Wednesday check-in

Tuesday didn't provide as much actual sewing time as I had anticipated.

But I did get one of the little doll quilts quilted and binding attached.  That is a good start at least, and will provide some binding to hand stitch in the evening. Maybe today I'll get the second one quilted - in between other things going on.

I did cut the pieces for a few more of the Windmill blocks, and some additional Plus blocks.  Here are some of them.  

My other goal today is to finish getting the borders sewn onto the Honey Bee quilt.  And maybe I'll choose colors for today's Blockheads block.  

I might be getting overly ambitious about today since I have the monthly "retired" group lunch, and then we're heading to Brooking tonight for the first Jackrabbit basketball game.  

This and that

Today is a day I've been dreading for the past month.  Our wonderful cleaning lady is "retiring" to care for her elderly mom, and we're really going to miss her.

She has taken such good care of us for more than a decade.  I'm gifting a quilt to her as a thank you.  She came every 2 weeks for 2 hours, doing the things I'm finding it harder to do.  I'm hoping she feels appreciated for her hard work.

This is the busiest time of year for Quilt of Valor award, so it was perfect timing to receive a completed quilt as a donation.  It's really a pretty one too.  The stack of quilts in my dining room for November awards keeps growing.  We'll be busy.

Design Wall Monday - October 26

Life is good!  We had a whole week of mostly beautiful fall weather last week.  The fall colors are near peak around here.  And our feral cat clan appears happy and healthy.  

We attended an all-school reunion on Saturday evening in our previous hometown. My in-laws, my husband, our kids and all of their cousins attended that school, along with lots and lots of other extended family.  And I taught there for 18 years too. It was a smaller than usual attendance, but it was an enjoyable evening.  Four years ago there were 10 first cousins at the alumni reunion. but this time only 4 were there - my sister-in-law Kathy, my hubby, cousin Anita, and cousin Gene.  

And BTW - college basketball season has begun.  We attended a doubleheader on Sunday for the local DWU Tigers.  And on Wednesday we'll make the first drive to Brookings for Jackrabbit basketball.  

Another new week, and it will soon be a fresh new month too.  My goal list for this week isn't very long, but hopefully will contain some finishes again. When the list has binding on it, I can be very optimistic about finishing something.  All of the other fun things going on over the weekend meant there was no sewing time, other than a little binding.  I hope to make up for that in the next few days. 

• finish binding the Churn Dash baby quilt (a UFO)
• quilt and bind 2 doll quilts
• Honey Bees quilt top needs borders
• make more blocks for on-going projects
• Blockheads (week 4)
• another alternate block for Marigold
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks

I really want to get both of these doll quilts to the finish line, so they can be paired up with a stuffy and donated soon.  The tops were already done, and I finally got them sandwiched with batting leftovers and backing leftovers.  The quilting will be kept simple.

Blockheads for week 3 was this Game Day block by Sherri McConnell.  My Christmas version is the 12" size, and the bright version is the 9" size.  For the Christmas blocks I'll be doing a scrappy background to go with the scrappy Christmas fabrics from the stash.  But for the bright set of blocks I'm going to keep the background the same, which is a neutral slightly on the cream side of white.  Wednesday will bring us the Week 4 block.  What will it be?

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #43

Where has October gone?  I know there is still a full week to go, but . . . suddenly we'll be turning the calendar page again.

Buckeye Butterflies is now a flimsy.  The blocks finish at 8", so the flimsy is 48 x 64 which is a nice size for snuggling under on the couch.  I played with the idea of adding borders, but decided I like as is.  There are 5 blocks left over from this set, but hopefully they will find a home in some other project before too long.

I have some small baskets holding the smaller RSC block sets.   Just a few more Vintage Spool blocks were added to their basket this week.  That top left one is actually navy blue, but the other 4 used black or dark grey scraps. 

Ticker Tape was a new block this year that I began making after seeing variations online.  I actually have 2 sets of these going on.  One set is reds and blues with scrappy white backgrounds for a future Quilt of Valor.  But the other set has been an ongoing RSC block in the whole rainbow.  These have been going into a little basket as the collection has grown.  Now I've counted them to see which colors needed more blocks. 

