Finished (or not) Friday

I'm home!!  It was so nice to get away for 3 days!  We did some fun things, and also just relaxed and enjoyed being away.  The purpose of the trip was to attend the Lindsey Stirling concert, and that was fabulous of course.  If you just want to see my ONE small quilting finish, scroll to the end of this post.  LOL

Monday morning we left Sioux Falls, and made 1 stop in Sioux City on the way to Omaha.  The Sioux City stop was Heart and Hand Quilting to have Olivia pick out some fabric for her first sewing lesson that will happen this weekend hopefully.  We also popped into a nearby book store (Book People) and a coffee shop.  Then it was on to Omaha.

One bonus was staying with my niece and her husband. We spent one afternoon and evening in their pool, and sitting on their patio.  Temps were in the 90s with really high humidity so that pool was wonderful.  They have waterproof playing cards, so we played cards while floating around.  Olivia is a swim team kid, so she really enjoyed that pool.

Tuesday morning we went to a wildlife "safari" park just off I-80 west of Omaha. Parts were drive through and other parts were walk through.  The animals were all native prairie species such as elk, pelicans, bald eagles, deer, bison, etc.  Then we visited the Strategic Air Command museum, followed by Baker's Candies.  The SAC museum is a place I've visited before and would go again and again as it's fascinating.  The candy shop - enormous and definitely a fun and tasty stop.

Then we braved that heat and went to the Lindsey Stirling concert.  The concert was at an outdoor amphitheater, and our seats were wonderful.  However it was still 93 degrees and sunny and HUMID when we arrived.  That was the sweatiest crowd of people I've ever been in I think. The venue allowed empty clear plastic water bottles to be brought in, and had free refill stations set up all over.  Thankfully.  Once the sun went down it was better, but still so hot and humid.  

Heart and Hand Quilting in Sioux City is close to the interstate so it was an easy stop on our way south.  I've stopped there many times over the years on road trips.  Olivia picked out a couple of dog prints to use for her pillowcase.  And I found some Sasquatch batiks to use for a project that is floating around in my brain.  There were a couple of cute table runner kits and some fat quarters that came home with me too of course.  I've added all of my purchases to the "fabric IN" column on my stash tracking spreadsheet. 

And - here is my one finish - the Tilda and denim floor pillow.  The binding was done in the car on the way to Omaha.  It's 24" inches square so I need to get a pillow form to put inside.  The back is done with an "envelope" so the form can be just slipped in easily.  The binding on the Windy Days wall hanging was begun while sitting around at my niece's house, but isn't finished yet so maybe next week there will be another finish to share.

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

The Pizza Box Challenge

What's going on with the Pizza Box Challenge this month you ask?

For August it was my turn to share a star block pattern with the ladies of the Sew Vintage group.  In honor of America's 250th birthday we're making RWB star blocks to use in some Quilts of Valor.  Each month a different lady shares a 12" finished star block pattern.  I called this one Woven Star.  

Some of us are also making a block set for ourselves, in whatever colorways we want.  I've chosen to do 30s.  This block is pretty in any color.  Notice how full my pizza box is getting.  We have lots of RWB star blocks collected already for Quilts of Valor. 

Another QOV flimsy

The flimsy is done for Gleam (Quilt of Valor).  It was a Sunday afternoon finish, at 60 x 72..  I have a backing ready for it too, so maybe this one will go to a long arm quilter soon.  It's great to have another set of scrappy blocks turned into a finished quilt top.  That also means there is an empty skirt hanger in my closet - waiting for a new set of blocks to grow. 

An empty bin

I do have an empty bin - and I have a plan for filling up that bin with a new project.

All of these rag quilt squares (flannel sewn to denim) are in the mail, on the way to Colorado to a quilter who plans to use them in a donation quilt.  I'm so glad someone wanted them because I just knew I would NEVER use them.  

