Design Wall Monday - July 13

I've fallen off the wagon thanks to Crazy Days here in town.  The guilt is minimized however by the great price discounts on all of it.  And I have a purpose or plan for most of it.

I have a weakness for fat quarters so of course a few pretty ones had to be included with my other purchases.  Backgrounds for future projects always makes sense, and 2 yards of a red patriotic print will fit right in with my QOV sewing.  There was a kit for a cute Valentine table runner that I couldn't resist.  And - an impulse purchase was a grab bag.  Inside the grab bag was a $10 gift certificate, some fabric samples, thread, a tape measure, 3 Villa Rosa patterns, a book, and a few other small items.  Plus I won a fat quarter with the cutest little gingerbread men at Saturday Sampler.   

What is on my design wall this week?  Still finishing up a couple of Works in Progress, some Rainbow Scrap sewing, some QOV sewing, along with binding some small things.  The binding on Farm Girl Vintage will be finished too.

I am finally going to cut the parts for the next UFO on my list.  There are 2 projects on my 2026 PHD list that hadn't even been started yet.  One of those will move to the "cut out" stage this week hopefully.  Maybe it will even get to the sewing stage.  Windy Days is a free pattern from Tilda's World.  My plan is to make a wall hanging. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #28

This week flew by with less sewing time than usual, but there are still a few aqua things to share in spite of that.  And a few things included scraps of other colors as well.

My design boards were full of pieces cut for several different RSC blocks this week, which meant it was very quick to sew a whole bunch of blocks.  Two Snail Trail, 2 Scrappy Stars, 2 Vintage Spools, a bunch of Ticker Tape and Tulip Swirl blocks, plus 1 more Crackers & Jam block - all happened in short bursts of time during the week.  

And it's time to reload those design boards for next week.  I'm ready to cut the pieces for the catnip block with the 3 cats sitting side by side.    

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

I'm ready for Saturday Sampler tomorrow . . . with all of the large applique all stitched down with a grey thread and blanket stitch. 

There are several whole Dresden Plate blocks, plus a half and a couple of quarter plate blocks.  This was much more time consuming this month compared to previous months.  But it's good to have them done in time for Saturday Sampler.

And there are several large snowflakes also stitched down.  I'm glad I went with the blanket stitch on these even though all the turns and twists made it slow going. 

Farm Girl Vintage should be done in the next day or so.  I'm currently hand stitching and close to turning the corner for the last side of the binding.  This will be a good one to check off the UFO list as it's big - and has been languishing for several years.  

I'm still trying to have some discipline, and not begin anything new until more on-going projects are done.  TRYING is the key word of course.  In my cleaning/reorganizing efforts I came across another "nearly" done project.  It's a small table topper made with 1" strips.  All it needed was a back, batting, and quilting.  Stay tuned . . . it's sandwiched now, so maybe I'll get this one done this month too.   

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

Catching up

Monday was a non-sewing day except for a little binding in the evening. Tuesday yielded a little time in the morning.  Wednesday there was a bit of sewing time before heading to PT and then grocery shopping.  Hopefully today I'll get back into the groove.

I did some cutting for Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks in aqua. A couple of Snail Trail and Ticker Tape blocks are on the design board.

And I quilted and attached binding to the 2 placemats using the South Dakota fabric.  Guess that means more binding coming up . . . right after I finish binding the Farm Girl Vintage quilt.  I've just turned the corner onto the last side of that big quilt.

Family

My first baby has a birthday today - and it's making me feel very old.  She was born 45 years ago, during a very hot dry summer.  Happy birthday Jerilyn!  This 4 generation photo popped up in my Facebook memories from 2011, when her own first baby came along.  Grandma Nat is holding Mason (born in June 2011).  Dave's hair was still red.  

Who can resist holding a sweet baby?  

My nephew and his beautiful family is visiting SD from their home in Colorado, and making the rounds so we all have a chance to meet Quinnley - the newest member of the extended family. I'm so glad we got to see them on Monday afternoon.   

I was raised an only child, although I have LOTS of first cousins.  But I married into a nice big family.  My mother-in-law loved all 18 of her grandchildren, and would be so thrilled by the 47 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grands. 

Tulip Swirl

OK - in the spirit of honesty - I broke down on Sunday and made a few of the Tulip Swirl blocks that Bonnie Hunter shared Friday.  Every July she releases a free pattern for a Leader/Ender project, and this is what she's doing in 2026. She even shared several different layout ideas for them.  

Ironically, the block units (2 squares/2 HSTs) are nearly identical to those I'm using for the Gleam QOV blocks.  For Gleam I'm using 3.5" squares, and for Tulip Swirl she is using 2.5" squares.  And the layout will be different for the tulips too.  

The reorganization project in my sewing room has unearthed a bunch of "orphan" jelly roll strips left over from various projects.  I used a couple of them for the Tulip Swirl units, and even had enough of that green one to cut the 2 pieces needed for a Ticker Tape block. 

I know there will be many more of these blocks at some point, but for now I need to get back to work on some other on-going projects.   

Design Wall Monday - July 6

We survived the July 4th weekend quite nicely.  On Saturday afternoon I helped out in our DAR booth during an event on the Corn Palace plaza put on by the local Masonic Temple.  The Masons did a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and also recognized local veteran's organizations and our DAR chapter.  It was a small crowd but well received.  For me it was a bonus because one of the Masons participating was a former student and I got to have a great conversation with him after the event was over. 

Multiple neighbors set off fireworks that night, and we just sat on our deck with a cocktail to enjoy their fireworks.  With the tiki torches lit and the solar lights in the flower pots it was a relaxing atmosphere. 

I had planned to work on the next UFO project this week, but I'm going to first deal with some random small projects from leftover fabric uncovered during my recent reorganization.  There is no point in putting some of it back into a drawer, right?

Lost and forgotten projects always seem to show up when I do some reorganizing in my sewing room.  One such project involved some South Dakota themed fabric in blue and red versions.  It was purchased a few years ago to make pillowcases, but the leftovers had been folded and put back into a drawer.  Sunday afternoon 4 Town Square blocks (Fabric Cafe pattern) came together with other leftover fabrics to make a lap quilt for donation.

Smaller pieces of the same print in red will make a couple of placemats.  I'll put off the UFO project until I've finished with these.  My sewing time will be limited this week, fitting in around several appointments.  And this afternoon a nephew and his family plan to visit while they're here from Colorado.  I'm excited to meet their new baby for the first time.     

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog