Playing with light blue

 Because there was a lot of sewing time I had some major fun with the light blue fabrics this week.  OK - I have to admit that I went kind of crazy with blue.  Once I got started with the blue scraps it was hard to stop. 

One light blue elephant has been added to the herd so far.  He needs a friend yet. 

One light blue Rainbow Connection block was an easy addition because as I cut parts and pieces for elephants and hearts, I had lots of blue strips laying around.  

All 5 of the light blue heart (and hourglass) blocks are done.  This makes 45 of these Falling In Love blocks, and since they finish about 8 x 9 I should have enough for a nice sized quilt by the end of the year.  We'll see how I end up laying them out. 

I couldn't resist making another light blue pyramid block.  And then a pink one, and (not pictured) then 2 more in green and coral.  I'm mixing the backgrounds on these blocks with whites, and creams, and other neutrals.  This will be very scrappy. 

The only thing "light blue" about this next project is the cornerstone choices I made.  The blocks are from the 2022 Riley Blake Design challenge this past spring.  I'm very excited to get these all sewn together and add the fun border fabric I have.  I do love a blue and white quilt - they look so crisp and cool.    

Check out more RSC projects today:
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What is wrong with this picture?

 I knew these cone flowers just didn't look quite right, but it took me awhile to figure out what was actually wrong about them.

They were both missing the corner pieces of the background that would make them not appear like "square" flowers.  The top of the flower petals shouldn't be square. 

Luckily I had only made 2 of the 4 flowers at the time, and it didn't take long to pick out enough seams to fix them.  And I made the last 2 correctly.  

All fixed and ready for assembling all the sections plus the borders.  That didn't take long. 

Autumn Garden is now a flimsy, ready to quilt.  The colors are more accurate in the closeup photos.  I took this one out on the deck in the shade so it's a bit muted.  But this is a very fun table runner with the fall colors.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 

Road trip shops #2 and #3

 Just a short hour south of Yankton SD is Norfolk Nebraska.  Norfolk has a busy and fun downtown area, with lots of interesting restaurants and shopping within walking distance of the quilt shop.  I asked one of the ladies working in the quilt shop about restaurants in the area. She recommended several, and we walked down the street to 411 and had lunch after I shopped. 

I Bee Quilting is located in the heart of the downtown shopping/dining mecca.  Another cute and very welcoming shop.  On my shopping list was a note to look for fun local fabric to cut into "traveling" squares for guild.  The print with the brands will represent my Nebraska stop.  The brands were actually created for a past Nebraska shop hop - and each one is actually for a quilt shop.  So cute!!!  

The frog fabric duo is for a future Quick Strippee child quilt.  I love making them for donation or gifting.  The strippee quilt uses 1 yard of 3 fabrics.  A blue to blend in with the frogs should be easy to find, and these will make a really cute kid quilt.  My impulse purchase here?  That license plate was from the 2017 Row By Row program.  I have a big collection of these fabric license plates and couldn't resist one I knew I didn't have.  

The final quilt shop on my road trip was in our destination of Concordia Kansas, where our family reunion was being held.  There are actually 2 quilt shops there, but I missed out on the one that closed earlier in the day.  And they are not open on Saturdays, so - maybe next trip. 

Full of Scraps is actually new since my last trip here so I was excited to check this one out.  The shop is an amazing transformation of a gas station.  Yes - a gas station!!!  And believe me, this shop is FULL of a wonderful variety of fabrics.  I could have spent a lot more time and money here.  

The 3 "garage bays" from the gas station are full of fabrics - displayed differently in each bay area, and grouped by collection types.  And you could see the roll up garage doors, and open ceiling areas.  

I was on the prowl for something to represent Kansas - and what could be better than the sunflower.  This shop had lots of sunflower options to choose from too.  This will be a fun one to cut into squares for quilt.  And I couldn't resist one more "kid print" for another future Quick Strippee quilt.  This one had pink and blue horses frolicking on a light green background.   

I didn't get too carried away shopping on this road trip.  No quilt shops were on my list for the trip home as we were driving on a Sunday, and not likely to find any of them open.  I'm sure there would have been several worth checking out but they'll have to wait for the next trip.  

Progress on a couple of fronts

Labor Day was very quiet around my house and it gave me time to do quite a bit of sewing without any real distractions.  I managed to finish the binding on a quilt, which I'll show later in the week. 

