A new project

Since New Year's I've been quite careful and deliberate about fabric purchases.  For the most part I've bought backing for UFO projects, or things that were needed to finish a project already in the works such as backgrounds or binding.  No big purchases have been made for new projects, unless this week. 

But I've fallen off the wagon!!  Almost 20 yards of fabric was purchased this week for a new sew-along by Carol Doak.  And YES - it's another paper pieced project!!  Plus it's FREE.

Garden Stars is just beginning this month via the Facebook group.  To join in you need to join Carol Doak Bonus Block of the Month group on Facebook.  A friend in Rapid City and I are both doing this one, although Tina already has her first block done and I kept changing my mind about colors. We'll have fun sharing progress and cheering each other on.  I'm ready to start working on that first block.  

My inspiration is that big floral print from Moda.  And the rest of the colors will be navy and white, teal and mint, orange and yellow.  Because she's introducing only 1 block per month it's very manageable.  Plus she gave us the alternating block design early so we could work on those gradually during the next year.  

I didn't do the most recent BOM with Carol Doak, but I did finish the one before that called Circle of Friends.  My friend Tina and I both made this one too. 

Shadow Stars finish

Look what is all finished!!  This is Shadow Stars.

This was a UFO, and can now be checked off the list.  I think this one will be donated to our QOV group.  I may just display it in my own house through July, but then it can go to a deserving veteran. 

 Because this month's RSC color is "pastel", I did some digging in the 3.5" square bin.  There are 2 different Vintage Spool blocks, but the straight one uses a 3.5" square for the center of the spools.  I've pulled several pastel squares, and then dug into the string bin for spool tops and bottoms.  And the white/cream bin for background scraps.  I have the parts cut for 7 of these spools with pastels. Leaders and Enders as I work on the next project.

I'm working steadily to assemble the Moda Blockheads 6 blocks into big sections, and then those sections will be ready to be a flimsy.  I did a lot of rearranging of the blocks after taking this picture.  This is another UFO, and another that most likely will be donated to the Quilts of Valor group once it's finished.

Our Attack Cat fell asleep on the job!  We call her Tortie, because she's a tortoise shell color, with a mostly white tummy.  The feral kitties that have adopted us feel pretty safe on our deck, but still won't let us touch any of them. That safe feeling will come to a screeching halt this morning because the contractors are scheduled to start our deck replacement - unless it's raining.  We need the rain, but I really want this project to have no more delays.  We've been putting out food and water on our front porch for the past week so they get used to looking there too when the deck work is happening.  

A little of this and a little of that

It was a busy fun weekend.

On Saturday a couple of us from our QOV group went to a family reunion to award Quilts of Valor to 2 brothers.  What a charming couple of gentlemen!!  We both got hugs from them.

Earlier in the day (Saturday), a box was delivered to my house.  It was a surprise package from Nann at With Strings Attached.  She knows my passions so well - books and fabric!  A book of stories about South Dakota, a mystery, and a pattern book.  There was also a little collection of red/white/blue fabrics that will work beautifully with our Quilts of Valor projects.  Thank you Nann!!  You know I'll enjoy all of these.  

On Sunday evening I met my younger daughter at a small town dinner theater.  The evening was a Mother's Day gift from her.  The play was terrific - a murder mystery comedy with lots of talent.  The meal was excellent too!  About halfway through the first act, people's phones began alerting to a tornado warning for that county.  At intermission the staff gave us instructions of where to go if the sirens would go off in that town.  I'm happy to say the show went on without any danger.  The thunder was loud, and water was over the curb at the street as we were leaving, but no hail or tornado.  We got wet getting to our cars but nothing worse. 

Design Wall Monday - June 1

With the beginning of June, it's time for a new goal list.  The first item on the list is another UFO project - the Moda Blockheads 6 project from 2025.  

The blocks have all been done, but I wasn't happy with my fabric choices for that center block. The center medallion block is 27" square and needs to make a statement, but as you can see from my original layout it doesn't look like it fits with the other blocks.

This is what it originally looked like.  That beige print was not a good choice as the pinwheel gets lost in there.  The block needed something more bold to fit in with all the rest of the blocks in the series. 

So, I spent maybe a half hour picking out the seams around those beige sections.  A good seam ripper is worth it.

