Garden Stars

Garden Stars is a BOM from Carol Doak, going on via her Facebook group. This year she began the BOM with a block that will repeat in between the monthly star blocks. That way we can work on them gradually through the year.

The September Star block was actually posted a couple of days early, and this month I didn't procrastinate.  For this one I used only half of my "colors".  I have 2 shades of each (yellow, orange, aqua, teal), but only used 1 of each in the block.  

So far I'm keeping up with the single block each month. Some folks have ALL of their alternate blocks finished already.  Not me!  I will need to make 1 or 2 more each month for awhile.  But Row #1 has a good beginning.  The dark background print in the middle alternate block is a dark version of the yellow print in the background of the monthly blocks.  Each row will have 5 blocks total. 

Progress plus squirrels

I picked up Snowdrift (medium sized quilt) from the quilter, and have binding strips that need to be sewn and pressed. When picking it up I commented that I hoped I could find the navy blue binding I thought was already cut and waiting.

Turns out I had cut binding strips from the coral used on the border.  The backing is grey, so either color would be fine.  Snowdrift was a Sew Sampler Box kit from several years ago.  The kit had the pattern and a set of fat quarters.  I chose the background, and border from my own stash.  The blocks have a snowflake shape to them, but the fabric (corals, greens, navy) certainly has no wintery connection at all.  I keep wondering why the kit didn't have a snowy, wintery set of fat quarters.    

I've mentioned lately that there have been squirrels invading my space.  There isn't much point in totally ignoring them, but hopefully they won't totally derail my To Do list either.  For a couple of months I've stayed pretty focused on finishing UFOs and WIPs, so it was only a matter of time before I allowed some distractions to pop up.  I'm going with the flow, and doing a little playing with the squirrels in between more important projects.   LOL

One of the ideas floating in my head lately is making more lap quilts for donation, as they would be small enough for me to actually quilt myself and use up a lot of fabric.  I mentioned on Saturday's post that I was gifted some solid black fabric, and along with that was a nice brown plaid too. Thank you to blogging friend Vicki for the idea of making a Tumbler pattern with plaid.  Her quilt is beautiful.  I have the Tumbler ruler in several sizes, and pulled out the 5" one to use.  So - this just may be the next project I do the cutting for, and there is an empty design board ready for the pieces. 

That gifted black fabric is already being put to use paired up with the Potato Chip pieces filling up a small bin.  There are 9 blocks made so far.  I think these scrappy blocks will be a good Leader/Ender task this week while I'm working on rows for Salt Water Taffy, and in between some purple RSC blocks. 

Design Wall Monday - August 31

Over the past few days I've been contemplating my goals for fall, with way too many ideas floating around in my head again.  So, I'm going to just come up with some goals for this week, and let the rest keep floating for now.

Salt Water Taffy is halfway to being a flimsy.  Five of the 10 rows are all assembled so far, and this will be my first priority this week. I even have a plan for the 4 extra blocks.

The second project I want to finish this week is this little Halloween table runner.  This was a kit purchased when granddaughter Sophia was shopping for Halloween fabric for her own quilt. The Pieced Tree pattern card was included in the kit. Digging into the drawer full of Halloween fabrics I found this leftover backing, and it was just the right size for the runner.  It's all sandwiched and waiting for an idea of HOW I want to quilt this. 

Another priority this week is the paper pieced Garden Stars block for September.  It's only 1 block for this month, although I might get another of the alternate blocks made too.  

Tracing onto fusible is done on the snowman appliques for Kisses From Heaven. The kit contains laser cut snowflakes to use, but the snowmen parts all needed to be traced onto the fusible by hand.  This project is the last thing on my PHD list that hadn't even been started yet.  I think I've been afraid of the whole "circle" thing, and that would explain why it's been in a drawer for nearly 10 years.  Now I can iron these onto the fabrics in the kit.  I don't expect to get any sewing done on these this week, but will be very happy if all the parts are ironed onto the fabric.  
  

Last, but not least - the yellow scraps have been put away and the purple ones have come out for September's rainbow fun.  A few of the RSC blocks are kitted up and ready to sew - Buckeye Butterflies (3), Tulip Swirl (4), Ticker Tape (2), and for 6 Mardi Gras blocks not shown here.  Welcome to September!!