The cutting and planning for sashing and cornerstones began for this blue and white project.  There are 16 blocks that were part of the 2022 Riley Blake Design challenge this winter and spring.  The cornerstones will be scrappy, and cut from light and medium blue leftovers from these blocks.  The sashing is that new dark royal blue that I purchased on Friday.  The blocks finish at 10", so with a layout of 4 across and 4 down, this quilt will require an outer border to be a decent size.  I have a terrific print set aside for that outer border.

Last week the 3pumpkin blocks for the Autumn Garden table runner were finished.  And this week I hope to get all of the rest of the pieces of this one sewn.  Two flowers were sewn on Monday, and there are 2 more to sew yet.  There are also 2 small bee blocks to add into the mix.  

August Garden was my PIG project from August.  I got a start on it very late in the month, but should have it finished by the end of this month.  And I'm OK with any forward progress made.  

Road trip quilt shop #1

 I mentioned over the weekend that my doctor told me to stop, get out of the car and walk around a bit every so often on that road trip.  So I planned for 3 quilt shop stops on the way down.  First stop was a shop not too far from home that I've visited before - Sassy Cats in Yankton SD. 

Sassy Cats is located on Highway 81 just a few miles north of Yankton, on a beautiful ranch site.  These ladies are so welcoming when you visit.

I'm always distracted by the décor of a shop as much as the fabric selections, and this shop doesn't disappoint.  There is a very sassy kitty painted on the door.  

And in the ladies restroom is a big old window - framing the most beautiful selection of dried plants.  The whole thing was just so pretty and unique.

I had a list of things to look for on this road trip, along with some swatches for color checks.  The plan was to look for things needed to finish some things already started, and maybe not make too many random purchases.  LOL  Good luck with that!!   I did find a really good blue to use for sashing on a project that is ready for sashing and cornerstones.  And that gold paisley - perfect for the top of a pillowcase that is in the works.  The 3 Halloween fat quarters were my impulse purchase. 

The gold is going to pair up with this adorable cat print for a pillowcase for my family room sofa.  The cats are draped among the books in the library - but you really need to zoom in to see the titles on those books because every single one is a hilarious play on words.  This was a purchase made earlier this summer while on the road to my class reunion in Minnesota. My husband came into a shop with me and was walking around just looking at things. He spied this fabric and - like the extra cookies at the grocery store - this was added to my purchases.  Good eye my dear!!

I'll take you further down the road tomorrow!! Nebraska and Kansas here we come!

Design Wall Monday - September 5

 Cooler mornings have certainly arrived here in South Dakota.  I took this quilt out to the porch this morning for a photo, and realized it was cool and quite foggy - and very grey out there.

So the color in this photo isn't accurate, but you can see the lovely texture of the quilting.  I worked on binding this quilt in the car on the drive back from Kansas yesterday, and have just one side left to hand stitch.  Then this one will be completely done. There are 3 graduation gifts needed next spring for extended family members, so I think this one will be set aside to be a graduation gift.

As for my other sewing goals this week?  I have a quiet house today as my husband is out golfing with one of the sons-in-law.  So, one goal is to organize and put away some new purchases before doing some fun sewing.  I'll share a peek at some of those purchases later this week.  

A second goal is to work on my light blue blocks and projects for Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Falling In Love hearts, Twinkle Stars, Pyramids, Rainbow Connections, Ohio Star, and elephants.  There is a lot of September remaining to play with these light blue blocks, and I have a few fabric options all ready to cut into parts and pieces. 

There is plenty of cutting planned for this week.  I need binding strips this week for the Tulip Time quilt now that I have it back from the quilter.  This will be another big UFO finish, when I get that far.  And while I'm cutting things, I have 2 fabrics from my trip to cut into 6" squares to share at guild - one from Nebraska and one from Kansas.

And there are a couple of PIGS that are coming out of their respective grocery sacks.  One of those is a little Halloween wall hanging that I want to begin working on.  I may only get the fabrics all pulled together this week but that is a good beginning. 

What is on your design wall this morning?
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A family reunion

This was the group I spent Saturday with - cousins and 1 aunt.  My husband and I drove 6 hours on Friday from South Dakota to Kansas for my family reunion.  It was such a good time.  We got to celebrate my aunt’s 90th birthday, and had lots of time to visit.  There were 16 first cousins. Two have passed away, and 4 couldn’t attend.  Two of the cousins I hadn’t seen since our grandfather’ funeral in 1969. That is what happens when we’re scattered all over the country - rarely are able to be here at the same time.  I’m so grateful that we were able to have this time together. 

I’ll share some info during the next week on the 3 quilt shops I got to visit on the drive.  My doctor ordered me to stop and walk around several times during the trip, so I was just following orders.