A little finish...

The other day I found this pretty print at my LQS and knew I had to bring it home.  The selvage says it is chrysanthemums, but it still reminds me of the marigolds that grow in my garden.  

I had been looking for some sunflower fabric to finish off "Summer Sun," but those prints all seemed to be big flowers and I needed something smaller for a narrow border.  This turned out to be perfect!

The weather did a big change overnight from Thursday into Friday - upper 90s and bright sun to 50s and drizzle.  It definitely feels more like fall.  We were wrapped up in our quilts all Saturday afternoon!  Needing a new embroidery design for slow stitching, I completely changed seasons and went with this one.

"Noel" by Kathy Schmitz

I'm not quite ready for snow yet (and I think we're supposed to be back up in the 80s this coming week), but I'll enjoy working on this one all in variegated blue.  Meanwhile the marigolds are still blooming!

Have a great Sunday!  I'll be watching the NFL games with Mike

and doing some slow stitching.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Bits and Pieces of Blue

 A little bit of progress this week, all heading in the right direction, even if slowly.  I had figured out that I only needed one more Bloom basket for a 25 block layout, so I sewed that up.  

I'm going for the cover layout there, and have gotten as far as calculating how many setting triangles I need, plus purchased the fabric for them.  No cutting or sewing yet!

So here's where I am with the layout of baskets.  I'll probably move a few here and there before I'm ready to sew them up.  It's definitely going to be a quilt full of scrappy color, isn't it?!

During one evening of hand-stitching I sewed up one more plus block in light blue.

That actually gives me seven blue blocks, and this quilt will just need three more green blocks to be ready for sewing all the blocks together!

Along the way I sewed some crumb blocks out of the blue scrap bin for leaders and enders.  I was trying to organize them by dark, medium, and light and it *kind of* worked, lol!  But it doesn't look like I even made a dent in the blue scraps, does it?  Guess I'll just keep making more of these!

There are a lot of blue-greens in that bin- 

I'll have to pull them out for their own category of crumb blocks!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #301 - Bows and Flows of Angel Hair

 You know that song, right?  "Both Sides Now" by Judy Collins.  LeeAnna suggested that we share favorite cloud photos in this week's post, so I've been singing that song all week long. 

Beautiful cloud formations can be seen in one of my very most favorite places to visit - the Oregon coast.  Because it is by the ocean, it often seems to be a combination of clouds and fog.  Last year we spent several days in Bandon, Oregon, and it probably has the most spectacular coastal area I have ever seen.  Here are a few favorite photos from our trip there.

Beautiful sunsets!

And then there'll be a day with not a cloud in the sky!

An amazing place!  And we are going there again soon - 

I am so looking forward to being there again!

What else has been going on this week?  Well, a little stash enhancement, for one thing!  Needing a better choice for the cornerstones on the Frosty quilt, I took a little trip to my LQS, and came home with these.

Some w-o-w yardage,

three choices for the Frosty quilt,

and a pretty fall piece that reminds me of marigolds.

I think I'll use the snowflake fabric for the Frosties.

The snowman print would make a good backing, wouldn't it?

I should go back and see if there is yardage of that one.

Speaking of marigolds, this week I've been doing some garden cleanup, and here's how the volunteer marigold in the tomato pot is doing.  The tomato was done, so I pulled it out, but left the marigold.  These are all from one stem!

I finished the next book interview Ruth Galloway series, by Elly Griffiths, another good one.  I've gotten attached to the characters in this series, and really like that the main character is not a police detective, but instead is an archeologist.  That always adds some interesting storylines to the book!

Thanks for visiting on "I Like Thursday," hostedby LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!

To-Do Tuesday #152

Good morning, and happy Tuesday!   It's To-Do Tuesday at Texas Quilt Gal - thanks, Linda for hosting this fun link-up each week!

I ended last week's list with a plan to just play a bit, and that was a fun part of the week!  I sewed myself a new tote bag, and made a little tablerunner.  I'll save the tablerunner to share at the end of the month, but here's the bag.  I've been enjoying using it already!

Also, in case you missed it, the reveal of Halloween Jubilee is here.

Progress was made on the Frosties, too.  They're all trimmed to 8 x 10 inches.

And now I'm mulling...  maybe something like this will work for sashing and cornerstones?  I haven't bought anything new - just playing with what I have in my stash!

I like the red with white stars, but not so sure 

about the peppermints on the black background.

This week, my main goal is to finish up the last of the Bloom blocks I need and figure out the yardage for the setting triangles.  I'd better start by reading the pattern! 

Other things on the list:

• A fall themed mug rug for my mom, and
• Keep working on sashing and cornerstones for the Frosties!

That should keep me out of trouble!

 

 

Slow stitching this week...

This has been a good week for some evenings of slow stitching.  We watched the first two episodes of "The Lord of the Rings - Rings of Power" series Thursday evening on Prime, and I stitched right along!

Made lots of progress on "Summer Sun."  This one is going quickly!  The leaves are stitched with stem fill, and that's a bit labor intensive, but I like the look of it.

Also quilted another flower block on this little quilt.  It's been a little warm (mid 90s all week!) for having a quilt over my lap, so I'm just doing a little at a time.

What are you stitching this week?

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Just playing...

After finishing up Halloween Jubilee last week, I decided I could just play in my sewing room this week, and I did!  I started out by making myself a new quilted tote bag, using scraps from the Dutch fabrics that I used for this year's Stay at Home Round Robin.

There's even a little light blue 💙 in there for the September RSC color of the month!

My tote bags are based on this video tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company, and I've made several over the years.   I like to make them bigger (this one measures about 14 inches wide and 12 inches deep) and add things like inner pockets and a magnetic snap.  I use these instead of a purse, and have wanted a new one for awhile.

I played with string blocks this week, too - these are from Bonnie Hunter's free String X pattern.  I wanted to play with blues, cheddar/gold, and reds.  Look, there's even some light blue in there!

When groups of four are put together, they look like this:

Somehow along the way, I also made the two light blue Masala Box blocks that I need for September, so there is that!

On to the September projects!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

A Timely Finish

Is it late for last Halloween, or early for this year's?  That's what happens when you start a quilt one year and don't finish it until the next!  I pieced this quilt as part of Carole's Autumn Jubilee series which happens every October over at From My Carolina Home.  You can see Carole's final quilt here.  I started with this fun bundle of fabric:

 I also added in a cream Grunge for a background and a black fabric with a faint white print on it, too.

I followed along with Carole's QAL last October, got the top pieced, and then it went into the "to-be-quilted" pile with the idea that I would finish it this summer.

And so I did!  Here is Halloween Jubilee!

Carole's version had an outer border, but I stopped at the pieced border, 

and am happy with it.

My Halloween Jubilee ended up measuring 36 inches square.

The quilting is a diagonal grid about every two inches.  I used a darker gray Gutterman thread, hoping it would blend in with the black squares, but it still shows up and it turns out I like seeing the design in these blocks!

I had a great time piecing the backing out of leftovers from the front.

Binding is the black print.

When October rolls around, I'll display Halloween Jubilee on the table.  It's a perfect fit!

Happy to be sharing this finish at 

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts!

And at Quilting, Patchwork, and Applique for Patchwork and Quilts

Oh Scrap at Quilting is More Fun than Housework