Category: Uncategorized

I didn’t get much of anything done this weekend. I played pickleball Saturday night with one of the clubs I belong to. They rented an indoor pickleball facility in Portland and only club members could take part… at no cost. I played from 6 pm to 9 pm!!! I don’t think I sat down for more than 60 seconds or took a break longer than the time it takes to get a few sips of water. I had a blast and slept so soundly last night.

Which was a good thing because I got up this morning and played pickleball again! I played for nearly four hours! It was really cold when I got to the park at around 9:30. I played for the first two hours with my gloves on! Luckily they have some grippy patches on the palms and fingers. Although it was cold to start, it was nearly perfect by the time we were done! And I’m exhausted! I think I’ll have another good night sleep tonight.

I took the dogs with me to the park and tossed the ball for them before we headed home. They had a great time and the enthusiastic run was so good for them.

Then, after a little bit of rest after getting home, we all headed out for a three mile walk before it got dark.

After a dinner of left over roasted chicken, potatoes and carrots, I hit my sewing room to start pressing and cutting the woven stripes and shot cottons.

I ended up with 40 different stripes that I’m going to use in this next quilt.

That will give me a really nice variety of fabrics. I have 16 different colors of the Kaffe shot cottons. I went online to Missouri Star again Friday and ordered seven more colors that I don’t have. I wanted to have a little more variety in the solid colors.

So once these fabrics arrive I’ll have 23 or so colors. I’ll use two of almost all the solid colors in the final quilt. That will give a nice variety.

So I selected a group of stripes/shot combos that use one of each color of the shots. I don’t want to make any further pairs until I have the additional colors. Here’s the first set of stripes/shots combos.

Then I started pressing and cutting.

I decided not to prewash these fabrics. I thought about it for a couple days, even posted a question on the Kaffe Fassett Collective Facebook page. I got advice from a good number of people… pretty much evenly split on whether or not I should prewash these fabrics. Let me just say that I never prewash fabrics.

A couple of people whose advice I respect and trust advised that there was no need to prewash. One of those people was Liza Roos Lucy. She works with the Kaffe Fassett Collective designing and making quilts that appear in Kaffe’s books, and has more knowledge and experience with these fabrics than anyone else you’ll find. So with her advice my decision was made.

It takes a good deal of time to press these fabrics. They are a bit wrinkly and crinkly, even after pressing them.

But I think that’s one of the things that makes them so wonderful. They are so earthy and natural! All the crinkles and irregularities are part of what makes them so appealing.

I’m using Best Press when ironing these fabrics to add a little stability and make them easier to work with.

I typically use a mask while working with Best Press because it gets into my lungs and makes me cough. And I had to order more Best Press. I’m not sure I have enough to finish pressing and prepping the fabrics for this quilt.

I got ten stripes/shots 2.5 inch wide pairs prepped and cut tonight…. and it took a long time!

Those colors remind me of this photo of stones in a lake in Glacier National Park. The colors are rich and vibrant, but they feel very natural… definitely colors you would find in nature.

While I was cutting I cut two strips from each of the shot cottons, knowing that I’ll need those two strips for this quilt. Might as well save some time and trouble.

After pressing and cutting my fabrics they still felt a little damp so I draped them all over the back of my sewing chair to dry before they get stowed away again.

And it made me wonder if there’s a way and a place I could store these without folding them so I won’t have to press them all again. Maybe a flat cardboard box under my guest bed. Hmmm. I might actually have the perfect box in my garage. It should sure save a lot of time the next time I cut!

I’ve decided that I’m going too use this layout for these fabrics.

And now I just have to decide if I’ll set these blocks on point. I think this quilt will be infinitely more interesting if I set them on point. I’ll decide once I have some blocks done and on the design wall.

A short work week coming up. I will enjoy it as work will be really hectic until the end of December.

I took a quick weekend trip up to Seattle to see my 95-year-old aunt with my brother and sister in law. My brother and SIL arrived at my place on Friday afternoon. We got up Saturday morning and were on the road to Seattle by 9:30. If traffic is good, it’s about a three hour trip. We made good time and were there early in the afternoon.

