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Thinking and Changing My Mind About Black Fabrics

I haven’t done much sewing this week. Work has been busy and our winter membership radio drive started Thursday. So the next week will be hectic. I’ve played pickleball five of the last seven days, which has been my winter so far. I’m really happy I have access to an indoor facility and am having fun getting to know a lot of people who play there.

So I’m feeling good and relatively content but no much sewing has taken place.

I have been playing with my selection of Australian Aboriginal fabrics over the last week. I’ve removed and added fabrics and am still not sure what colors I’ll use. I had thought I would use various “black” fabrics to play with the saturated colors.

The more I’ve looked at these fabrics the more I think I will go another direction. So much so that I checked online with my local quilt store earlier today and after pickleball I drove over there and bought three yards of this black and white fabric to use in place of the various fabrics.

I bought all they had. It’s more than I’ll need for this quilt but I love black and white fabric and I’m sure I’ll eventually use it. This is the fabric that I used on the back of the quilt I use on my sofa. I’m snuggled up under it right how.

I spread out all the colored fabrics to get a feeling for how it will work.

And as I look at that photo I’m pretty sure this is not the final group of fabrics I’ll use for this quilt. I’m not in a hurry to start this so I’ll give it some time to play around a little. I may even use fewer of the colored fabrics. I’ll decide later.

I actually did a tiny bit of sewing today. I pulled out my Australian Aboriginal trip quilt blocks. I’ve been wanting to finish that quilt. I was pretty sure I had 19 blocks done with all the pieces ready to assemble for more. I was right that I had 19 completed blocks. So I grabbed a set of the cut strips and put together one more block to make an even 20.

I had been thinking I would stop at 20 blocks and assemble them 4 wide by 5 high and add a broad border to make the quilt a good throw size. So I tossed the blocks up on the design wall and tried the border fabric to see how it looks.

I think I’ll make the borders 7 or 8 inches wide. that will make the quilt around 62 x 74 or so.

Here’s a closer look at the blocks and border. There is a lot of color in there that doesn’t show in the full picture.

I also have a couple yards of that red fabric in the block at the upper right in that photo, now that I think of it. I might also work as a border. It’s definitely a different feel.

I’m not sure I love it. Here’s a closer look.

I feel like that would need a smaller inner border of a different color, but that would be easy enough to do.

We have some cooler weather the last week but it hasn’t been too wet. We actually got some snow on Wednesday but it didn’t stick. It was nice to see some flakes fall. That was our only snow so far this winter. It’s not unusual for us to not get much in the way of snow. I’ll be happy if we get by without a major storm this winter. That storm that left me without power for four days last year was enough to last me a few winters.

I’m happy to take the colder weather if I get to see the sun and we’ve had a good deal of sun the last week. We’re supposed to have cold but sunny weather through Wednesday, then it gets a little wild with rain, snow, and maybe some wind as far out as the forecast goes.

I’m loving that I’m seeing more light in the evening. And in a month we’ll change our clocks. That’s my favorite day of the year!

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Brown, Not So Brown

I decided this weekend that the one thing I wanted to accomplish was this brown, not so brown, quilt that’s been on my design wall for a couple weeks. The blocks are big so it all went together pretty quickly and I had it completed Sunday afternoon .

It’s not really very brown. It’ has purple, deep reds, oranges, and greens in thee too. It’s a lot prettier than I thought it would be.

I’m glad it’s done and pressed and folded into a small package. I’m thinking I will likely donate this quilt. Will have to see how attached I feel to it.

I have a nice stack of scraps left over from this quilt. Not sure why I’ll do with all of this. Maybe a bag or two. Probably not another quilt.

The fabric I’ve been waiting for to make the borders on my B2Q purple and green quilt arrived a few days ago. I haven’t yet dug in to get that done. That will be my next project.

I wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind to dig in and wrangle al that fabric for borders tonight so I decided to look at some of my batiks to see what I could make out o them. I have a good number. Thinking I might do more quick quilts with large blocks to slam a few quilt tops out. Will give it a little thought.

I also did a little organizing on my Australian Aboriginal fabrics in anticipation of making a new quilt form them. I managed to get them all into bins under my cutting table.

I’m thinking I’ll make another one of the economy block, or square in a square/ quilt tops and I want to make one from my beautiful Aboriginal prints. So I dug out a selection that I like. I’ll ruminate over this over he next few days. I

They are rich and saturated colors. I think I will likely ad some black in with these in the mix to make them really sing.