Following a lot of time taking inventory of RSC block sets this week, I decided to revisit a couple of block patterns that had been in Time Out for quite awhile.  Parts were cut for Windmill and Plus blocks and used as Leaders/Enders while I worked on other projects this week.  There were 15 of the Windmill blocks on a hanger in the closet that were left over from a previous quilt.  Now there are 8 new ones on the hanger too - all cut from scraps.  Fourteen of the Plus blocks have been added to that collection.     

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

There are 2 finishes this week to report.  Yay!!

This is Salt Water Taffy.  It's a Villa Rosa pattern and mine finished at 52" x 65", so a generous crib size quilt.  I used most of a jelly roll to frame the charm squares, and used most of the remaining jelly roll strips for the scrappy binding.  It's ready to gift or donate.

And voila!!  Kisses From Heaven is done too.  I'm really thrilled to have this Joann Hoffman kit all finished finally.  Lots of applique on a round background - it was very intimidating.  The kit sat in my sewing room for several years.  But it was worth the wait - and the work.

Oops!  I need to update my flimsy inventory, because I found an additional flimsy hanging in the closet. It required a search through my blog for details.  The pattern name was Shooting Stars, and it was part of a Sew Sampler Box from Fat Quarter Shop.  Sometime in 2024 this became a flimsy.  This is now #22 hanging in the closet.

And #23 has just been added - the Buckeye Butterflies that I've been working on this week.  I'll share a photo of that one on Saturday for RSC.  And #24 (Honey Bees) is getting closer to that flimsy stage. 

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

More inventory

I won't bore you - or me - with a count of every single block set I have going on in my sewing room.  Some are for current Sew-Alongs, some are for Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and some have been put in Time Out for now.  But I was able to take stock of some of my block sets - while prepping binding for another small finish.

Current Block of the Month/Week projects: 

** Saturday Sampler (BOM)
** Blockheads 7 (Block of Week)
** Marigold (BOM)
** Garden of Stars (BOM)

So far I've kept up with these 4 sew-alongs.  And hopefully that will continue to be the case over the next few months.  I do love a Block of the Month!

Block sets for Rainbow Scrap Challenge are always ongoing for me, with some sets finished and new ones started at various times during the year.  My purple collection from September was typical for 2026.  Scrappy Stars is now a flimsy.  Honey Bees are well on the way to flimsy stage, as well as the Buckeye Butterflies set.  That means I have room in the closet - and my brain - for new blocks!!

Because I'm in the process of wrapping up a couple of block sets, my focus is shifting to some different sets.  There were only a couple of these Plus blocks (from 2.5" strips) hanging on my bulletin board.  It's time to add them to the current scrappy projects.  I also pulled out a hanger from the closet with leftover Windmill blocks, and those will be a revived block set.  

Fresh projects happen and keep me motivated.  

Taking inventory

Yesterday I was up early, and sometimes that is a dangerous thing because I do a lot of planning (scheming and generating of ideas) over coffee while the house is quiet and it's still dark outside. I've been thinking ahead to goals for 2027.  Yikes!!! 

So . . . I had this idea to take inventory in my sewing room closet.  That's where the block sets and flimsies live, hanging on hangers.  Sounds well organized, right?

Well, it's kind of organized but also out of control - because of sheer numbers. Including a couple more on the far right side beyond the white drawer unit, there are currently 21 flimsies hanging up.  A few are small, like wall hanging size.  Most are either lap size, crib size, couch size, or even bed size.  

Last spring I donated 5 flimsies to our guild rummage sale for someone else to finish.  And by my spreadsheet of finishes I've also finished 15 quilts already this year, not including wall hangings. Obviously I like sewing the blocks and tops a lot more than finishing them. 

I've made a list of the 21 flimsies in the closet, and will decide which of these will be the first ones on my 2027 list.  

 After working on the inventory, I did manage to get the remaining Buckeye Butterfly blocks sewn into the last 4 rows.  Hopefully today these will all become flimsy #22.