My aunt is 95. She is the only remaining sibling of my mom’s. She is in amazing shape. Sharp as a tack and in great physical shape. She still lives alone in the house that she raised her kids in. She goes up and down her stairs five or six times a day!

It was so much fun to get to see her. She was always very light hearted and fun, and it’s no different now. And she’s teeny tiny! She’s going to be 96 in a couple weeks!

After my brother and SIL went to bed Friday night I sat in the living room and asked my aunt all kinds of questions about my mom. One that I’ve wanted answered for a long time is why my. mom didn’t wear a white wedding dress. She wore a beautiful teal suit instead.

She told me it was because my dad hadn’t committed to converting to Catholicism until it was too late to plan a white dress and wedding mass. My aunt was married a week later. She said they would have had a double wedding if my dad had committed sooner.

I was pretty sure I still had my mom’s wedding suit So when we got home on. Sunday I dug into my cedar chest, and I was right. There it was, and I was horrified to see that is was moth eaten.

My SIL modeled the suit. It’s such a beautiful color, and my mom’s waist was tiny! She’s not actually IN that skirt. She’s holding it up at her waist.

While I was digging around in my cedar chest I found my dad’s army dress coat from WWII.

I took the granny photos with me to deliver to my cousin and my aunt gazed at them all weekend long. My nephew was even going to leave them at her house for a few days because she was enjoying having them.

On Sunday evening three of my cousins and their spouses came for dinner. My SIL, my brother and I made some traditional family food — polenta and beef with brown gravy, served with some tasty pecorino cheese and a gorgeous green salad. It was accompanied by wine from my cousin’s winery. It was really fun to see everyone. It’s been a long time since we were all together.

We hit the road for home Monday morning and were on the road by 10 am. We made really good time and were back at my house in time for lunch and a nice walk with my boys. Oh, and Ernie came with us!

I took some pictures of photos my aunt had displayed in her house. They brought back such strong memories from my childhood.

This is my grandfather… my mom’s and aunt’s father. He immigrated to the US from Northern Italy around 1918 (my grand mother traveled alone and joined him in Wyoming ten years later). The second image of him as an older man was blown up from a photo of him on the sofa with me and my siblings. I was a baby at the time. I have a photo that was taken at the same time somewhere.

Haha! I found it!!! that’s me on my sister’s lap at the far left. My brother that lives in Oregon is the one sitting at my grandpa’s left.

Here’s photos of my grandfather and grandmother. My grandfather died when I was five. He was the only grandparent I ever knew. My grandmother died when my mom was pregnant with me.

And this last photo is of my mom and her siblings. That’s my mom in the dark dress in the center on the chair. My aunt that I visited is the baby on the far right. Her twin is the big boy on the far left.

My mom was the middle of five children. I just love this photo. It was probably taken around 1927 or 1928.

While I was gone my shot cottons arrived in my mail box. I pulled them out tonight and refolded them. Amazingly, the cuts are really generous. I bought half yards and most of these measured a full 21 inches! I can cut a 2.5 inch strip and still have a half yard of each piece.

That pictures shows why these shot cottons are so special! Look at all that color and texture. You can see the depth of color in each piece. GAH! Their so amazing!

So I had to see what they look like with my woven stripes…

They’re so rich and earthy. I can’t wait to see this all come together!

Here’s a little more eye candy…

And a little closer view…

Gorgeous! I think I’m going to make a 16 patch from these fabrics first. Then I’ll think about other ideas for these gorgeous stripes!

It’s clear and cold out there tonight. It’s the first night this season that required a parka on our walk!

I love walking in cool weather! So do my boys. But I have to say, I’m already a little tired of the darkness. Today it was pitch dark before 5 pm. By December 21 when the days start getting longer, it will be completely dark at 4 pm. I can’t wait until the days start getting longer.

We have a few cool and sunny days coming up, and then the rain comes back on Monday. I will enjoy the sun while we have it. I’m happy to take cold weather if it means we get some sun!

I had today off for Veterans Day. So after hearing from my long arm quilter a few days ago that three of my quilts were ready to pick up, I made arrangements to stop by this morning.

