Typical for me and my friend, we’ve been busy buying fabric since she’s been here. Yesterday we headed out to McMinnville, Oregon, to a lovely quilt shop there and picked up a few more Aboriginal prints. I bought a bunch of Aboriginal prints and one piece of KFC fabric. I completely neglected to take a photo of what I bought before I put it away. So here’s a photo of what my friend bought. We bought a lot of the same stuff.
McMinnville is about a 45 minute drive from my house. When we come back we always wind our way back through the country side rather than sticking to the main roads. It’s always a nice and enjoyable ride through gorgeous Oregon farm and wine country. It’s a tradition for us to share a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips on that leisurely drive home.
When we got back home we cut strips from the all new Aboriginal fabrics my friend bought since she’s been here.
This is a good time to get excited about how this quilt will turn out. I know I’m getting excited! It’s so fun to see more bright Aboriginal designs. The first ones the came out with were all darker.
Before we settled down last night we paired up most of the strips in preparation for sewing them into strip sets. We still don’t have enough pairs to make the quilt so we’ll probably have to cut more fabric and make some new combinations.
Today we drove up to Battle Ground, WA, to the country fabric store that has a ton of Kaffe fabric. My friend bought a handful of pieces of some older KFC fabrics she found there. I bought a small stack of blue KFC fabrics to include in the blue quilt I’m thinking about making.
Looking at that photo, I’m thinking one or two of those will definitely NOT make it into that quilt!
While we were up in that area, we stopped to let the dogs have a nice run in the park with the creek. It was pouring when we got there, but it let up a little by the time we left. They didn’t get a walk at all yesterday so they really needed to stretch their legs.
If you ever lose Bender, this is where you can find him about 90 percent of the time.
The dogs were soaked and happy!
Tonight we sat down and sewed 10 or so strip sets together, then finger pressed them in preparation for pressing with the iron.
I showed my friend how I use my metal ruler to keep my strip sets nice and straight when I press them.
And her strip sets turned out beautifully!
We got one set cut before we decided to call it quits for the night.
Look at how gorgeous that block is going to be! Those pops of orange are so incredible! I can’t wait to see more of these blocks come together. My friend is still not terribly excited about making this quilt. I’m hoping she’ll get more excited when she sees some of these blocks come together.
This is the point when I start getting really excited about a project… when you first see how the colors and patterns are playing with each other.
This afternoon we headed to the mall — NOT the favorite activity for either of us. My friend headed for the Apple store to buy a new iPad and I headed to JC Penney to buy some curtain rods. One for the window in my bedroom and one to hang above my bed to hang a quilt. I also bought a small one for a wall hanging in my sewing room.
We’re still trying to decide what we’re going to do tomorrow. We have some winter weather coming in so it might not be the best time to be out on the road. We’re going to play it by ear. If the weather keeps us at home we may hang those curtain rods.
agilejack 
Every time I read one of your posts about your friend coming to visit, I think how lucky you are to have a friend like that.
Can’t wait to watch these quilts develop.
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I’m so glad she’s been ready to travel finally! It’s good for both of us to have a change of pace and have a friend around. And it’s fun to have someone to sew with.
Anne
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I’d love to know more about how you use the metal ruler when you press strip sets. I have the same ruler!
I love reading your blog and seeing your beautiful work…and, of course, the boys.
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I linked to the video on how I use the metal ruler in the post. but here’s a direct link for your convenience.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AauI1hWb_f0
thanks for reading!
Anne
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Those fabrics are so pretty! Does your friend think Bender is like her dogs? The ones he is related to? Have they ever been around each other as adults? Do the boys get any salt and vinegar chips too? 🤗
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Bender and his litter brother have a lot in common. They both sort of don’t have an off button. Bender is happier than his litter brother. They both have a lot of enthusiasm for life!
they used to be around each other for a couple of weeks in the year. Bu they haven’t seen each other since the pandemic hit.
They generally get along but have had some issues in their life… mostly when they were both intact (not neutered). They’re both neutered now so it’s been better.
they did not get chips. Sad doggies.
Anne
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Is this going to be a rectangle rather than a square? What beautiful fabrics. My latest project with Aboriginals is off the design wall and ready for the rows .to be sewn together. It may need a border, but I’ll think about that when it’s back up on the design wall.
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Nope. 16 patch of little squares that finish at 2 inches.
So glad you’re so close to finishing your Aboriginal quilt! So fun!!
Anne
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I love all the fabrics you and your friend have bought the last few days. I was very intrigued with the Aboriginal fabrics and decided to research the people because I thought they generally do not wear clothing. It’s been very interesting and I think I’ll continue reading more about their designs. I was an anthropology and sociology major in college (as an adult) so this falls within my interests.
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I’m guessing their designs were not originally meant for fabric, but were more art or expression. I could be wrong. But they definitely work well on fabrics!
Anne
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Your quilts are beautiful, I so enjoy your blog! These aboriginal fabrics are new to me, very interesting.
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I just love the Aboriginal fabrics. But they are not in a lot of quilt stores. I’m lucky to have a couple of store that have a good selection of them. They are fabulous!
Anne
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Hello! Can you tell me the source pattern for the quilt you did that had two offset stripes for a block? I am thinking it is a Kaffe pattern. Thanks so much for making me feel like I have a buddy in Oregon!
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Is this the quilt you’re talking about?https://wordpress.com/post/agilejack1.com/16534
that post has a little about how I made these blocks. I didn’t use a pattern, but did riff off of Wanda’s tutorial. There are patterns out there for quilts like this. I think one is called “duet.” It’s not a Kaffe pattern, if this is the quilt you’re asking about
Anne
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The link was difficult to open. Searched Pinterest under Agilejack quilts and found it under the 10/26/22 blog post. Just what I need! Thanks so much. A
Andrea
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Working my way through my fabrics and have not bought any in two years. However, when I do that eventual big buy, it will definitely be aboriginal fabrics! Yours are gorgeous. How wonderful you could pick them out in person rather than online as I will most likely need to do. Can’t wait to see your quilts!
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It really is nice to see them in person. It’s so hard to understand the scale when you buy online. And some of these are large prints… which I love!
Anne
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Fabulous Fabric….I can see why it’s so exciting to create with these fabrics….the challenge, and then the results !!!
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Yup. they are gorgeous fabrics! I really love them. And such cool stories behind each design.
Anne
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Ton wax trop beau 🤩 à bientôt
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?thank you!
Anne
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