, the mystery project from Meadow Mist.  I have the August blocks all cut out, but this is the only one that I actually sewed.  I'll have a little time to sew this morning hopefully before I go pick up a granddaughter this afternoon.  

Some time for cutting RSC block pieces did happen however.  The parts are all cut for the 2 Honey Bee blocks.  They are on a design board - waiting for time to sew.

And the parts are cut for all 4 of the Scrappy Stars blocks. 

We'll have 3 grandkids here until Monday.  The boys plan to golf and fish with grandpa.  And Olivia and I will do a very first sewing lesson with the fabric she picked out on our Omaha trip this week.  We'll begin with the pillowcase, and if there is time - and she likes sewing - we'll work on a table runner she picked out.

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

I'm home!!  It was so nice to get away for 3 days!  We did some fun things, and also just relaxed and enjoyed being away.  The purpose of the trip was to attend the Lindsey Stirling concert, and that was fabulous of course.  If you just want to see my ONE small quilting finish, scroll to the end of this post.  LOL

Monday morning we left Sioux Falls, and made 1 stop in Sioux City on the way to Omaha.  The Sioux City stop was Heart and Hand Quilting to have Olivia pick out some fabric for her first sewing lesson that will happen this weekend hopefully.  We also popped into a nearby book store (Book People) and a coffee shop.  Then it was on to Omaha.

One bonus was staying with my niece and her husband. We spent one afternoon and evening in their pool, and sitting on their patio.  Temps were in the 90s with really high humidity so that pool was wonderful.  They have waterproof playing cards, so we played cards while floating around.  Olivia is a swim team kid, so she really enjoyed that pool.

Tuesday morning we went to a wildlife "safari" park just off I-80 west of Omaha. Parts were drive through and other parts were walk through.  The animals were all native prairie species such as elk, pelicans, bald eagles, deer, bison, etc.  Then we visited the Strategic Air Command museum, followed by Baker's Candies.  The SAC museum is a place I've visited before and would go again and again as it's fascinating.  The candy shop - enormous and definitely a fun and tasty stop.

Then we braved that heat and went to the Lindsey Stirling concert.  The concert was at an outdoor amphitheater, and our seats were wonderful.  However it was still 93 degrees and sunny and HUMID when we arrived.  That was the sweatiest crowd of people I've ever been in I think. The venue allowed empty clear plastic water bottles to be brought in, and had free refill stations set up all over.  Thankfully.  Once the sun went down it was better, but still so hot and humid.  

Heart and Hand Quilting in Sioux City is close to the interstate so it was an easy stop on our way south.  I've stopped there many times over the years on road trips.  Olivia picked out a couple of dog prints to use for her pillowcase.  And I found some Sasquatch batiks to use for a project that is floating around in my brain.  There were a couple of cute table runner kits and some fat quarters that came home with me too of course.  I've added all of my purchases to the "fabric IN" column on my stash tracking spreadsheet. 

And - here is my one finish - the Tilda and denim floor pillow.  The binding was done in the car on the way to Omaha.  It's 24" inches square so I need to get a pillow form to put inside.  The back is done with an "envelope" so the form can be just slipped in easily.  The binding on the Windy Days wall hanging was begun while sitting around at my niece's house, but isn't finished yet so maybe next week there will be another finish to share.

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

The Pizza Box Challenge

What's going on with the Pizza Box Challenge this month you ask?

For August it was my turn to share a star block pattern with the ladies of the Sew Vintage group.  In honor of America's 250th birthday we're making RWB star blocks to use in some Quilts of Valor.  Each month a different lady shares a 12" finished star block pattern.  I called this one Woven Star.  

Some of us are also making a block set for ourselves, in whatever colorways we want.  I've chosen to do 30s.  This block is pretty in any color.  Notice how full my pizza box is getting.  We have lots of RWB star blocks collected already for Quilts of Valor. 

Another QOV flimsy

The flimsy is done for Gleam (Quilt of Valor).  It was a Sunday afternoon finish, at 60 x 72..  I have a backing ready for it too, so maybe this one will go to a long arm quilter soon.  It's great to have another set of scrappy blocks turned into a finished quilt top.  That also means there is an empty skirt hanger in my closet - waiting for a new set of blocks to grow. 

An empty bin

I do have an empty bin - and I have a plan for filling up that bin with a new project.

All of these rag quilt squares (flannel sewn to denim) are in the mail, on the way to Colorado to a quilter who plans to use them in a donation quilt.  I'm so glad someone wanted them because I just knew I would NEVER use them.  

So . . . you knew that bin couldn't stay empty for long.  It now holds the fabric I've gathered for the Meadow Mist mystery that just began about a week ago. Keeping up with a monthly clue is manageable. 