The first quilt I picked up was the blue lap quilt I made for my friend Barb who gifted me her mom’s featherweight. Barb met me after I left my long armer and before Bender’s neurologist appointment to get her new quilt. She loves it! She was so excited that I made it on her mom’s machine!

Here’s Barb with her quilt in her garden… she’s an amazing gardener. She wanted a lap quilt to sit under when she drinks her morning coffee.

Here’s the front and back of the quilt.

She loved the bird fabric on the back.

And I love this photo with her trusty dog right there with her!

Here’s a close up of the quilting. It’s a floral design. I actually let my long armer choose the design for this one. I just told her I wanted something floral and loose.

The next quilt I picked up is my scrappy KFC trip quilt… and I’m so gobsmacked with this!!!

I can’t stop looking at that photo! All that color… it gives me a physical reaction! And I just love the quilting design. I was a little iffy about it and even waffled a bit. But it’s just so perfect!!! The quilting design is called Fusion. It might be an Urban Elements design.

Here’s a picture that shows more of the quilt.

Here’s a snippet of the backing that shows the quilting really well.

And here’s a lot of eye candy.

The last quilt I picked up is the NY beauty that will eventually hang on the wall of my sewing room. I will need to bind this one and figure out how I’m going to hang it.

Here’s a close up that shows you the quilting really well on the blocks.

And four blocks together…

And some more eye candy.

My brother and his wife arrived this afternoon. I made a really yummy dinner of roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots and onions cooked in the same pan. My sister in law brought some gorgeous salad greens from her garden and made a delicious vinaigrette. It was a yummy and comforting dinner.

Tomorrow we’re off for a bit of an adventure. My friend who owns Ernie and Bogart, who were my visitors a few weeks ago, will be staying at my place for a couple days and taking care of my boys.

I can’t put my finger on why but it’s been a stressful work week. Several people commented on it. Tomorrow is the Veterans Day holiday so I have the day off.

I’ve also been busy this week getting my house in order for some company this week. I’ve had a list I’ve been chunking away at. I really like having my ouse in good shape but I don’t love housekeeping.

So with the week I’ve had, I haven’t spent any time in my sewing room and I’ve been waiting for the shot cottons I ordered to arrive. So I started a small project that I saw on Instagram a few weeks ago and it looked like it might be quick to do.

So I got online and ordered some products I needed first. Little wooden embroidery hoops.

Once they arrived I dug into my linens and selected this beige variety and dug out my embroidery threads.

A couple of nights ago I went online and found some drawings of snowflakes, selected one I liked, printed it out in the size I need, and started figuring out how to transfer it as a pattern onto a piece of linen.

I used one of my computer monitors as a light table and used a pen to trace the design onto the linen.

Then I slipped the fabric into one of the hoops, selected some embroidery floss and started stitching.

I have two of those containers of embroidery floss. I used to do counted cross stitch when I was in my 30s. I used to really enjoy it, but moved onto different projects. I’ve kept all my blogs because it comes in handy and I do actually use it every now and again. I was relieved the I found it pretty easily.

Here’s the first one I embroidered. I would consider this a half assed attempt. It’s not very good. It makes me feel a little sad.

It looks like my hands were shaking uncrontrollably as I stitched this.

So tonight I used my sliding glass door as a light table and traced another snowflake onto a piece of linen.

Are you surprised to see the bight green paint in my kitchen/dining room? I LOVE that green!!!

Here’s the linen with the design on it, all ready to get stitching.

I approached this second different in how I stitched it. Instead of making each arm of the snowflake one continuous line of stitching I took larger stitches by section… basically going from intersection to intersection. and it looks so much better than the first one.

It’s ok. It’s a little simple but I’m not sure I could successfully pull off something more complicated. And I’m pretty sure I don’t want to.

Here’s the two pieces next to each other so you can see a good comparison.

The bottom one is definitely better.

But, one thing I could fix easily is these drab colors. I also want to s stain the hoop. I think it will look much nicer if it’s darker wood.

I also have some really nice colors of linen that would be more interesting.

I’ll have to decide if I want to cut chunks out of these.

We’ve had some gorgeous weather this week. It’s cleared up and the sun has come out. it’s so gorgeous here in the fall… well, it can be!

