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.
agilejack 