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

Saying goodbye to August

This was my August goal list from the beginning of the month . . .

• Ongoing Projects - UFOs & WIPs
• Keep up with Saturday Sampler - DONE
• Garden Stars block #1 (paper pieced) - DONE
• Quilt & bind the Windy Days wall hanging - DONE
• Quilt & bind at least 1 WIP project
• placemats DONE (2 RWB placemats)
• table runners - DONE (1 runner)
• doll quilts - NO
• blue SD lap quilt - NO
• RSC blocks in yellow - DONE
• QOV blocks - DONE
• kit up another QOV for group - NO
• NEW Projects
• online mystery - Meadow Mist - monthly clues - DONE
• autumn mini vertical banner - DONE
• SOMETHING with denim? - DONE (Tilda/denim pillow)

In the spirit of my own accountability, I'm happy to report that I've used more fabric than I've purchased in 2026.  It's not a lot, but it is going the right direction.  I hope to keep that trend going through the fall and winter.  

RSC26 - Week #35

Yellow . . . such a cheerful color to play with this month. 

Who Found the Catnip came together quickly since all the pieces were cut and arranged on the design board in the correct spots.  

The 4 Snails Trail blocks are finished.  I chose 2 yellows that were buttery, and the other 2 are more on the gold side.  The one bottom right looks almost brown in this photo.  That wasn't my intention so we'll see how it plays with the other colors. If I have to replace it with a brighter color it isn't the end of the world. 

Going through the 2.5" square bin, I realized that I didn't have many yellow ones left. There were enough for just a couple of Hollow-9 blocks.  The bin is nearly full yet, but just not with yellow.  I think I used most of them up when I finished the blocks for the Hollow-9 quilt a couple of months ago.   

A few Vintage Spools have been finished this week too.  Notice, there is a little purple in these as well to ease into next month. 

There has been a squirrel trying to get into my sewing room the past couple of days. I blame Pinterest.  While looking for something else this week, I came across an awesome scrappy quilt made with a variation on the Potato Chip blocks.  It had a black center square, and only 1 round of "chips" in colors.  The blocks were separated with a narrow black sashing and colorful little cornerstones.  Ironically I had just been "gifted" with nearly 2 yards of a black solid fabric, and obviously Pinterest heard me thinking about how I would use that black.  And I already had an overflowing little box of the chips cut from project leftovers.

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or Not) Friday - Very small finishes

EDIT:  The eye procedure went well yesterday, but it was good that I had written this post early.  Blurry vision was the norm for awhile.  And happens again each time I put in the ointment needed for the next week.  But that's a minor inconvenience.

This week, there are finishes but I warn you - they are small.

The autumn themed mini banner is done.  It's only 10 x 26 - small. I now have 4 seasonal banners, and they fit perfectly hanging on that narrow space in my home office. I may need to eventually add a couple more to the collection for specific holidays. 
 

Have you tried the Diamond Dot craze yet?  I just had to dive in this summer and give it a try.  One of my friends has done dozens of various diamond projects large and small.  Both of my granddaughters love doing these too.  I began with some Patriotic greeting cards decorated with the diamonds in mid summer.  Then I saw these cute 4" snowman on Amazon, and couldn't resist ordering them. For the past couple of weeks they've been on my desk.  A couple of hours here and there - and Voila!!  

Currently they have a little lobster clasp from the kit so they could be key chains, but I'm planning to change those clasps to ribbons and hang them on the Christmas tree instead. I still don't think I have the patience to do really large projects, but now I'm confident I can do the sewing themed picture I got last winter as a Secret Santa gift. 

I have 2 quilts ready to bind, so maybe next Friday will have some bigger finishes to report.    

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

What's next?

Two rows are assembled for Salt Water Taffy, out of 10 needed.  I'll continue plugging away on those rows.  I've promised myself it WILL BE a flimsy in a few days.   

Next project?  I cut the pieces for this super simple Halloween table runner while Olivia was sewing a couple of weeks ago.  I'm going to sew this together this morning.

Then this afternoon I have an appointment with my ophthalmologist.  The tentative plan is for her to open up a clogged oil gland on my right lower eyelid. I had the same procedure done about a year ago on the left eye.  She will have numbed my eye, so most likely I won't be doing any sewing or reading for a few hours.