And this beautiful Sequoia…

We’ve spend much less time walking in the rain this week.

the next ten days looks really nice.

I’m going to have a bit of an adventure this weekend. I’ve been looking forward to it. More on that later.

Since I played yesterday, I really hunkered down today to get my house in order for company next weekend.

After breakfast this morning I took the boys for a nice 4.25 mile walk. The weather report called for drizzle, but it was really more like an occasional mist. It was about 45 degrees. Really perfect weather for a walk!

These boys thought it was a great way to start our Sunday.

As I was walking I thought it felt like a soup day. I love having a pot of soup simmering away on the stove on a cold and wet day. So I went through my pantry and freezer in my head as I walked and I realized I had everything I needed to make a pot of split pea soup. So when I got home I got it done.

I rarely use recipes for the soups I make in the winter. My split pea has yellow split peas, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, salt and pepper and a nice meaty pork hock. I simmer it all until the peas are tender. Then I remove the ham, take out the bay leaves (I always make a mental note of how many bay leaves I put in so I can make sure I have them all removed). then I use my immersion blender to puree the soup.

This gives the soup the most amazing creamy texture! Next, I cut up the ham and put it back in the soup. Then I have a nice big bowl!

While my soup was simmering I decided to whip up a jar of pickled onions.

I love having pickled onions on hand. They are really good in tacos, a salad, or a sandwich. I use them all the time and try to always have a jar in the fridge. There are lots of recipes online for pickled onions. If you’ve never made them, you should find a recipe that sounds good and give them a try.

With my soup simmering I got busy on the list I made last night of the things I wanted to get done today. I got three bathrooms cleaned. I changed the sheets in my guest room and got that room all cleaned up and ready for company. I washed and changed the sheets in my room.

With all that done and feeling energized by a nice bowl of soup, I hit my sewing room and finished up the bag I cut out last night.

I just love that fabric.

And some detail love…

Several people asked me about that fabric. I recently purchased a piece at a local quilt store called Pioneer Quilts in Milwaukie, Oregon. They have a website and the fabric is on their site. It’s available in quite a few places online.

Here’s the fabric:

With all that done I had one more thing to get done tonight.

Oregon is completely vote-by-mail and it’s fantastic! I don’t know why all states don’t do it. I love living in a state that actually works to make it easier for its citizens to vote!

I didn’t get this filled out in time to mail it — it has to be received on Tuesday, not mailed on Tuesday. So I’ll drop it off at the drop box near me tomorrow afternoon.

I’m exhausted!!!

I slept late today. It was nearly 10:30 when I finally dragged myself out of bed. It felt pretty wonderful!

After a hot shower and “breakfast” at the time when most people eat lunch, I took the boys out for a nice four mile walk. It was sort of perfect weather for a walk. The sun came and went as we walked, there was a lovely smell of fall leaves in the air, and the temperature at 54 was perfect for walking.

When we got home from our walk I checked my phone and saw that a group of pickleball players were putting together some open play and were looking for players. So I changed clothes, grabbed my paddle and an apple and hit the road. I played for almost two hours and had an absolute blast.

I had intended to get more done around the house to prepare for company next weekend. I didn’t get done as much as I had wanted but I managed to change and launder the sheets in my guest room and get the room all cleaned and ready to go. I also cleaned out my utility room, folded a bunch of clean laundry and cleaned off the dining table and kitchen counter. So I did get some stuff done.

It’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow so I’ll have plenty of opportunity to do house work.

After dinner I hit my sewing room again and finished up another bucket bag that I had cut out and prepped a few weeks ago. When these are all cut and fused it doesn’t take very long to get them all sewn together and finished.

I just love that denim with the gorgeous batik lining. I used some interfacing on this lining so the bag is a little more substantial than the one I finished last night.

And the obligatory photo of my tag… just because I love the details!

Since I got this done so quickly I decided to prep the next bag I had planned to make. So I pressed the fabrics, cut them to size, cut the interfacing and got it adhered to the fabric.

This will be all ready to sew together at some point in the day tomorrow

Look at how cute that fabric is!

