I ended vacation last week and dove right into a radio fundraising drive. It’s been a really hectic first week back from vacation. One more week of the drive and then things will settle down a little.
With all the chaos I’ve been able to enjoy some really gorgeous fall weather. This really is a gorgeous time of year here in the Pacific Northwest. Here’s my back yard Saturday afternoon. The sky was so amazing!
The weather for the next ten days looks like it will be pretty much like this. Days like this are even more enjoyable because I know the rain will start any day now. And once it starts, it’s here for many months.
Rico had a bit of a limp a few days ago so he has been on limited activity so that means I have dogs bouncing off the walls. We do a lot of this.
I have managed to spend a little bit of time in my sewing room this week between working and playing pickleball and entertaining bored dogs. I’ve got 16 of my economy blocks completed. I need 20 for this quilt top.
These have just gone up on the design wall in the order I’ve made them. They will need some rearranging.
I’m actually going to make five blocks more because the first one I made is a little off and won’t allow full quarter inch seam allowances. So better to fix it before it’s sewn into a quilt.
I’ve been thinking about my next quilt. I guess that’s a good sign that my drive to create is coming back. It will be this quilt. You can find it with a google search.
I’ve had this pattern for at least a year and had an idea of the fabrics I wanted to use for it. I’ve seen some gorgeous versions made from Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics. And when the new green color way of Kaffe’s Guinea Flower came out in the new collection, I decided to get the fabric I need for this.
I had wanted to make this using Philip Jacob’s Van Gogh in the green color way but wasn’t sure what to use with it. And the green guinea flower is perfect for the background fabric. I ordered some purple Ferns, thinking it would work for the accent strips, but it sort of left me flat. It just feels a little blah.
So I dug into my stash to see what else might work and came up with this option. It’s Kaffe’s Asian Trees in pink. I think I really like this one. It brings some vibrancy in color that the purple doesn’t provide.
Here’s a photo that shows a little more of the Asian Trees fabric.
I’ll make my final decision later, but I’m thinking it will be the pink. It’s just much more interesting and vibrant to me.
I washed by bed quilt a few weeks ago for the first time and LOVE how it came out of the dryer! It’s so crinkled and soft. So I decided to wash the quilt I made for my sofa, even though it’s hardly been used. I absolutely LOVE how it came out and it’s so much more comfy to curl up under. Look how gorgeous this is!
So much texture and feel.
And now I want to wash every quilt I have in my closet!
I’m going to think of these beautiful PNW skies over the next hectic week and hope I can actually enjoy some.
It’s been a minute since I posted here. I’ve really been taking advantage of a lovely summer here in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve barely spent any time in my sewing room and haven’t been much inspired. That lack of inspiration has impacted my frequency of posts here.
I feel this changing a little.
First off, my friend who usually visits this time of year was here for over two weeks. I drove her to the airport this afternoon. We did quit a lot while she was here. We bought a lot of fabric while she was here. We did a lot of driving while she was here. We did a little sewing while she was here.
Most of the fabric we bought was from the new Kaffe Fassett Collective August 2024 collection. I showed some restraint and didn’t buy all of it. You can see the entire new collection here. There were a couple of pieces that I was really anxious to get my hands on.
My friend flew into town on Friday, Sept. 6. After a restful weekend we headed for the coast on the following Monday. It was an absolutely perfect day and we all felt rejuvenated and refreshed after time at the ocean.
We spent the next day at home because I had committed to taking care of a friend’s corgi while her husband had surgery. She was a wonderful guest, well behaved, and she had a blast with my boys.
During the rest of that week we continued to drive and buy fabric. Oh, and we ate out a few times too! Even met some old friends for a lovely meal and conversation.
Last Sunday we loaded up ourselves and my boys and headed down to my brother’s place near Bandon, Oregon, for a few days. I just love going there. It’s so peaceful and tranquil. And the dogs love it. Whey have over eight acres of property and part of it is a wooded area on the hill above the house with little trails wandering here and there. We managed to get up there for a couple of morning walks during our visit.
I would love it if I had this fantastic space right outside my door! And it would make Bender and Rico happy too!
We ate a lot of great food from their garden. Look at these gorgeous cabbages!
We only went to the beach once during our visit with my brother and his wife. We were thinking about going a second time but it was rainy and wet and we decided to hang around at home and went out for dinner at a little Italian place in Bandon that evening. I can’t remember the last time I had pasta so I was happy to indulge.
And these boys were happy to pose on Seven Devils Beach.
We headed home on Wednesday and decided to head north on Hwy 101 along the coast rather than spending most of the drive in heavy traffic on Interstate 5. So we drove up from Bandon to Florence, Oregon, then headed across the coast mountain range toward Eugene where we, of course, bought more fabric!
Once we were back at my place we decided that if we were going to make a quilt we had better get moving. My friend had wanted to make a version of my Brandon Mably fabric Interweave quilt. You can see that quilt here.
She brought some fabric with her and she had a couple pieces of Brandon fabric she purchased during her visit. So we tossed them all on my cutting table and narrowed it down to these fabrics.
And after a couple days it was done… like magic!
It’s almost exactly the same as my Interweave. There are a few fabrics that are different. It’s a fun quilt to make and it goes so much faster when I have someone to press while I sew.
These Brandon fabrics are so bright, happy and relaxed. I just love them! That floral with the bright orange background on the ironing board is a Brandon design from the August 2024 KFC collection.
We also managed to get a few quilt backings made and stopped by my long arm quilter to get them in the cue. My friend took in three quilts but I only took in my Blue Swirly quilt. It will be a holiday gift in a few months.
After we had been sewing for a couple days we decided that it was time to hit the road again. So we loaded up my boys and headed up to Sauvie Island. It’s a beautiful island north of Portland that is lovely farm land surrounded by floating houses moored on the Columbia river. You can read all about Sauvie Island here.
Since it’s an island, that means there’s lots of water. So we parked the car and hit the beach and let my boys get a nice swim in the Columbia Rifer.
They were so excited to see where we ended up after our leisurely drive around the island. They got in a lot of swimming and running. They even had enough exercise to offer up a good pose.
It’s a bit of a tradition to take a photo of my dogs on a log. And look at how gorgeous it is!!! What an amazing day!
We didn’t have enough time or drive to complete a quilt for me but we did dig through my stash to find fabrics for an economy block quilt I’ve been wanting to make. You can see the tutorial for the quilt here. It’s made from some Crystal Manning fabrics but I wanted to make it from Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics. So I pulled some fabrics from my stash that recreate the feel of the original fabrics. Here’s the quilt from the tutorial (left) and my first whack at the fabrics to use for my version (right).
I was pretty happy with this selection of fabrics and decided to dig in this evening since I’m here all alone and the house is quiet.
I had purchased some paper piecing 12 inch block foundation papers for these blocks a couple weeks ago.
The blocks are big. They finish at 12 inches. The tutorial has instructions for making the blocks with traditional piecing but I knew I’d be happier with the result if I made the blocks with paper piecing. I was very happy to find these foundations on Amazon. Exactly what I needed!
I pressed and cut a handful of my fabrics and managed to get six blocks done. It’s enough to give me an idea of what this will look like and I have to say that I’m really happy with this so far.
I love the way that some of the blocks are really obvious and otherwise are more subtle. I’m looking forward to seeing this as more blocks are completed.
And tonight I’m feeling a little sad that my friend is gone and I’m really not looking forward to going back to work. But the good news is that I only have fourteen months left to retirement!
Sorry I’ve been away so long. It’s been a needed break. I’m hoping my creative motivation is slowly coming back!
agilejack 