I arranged them a little differently go get an idea of how they’ll work together.

I’ll think on this selection for a few days until I feel that it’s all right.

After three weeks without any precipitation the rains have returned. We have a chance of snow a few times over the next week. It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be too serious.

Our radio fundraising drive starts this Thursday so I have a couple of hectic weeks coming up. My friend Linda is planning another visit. Looks like she will be for 10 days around the first of March. I’m looking forward to her visit.

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BQ2 Blocks Sewn and a Special Gift

I played pickleball early this morning and got my dogs out for a walk this afternoon while the sun was out. It was beautiful, but chilly. It finally feels like winter has arrived. But no snow yet. I’m fine with that since it was a year ago now that I went four days without power in frigid temps. I’m happy to have relatively nice weather a year later.

I had the evening free so decided to dig in and sew my BQ2 blocks together. There are only 20 blocks so It didn’t take long. I think I had it done in about 90 minutes.

I’m still going to add borders to this but my calculations tonight presented some bad news…

I need 7 width of fabric strips 4 inches wide which translates to 28 inches of fabric. I only have 25 inches of the sunflower fabric. So I went ahead and ordered another yard. I’ll be happy to have some left in my stash since I love this fabric so much.

While I was at it I bought a few other pieces because my sewing room is not quite filled to the top with fabric.

There is something very satisfying about pressing a quilt top when it’s all sewn together.

It’s a great opportunity to relish the colors in these gorgeous fabrics.

So now onto the special gesture…

A few days ago I received a package from Wendy at www.sewcolorful.com. She wanted to send me a package to help spur my creative juices.

She sent me a fat quarter bundle of some of the new William Morris fabrics that were colorized by Kaffe Fassett. It’s really fun to see the fabrics because it’s unlikely I will see them in person in any of my local fabric stores. Of course the colors are amazing!

She also sent some chocolate truffles, which did NOT last very long, and a packet of wonder clips with some adorable doggie paper clips.

Huge thank you to Wendy for this kind and caring gesture. I’m already well into planning what I’ll do with these fabrics. . .

I’ve been wanting to make a quilt called Kavala for several years. I first saw it on Instagram posted by Mrsmagillaquilts in Australia. The account owner, Tanya, has a really cool style to the quilts and other stuff she makes. You should definitely take a look at her Instagram page.

Anyway, she made the Kavala quilt several years ago and I fell in love with it. Here’s her version.

The pattern is from an old magazine and has been unavailable for years. I was incredibly lucky to get a copy of the pattern. But even without the pattern it would be pretty easy to figure out.

When I looked at the Kaffe/William Morris fabrics from Sew Colorful, I thought it would be fun to use them for this quilt. So I dug into my KFC stash and started pulling some smaller scale fabrics to pair with the fat quarters.

I selected one KFC fabric for each of the fat quarters. I went with small scale prints so the new fabrics will be the star.

I like all the combos but am having a bit of a challenge with the one in the lower right. I ordered a couple fabrics that might work better with that print. There is the tiniest turquoise vein running through the blue leaves. That’s the color I’d like to use with this print. But I’m going to try a few options to see what works best.

I’m pretty happy with all the other combos. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make two blocks out of each combo but I have no idea if the fat quarter will be enough since the blocks are so big. The blocks are 15 inches so it won’t take very many. I’m going to wait a few days before I dig in on this new project.

I think I’ll finish up the brown batik quilt top while I’m ruminating on my version of the Kavala quilt. It will go together quickly.

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Twenty Big Blocks and Some Brown

I was waiting for more of the lovely green guinea flower fabric to arrive so I could finish making the final strip sets for my green and purple B2Q quilt and it arrived a couple days ago. So I dig in after work tonight and started cutting and sewing.

I needed three of these strip sets to finish the remaining 12 blocks. I had them done in no time and cut into sections.

You may wonder why I have that metal ruler on my ironing board. I use it to make sure that my strip sets are straight before I press them. I made a video a couple years ago on how I use it. This trick has revolutionized making strip sets for me.

I used to make terribly wonky strip sets which made my blocks a bit of a mess. This method helps me make strip sets that are straight and true.

After getting the three strip sets sewn and pressed I cut them into sections.

And in no time I had the remaining 12 blocks sewn, pressed and up on my design wall.

I might move a few blocks around but this won’t take much time on the design wall before I’m able to sew it together.

