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I have a total of seventy blocks for this scrappy 16-patch quilt done. The blocks shown here are only half of my completed blocks.

There is a duplicate of each of these in a stack on my cutting table. My plan is to make this quilt 9 blocks by 10 blocks, which will be around 70 x 80 when it’s finished.

I’m really enjoying making this quilt. I’ve loved putting the sets of fabrics together for each block and I’ve found the assembly and sewing to be really satisfying and relaxing. I’m pretty surprised I’m feeling this about matching all those corners!

I’ve been getting a lot done, but I don’t feel like I’m really pushing myself. I’m trying to be really efficient in making these, so I’m doing them fives strip sets at a time.

I get the sections cut out of each strip set and then assemble all ten blocks before I move onto the next set of strips. Half of them go up on the design wall and half go into the stack.

I’m making sure I finish the duplicates of each block rather than putting them aside for later because I know this would be the path to another unfinished quilt. So rather than have to sit down at the end and assemble all the duplicate blocks, when I’m done with the last strip set, I’m done with the blocks.

I really like a lot of the blocks in this quilt, but I’m pretty sure this is my favorite.

I’ve always loved those two fabrics, but I’m not sure I would have ever thought of putting together. But they are pretty fantastic! And obvious. But the combo never crossed my mind.

And can I point out how good my corners look? I can’t believe how well these are going together!

My birthday flowers have been here for three weeks and they are now just barely starting to fade. I’ve never had cut flowers last this long.

I had to go into the office last night to drop of something for a co-worker to pick up so took the opportunity to snap a photo of my boys in front of the building. They were so excited until they realized it was just a photo op.

As I add more blocks to this design wall, I’m liking this quilt more and more. The image I shared in my last post had me thinking the blocks were all too similar. I’ve been adjusting pairings of fabrics as I go along, cutting a few lighter fabrics along the way, and I’m liking where this is going.

I’m thinking there are some blocks in here that will ultimately be removed. But I want to see all the blocks I have planned before making a final decision.

The blocks are more defined now. I think the addition of those lighter fabrics really made that happen. The previous set of blocks all just sort of blended into each other.

I’m really loving some of these fabric combos!

I have 34 blocks done, but only 25 are shown in the photo above. I have the duplicates of 15 of these that still need to be sewn.

Clearly, I spent some time on these blocks this weekend. I’ve been trying to be efficient in how I’m working, so I’m sewing multiple strip sets at a time, then cutting them all, then sewing the blocks.

This means that I didn’t finish the sashing on my batik improv quilt. But I did rearrange those blocks on the design wall so they were more random. The first layout had them all in a diagonal pattern by color. It was too structured. I like this more random arrangement better.

As I was looking through my Kaffe stash to find a few lighter fabrics to add to my sixteen patch quilt I realized that I have essentially NO blue fabrics. so I went online today and ordered a bunch of half yards of KFC blues. I’ve recently sold a few items and thought that was a good way to spend that money.

Tomorrow night I’m going to clean my living room so I can put up my little LED lighted birch tree and some lights on the mantle. I may put up a few holiday decorations, but I’m not going to go crazy. My lighted birch tree will stay up well into March. I just love having those lights in the room when it gets dark so early. Here’s a picture from last year.

I only need a little holiday cheer!

It poured rain here all day long so instead of taking my mid day walk with the dogs I did a little sewing. And after our misty walk after dinner I did even more. I’ve completed 18 16-patch blocks: the nine in this photo and their mates. I’m having really good luck getting two blocks out of one strip set… with about an inch of strip set as waste.

I’m really happy with how these blocks are going together. I’m being really careful to make sure my strip sets are straight and my seam allowances are accurate. The blocks are all coming out almost exactly 8.5 inches square and I’ve avoided wonkiness. So they will eventually go together nicely.

Gah! That blue spot with the tangerine paisley jungle is so good!!

I’ve been using a metal ruler to make sure my strip sets are straight before I press them.

If there’s a bit of a curve in the strip set I can just manipulate it with my hands until the edge lines up with the ruler. then I gently press, making sure to not move the fabric. The I remove the ruler and give it a more thorough pressing.

Then I go through the same steps with the four strip set.

I learned this method of keeping strip sets straight from watching tutorials from Jordan Fabrics.

And the last thing I’m doing to keep my blocks accurate is pinning the rows before I sew them. And my points are looking pretty good!

OMG! These fabrics!!!

I’ll probably make a few more of these blocks this weekend, but I have a goal to get all the sashing on my improv batik quilt and get it off my design wall. I’d like to at least make some good headway on that.

