A few months ago I was gifted a good size box of Australian Aboriginal fabric by a fellow blogger, Julie at https://quiltdivajulie.blogspot.com. She emailed me and told me she had decided to destash all of her Aboriginal fabrics and thought that I might gain some inspiration from them, knowing that I had been in a bit of a dry spell.
It was a lovely collection of yardage and some really enticing scraps … strips, squares, and other pieces.
Included in that packet were two small Ziploc bags of 4.5 inch squares of many, many different fabrics. I have been thinking about those squares and made a decision a few days ago.
I had purchased a few yards of Brandon Mably’s Amaze fabric in black and white a couple years ago intending to execute this same quilt idea using Kaffe Fassett Collective scraps. But it just seemed so perfect to use that fabric for these Aboriginal squares instead. And then I wouldn’t have to trim up all those squares!
So I played out a handful of the squares on top of the black and white fabric to see if it floated my boat…
And I liked it. So decided to go ahead an do it.
I was supposed to play pickleball this morning but it was canceled because of rain. So instead I hunkered down at home and started pressing and cutting the sashing pieces.
I cut the sashing pieces at 2.5 inches in width and sat down and strip pieced the 120 squares I think I’ll need for this quilt, plus a handful of extras to be safe.
My Bernina is in the shop for servicing so I cranked away on my sweet little Featherweight.
Once that was done and pressed I cut the sashing pieces for the second side of the blocks and had another chain piecing and pressing session. I got all 120 blocks plus extras sewn and pressed.
I threw a handful of these blocks together on my cutting table just to get a feel for it.
There is a lot more color variation across all the blocks. Somehow I got stuck in a purple/blue section!
I’m enjoying this so far. It felt good to sit down at my little Featherweight again. I still don’t have much creative drive happening so it’s nice to chunk away at something that’s not asking that of me. So if I can’t be creative, I can at least be a little bit productive.
A huge thank you to Julie for thinking of me and nudging me back to my sewing room!
I had a two-week vacation earlier this month. It was not an exciting vacation. I spent my time playing pickleball (I played every day!) and preparing for retirement. I have set a date in December that will be my final day of work so I spent a good part of my vacation dealing with Medicare, health insurance, Social Security, financial and legal matters. The good news is that I got a lot done and am well on my way toward being ready when my retirement date arrives.
I did spend a little time in my sewing room during my vacation. I finished slicing up the woven stripes blocks I made a few months ago and am much happier with how this is looking now.
I completed the slicing and sewing of all 40 blocks. Now I need to get them back up on the design wall and then sew them all together.
It’s been absolutely beautiful here the last few weeks. I joined some friends in St. Paul, Oregon, last weekend to watch a sheep herding trial at a winery. It was a great way to spend an afternoon. It had rained that morning but was gorgeous by the time we got there.
I’ve been thrilled with how my new raspberry bushes have done this summer. I’m getting raspberries for my breakfast nearly every morning.
Later this fall I will rip out all my strawberry plants in preparation for planting more raspberry bushes in the spring. The raspberries have put my strawberries to shame. (I might plant some of the strawberries in smaller pots, just to see how they do.)
A few months ago my friend Linda gifted the Arboretum quilt she made to my brother and his wife.
They had wanted a bright quilt to hang in the entry way of their house and this is the perfect choice!
I love how it looks in that space!
My boys are doing well although Bender has done some serious aging since his birthday in April. He is nearly deaf, can’t see very well and is very wobbly. But he still wants to chase a toy and go for our daily walks. He’s about 12.5 years old. His wobbliness is made worse by his epilepsy meds. Poor guy. At least he’s still happy and seems to be somewhat oblivious to his predicament.
He is doing well enough to have gone on a quick trail hike when my brother and SIL visited a month or so ago.
It was a little difficult to head back to work after my vacation, but I’m getting through it by knowing I have less than three months to go until my time is all mine! I will be sad to leave the work that I love, but I feel like it’s time to step away.
agilejack 