This has been a ridiculously quick project. And I’m glad because I’m not a huge fan of making the exact same block over and over.

Once I sew the blocks together I will add a couple borders to make it a better size for a throw quilt.

While I was waiting for my fabric to arrive I decided to dig through my batiks and pulled out a bin of brown batiks. I don’t know what possessed me to purchase these brown batiks in my quilting past. Brown is just not my thing. I decided to use these brown batiks to whip up a quick quilt top that I will donate.

I selected a pile of the browns and pressed them all. then I cut them into eight inch squares.

I actually like all these browns together. It might not be quite right to call them brown, but they are all in the brown family.

I’ll make them into the same pattern as this quilt top that I made last spring.

I’ll combine the browns with this yellowish batik that a friend of mine brought me back from her vacation a number of years ago.

Here’s a look at how these fabrics will look together.

The pattern is called All Inked Up. You can find a video tutorial on making it here. I’m making mine with 8 inch squares rather than 10 inch squares.

It’s likely that I will dig deeper into my stash of batiks and make more of these quick quilts to donate. I might find some inspiration as I see all these fabrics that inspired me to purchase them.

I recently saw a quilt that someone else made off of my Brandon Leftover Quilt and they added two borders. I really like the look of it so I pulled some fabric out of my stash to see how it would work.

I like it and have enough fabric to finish it. But I’m thinking it will make the quilt a bit of an awkward size. Right now it measures 64 x 80. If I add the borders it will be too big for a throw and not big enough for a double bed. I’ll think about this for a few days before I decide but I’m thinking it will be done with no borders.

We’ve got some lovely yet cool weather coming up over the next ten days. We’ll actually have a good number of days with sun, which in our winters means that it will be cooler. We’re actually going to get down below freezing for a few nights.

I’ve seen some spectacular sunsets on the way to my early morning pickleball sessions the last week.

I’m a night owl. I don’t see many sunsets. It’s sort of a treat.

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Onto My Next Project With Some Gusto

I wanted to take advantage of the spark I’m sensing so decided to dive in last night and start cutting the fabric for my next quilt top. It’s one I’ve been thinking about making for some time. I purchased the fabric for it several months ago and it’s been sitting on my cutting table.

I cut the main fabric first. I’ve seen a good number of quilts on this pattern that have employed a lot of fussy cutting for these main blocks. I’m not a fan of fussy cutting. I don’t like doing it. I don’t like all the waste. And, most of all, I don’t love the look. Too much fussy cutting can feel a bit tortured and forced to me. I much prefer a more organic feel to the cutting of the fabric. So I just cut these square where they fell.

And I love the way they look. There are plenty of full blooms in the blocks, but it feels organic and more natural to me. And I saved hours of time and lots of odd scraps.

Here’s the pattern I’m making.

I’ve seen a good number of these made from Philip Jacobs large floral prints and other Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics. Those large focal blocks are really perfect for Philip’s designs.

I decided to start cutting the rest of the fabrics for these blocks and got everything cut that I could and started making the units that make up the blocks.

So after playing pickleball with some friends from 8-10 this morning, I dug in and started sewing, pressing and cutting. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough of the green fabric so will have to wait to cut the rest. I have some on order that should be here in the next few days.

I made all the units that I could. I need to make more of the units on the bottom of this photo. Twelve more are needed.

I had enough units to make up 8 blocks. The blocks are big… 13.5 inches. So this will go quickly. I got 8 blocks made this afternoon and up on my design wall.

I’m planning on making this 4 x 5 blocks. Even with these large blocks it will be a small quilt top, so I will likely add a double border when I’m done. Here’s what I’m thinking. A thinner border of the purple fabric the same width as the strips in the blocks. Plus a 4 inch border of the focal print.

The addition of the borders will make this a better size in my mind. My friend made one and it’s in my spare bedroom right now since we took it to my long arm quilter when she was here in the fall and I just picked it up recently. It’s 20 blocks and a little small for my taste. It barely covers the top of the double bed in my guest room.

Here’s a bit of a close up of my new project.

We had another really rainy day today. My poor dogs are not happy with all the inactivity this wet weather brings. I hid some dog treats around the living room this evening and let them sniff them out. Then tossed treats around the room as they had to hunt for them. That gave them a bit of mental stimulation that goes am long way when they don’t get any physical activity.

But they are bored.

