I’m happy to say I finished the August Color Blocks quilt! After posting last week I got focused and not only finished the quilting but got the binding on as well! I decided to go with a simple meander – I haven’t done that in quite a while and it felt good 🙂
I auditioned a few different fabrics for binding but the top is so calming I went with a matching solid mint color. You can’t even see the binding in these outdoor shots, lol
I had already started on the September pattern last week so I jumped right back to it and cut the squares I needed from my black/gray scrap bin. I also decided to use a white on white print from my stash for the background.
I’ve got those blocks all pieced and trimmed, next I need to snowball two corners to make the ‘leaves’
I’m pretty darn happy with my progress this week, of course I was on PTO so I had plenty of time to work on it. Also we had one whole day of rain, and what’s better than spending a rainy day in my happy place!
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I also got to watch all the US Open matches I wanted last week. Did you catch the Ladies Final yesterday?? Leylah Fernandez 19 (Canada) & Emma Raducanu 18 (Great Britain) are the youngest finalists since 1999 and they were smashing the ball! WOW, what a match – I’m so happy for Emma!!! Later today Coco Gauff & Caty McNally go for the doubles title then Djokovic & Medvedev battle it out for the Men. It’s going to be another good day 😀
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That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend
Now that the big double wedding ring project is complete I can put my focus back on the Color Block QAL. Last week I finished the nine blocks needed for the August pattern, this week I made all the star blocks and just this morning I finished the center of the top.
The center row of blocks are most true to color
I went with a light gray for sashing to keep the stars as the focus. I plan to use the green dot fabric for the 6″ borders which makes this quilt 68″ square. I don’t usually care for square quilts but this time I like it 😉 I have no clue yet what I’ll use for backing
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In other news, I’m still debating when I’ll actually retire. I plan to do it sometime next year but I haven’t chosen an exact date. I did have a conversation with my boss last week to let him know if any downsizing or restructuring plans arise I’d be ‘willing to take a package’ and save someone else’s position. I’m not sure it will get me anywhere but I put it out into the universe and we’ll just see what happens :-p
I recently started following a new blog Retirement Transitions. Pat’s blog focuses on the emotional side of retirement – what will I do all day, how will I feel like I’m accomplishing something, etc. She recently started a ‘Throwback Thursday’ series where she revisits many of her blog entries that helped her build a plan. I’ve found it very interesting and very helpful.
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On the WW front… eh, let’s just say I’ve not made any progress over the last several weeks!
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That’s all for now… have a great rest of your weekend 🙂
I completely missed posting last week and I had a really nice update on the Double Wedding Ring quilt I was finishing for a friend. As of last Sunday I had finished all the quilting, made the bias binding and machine stitched it the front of the quilt!! Woo hoo!!
The next step was to flip it to the back and machine stitch in the ditch from the front. Well, that was a lot harder than I thought!! I pinned and clipped to ensure I’d catch the edge but after doing about a quarter of one side I looked at the back and there were at least 4 places that were not secured!!! grrrrrr! I needed a plan B.
After debating what to do for several hours: should I keep going and address the missed spots after I was done or should I just hand stitch the binding to the back? I have never hand stitched binding because in my mind it takes too long BUT this quilt was screaming at me to DO IT!! So I listened 🙂 I pulled up a few videos on YouTube to be sure I knew what to do, I put on an audio book and spent time on & off the rest of the day hand sewing the binding.
I started where the machine stitching stopped and when I got all the way around to that section I removed those stitches as I went along. Surprisingly, it didn’t take as long as I thought it would and my hand only cramped a few times – clearly I was holding the needle too tight! LOL
Oh and thank goodness I had these little things stored away to protect my finger tip. I think I got them a few years ago in a Sew Sampler box from Fat Quarter Shop.
After I finished the binding it was time to run the quilt through the rinse cycle to remove the water soluble marker from the flowers. Washing/rinsing a quilt for the first time always makes me nervous, especially so this time because I was not familiar with any of the fabrics used in the top and the backing fabric was a saturated color. I dropped 5 color catchers in with it and I’m happy to report everything came out great 😀
Here’s the big reveal – in the first one I have it draped across my king size bed and in the second one DH is holding it up outside
I mailed it off to it’s owner on Wed and to my shock and amazement she called me the next day to say it had arrived!!!! Wow, maybe USPS is turning a corner? The package didn’t have to leave the state of SC but I still didn’t think it would arrive in one day!