I’m all ready for the time change tonight, but that doesn’t mean I like it. I really do HATE the time change I the fall. In the dead of winter her in Portland it’s dark at 4:00 in the afternoon. I always tell myself that If I an just hang on until Dec 21, I can make it the rest of the winter as we get a little more light as the days go by.

Only four months until we get that extra hour of evening light back!

It rained today. I mean, it RAINED today. All day long. And it’s still raining.

It was such a dark and gloomy day. A day when we didn’t get a walk in. And my poor boys… they’re so bored and want some action. They had to settle for a little bit of Rico’s birthday cake.

Did I mention that Rico turned six on Tuesday?

He’s such a good kid. I can’t believe he’s six already. It seems like just yesterday that I flew to Utah to bring him home.

There are so many things I love about that photo! Look how tiny and cute he was! And look at those gorgeous snow covered mountains that I miss so much.

And look at these huge feet at 8 weeks! I should have known he would turn out to be a beefcake!

It was clear pretty early that these two were destined to be buddies.

Look at that smile on Bender’s face!

I’ve been busy this week and after my whirlwind of productivity over the last few weeks I didn’t get any sewing done… until tonight. I decided to finish up a quick project while I’m waiting for my Kaffe shot cottons to arrive.

So I whipped up this gray denim bag that I cut out a few weeks ago. It’s lined with a pretty green batik that a friend gifted me.

This is another of the bucket bags I’ve been making. You can find the SotakHandmade tutorial for it linked in this blog post.

I didn’t use any interfacing on the lining because it had a stiffness to it that I thought would be sufficient. But it softened up as I worked with it and I’m wishing I’d faced it.

I’ll definitely use interfacing on the next one that includes the same fabric in a different color.

I love the little details!

Oh! I just noticed I missed trimming a thread on that tag! And speaking of tags… I’m loving how they look and how easy it is to sew them on using my machine rather than by hand.

And speaking to things I’m loving… this awl! It makes getting the snaps applied so much easier and neater!

That was a really good investment. And voila!

This is the first time I’ve sewn on my Bernina since I set up my Featherweight. I anticipated that it would feel much different to be back on this fancy machine after my little gem. But it felt perfectly natural. It’s nice that both my Bernina and the Featherweight tuck nicely in the space between my sewing table and the wall for storage while I’m using the other machine.

We have more days of rain coming but It looks like we’ll have enough breaks tomorrow that I can get myself and my boys out for a nice walk. We all need it.

I don’t have a herding lesson tomorrow and am probably going to be home most of the weekend. I have a few errands to run and need to get some housekeeping done. I have a deadline of next weekend to have my house in order. I’m going to finally get the trip to visit my aunt that I missed last spring. A friend will be here to take care of my boys.

There’s actually some decent weather coming up over the next week. It will be nice to have some days where we can get our outside time.

I did it. I finished another quilt top tonight. And I love it!

I just love it when a bunch of blocks are all connected into one piece of fabric. there’s something sort of magic about it.

But what the hell am I going to do with all these quilt tops? This is four that I’ve finished since the first part of September. I have no plans for any of them, except the blue one made on this pattern that’s for my friend who gifted me her mom’s Featherweight.

Well, I guess it’s keeping me off the streets at night.

I loved this view of the top as I was pressing the final seam.

It’s luscious!!!

Here’s some more eye candy…

Yummy!

So, I’ve been thinking about what to do with my woven stripes fabrics… and I was looking around on Pinterest today and ran across a quilt that combines stripes and plaids with solid shot cottons. I came upon this quilt featured on the Hearts Creations blog back in 2017.

You can find the blog post and more photos of this quilt here.

I’ve been wanting to make another 16 patch quilt. I’ve also been thinking about doing one on point. So this might be the direction I go with my first woven stripes quilt.

I feel so good about this idea that I went online tonight and ordered around a dozen different colored pieces of shot cotton.

So, what’s so cool about shot cotton? It’s not dyed fabric. It’s fabric woven from different color threads. The warp and weft are different colors. So you see an almost iridescence when you look at these fabrics. A blue shot cotton might look blue from one angle and more purple from another angle.

Here’s a close up of a piece of shot cotton. You can see the different colored threads.