They gave a sneak peek of the finished mystery, and I really like how scrappy it looks.  So of course I'm all in.  Mine will have lots of batiks and a navy blue background.  For August we are making 2 different blocks and I've cut the parts for them so I can sew later in the week once I get home again.  There will be 4 Dutchman's Puzzle blocks.

And there will be 5 Sawtooth Star blocks. For now the block instructions and all the pieces are in the bin - on top of folded fabrics - safe from losing anything accidentally. 

Design Wall Monday - August 10

I'll be away from my sewing machine for a few days this week, as I'm on a little road trip with a daughter and granddaughter.  I've been whining all summer about never getting more than 100 miles from home.  But this morning we're hitting the road for Omaha.  We'll be staying with a niece, and attending a concert while we're there.

Right now the main thing on my design wall is finishing the Tilda/Denim floor pillow.  A little simple quilting was all that pillow front needed.  I'm hoping to get the binding hand stitched in the car while on this road trip.  I have a small tote I'm taking with me that has hand stitching - this binding, and binding on the Windy Days wall hanging as well. 

I've scheduled a couple of things to post while I'm gone, and hopefully I'll have some fun things to report when I get home again.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #32

This week's sewing really just involved blocks, blocks, blocks.  It was a BLOCK-A-THON around here all week!  And I had LOTS of sewing time this week, so there are blocks galore to show off. 

So much YELLOW came out to play this week!!  I had the black and white pieces already cut and waiting for this month's color of Mardi Gras blocks.  That means I made very quick work of adding the 6 yellow ones.

The black and white pieces for 6 reversed Buckeye blocks were also cut and ready for a new color.  So far I've gotten 3 of those sewn.  One reader suggested a couple months ago that these blocks look like butterflies, so I'm going to start calling them Buckeye Butterflies.  

Yellow Tulip Swirl blocks came together very quickly too.  This little 4.5" block is the 2026 Leader/Ender shared by Bonnie Hunter.  There are 2 of each, so 10 yellow ones will go into that basket you see at the top of the picture.  I still need to make more of lots of the RSC colors from previous months.  But they are a good use of small scraps, and really do make good leaders/enders.

And now for another detour to a WIP that needs to be moved forward, closer to a finish.  Our guild does a fun tradition of sharing fabric when we've traveled somewhere - 6.5" squares.  The project box was getting very full of squares, along with several star blocks that I had been making last year - like that bright yellow one.

Three new star blocks got yellow star points, and 8 more got other colors this week. These are 12 finished blocks.  A couple of the squares in the box were not shared by guild members, but given to me by other friends.  Example - the New Jersey print was in a bag of scraps that I had received in the mail a few months ago.  It is perfect for this on-going project.

Entwined Star is an RSC block that I've neglected for 2026.  There were 9 of them from last year hanging in the closet.  Each of them used medium scale floral prints with a variety of white and cream backgrounds.  Very scrappy.  When I was looking through the "travel stars" project box I noticed a lot of pretty floral squares - so I used a couple of them in new blocks with yellow. There are now pieces ready for a couple more but with other colors. 

There were also a bunch of blocks made for Quilts of Valor this week - also scrappy sewing.  The final 2 blocks needed for Gleam were part of the Block-a-thon, so the flimsy can be assembled in the near future.  

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

So far just one small finish from my To Do list - this table runner.

This was a kit that I purchased last spring.  It actually had 4 big squares, but that made the runner too long for my table.  So I have a 10" square of cute fabric left over, to use in something else in the future.  I did change out the sashing color but kept the original sashing strips from the kit - because 2.5" strips are always useful.

The focus fabric really is cute - with Vintage Valentines.  Don't these look like those little valentines we would exchange in elementary school, back in the 'old days"? 

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

Denim on my mind

I'm determined to empty out a couple of project boxes holding forgotten projects, and projects that I have been slow to finish.  Yesterday I posted about the box full of squares from guild members.  Today - it's all about denim.  

Have you ever made a denim quilt?  About 30 years ago I made a denim couch quilt using jeans outgrown by my girls.  It was put together like a crazy quilt, with odds and ends of cotton fabrics too.  The backing is flannel, so it weighs a ton.  It was tied rather than quilted.

Fast forward those 30 years, and I've had denim on my mind again.  While looking on Pinterest (a black hole) for ideas I came across lots of people using the Potato Chip blocks.  One variation had only 6 "chips" sewn around a denim square.  BINGO!!

On a shelf in my sewing room closet I knew there was a small bin with 6" squares of denim, all cut and waiting for inspiration. Or so I thought.  What was really in that bin you ask?  That stack of denim squares AND a big stack of denim squares sewn to flannel squares.