So . . . you knew that bin couldn't stay empty for long.  It now holds the fabric I've gathered for the Meadow Mist mystery that just began about a week ago. Keeping up with a monthly clue is manageable. 

They gave a sneak peek of the finished mystery, and I really like how scrappy it looks.  So of course I'm all in.  Mine will have lots of batiks and a navy blue background.  For August we are making 2 different blocks and I've cut the parts for them so I can sew later in the week once I get home again.  There will be 4 Dutchman's Puzzle blocks.

And there will be 5 Sawtooth Star blocks. For now the block instructions and all the pieces are in the bin - on top of folded fabrics - safe from losing anything accidentally. 

Design Wall Monday - August 10

I'll be away from my sewing machine for a few days this week, as I'm on a little road trip with a daughter and granddaughter.  I've been whining all summer about never getting more than 100 miles from home.  But this morning we're hitting the road for Omaha.  We'll be staying with a niece, and attending a concert while we're there.

Right now the main thing on my design wall is finishing the Tilda/Denim floor pillow.  A little simple quilting was all that pillow front needed.  I'm hoping to get the binding hand stitched in the car while on this road trip.  I have a small tote I'm taking with me that has hand stitching - this binding, and binding on the Windy Days wall hanging as well. 

I've scheduled a couple of things to post while I'm gone, and hopefully I'll have some fun things to report when I get home again.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #32

This week's sewing really just involved blocks, blocks, blocks.  It was a BLOCK-A-THON around here all week!  And I had LOTS of sewing time this week, so there are blocks galore to show off. 

So much YELLOW came out to play this week!!  I had the black and white pieces already cut and waiting for this month's color of Mardi Gras blocks.  That means I made very quick work of adding the 6 yellow ones.

The black and white pieces for 6 reversed Buckeye blocks were also cut and ready for a new color.  So far I've gotten 3 of those sewn.  One reader suggested a couple months ago that these blocks look like butterflies, so I'm going to start calling them Buckeye Butterflies.  

Yellow Tulip Swirl blocks came together very quickly too.  This little 4.5" block is the 2026 Leader/Ender shared by Bonnie Hunter.  There are 2 of each, so 10 yellow ones will go into that basket you see at the top of the picture.  I still need to make more of lots of the RSC colors from previous months.  But they are a good use of small scraps, and really do make good leaders/enders.

And now for another detour to a WIP that needs to be moved forward, closer to a finish.  Our guild does a fun tradition of sharing fabric when we've traveled somewhere - 6.5" squares.  The project box was getting very full of squares, along with several star blocks that I had been making last year - like that bright yellow one.

Three new star blocks got yellow star points, and 8 more got other colors this week. These are 12 finished blocks.  A couple of the squares in the box were not shared by guild members, but given to me by other friends.  Example - the New Jersey print was in a bag of scraps that I had received in the mail a few months ago.  It is perfect for this on-going project.

Entwined Star is an RSC block that I've neglected for 2026.  There were 9 of them from last year hanging in the closet.  Each of them used medium scale floral prints with a variety of white and cream backgrounds.  Very scrappy.  When I was looking through the "travel stars" project box I noticed a lot of pretty floral squares - so I used a couple of them in new blocks with yellow. There are now pieces ready for a couple more but with other colors. 

There were also a bunch of blocks made for Quilts of Valor this week - also scrappy sewing.  The final 2 blocks needed for Gleam were part of the Block-a-thon, so the flimsy can be assembled in the near future.  

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

So far just one small finish from my To Do list - this table runner.

This was a kit that I purchased last spring.  It actually had 4 big squares, but that made the runner too long for my table.  So I have a 10" square of cute fabric left over, to use in something else in the future.  I did change out the sashing color but kept the original sashing strips from the kit - because 2.5" strips are always useful.

The focus fabric really is cute - with Vintage Valentines.  Don't these look like those little valentines we would exchange in elementary school, back in the 'old days"? 

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