I’ve wanted to make a sixteen patch quilt out of Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics for a while now. So tonight I dug into my KFC scraps that I had cut into 2.5 inch WOF strips and put them into light and dark pairs. And then I sewed the first strip set and first block.

I’ve hesitated to dig into a sixteen patch quilt because I’ve never been very good at sewing straight strip sets and I thought it would be impossible to construct blocks that would go together well. But my sewing skills have improved and I’ve learned some tricks for making strip sets straighter, so I decided to dig in.

There were two other things that encouraged me to strike out and take on something that I thought would be more challenging for me. The first was that Liza Lucy posted on the KFC Facebook page that the pandemic is a perfect time to try something new and make something that is more challenging than what we usually make.

The second thing was that Wanda over at Exuberant Color has started another sixteen patch quilt and wrote a blog post about it today. I remembered that she had done a tutorial on making a sixteen patch quilt some time ago, so I found it and took a look earlier today.

This will be scrappy, which makes me very happy!

It makes me laugh that I was so tentative in striking out on a sixteen patch. It’s not like it’s really precise piecing or a really complicated pattern. I just wanted to make it well and didn’t feel that I was quite ready for the task.

The photo above is all the 2.5 inch WOF scraps I have, divided into light/dark sets of two. Below is a sliver of a view of the combos.

I remember reading somewhere that the pairs for a sixteen patch quilt don’t have to read light and dark compared to the other fabrics in the quilt, just to each other within one block. So some of these combos are close. It’s entirely possible that these pairs will change as I make more blocks. And rather than waiting until I have enough scraps of the values I need, it’s likely I’ll cut some fabric at some point to finish some blocks. I made a few black and white photos to see how my fabrics looked together and that made me make some changes and omit one fabric.

I’ve been really busy at work and with sheep herding lessons on the weekends and getting my Christmas cards and gift shopping done, so haven’t done much sewing in the last couple of weeks. I have two different sheep herding lessons in two different locations on Saturday, so that will take up most of the day.

I am planning on working on the sashing for my improv batik quilt this weekend so I can check that quilt top off.

The weather the last ten days or so has been glorious! But we’re heading into another rainy streak. Rain is really typical for us this time of year so the nice weather is really a treat. We had an absolutely amazing sunset last night.

I also felt the need for a little more light in my outdoor holiday display so I ordered these cute little trees online. They arrived today… about a week earlier than they were supposed to get here. So I got them assembled and put in the planter box after work tonight. I love them!

I’ve really enjoyed seeing all the pretty Christmas lights around my neighborhood on our evening walks.

A friend of mine sent me these flowers for my birthday two weeks ago. And they are still absolutely gorgeous! I’ve never had flowers last like these.

It’s so nice to have flowers in the house this time of year.

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And it’s perfect! This photo doesn’t show the richness of the color, but it does show the design. There’s just a little more variation in color than this photo shows. It’s a nice true indigo, but not too dark with touches of aqua and purple. It’s perfect!

I may start getting this cut and onto the blocks tomorrow, but I have to do some arranging on the design wall first to make it feel more random.

Last night I painted another set of four little water colors for holiday cards for people at work. This batch was done with a really pretty teal color, but on the same design. I love this color! It really feels like a cold winter day.

Here’s a close up of one card. I just love these!

I need to paint five more. I’ll start them tonight and finish them up tomorrow.

Tomorrow I’m also going to finish the gussets on the four pouch sets that are nearly done. I have a sheep herding lesson with a guy from Washington at 11 am and have the rest of the day to hunker down at home.

Rico had his weekly herding lesson today and he was awesome. We took a nice long walk in the sun after the lesson. It was so gorgeous! I was in shirt sleeves the entire time and we walked over four miles.

This field is on the campus of Washington State University but it’s sort of isolated and not in view of the campus buildings, which means I don’t have to worry so much about getting cited. So I let the dogs off leash and let them run while I walk laps. Four laps is one mile. It gets me another mile under my belt and they get about 20 minutes of running. We’re all happy.

It was a little cool in the woods. There was actually some ice on the trail in the shady spots, and some of the trail was wet and slick. These boys dumped me on my butt on one slope! I dug in to keep them from pulling me too fast and my feet slipped out from under me. Down I went!

I got my lighted wreaths up when I got home this afternoon. I had to borrow an extension cord from my neighbor to get the last wreath lit. I don’t have any power outlets on the front of my house so I have to run these cords through the garage. They are all on a timer now. It’s not much but it’s nice to not be completely dark in a neighborhood with more lights being put up every day.

Bonus Christmas border collies on the porch!

I’ve been waiting and waiting for my indigo batik to show up so I can get moving on the sashing for my improv batik quilt. A week after I placed my order, I finally got an email letting me know it had shipped. I’m guessing that I won’t actually receive it until next week.

I did cut some ugly batik scrap into a block to test the size I need for the setting triangles for my scrappy quarter log cabin quilt made from KFC scraps with the happy little sunbursts.

I need to get moving on the final blocks for that as I wait for fabric to arrive.

Over the last few days I’ve been dealing with a leak in the water line coming into my house. After dealing with all kinds of logistics, the plumber had a cancellation and had someone at my house this morning and had it all taken care of in about three hours. Initially, it looked like I wouldn’t be able to get a plumber to my house for at least a week.

This photo shows the water from the leak that had pooled near my porch and foundation. They found a huge tree root in there that had basically pushed the pipe to the side and broke it! I was really happy when they told me that my crawl space was dry as a bone!

I’m always quite anxious when dealing with issues like this. The unknown makes me very uneasy and I’ve been on edge for over a week now. It feels good to have it fixed so I can stop thinking about it!

I have been doing a little sewing over the last few evenings. I’m working on finishing up four zipper pouch sets that I’ve had all cut and ready to assemble for over a year. This is a total of 12 pouches in various sizes. I’ve been making these four sets assembly line style and I should have them all done tomorrow evening.

Here’s four sets, partially done.

Here’s one partially assembled set.

I’ve sold a lot of these pouch sets over the years. I’m guessing I’ve made at least a hundred sets, mostly in batiks. I’ve sold them during the holidays and during my summer vacations for several years now.

I have 8 sets that I made last year and didn’t sell. I’ll add these four new sets and will try to sell these this year.

I’m hoping people are looking for gift ideas with the pandemic affecting their ability and desire to shop. But if I don’t sell them all it’s ok. It’s really nice to have a few sets on hand for last minute gifts.

Each set had three pouches of various sizes.

Last night I picked out some Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics to make Smarfs for holiday gifts for some of my team at work. You can see previous Smarfs I’ve made here. They will make nice gifts and they are quick and fun to make out of these amazing fabrics.

I’m working on some goodie packages for the people in my department at work and am making a hand painted holiday card for each of them. So I got started tonight. These are water color, are about 4×6 inches and will be glued to a blank card. I have eight more to make.

I love painting dramatic skies!

This weekend will be filled with sheep herding. I have my regular lesson on Saturday and then a special lesson with a trainer from Washington on Sunday. The weather looks fantastic and I’m looking forward to being outside with dogs and sheep!

I did it. I FORCED myself to finish sewing this quilt to together this evening so I can move onto other projects that make me happier.

I will eventually add a small off white border to this and then add some wider indigo borders to make this read more blue.

But I have no plans for it so am not in a hurry. And Bender agrees that this quilt is quite boring.

The second I got this done I tossed it back onto the design wall to snap a photo and then folded it immediately.

Next I put my sunburst scrappy blocks up on one of my design walls because I wanted to see how many more blocks I need to make.

That’s all 60 blocks that I have made. It looks like I need at least six more blocks, plus the setting triangles… which will be made from full blocks cut in half. I have plenty of scraps to finish this up and these sew up fast for me.

That photo really doesn’t do this quilt justice.

That’s closer to true colors.

Next I tossed my improv batik blocks up on the design wall, just because I wanted to see them all together.

I still need to figure out how wide I’m going to make the sashing and then decide on a final size for the quilt. I’m thinking I’ll cut the indigo batik sashings to 2 inches and then I’ll add a wider border of the indigo batik. I’ll have to play with it once my sashing fabric arrives. I do have enough pieces of these batiks left over to make one more block in each color combo. If I don’t need them for the front, I’ll use them in the backing.

These blocks will eventually be arranged in a more random manner. This quilt will look completely different once the sashing is added.

Of course I’m thinking about what quilt I’ll make next. It will certainly be from KFC fabrics. Yellows or reds, flying geese or big blocks. So many options!

I finished the last two sets of improv batik blocks after dinner tonight. And now I have to wait for the sashing fabric to arrive. I ordered it from an online store that is notorious for slow delivery. So I might have the fabric in time to start sashing these blocks on Christmas day!

The colors in that photo aren’t quite true. It’s really hard to get accurate photos with just a phone.

I was on the phone with a friend of mine tonight and she asked me what I was going to use for the backing for this quilt when I remembered that I had purchased this piece of Philip Jacob’s fabric a couple of years ago. I was pretty sure there was enough for a backing. So I dug into my large fabric pieces and pulled it out.

It’s from Philip’s Tribal collection from Snow Leopard Designs. I’m pretty sure it’s out of print now.

And I LOVE the way it looks with these blocks and sashing! It’s a really fun and vibrant option for this quilt.

Here’s a more close up view.

I had a bit of a sleep in this morning and then had a good breakfast with a really wonderful cup of French press coffee. I headed out for a long walk with the dogs at about 11:45. We were on the trail by 12:30.

We went back out to the Banks Vernonia trail and we lucked out on the weather. It was cloudy for our entire walk — a typical damp Pacific Northwest Day, but the rain stayed away until we were in the car and ready to head home.

We walked about 7.25 miles and could have walked a few more.

I took this picture with my phone propped up on a tree stump on a little octopus tripod. I think it might have taken nearly 20 minutes to get a decent photo!!! But I like this one. I love the way the dogs are looking at me… like they’re wondering what the heck I’m doing.

When 2020 began I committed to losing 60 pounds by my birthday. Today I celebrated my 60th trip around the sun with a 7 mile walk on the Banks Vernonia Trail — 68.5 lbs lighter.

These good boys and I have walked more than 1,650 miles since the first of February— that’s the equivalent of walking from Portland to Omaha.

When I got home from our walk today there were two big packages on my porch. One was my weekly produce box. The other was a huge box of flowers. When i got them open, I was unable to find anything that told me who had sent them. But I had my suspicions.

So I called my friend Linda, and they were from her. It’s a really pretty bouquet and it arrived in fantastic shape. It looks like it will last for quite a few days. My house smells fantastic!

I have made arrangements to walk with friends tomorrow and Friday. Saturday I’m heading back up to the Olympia, WA area to do a little sheep herding. It does me so much good to get outdoors and get fresh air and physical activity on my days off! Helps me tolerate the stagnant week days working at home

A friend is bringing me some Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to it. And she’s promised to bring a lot of left overs too… my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner.

Should be a good weekend!

My boss loves to celebrate and we’ve had a tradition for many years of her taking me and a few of my team to lunch to celebrate my birthday. We usually go to a restaurant at the top of a tall building in downtown Portland with incredible views. It’s always a fun celebration and moment away from work.

She really wanted to do something for my birthday, so we landed on a zoom call with three of my key team at work — three really amazingly talented, confident, dedicated and fun women who I’m so lucky to work with. So she scheduled a call and she had food delivered to everyone on the call from my favorite Thai restaurant in Portland. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t deliver to my house so she drove and picked up my food and brought it over. Luckily, the sun came out so we sat on the back patio and shared some food and did our zoom call together… with so much space between us and masks when we weren’t eating. I’m glad the rain had stopped so she could stay.

I haven’t seen any of these women in person for eight months! It was really nice to see my boss in person. I can’t wait for the day when all of us can be together in person again. It was a really nice treat for my birthday. And the spicy Thai food was soooo good.

After an afternoon of work I treated myself to leftovers and waited for the rain to stop so I could take a walk with the boys. I finished two more sets of blocks for the improv batik quilt I’m making and then took the boys out at about 8:30 for an hour walk.

When we got home I finished another set of blocks. So I only have two more sets of four blocks to go.

Yesterday as I was working I noticed a hummingbird flitting around outside my office window. So I made some sugar water and hung one of my feeders outside that window last night. And amazingly, that little bird came and went to that feeder throughout the day. I think he drank nearly two inches of liquid out of that thing! It was really fun to have him come and visit throughout the day. The Annas hummingbirds stay here all year long so we can feed them throughout the winter. He will be good company.

I’m off work for the next three days. I had really hoped for a drive to the coast tomorrow to celebrate my birthday on the beach, but it’s supposed to pour all day long. So I’m going to find a hike closer to home. The weather over the next ten days looks pretty fantastic for Portland… not too much rain in this forecast, which is unusual for this time of year.

Then later in the afternoon, a friend who is cooking a full turkey dinner is going to deliver dinner and leftovers for me to enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it. Be careful and safe!

On Thanksgiving I’m going to meet a new employee for a hike. She recently moved here from Philadelphia. She’s been working with us for several months, but has only been in Portland for a month or so. I’ve known her for years through work, but haven’t actually seen her in person for almost a year — the entire hiring process was done over the internet. She has a dog and has been striking out and exploring on her own. It will be fun to get to see her in person and show here a place she hasn’t been to yet.