It’s really cool fabric and adds more dimension than a solid colored fabric. I can’t wait to see them all once they arrive.

In the mean time, I’ll have to find something else to work on. I think I’m going to pull out my Bernina and finish a couple bags that I cut out a few weeks ago. Might as well get them done before too much time passes. They will make great holiday gifts.

I had a nice busy and people filled weekend. It was nice, but I feel like I could use another day before heading back to work.

Yesterday Rico and I had his weekly sheep herding lesson. Then I ran home and grabbed some lunch. The we were back in the car headed for McMinnville to pick up some fabric that I knew they had. Then I headed to my friend Heather’s place for a dog training seminar. I didn’t get home until after 8:00. So I fed the dogs and fed myself. I had left a frozen container of my chili verde on the counter to thaw, so I had a yummy and warm dinner.

This morning we had good weather so I went and played pickleball for three hours, followed with brunch with a few of my fellow pickle ballers. I didn’t get home until around 3:00. We all got a nice 3 mile walk in before it got dark.

Now I’m ready to chill for a couple hours before bed.

We had some dry weather yesterday so I ducked out of work an hour early and went and played pickleball for a couple hours. I was exhausted when I got home so didn’t even think about going into my sewing room.

But today it rained almost all day. Bender and Rico were such good boys… snoozing all day long at my feet… not being frustrated at their lack of activity. But when my weather app said it was stopping rain at 5 pm and was supposed to be dry the rest of the night, we got dressed (yes.. I worked in my jammy pants and slippers all day!), got all our lights and reflectors on and headed out. It was nice and cool and the air was damp. We got about two thirds of our walk in dusk and then it was dark. I ran into a friend tat about that time and got to walk and talk with him for about a mile. That’s about the time a nice fine rain started. Good thing I had donned my rain coat and a cap! It was nice to have someone to talk to as we walked after walking alone so often — or at least not with someone who is able to carry on conversation

When we got home I fed the dogs and grabbed my own dinner and then hit my sewing room to start assembling the blocks of my current quilt. I managed to get three of the five rows sewn together.

I could have finished the whole thing tonight but I felt the need to recline on the sofa and watch some TV to rest after my work week. I’ll finish this up tomorrow night, most likely.

Here’s some eye candy. You really do have to see these fabrics close up to really appreciate them completely.

As I’m finishing this quilt I find myself thinking about what I want to make next. I’m not sure I’ve satisfied my appetite for this pattern. I think I just might make another one. Here’s what I’m thinking… I’ve been thinking of altering this pattern to be put together on point. I played with this a little on the design wall the other night.

Imagine that layout, with a few small changes, using some fabric that’s very special.

Several years ago I heard that they were going to stop making the Kaffe Fassett woven stripes fabrics. So I went online and bought a half yard of everything I could find. Here’s all those fabrics in a bin in my sewing room. there are 58 half yards here. That means there are 29 yards. That’s enough for at least four quilts, depending on how many scraps I generate.

These fabrics are so incredibly gorgeous. What makes them so special? The stripes are woven in, rather than being printed on. The colors are just amazing — deep and rich, yet very natural feeling. It’s really hard for me to think about cutting into these because I know I’ll never be able to replenish my stash.

One of the quilts I make from these fabrics WILL be mine! I can actually picture all those fabrics in my living room and would love to curl up under them every night!

Those stripes make me so happy!

I have Rico’s weekly sheep herding lesson tomorrow. Then later in the afternoon we have a dog agility training clinic down in Hopewell. I need to make a trip out to McMinnville, Oregon, to pick up a few pieces of fabric my friend and I need for an upcoming Aboriginal quilt. So I’ll head out there on my way to Hopewell.

The weather Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be dry, so I’m hoping to get some pickleball in on Sunday morning.

After our walk this evening I took all the blocks from my current quilt down off the design wall and divided them into piles based on color, or approximate color. Then I basically shuffled the piles to get one big pile of blocks with colors and values somewhat evenly distributed throughout the stack.

Then I started putting the blocks up on the design wall in the order they appeared in the stack. When I saw adjacent blocks were too similar, I made adjustments as I went along.

After just a few minutes I have a pretty good arrangement up on my design wall.