She’s going to let her mother open the quilt since it was her work of art; I’m anxious to hear what she thinks about the finished product 😉
I wasted no time starting a new project! I had said I wanted to make the August Color Block pattern and I knew I had 2 green color blocks left over from a few months earlier so I started to make more. It was really nice to get back to some cutting & piecing after focusing on all that quilting! Here’s the status so far
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In other news, my poor little Sammie has developed another problem this week, something called HotSpot. I had never heard of it before but I’ve learned it’s an allergic flare up on the skin from any number of possibilities… we’ll probably never know what caused it. Hers is located on her back between her hips, I noticed it Wed night before bed, her hair was matted in that section but I couldn’t see anything so I washed the spot and noticed it felt very warm to the touch. In the morning it was all crusty again and this time it was discolored mucus. I called the vet and they got her in that morning. They shaved the area so they could see what was going on and there it was… all red and inflamed…ugh!!! This little girl cannot catch a break!! They gave me cleansing pads, steriod spray, antibacterial ointment along with antibiotic and pain pills. I have to clean and treat the area 2x/day and she is so uncomfortable when I do it… breaks my heart!!!!! I’ll spare you the pictures 😦
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That’s about all for now… enjoy the rest of your weekend
I’ve made more progress on the May pattern from Debby Brown’s Color Blocks QAL. I went shopping last week looking for the perfect background fabric and I found it at my local quilt shop.
I wanted something dark for the background but I also wanted a sparkle effect and this fabric is perfect.
I got started right away adding the corner triangles and then played with the layout until I landed on this setting.
I added the sashing & borders and the top is done!!!
You can see the background reads dark from a distance but it’s got a nice speckled effect to give it a bit more interest.
I also made an addition to my sewing room last week. You may recall I recently purchased another sewing machine, a Singer Patchwork, which I had sitting on my cutting table. Trying to use it standing up was not very practical but I don’t have a lot of space in my sewing room for another big table. I went online searching for a small desk I could put beside my design wall and I found it on Amazon!!!
It fits perfect in this space and gives me all the room I need for piecing blocks. It was incredibly easy to put together and very reasonably priced 😉
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In other news, Sammie got her stitches out last week and is healing up nicely. We got her groomed a couple days after…she really needed it!
BEFORE/AFTER ❤️
That’s about all for now – enjoy the long holiday weekend!!!
Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict hosted the eleventh year of the Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge. During the months of March, April & May she encourages quilters to make quilts to donate to charity. Sarah offers scrappy patterns of her own and ideas from guest bloggers she invites to share their tips, tricks and quilts. She also provides a list of charities you can send your quilts to or you’re always welcome to find a local charity.
Here are the four quilts I made and donated for H2H this year. I’m participating in Debby Brown’s Color Blocks QAL and each month she releases a new pattern to use for the 16-patch blocks we make from our scraps.
I followed her patterns for Jan, Mar and April but I decided to do my own thing in Feb and made ‘Fish Tails’ 😉
These quilts were boxed up and shipped on Monday to Little Lambs Foundation. In case you missed the announcement, they just signed up to partner with Givebackbox.com so any package you send them (less than 70lbs) only costs $15 to ship!
It’s always a pleasure to participate in H2H and it helps to use up my scrap stash – win/win!! ❤
I put the finishing stitches in the binding after last week’s post and went outside for some pictures. Really happy with how this turned out 🙂 This was April’s pattern from the Color Blocks QAL, called Cheer.
The quilts I made in Jan, Feb and Mar and now this April one are all in a box waiting to be shipped out tomorrow to Little Lambs Foundation as part of the Hands2Help Charity drive.
I also made a few more blocks for the May pattern called Gemstone. I’m making 7 blocks from 5 colorways of scraps… so far I’ve got sapphires, emeralds, rubies and amethyst. One more color to go and I’ve decided I’m going to use white/gray to represent diamonds. I’m still deciding what I want to use for background but I know I want something dark so I’m planning a trip to my LQS to do some browsing 😉
I made the blue & red blocks using my new Singer Patchwork and she worked beautifully – but I used my Pfaff for the purple ones cuz I just needed to sit down and sew. I’m going to have to find a place for my Singer where I can sit & sew if I want to use it for more than just a few blocks – because standing & sewing is just not for me 😦
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Look at these cute nails! These are Impress Press-on nails (not an affiliate) and I’ve been using them since the pandemic started. I just love how easy they are to apply (the glue is already on the back, just peel & stick) and they last me about 2 weeks – depending on how much dish washing I do 😉 They have so many cute colors and designs and run from $7-$10. You can also get them at local stores like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, etc. As you can see from the background, they also carry a selection of OPI colors!
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I had a great week on WW… I was down 1.8lbs!!! Woot woot! Not sure what I did for that big win but I’ll take it ;-p
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That’s about all for now…. have a great rest of your weekend 😀
My Sammie girl had surgery last Monday to remove an ugly growth on her belly and she came through it with flying colors!! Hallelujah!! Thank you for all your prayers and positive thoughts ❤
The Dr was also able to remove the growth on her back paw that’s been driving her nuts for months – whew! Sammie was on pain meds for the first 5 days and since she wasn’t showing any signs of pain we weaned her off this weekend. She’s eating and moving and sleeping like normal so all-in-all it’s a success! She hasn’t given the stitches on her belly a second thought but she has tried to take off her sock and lick her paw so we’ve got to keep a close eye on her. She goes back on 5/25 to have the stitches removed.
The poor baby is also still suffering with the Corneal Ulcer on her left eye. We’ve been using drops since May 5th and there does seem to be a small improvement, the Dr will check it again when she has her stitches removed.
