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 

RSC26 - Week #27

Happy July 4th!  Do you have fun things planned?  We have absolutely nothing special planned - as usual.  I love fireworks so maybe we'll drive over near the lake to see the fireworks display put on by the city.  

  String Stars is a flimsy.  It's 48 x 60, so a decent size for a couch quilt or for a child.  There are still a few string blocks in the basket, and I'm sure I'll keep making more here and there as the urge hits. String blocks are good for mindless sewing.

Early this week I did a lot of cutting to prep various Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks (and RWB blocks), and it paid off beautifully the past few days because I had plenty of sewing time while avoiding the hot humid weather.  Each day it worked great to choose a particular set of RSC blocks to use as Leaders/Enders.  

I love these Honey Bee (Lori Holt) blocks!  They are going to make a really happy quilt, or maybe I'll divide them into 2 smaller quilts since I've made 2 of each color. 

The Mardi Gras blocks are so fast to make that all 6 of these took less than 15 minutes to sew.  They're made with 7.5" squares, and end up slightly oversized so there is just a bit of sliver trimming to make the blocks a perfect 6.5" square.

Scrappy Stars were next, but I only had 2 of them cut out so far.  I'm going to find some brighter aqua to use in the other 2.   

Sc

Aqua Ticker Tape blocks came together quickly too.  I did end up making just one Hollow 9-Patch block from the smaller leftovers of these other blocks. 

Last but not least I finished a doll quilt this week, about 23" square. Two of the corner squares are kind of dark aqua.  LOL  All 9 of these outer space themed squares were in a bag of scraps given to me a while ago.  Now they've become a doll quilt.  The little alien stuffy was also given to me by another friend - actually a whole bag of various cute stuffies.  I'm planning to tuck the alien in along with a teddy bear wrapped in this quilt when I donate it. 

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

There are no actual finishes to report, but there are some "nearly" finishes. 

 Because lately I've been working my way through some bags/bins/drawers full of scraps as I do some reorganizing . . . it felt right to just USE some of the things I had set aside.  Two placemats and a doll quilt are sewn, quilted, with binding attached.  These should be quick finishes in coming evenings. 
 

I kitted up a couple of new projects, using Villa Rosa patterns I already had and sets of fat quarters that were languishing on a shelf waiting to become something.  Even though I don't have a plan to start them both right away, having the pattern and fabric together in a clear zip lock bag makes it more likely to stay on my radar. I've done Ebb Tide as a baby quilt, but with this fat quarter set I'm thinking lap quilt.

But now I need to start putting things away rather than just step around the piles of things I've sorted out.  Easier said than done . . . I would rather sew.  LOL

One large quilt came back from the quilter this week, and the binding is all prepped.  In our Sew Vintage group several years ago we made the blocks in both of the Farm Girl Vintage books by Lori Holt.  Like a crazy person, I did both size blocks (12" and 6").  The small blocks were all used in a quilt right away but the big ones lay in a project box until this year.  Now this quilt is nearly ready to check off the UFO list.

One goal I set for myself this week was to choose the next UFO from my list to tackle once Farm Girl Vintage is done.  I've decided it's going to be Windy Day.  This was a free pattern from Tilda's World and I have some Tilda fabrics set aside to make it.  My plan is wall hanging size, so maybe the flimsy will actually be done by the end of July.  I have 3 projects on my UFO list for each month.  The Giddy Up baby quilt is already done and crossed off.  And the PIG (not started) for July is going to be the 2026 Liberty Box project.  I have even bought background fabric for it.  I hope to cut out both Windy Day and Liberty Box next week.  

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

Another Quilt of Valor

Another Quilt of Valor award was made Tuesday night.  

This veteran served 2 tours in Viet Nam, and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service.  The quilt award was made at an evening gathering of family in his backyard. He lives in the same small town as my youngest daughter.  So I was able to combine a little family time along with the QOV award.  He was really tall which made wrapping him in the quilt a bit of a challenge for me since I'm height challenged.

I've continued to work on the Saturday Sampler applique.  The Dresden Plates are all stitched down with a blanket stitch.  My plan had been to do a simple outline stitch on the snowflakes but it doesn't really secure the edge very well, so I may do the blanket stitch on them after all in spite of how many corners and turns there are in each snowflake.

Moving along

More progress has been made on the Saturday Sampler applique, with one more of the larger Dresdens finished.  That section of the quilt also has a couple of large snowflakes.  Once I get that whole section stitched down I'll share another picture.

 I've also been working on the blocks I have cut out and arranged on the design boards when I need a break from applique.  A few RSC blocks in aqua have been made, and a few more RWB blocks too. Having the parts cut and laying on the design boards makes it easy.

There was a small stack of 6" Churn Dash blocks in RWB, just waiting to become something. The stack began with a couple of blocks in a box of goodies from Nann last fall.  I made a few more to go with them, thinking I might use them in placemats or maybe a doll quilt.  

But they also make very nice centers for star blocks or inside a bigger churn dash.  Only 2 have been used like this so far, but the rest are on a design board waiting for their turn. They will end up in a future QOV sampler quilt.  

The other task that is happening in between other things - sorting some fabric, and trying to improve the overall organization of fabric. I've been handed various bags of RWB scraps the past couple of months, and I'm determined to tame them - one bag at a time.  These block parts were cut from what was in one small bag - Gleam and Rail Fence parts. That little bag also had some large squares of some novelty prints that I put into the doll quilt pile.  

One more empty bag!!!  Yay!!!  And - I've started another box for a future rummage sale.  Our guild did really well on the April rummage sale, so we'll probably do it again next year.  My box is now labeled and even has a few quilt-related things in it already.