Obviously at some point years ago I was making a rag quilt because there are 65 squares with the flannel sewn onto the denim, plus some rectangles.  BTW - I dislike flannel, so what was I thinking? I do know all this flannel was from the years when I was making the self-binding baby quilts for my girls and their friends, when they were all having babies.  But then at some point I just stacked them all neatly and put the whole thing away on a shelf in the dark closet.  Totally forgotten until now . . .

So - the plain denim squares were rescued from this bin and were trimmed down to 4.5" squares.  The leftover Tilda fabrics (from the Windy Days wall hanging) are being cut into 2.5" x 4.5" potato chips.  I'm kind of thinking these blocks would make a big floor pillow, but maybe something else will come to mind. As long as they don't end up back in that little bin with the flannel blocks, right?  LOL

The flannel/denim rag quilt components will be given away to someone who actually wants to finish it.  Anyone out there want them?  I'll gladly box them up and send them your way!!

The prospect of an empty bin is exciting. 

Mid-week reflections

Binding is in progress for another Quilt of Valor.  

Don't you just love a striped binding?  This quilt is all Churn Dash blocks in blue with flag print centers.  We have an award to do next week, so I also need to get a label onto another QOV and print the certificate. 

Garden Stars is the newest paper pieced BOM by Carol Doak.  It's going on via her Facebook group and began a couple of months ago with fabric requirements and the pattern for 12 identical "alternate" blocks that will go in between the 13 monthly blocks.  It will be a large quilt with 25 blocks finishing at 12". 

The first monthly star block was posted on August 1.  I sewed all 8 of the block sections on Monday - removing the foundation paper while watching TV Monday evening.  Yesterday those sections were joined to make the block.  It looks more complicated than it really was.  I've only made 4 of the 12 alternate blocks so far, but have a 5th one started. 

In an effort to continue moving some older UFO/WIP projects along toward a finish, I'm revisiting a couple of things this month. Here is one WIP - Our quilt guild has this tradition of the "travel square" - which is sharing a 6.5" square of fabric with each member after traveling somewhere.  The squares usually represent something from the location.  I've made more than 1 quilt from the squares collected over the years but my project box is getting full again, with fabric squares but also with finished star blocks using the squares. 

We received 4 new squares of fabric from guild members on Saturday, including the Canada print with the bears in the above photo and this house print.  In the project box was a stack of these star blocks with various colors of star points.  There were a few sets of star points already cut, so it was easy to put together 2 blocks right away.  I've selected some squares that will get yellow star points to follow the RSC color of the month.  
 

Besides the ones with yellow points, I've prepped these other 4 as well.  If I keep making a few each month I'll soon have enough for a couple of good sized donation quilts.

DIY Round Robin reveal

My version of our guild challenge - DIY Round Robin.  Mine began with 6 little hand appliqued hexie blocks that had been hanging on my design wall for about 2 years.  And I ended with larger hexies in the border.  This is a wall hanging size flimsy.

It was inspired by the online Stay At Home Round Robin, and not all members chose to participate.  Not all participants were able to make it to the August meeting either, so I'm hoping to see a couple more in September. 

It's hard to see all the fun designs these ladies came up with, but you can zoom into the picture.  A couple of the gals who participated couldn't make the meeting as they were working at the county 4-H event that morning.  But there were 10 there on Saturday, including mine.  Not bad considering we have fewer than 40 members total.  

Design Wall Monday - August 3

The first Monday of August is bringing some new goals for the last of summer.  My design wall is going to be busy this month again.  But I'm also planning to enjoy this last month of summer with more outdoor time.  My Achilles is feeling almost good enough to play some golf, and my back deck now sports a temporary shelter to keep some of the hot sun away.  Coffee and a good book, along with toast with yummy homemade raspberry jam (made by my son-in-law) is a good way to spend a relaxing morning.

Here are my August goals so far . . .

• Ongoing Projects - UFOs & WIPs
• Keep up with Saturday Sampler
• Garden Stars (paper pieced blocks)
• Quilt & bind the Windy Days wall hanging
• Quilt & bind at least 1 WIP project
• placemats
• table runners
• doll quilts
• SD lap quilt
• RSC blocks in Yellow
• QOV blocks
• kit up another QOV for group
• NEW Projects
• online mystery - Meadow Mist - monthly clues
• autumn mini vertical banner
• SOMETHING with denim?

Star #1 for Garden Stars was uploaded on August 1.  My plan today is to cut the pieces for this star and at least 1 more of the alternate blocks.  The paper foundations are printed and ready to go.  That yellow floral will be the background, and is a lighter version of the dark blue background in the alternate blocks.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog