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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.

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A Busy Weekend and A Break From the Heat

We’ve been having really hot weather for about three weeks now. We had a few days of 100 or a little over and then a couple weeks of temps up in the 90s. I woke up this morning to the sound of thunder rolling across the skies and Rico very worried about all the noise. We got enough rain to wet my patio and that as about it.

What we also got was a break to this hot weather. Today was lovely. And the next ten days features temps in the mid 70s to low 80s. It will be so nice to be able to be outside a little more. My boys will be happy to get their afternoon walks back.

I’ve been busy playing pickleball the last week. I played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, twice on Saturday and Sunday. I’ve entered women’s doubles with my friend who just moved here in two tournaments coming up in the next couple weeks. I’ve also entered one tournament in mixed doubles with my coach. We’re working hard to make sure we’re ready to play well. It will be interesting to see what the tournament life is all about.

I haven’t done much sewing the last week but I did hit my sewing room Friday evening and sorted through scraps and got ten little wallets ready to sew up.

Then tonight I got them all sewn, turned, pressed, folded and sewn closed.

I just love seeing those pretty and bright linings. the linings really do make these!

After out evening walk I got all the snaps installed.

These fabrics are all so pretty together.

I think I’ll probably keep this one for myself. I just love these colors.

Yesterday I played pickleball in the morning for two hours. Came home and grabbed the dogs and headed down to Molalla for Rico’s sheep herding lesson. Then I met my coach at 6:00 and drilled pickleball for nearly three hours! I was completely worn out.

I played pickleball this morning and then got a needed haircut. I went a little shorter this time. It’s good cut, lets my curls shine, and gets my hair off the back of my neck for the summer.

On the way home I stopped at a farmers market and found Boisenberries!

They are my absolute favorite berry. Put one in your mouth and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue and the flavor just explodes! t’s been quite a few years since I’ve had them. I cherished every single one of them!

I’m also very happy that my tomatoes are ripening! I’ve been watching these little sun golds quite intently. They are soooo flavorful and I’m really looking forward to some tasty maters in my salads.

With all the heat we’ve had Bender’s skill for finding the coolest place to sleep has come in handy!

That’s the spot where I find him every time I come home.

Another work week. I’m looking forward to working in the mornings with my sliding glass door open so I can hear the birds singing!

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It’s Me. I’m Still Here.

I haven’t posted here since June 24! That might be the longest dry spell in many years.

Why? It’s been damned hot. I’ve been playing a ridiculous amount of pickleball. I’m doing all I can to take advantage of the short summer months here in the Pacific Northwest.

I haven’t been doing much sewing since my last post. I have made a few more of the scrappy blocks with the indigo corners. I think I’m up to 36 total. No idea how big this quilt will be.

I still have to trim most of those blocks, Since my injured wrist is feeling so much better I can start trimming them any day now. I’ll just chunk away on this. No hurry to get it done.

In the mean time, I just loved these two blocks.

I also picked up a little project a couple of weeks ago. I kept seeing an ad on Facebook and Instagram for a little wallet that looked really easy to make. They were selling a template to make the wallet for almost $20. I’m pretty cheap and I thought I could probably figure it out after a few tries. Well, I started digging around in YouTube and found this tutorial.

It’s the exact same thing as the template that was too pricey! So I took some notes and made my own template using a priority mail envelope.

Then I pulled out my interfacing, dug into my scraps and got busy.

I cut and sewed a few at a time.

I whipped up a handful of these cute little things in no time.

They are so quick and easy to make. I love having things like this on hand for little gifts when people visit or when I go to lunch with friends. Plus, I have a million uses for little things like this. I have one that I use for my iPhone headphones. I’m going to use one for bandaids in my pickleball bag.

They have the flap with a snap and two compartments inside.

Here’s a few images with some detail.

I gave almost all of these away pretty quickly. I’ll probably make a few more to have on hand.

I keep waiting for my quilting inspiration to come back. It’s not coming back quickly. I’m sure it will be back in full force when the rain starts in the fall. In the mean time I’ll do some small projects and think about what I’ll make when the mood hits.

I was talking to my friend who just moved here the other night. She was saying she needed something for the walls of her sewing room. I shared with her a pattern I’ve had for years that I’ve been wanting to make.

We tossed around the idea of making that at the same time. I’ve seen a few done in all Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics that are really spectacular and colorful. That might have to be a winter project. My friend has a Singer Featherweight as I do. It would be fun to make them both on those little work horses.

I had my biggest strawberry harvest this evening… just when I was considering tearing out my strawberry plants because they just don’t produce much. I was thinking of putting in some raspberries instead. Maybe the the strawberries knew what I was thinking and kicked it in gear.

You may not know this but I’m a sucker for an estate sale. I was on my way home from pickleball a week ago when I saw a sign in my neighborhood for one. So I stopped by. And by did I score! I got a brand new Olfa cutting mat and a pristine Black and Decker iron for a total of $8!!!

I’ve been meaning to buy a new Olfa mat. I really hate the Fiskars mat I’m using now. It’s really slick and my fabrics slides all over the place on it. It may be on its way out and this one will find a nice home on my cutting table.

And I love a very basic iron. I had an old Sunbeam my mom bought me when I was in college that petered out a few years ago. I bought a new basic Sunbeam but it doesn’t get as hot as my old one. I haven’t plugged this Black and Decker in yet but I’m hopeful that it will be nice and hot.

My friend and I decided that we are going to play women’s doubles in a couple pickleball tournaments in July and August. And my coach asked me if I wanted to play mixed doubles in one of those tournaments. It will be interesting to dive into the tournament world and see if I like it.

I hope everyone is able to stay cool in this terribly hot summer. We’ve had several days over 100 and plenty up in the 90s. We have another week of hot weather and then it should cool down a bit. The good thing is that is cools down nicely at night. I’m so glad I have central air conditioning.

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Summer! Sun! Time Off and a Short Vacation

We had last Wednesday off for the Juneteenth holiday so I decided to take off Thursday and Friday to make a five day weekend. On Wednesday morning I loaded up myself and the dogs and. headed south on Interstate 5 on the four-hour trip to my brother and sister-in-law’s place near Bandon, Oregon.

It was a great few days! Absolutely perfect weather in a beautiful place only 20 minutes from the coast. My boys were very happy about having two beach visits in three days!

It was cool and windy on the beach on Thursday but it was glorious on Friday. We were all pleased to be there.

I enjoy my time at my brother’s place because it’s very relaxing, there’s no agenda, and no pressure. it’s a great place to spend a few days and step away from the stresses and frustrations of the world. Even if just for a few days, it was good for me to get away.

My boys just love it on my brother’s property. There are multiple levels, gates to run through, sheep on site and goats next door.

Rico really wanted to get in that pasture with the sheep!

Of course, we continued our family traditions.

And we gorged ourselves on rockfish tacos made with home made corn tortillas and veggies from my SIL’s gorgeous garden.

I drove home on Saturday and we were all sort of vegetables the rest of the day. I was tired from the drive and my boys were tired from two beach runs and constant running and exploring on my brother’s property.

I got up today and met my friend to do some pickleball drilling at 10:30. then there was a club meeting and snacks at noon followed by pickleball. I played pickleball from 10:30 until 4:00!!! It was really fun but I’m exhausted. I even took my boys for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner and grocery shopping.

I’m going to play pickleball tomorrow night, Tuesday morning, Wednesday night, and Thursday night. That’s a lot of pickleball this week!

I haven’t been doing too much sewing since I’m letting my wrist heal. I hurt it playing pickleball a couple weeks ago. It’s so much better but not ready for the pressure of cutting using the ruler with my left hand.

I finally dug into a sort of new, sort of old project a couple weeks ago. I had decided that I wanted to use my color wash blocks (you can see them here) and make them into basically economy blocks using my left over indigo batiks. The batiks are left over from my Wensleydale quilt top that I made last year.

So I had to figure out how big to make the corner triangles for the blocks and made a test block. I didn’t want to suffer all the precision that a precise match of points would require so I made the corner triangles a little bigger so that the smaller blocks will basically float once they are all sewn together.

those blocks are all trimmed and squared up. That cutting was hard on my wrist at the time so tonight I cracked out eight more blocks but will leave the squaring up until my wrist it a little better.

There will be a lot of different indigo batiks once these blocks are all done. It will look quite different once it’s all done.

So, why did I decide to use the blocks this way rather than make the color wash version? Well, the part of quilt making where the blocks are on the design wall and you noodle, move things, put them back, noodle some more… well, that’s not my favorite part of making a quilt and I had no desire to suffer through arranging these blocks in a color wash array. And I knew that these blocks would sit in my closet for a very long time if I tried to force myself to do a color wash. So I dug in!

I made a bunch of little kits combining colored blocks and indigo fabrics for the corners last week. So when I sit down to sew I can just sew and really move along.

These next sets are ready to go except that I need to cut the indigo squares in half.

I don’t know how many blocks that will make or how many I’ll need for this quilt top. I’m really playing it by ear and will remain flexible. The blocks will finish at 6 inches so I’ll need a good number of them.

My little garden is doing really well. Look at how gorgeous this lettuce is!

After enjoying the fresh greens from my SIL’s garden I decided to dig in tonight and use some of this for my dinner. I made a big salad with chicken, blue cheese, corn, pickled onions, strawberries and a nice vinaigrette.

It was a really delicious dinner! I love eating things that I’ve grown.

Between work and pickleball I have a hectic week coming up. I’m glad I’m well rested.

I’ll leave you tonight with this gorgeous pot of lilies on my patio.

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Gorgeous Summer Weather and Some Making

We’ve had some really glorious weather the last few days. Summer has arrived with the first week of June. And how can it possibly be June already. In a couple short weeks the days will start getting shorter again.

Work has continued to be busy. We got word last week that our board has selected a new CEO who will start in September. I’m sure it’s going to be a very active year coming up.

I’ve been playing a lot of pickleball the last week. I played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! I didn’t play today because I hurt my hand playing on Thursday and I wanted to give it some time off. Luckily it’s my left hand so I still have my paddle hand and will be back on the court tomorrow morning for some drilling with my coach. It’s been so long since we have had time to drill. The rain made it difficult to play outside and he had surgery in March. He’s finally back to playing and with our gorgeous weather we’re all anxious to spend as much time outdoors as possible.

I haven’t done much sewing the last week. I did manage to make nearly 50 key fobs. I started with the leftover batiks from my recent palate cleanser project. I made almost 30 key fobs from these fabrics alone.

Here’s the video tutorial I used for these fobs.

Here’s a link to the original set of hardware and the tool I use to apply the hardware to the fabric.


I started with the pieces I cut last weekend then cut the fusible fleece pieces.

Then got all the fleece pressed to the fabric.

Once I had these all pressed I got to chain piecing the top-stitching.

I think I ended up with 38 fobs from these left over batiks.

They’re so pretty and they whip up really quickly. So when I had these done I decided to make one lanyard from some of that batik fabric. I had purchased the hardware for these a couple of years ago and have never made a lanyard. It was quick to make as well.

There are tons of tutorials on YouTube for making these lanyards.

I’m sure I’ll make more but I need to refer to a tutorial to see how long they make them. Mine turned out a little short but would work well for hanging a house key around my neck while I walk my dogs.

Today I dug in and sorted out some KFC scraps and cut another 20 pieces for key fobs. then I got them all pressed and topstitched.

I was so close to being done that I went ahead and finished sewing these pieces by folding the two ends together and stitching a line across.

Those are all attached by a thread. Once cut apart and trimmed, I added the hardware and then I was done.

I added these to the batik ones I made last week and the remaining ones from when I last made these and now have around 60 key fobs ready to be given away.

I really like having some of these on hand. They make nice little gifts or just something to give people who visit so they can have something I made. People love them! I think I have nearly ten of them in use at my house!

I’m getting closer to deciding what project I’m going to work on next. Might be a total surprise and a little impulsive.

Posted on

Bored Dogs and A Batik Finish

I had a bit of a sleep in this morning and then treated myself to a tasty breakfast.

It rained all day today. At one point I thought it was light enough that I could get on my rain gear and get these pathetic dogs out for a walk.

But when I looked out the back door I could see that it was still raining pretty steadily. We got close to an inch of rain today. It did’t rain hard but it rained steady all day.

It should start to taper off tomorrow morning around 5 am. I’m supposed to play pickleball tomorrow night so I’m happy that will happen.

So while the boys were being pathetic I hit my sewing room between watching live pickleball matches. I managed to finish up my batik All Inked Up quilt. The first thing I had to do was whip up the four remaining blocks.

Then I moved a few things around on the design wall until I felt good about how it looked.

Next I put up all the sashing strips I needed to add to the blocks before I sewed them together. It turned out to be a bit of a mess because they wouldn’t stick to the design wall! Several times I had to pick up little piles of strips and try to figure out where they had fallen from. So I pinned them all up so I could get a good look and make a few final moves.

Once everything was where I wanted it to be and pinned in place I started sewing. I got three rows all sewn together before I took a break for dinner. Once I was back in my sewing room I had it all ready to sew the final seam in no time.

Once that seam was done I did the final press.

I love the back of a quilt when it all goes together nicely.

Once it was pressed it went back up on the design wall for a photo.

I’m still not happy with how the colors come out in the photos from the design wall. These photos were taken with the quilt on the bed in my guest room and they are truer.

Here’s the full view.

By this time Bender was quite bored with the whole operation.

Rico lost his patience much earlier in the day.

That is a very sad rainy day face.

Oh, and I just remembered. At some point today I decided to cut up the scraps from this quilt to make some key chains. I gave a bunch away over the last week and since I have the hardware I thought this was a good opportunity to make up some new ones.

I’ll probably pull out some of my Kaffe scraps and make more keychains while I’m at it. It’s great to have a bunch on hand, I give them away all the time.

I have a couple personal days off that I have to use before June 30 so I’m planning a trip down to my brother’s place. It will be nice to have a few days out of town.