Luckily, we will have a little bit of “dry” weather tomorrow. This time of year here that means it’s “not currently raining.” It’s still damned wet out there! The park near me has standing water all over the place and the paths are like rivers.

We will likely get some time outside tomorrow. Then a friend of mine is bringing me some home made minestrone soup for dinner! That sounds so good!

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Actually Putting My Hands on Fabric

I’m enjoying a luxurious five-day weekend. Jan 1 is a holiday, and I’ve taken off Thursday and Friday. I have plans to play pickleball every one of those five days.

I played this morning from 8-10. It was a really fun session. Especially the final game. I got to play with one of my favorite pickleball friends. He’s a retired philosophy professor. He’s smart. He’s irreverent. And he’s a heck of a lot of fun to play pickleball with. I haven’t gotten to play with him for a couple of months and we really made up for it by trying some new stuff. We arranged ourselves on the court so I was in the most aggressive position. It requires a lot of movement and switching sides mid play. We totally confused our opponents and it was a fun and exciting win!

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up a few things. I got soaked just getting from the car to the store. We had a steady rain all day. So that meant that one of my days off was spent shut in the house. So I decided that I would be productive and not just sit on my but all day watching TV.

So I hit my sewing room and decided to finish up the economy block quilt that has been clinging to my design wall for months. I think I might be feeling some interest in starting a new project, so I wanted to finish this first. I sewed the remaining three rows then sewed all the rows together. Then I pulled and picked all paper piecing template paper from the back of the blocks. I really hate that part.

I do love the precision the paper piecing gives me, but I really don’t enjoy pulling all that paper off. The good thing is that these pieces are pretty big, so no really fiddly corners to deal with.

Once all the paper was picked off and the blocks were pressed, I dug in and got the double border put on.

This quilt really needed that border! The blocks are a bit muddy. The border sort of contains it, defines the top, and frames it all nicely. It was blah without the borders. And I love that border fabric! It’s a Philip Jacobs design.

Here’s a couple different views of the quilt top.

And a bit of the close up to see the border fabrics really well.

As a reminder, here’s the tutorial I riffed off of to make this quilt.

One of the pieces of fabric I bought online a couple weeks ago is a backing for this quilt. I’ve loved this fabric since it was reissued last year. It’s in the quilt top so it will work nicely for this quilt.

I have an idea for which quilt I’ll make next. It only uses three fabrics and I’ll have to make the same block over and over again. Luckily, the blocks are big so it won’t take too many for a quilt top. It would be a simple way to jump back in.

I had left over tamales for dinner. My boss brings me a lovely bunch of tamales every New Years Eve. She’s done it for years. So I get to enjoy leftovers for a few days.

I decided to make ANOTHER cranberry cake. I made one from my leftover thanksgiving cranberries, then I made another for Christmas Eve dinner, and had enough cranberries left over to make yet another one. So after dinner I whipped another one up and had a little piece as my evening snack.

It’s a really good cake and a great way to use up leftover berries. Here’s the recipe I used. I don’t follow all the fussy instructions. I just whip up the wet ingredients and then add them to the dry ingredients and the cake turns out fantastic!

I just might have cake for breakfast tomorrow.

Last week at Rico’s sheep herding our teacher just happened to see this guy in the mud.

He’s a salamander. The photo is a bit deceptive. He was around five inches long! You can see that he’s regenerating some toes on each of his front feet. He was also regenerating his tail. Looks like he got into a tussle!

We’ve had a really wet fall and winter. Luckily it’s been quite warm, with temps up in the low 50s most days. We did manage some blue sky a couple days ago.

I’m playing pickleball tomorrow afternoon. I’m hoping the weather will give us a break and I can get my boys out for a walk before then.

I just might start a new quilt tomorrow. It feels a little odd to have the desire to start a new project. I guess it’s been a good thing to take a few months off.

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Merry Christmas 2024!

Merry Christmas. I’m alive and well. Wanted to drop in a let you know I’m still moving about the earth.

It’s a gray and rainy day here in Portland. Pretty typical for Christmas Day. I’m hoping to get my boys out for a nice walk some time today but it looks unlikely. I’ll join friends for dinner this afternoon.

I’ve had a bit of a hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year. I haven’t even sent out my Christmas cards yet! I might do that today. I’ve had the cards for at least a month. this is the first year I haven’t had my cards out right after thanksgiving.

I managed to get some lights up in my living room and put together a nice dinner for friends last night. I do like having the lights in the house. It’s dark so early here that the lights help keep it feeling bright. I usually leave the tree up until the time changes in the spring.