I’ve already sent a photo of this to my friend who was here visiting in September and she’s made a couple of suggestions. I’ll play with her suggestions tomorrow. Then I’ll leave these up on the design wall for a few days until I either feel satisfied with the layout or just give up.

@Thekitchentablequilter on Instagram commented on my photo today and said: “Do you enjoy the process of deciding on the layout? I find that to be a maze, going around and around again?”

I laughed as I responded, “NO! I do not enjoy the process! I agree it’s like a maze. I move one thing and it makes another problem so I fix that and then that makes three more problems. I finally just throw my hands up and say it’s good enough!”

So, I won’t agonize over this for very long. At some point in the next few days it will be “good enough.”

Lots of people have been asking me what pattern I used for this quilt. Well, I didn’t use a pattern. I did, however, use a lot of skills and knowledge I gained from using Wanda at the Exuberant Color blog’s 16 patch tutorial. If you haven’t checked out that tutorial, what are you waiting for? You can find Wanda’s excellent tutorial here… it’s really clear and made me love making 16 patches.

So, here’s how this quilt block varies from the typical 16 patch and from Wanda’s tutorial. For the 16 patch you sew two strip sets together, then cut them in half and sew those two pieces together. Then you cut that resulting 4-strip piece into 2.5 inch strips and then sew those smaller strips back together, alternating each row. Each strip set makes two blocks.

For this quilt, I cut that 4-strip piece in half and sew the two pieces together so I end up with a strip set that is 8 rows high and around 10.5 inches wide. This strip set will make one large block.

Then I carefully square off one edge of that block. Making sure I leave a full 10 inch wide piece intact.

Then I turn that piece around so I can cut a five-inch strip from the side that I just squared up. I turn it around because I’m right handed.

Here’s a photo of the first 5-inch piece cut from this piece.

Then I cut the remaining piece to five inches wide.

There’s not a lot of extra fabric trimmed away, so I try to sew very carefully and precisely to get two full 5-inch cuts. You can cut your pieces narrower if you have to, say 4.75 or 4.5 inches wide. You just want to cut all the pieces for your blocks the same.

After these two pieces are cut, I turn the left hand piece so the dark rectangle is oriented in the upper left corner. And the second piece is turned the alternating way.

Then you sew these pieces together. If you follow Wanda’s tutorial, the seams will nest beautifully and you’ll have beautifully matching corners. These blocks go together really fast and are a great way to showcase some beautiful fabric!

I got a fun surprise today when Free Spirit Fabrics used a quote I submitted several months ago about how Kaffe’s fabrics impact my creative work. They posted this on Facebook and on Instagram.

There are some people in my neighborhood who are WAAAAAAY into Halloween! Here’s something I saw on our walk tonight. This thing is 12 feel tall!!!

I am pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum of Halloween enthusiasm. And I have to say, that thing would have scared the shit out of me when I was a kid!!! I would still be having nightmares about it!

It’s been a while since I posted photos of reader Frankenbags and I have a few to share tonight.

First up is this bag from Riana Nel from South Africa. Of course I love the bright colors and the graphic black and white. It’s all so bright and cheerful. I just love that vibrant yellow section in the lower part of the bag. Pow! She made this as a Secret Santa gift for someone in her quilt guild.

This next bag comes from Nancy Pendergast. I love all those watery green batiks! Did you know green is my favorite color? And the pops of red and blue are pretty great too!

Up next is this bag made by Linda Klysner. I really like all that gorgeous red crumb piecing. It’s so fun to see it done in one color way. it’s so deep and luscious! And I really like her accent blocks on the front and back. It’s lovely!

The final bag tonight is from Leslie Schroeder. It’s a fun little bag with a chicken theme and a happy lining. I think Leslie told me she made this for her sister or a friend who loves chickens. What a great gift this will be.

Thanks to everyone who sent photos!

While I’m ruminating over the blocks on my design wall, I’m thinking I might pull out my Bernina and finish up some bucket bags I cut out a few weeks ago. All my sewing has been on my little Featherweight since I set it up and made the blue lap quilt for my friend.

Oh, that reminds me… I should be hearing from my long arm quilter any day now to let me know my quilts are ready!