I decided this weekend that the one thing I wanted to accomplish was this brown, not so brown, quilt that’s been on my design wall for a couple weeks. The blocks are big so it all went together pretty quickly and I had it completed Sunday afternoon .
It’s not really very brown. It’ has purple, deep reds, oranges, and greens in thee too. It’s a lot prettier than I thought it would be.
I’m glad it’s done and pressed and folded into a small package. I’m thinking I will likely donate this quilt. Will have to see how attached I feel to it.
I have a nice stack of scraps left over from this quilt. Not sure why I’ll do with all of this. Maybe a bag or two. Probably not another quilt.
The fabric I’ve been waiting for to make the borders on my B2Q purple and green quilt arrived a few days ago. I haven’t yet dug in to get that done. That will be my next project.
I wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind to dig in and wrangle al that fabric for borders tonight so I decided to look at some of my batiks to see what I could make out o them. I have a good number. Thinking I might do more quick quilts with large blocks to slam a few quilt tops out. Will give it a little thought.
I also did a little organizing on my Australian Aboriginal fabrics in anticipation of making a new quilt form them. I managed to get them all into bins under my cutting table.
I’m thinking I’ll make another one of the economy block, or square in a square/ quilt tops and I want to make one from my beautiful Aboriginal prints. So I dug out a selection that I like. I’ll ruminate over this over he next few days. I
They are rich and saturated colors. I think I will likely ad some black in with these in the mix to make them really sing.
I arranged them a little differently go get an idea of how they’ll work together.
I’ll think on this selection for a few days until I feel that it’s all right.
After three weeks without any precipitation the rains have returned. We have a chance of snow a few times over the next week. It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be too serious.
Our radio fundraising drive starts this Thursday so I have a couple of hectic weeks coming up. My friend Linda is planning another visit. Looks like she will be for 10 days around the first of March. I’m looking forward to her visit.
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.
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 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.
agilejack 