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In quilting news… I bought another sewing machine!!! I’ve been wanting to get a second machine for a while now so I could work on projects in multiple stages and over Mother’s Day weekend I saw an excellent sale and I jumped on it. I got a Singer Patchwork 7285Q
It came with all kinds of extra feet and even an extension table 😮 It was a breeze to setup and get started sewing – I’ve got her setup on my cutting table and will use her mostly for piecing.
I used my new Singer to start piecing blocks for the May Color Blocks QAL. I had the green blocks left over from a previous month but all the blue ones were made with my new machine 🙂
It was great to have a second machine because my main Pfaff was setup for FMQ to work on the April Color Blocks quilt… and I’m happy to say I finished the quilting yesterday.
I made the binding last night and started putting it on this morning… just one more trip around to secure it to the front and I’ll be done!!
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In WW news… I dropped .8lb this week, not bad I guess since I was so stressed about Sammie’s surgery. I haven’t started working out yet even though the weather here has been perfect for walks – ugh!
That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!!
Well I did finally get the April Color Blocks quilt basted but I have not started any quilting on it yet. I can’t decide if I want to use the ‘suggested’ design from Debby Brown or do my own design…so I’m in limbo!
I also finished two more Safelight case sets and I put all 5 in the mail to Carole. She’s already confirmed they have arrived – yay!
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In other news, my fur baby Sammie turned 13 last week and now she’s going to have surgery tomorrow to remove a growth on her belly. She’s been dealing with lymphoma for the past 1.5 years and I’m not sure if this growth is part of that disease or if it’s something else but it has just been getting bigger and a few weeks ago it started bleeding. We hoped it would heal up but it’s gotten progressively worse and of course the worry is it will get infected. So even with her advanced age, surgery is the better option. We drop her off in the morning…this fur mama is a nervous wreck!!
She’s been wearing a male doggie diaper to keep the growth on her belly protected, and she’s also been wearing a sock on her back paw for months because of a small growth. The Dr said if Sammie is tolerating anesthesia well, they will remove the growth on her back paw too. The one on her belly doesn’t seem to bother her but the one on her paw drives her nuts…so hopefully that will be gone!
And as if that wasn’t enough, the poor baby has scratched her left eye and has an Ocular Ulcer… so we’ve been putting drops in her eye for the last 3 days.
Please send out prayers and positive thoughts for my Sammie girl for surgery tomorrow and the recovery process ❤
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In WW news, I didn’t drop anything this week… probably due to stress! I’ve been staying within my points budget but I’ve been eating more snacks in the evening I don’t see my stress dropping over the next week or two with Sammie’s surgery & recovery… oh well, I’ll just have to be more aware!!
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During a drive in the Corvette last weekend, we stopped at a ‘new to us’ place at the beach called Snooky’s. We overheard someone else order a drink and just had to give it a try.
Crown Royal Peach mixed with sweet tea – O.M.G.!! It’s delicious… and dangerous because it doesn’t really taste like a mixed drink – LOL! It’s become Hubby’s favorite drink 😉
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That’s all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!!
Well, nothing has changed with my April Color Blocks quilt! It’s still hanging on my design wall just like this
I need to get it basted along with a few other quilts that have been waiting…but Ugh, basting is my least favorite part of quilt making! So instead of doing that I did a ‘squirrel’!!
I started working on some Safelight case sets for Carole at From My Carolina Home. Each year she puts out a call for assistance making the sets or donations for other supplies that go into the bags. I’ve made 3 sets so far and I’ve got fabric pulled for 2 more. These come together pretty quickly and each set can be made with 2 FQ of coordinating fabrics.
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In other news, I’ve been eating pretty good following WW guidelines and I’m down another 1.4lbs. Here are a few yummy lunches from this week.
We’ve been eating out a little more now that we’re both fully vaxxed and I’ve been able to make better food choices and still not feel deprived.
That’s about all for now…hopefully I can get my rear in gear and get those quilts basted this week 😉
I not only finished the top for the April Color Blocks QAL but I made the backing too!
The orange print I used in the backing matches the pink print I used on the front so hopefully that ties it all together. I need to get this puppy basted, quilted and bound in the next few days so I can start making blocks for May. Debby released a hint that we’ll need 35!!
In other quilting news, I’m still waiting on my friend to pick a backing for the Double Wedding Ring quilt but I also have two other tops she sent that I could be quilting on so… I need to have a full-on basting session!
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For my first full week back on WW I did pretty good. I was diligent about being ‘aware’ of what I was eating and when, instead of just grabbing whatever was easy whenever I was bored or stressed. It’s not hard to do but yet, it is sometimes 😉 I’m down 3.2lbs but I know that’s not something that will happen every week. I also tried to drink at least 4-5 eight ounce glasses of water every day, in addition to my coffee and tea. It’s a marathon so this is just the beginning 🙂
Here’s my 5pt lunch from one day last week, I also had a bowl of blueberries & strawberries. So yummy!
That’s about all for now… enjoy the rest of your weekend!