Still not much creative juice flowing. I literally haven’t sewn for a couple months. I’m really hoping I get some inspiration to create after the first of the year. It might be a good sign that I purchased some fabric online a couple weeks ago. I’ve also been thinking about what to make next.

One piece I bought was this one for the backing for my friend’s Interweave quilt.

I didn’t actually mail it to her since her quilt top is in the drawer in my guest room. So she got the photo for her gift.

I did finally get my Blue Swirly quilt top quilted by my long armer and got it back a month or so ago.

I used the beautiful blue Philip Jacobs Feathers fabric for the backing. It’s also in the quilt top.

I had her use a simple stipple design because this quilt is busy and I like more dense quilting.

It took me awhile to decide on the binding, but I ended on this Brandon Mably fabric and I love it.

This quilt will be gifted later today.

Here’s what I’m celebrating this holiday season. My birthday was a month ago and I’m officially on the 12 month count down to retirement. Only about 11 months to go!!! I’m confident these final months will fly by!

Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me to make sure I’m ok. Rest assured I’m fine. Here’s hoping we all have an abundance of creativity in the new year!

Happy New Year!

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Post Vacation Chaos

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.

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I’m Still Here as Summer Winds Down

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!

I’ll leave you tonight with a little eye candy.

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Summer Continues and a Quick Check In

We’ve continued to have a pretty nice summer here in the Pacific Northwest. It was so lovely and cool today. I almost needed a jacket when I walked my boys this evening.

In case you’re wondering, most people in my area don’t water their lawns in the summer. it would cost me a fortune to keep my lawn green! I’m so glad I don’t have the pressure of maintaining a manicured green lawn!

My tomatoes are coming on now and I’ve enjoyed a few salads with my favorite summer treat.

A couple of weeks ago I drove out to a friend’s place to pick some of her very plentiful blackberries.

Black berries grow wild all over the Pacific Northwest. They are really difficult to control and can overtake your property in no time if you don’t stay on top of them. And you can see the thorns on the vines. My arms were torn up and bleeding by the time I was done. But they are so delicious and so plentiful.

I ended up with over ten pounds that I picked in no time. I would have brought home more but I dropped one bucket full in the dirt.

Once I got them home I put them on cookie sheets and got them into my freezers.

I like freezing them this way rather than freezing them in the bags because they don’t freeze together in a clump. Once they’re frozen I put them into bags for storage. I have quite a few bags of frozen berries in my freezer now that will be a wonderful treat this winter.

Bender likes to help pick berries and happily takes one or two in payment for all his effort.

I haven’t been doing much sewing the last few weeks. I did manage to get into my sewing room the other night and square up the scrappy blocks I’ve been working on.

To make the squaring up go faster I took a few minutes and added some tape to the back of my ruler so I can line the ruler up with the squares in the center more easily. It worked really well.

So now all I have to do is line up that pink square with the center square and my blocks will have the correct seam allowance all the way around.

The tape is an Omnigrid product and is made for this purpose. You can probably find it in your local quilt store. It comes off really easily and doesn’t leave anything behind.

A few weeks ago one of my readers let me know that an online shop was having a sale on Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics. So I took a look and was so happy to find that the Brandon Mably fabric I wanted for the back of my Brandon Leftover quilt was actually on sale! So I bought five yards.

I’ve been hoping I would find that fabric on sale and am so happy to have it on hand now. I really had my heart set on that cheery yellow print.

As usual Pickleball has been keeping me busy. My friend and I played in a tournament a couple weeks ago and had a blast. And on top of all the fun we won a silver medal! Not bad for our first tournament.

It was so much fun and I love that we ended the day up on the podium!

We’re playing in another tournament this weekend. I’ll also be playing mixed doubles with my coach in the same tournament. That will be a challenge as we’re entered in a higher level of competition. I’m going to have to be on top of my game!

Another friend of mine asked me if I wanted to play mixed doubles in another upcoming tournament and I said I was game! I play with him every now and again and we get together and practice and drill occasionally. I really enjoy playing with him so that will be fun.

My friend Linda, who visits regularly, is planning her next visit. She’ll be coming around Labor Day and will stay for two weeks. I’m in great need of a vacation and am looking forward to her visit. I’m going to have to figure out what quilt I want to make while she’s here.

We have a nice few days of cool weather coming up and I’m really looking forward to it.