The beige pieces are now replaced with a bold flag print and I like it much better.  Now I can begin assembling the top this week.

I did a LOT of cutting on Saturday afternoon, some with patriotic prints and some with pastels for June's RSC blocks.  These will give me plenty of Leaders/Enders to use in between things this week. 

The rest of the June goals are typical . . . so I'm skipping most of the details.

** Try NOT to acquire a lot of new fabric
** keep up with Saturday Sampler
** make new blocks for Sew Vintage (Pizza Box Challenge)
** RSC blocks in the June colors (pastels)
** bind a UFO (Shadow Stars QOV)
** finish the guild DIY Round Robin wall hanging
** take a couple of small things to long arm quilter
** assemble flimsy for Salt Water Taffy quilt

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #22

A new flimsy has been born from Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.  The block pattern is called Give It a Whirl, and definitely has been one of my favorite RSC blocks to make.  The flimsy is 48 x 60, so a nice size for a kid's quilt or a couch cuddler.  

Because I was finishing up one set of RSC blocks, I've been testing some new blocks.  This is Ticker Tape.  Only 6 orange ones have been made so far.  These are 4 x 8" finished, and look great lined up vertically or horizontally. The fun thing about this block is that they can be made using squares and HSTs for that color area- very scrappy - or with strips.  For RSC I'm going to use strips. So far I haven't gone back to any of the previous 2026 colors, but I'm excited to make some in whatever color we're doing for June. 

This week I also made more Ticker Tape blocks in patriotic prints from a bunch of strips in a bag of QOV scraps I was recently given.  These should be a fun QOV.

One of the other "new" blocks I played with this month is Confetti Star.  It's a 6.5" paper pieced scrappy block.  Only 2 orange ones happened so far, along with 1 green one and a red, white and blue version.  My plan is to use scrappy neutral prints for the background. 

Reflecting on the whole month of orange sewing . . . was very satisfying!  This is the point in the year when we have lots of color variety to begin playing with layout ideas.  But as always, I'm ready to dig into a new color for June.

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

It's Friday - Yay!!

Wow - it's already Friday, and there is not much to report.  There hasn't been much sewing time this week, but there was time with friends and family and that is even better.

You know how photos pop up every day on Facebook as memories?  Those memories always bring a smile to my face.  I have the same thing also happen in my email from One Drive, and recently this picture popped up from 2008. I was hand quilting, and there was no room on my lap for a 22 pound cat.  Sammy was tucked into the puddle of fabric on the floor next to me.  I sure miss this guy!  We had him for 19 years, and he was definitely my sewing room companion. Can't believe he's been gone for nearly 3 years already.

Full disclosure about that quilt.  I got about 1/3 of it hand quilted and then set it aside for about 10 years.  Then I took it to the local Senior Center and paid the ladies there to finish quilting it.  It's a twin size quilt from a Saturday Sampler, done in rows.  Mine used 30s reproduction prints so I was determined it would be hand quilted.  

And look - my hair wasn't white!!  To be honest, it really was totally white but I was still coloring it back in 2008 because I wasn't ready to look at myself with white hair.

Next UFO & a WIP

Shadow Stars came back from the quilter this week, so I'm ready to do the binding on it.  This quilt is on my PHD list at the quilt shop, so it will be good to check it off the list of UFOs for 2026.  I may donate this one to our Quilts of Valor group. 

Today I should finally have time in the sewing room to finish getting this top assembled. Two of the vertical rows are sewn so far.  I'm adding a white brick to the top and bottom of those rows to make them off-set.  

Then it's time to empty out a couple of project boxes holding things that are fairly close to being Finished Objects.  I'm continuing on the quest to decrease the number of UFOs and WIPs laying around.

The next UFO up to be moved along is the Moda Blockheads 6 blocks, to become a Quilt of Valor.  Guess I'm still in red, white, blue mode this week.  These blocks were all made in 2025 for the Blockheads 6 sew along. However, I am going to remake that center medallion first because I'm not happy with my color choices at all.   

And the WIP that needs attention after that is Salt Water Taffy.  The blocks are all made and waiting patiently in the project box.  This was a leader/ended kind of project all spring until I had used up a whole charm pack and a good share of a jelly roll.  Now it's time to turn the blocks into a finished top for another donation quilt.