Ocean Arrows

The last of the bind-a-rama finishes is Ocean Arrows, a nice, big, comfy quilt at 58 x 76”. 

Rachel picked these ocean-themed fabrics and surprised me with them on our visit in February. She has an excellent sense of color - it’s a beautiful collection that ranged in size from a quarter-yard to 2-yard cuts. (Here)

Batik backing

In April, I picked a pattern - ok, I found a picture and figured out the pattern (here). I wanted something with big pieces that would show off the colors and designs. Nailed it!

Finished in June (here)… and then it waited patiently through two of our trips and my long-arm buddy’s stint running the Home Arts section of the local Fair before finally getting quilted last week and bound this week. 

Y’all know I love (almost) all my quilts but this one is special. Makes me feel loved every time I look at all the pretty fishies Rachel chose. 💕

Bind-A-Rama & Shibori Jewelbox

I got two quilts back from my long-arm buddy early last week, which got me in the mood for a binding marathon, aka bind-a-rama. 

I don’t hate binding, but it’s a boring slog that sometimes (often?) gets put aside for more exciting quilty projects. 

Sandy’s Brick quilt (here) was the first one done, since it had a deadline. Next up was Shibori Jewelbox, one of my must-makes, a fun pattern and an all time favorite finish. 

So why did it sit for 6? 9? months, waiting, with just the binding left to do?? (Checking back, looks like I took this to my long-arm pal a year-ago August. So it’s been sitting for at least 12 months. That’s just embarrassing.)

Since this one is for ME! I picked one of my favorite brown prints as the backing fabric. I’m going to love using this.

Bought the fabric prior to 2019, over several years, usually on our annual Quilt Run (quilt shop tour at the end of May. Here.) Started sewing it together in July 2024. (here, here, here)  Finished the top August 11, 2024. (here)

Pattern is from Ye Olde Sweatbox blog here. 5” squares.

Sew A Jelly Roll Day #3

It’s almost time! Sew a Jelly Roll Day is Saturday, September 20 and my pals and I plan to participate for the third time. Unfortunately, this is also my anniversary weekend, so the ladies agreed we’d change our sewing day to Friday. 

I thought I used up my last jelly roll last year, but I found a few more during this year’s fabric purge. 

I’m saving the ombre metallic confetti for something “special” 

(no idea what yet, but I **love** that fabric line), 

so my choices are “Warm” - love the colors but it’s so civil war era-ish -

and  “Boundless”, which I took out of a kit I’m never going to make. 

The decision may come down to which one I have enough background fabric to go with. I tend to buy 1 yard pieces of neutrals and the pattern I’m using (I think I’m using… could still change my mind) requires 2.5 yards. 

Bought for last year’s Jelly Roll Day but didn’t use it

Hoping to make a decision tomorrow or Monday so I can pre-cut all the pieces, ready to sew, sew, sew on Friday. 

 Previous blog posts: See 2023 here & here, gifted here. 2024 here & here, gifted here.

Bricks Quilt Finale

I started this one for last year’s Sew a Jelly Roll Day (here).

48 x 61”

It sat for awhile - story of my (quilting) life - until I figured out where it should go.

Then it was a rush to get my buddy to quilt it with angel wings, 

 Wings are hard to see

so I could bind it this week and give it to a friend* tonight. 

Back looks like a vintage sheet 

And of course I forgot to take pretty pictures before we rushed out the door, so here are more accurate colors of the back ⬆️ and top ⬇️.

Seriously considered holding on to this one, but Sandy loves these colors as much as I do. It’s going to a good home.

* Sandy and I have been co-workers and pals since 1979. Around 1994(?), we came up with the bright idea to introduce our husbands to each other, specifically so she and I didn’t have to go to car shows with them anymore. And it worked! 😂

Stars for Mickey

The stars for Ghost Party are a bit of a pain, so even though I only needed one for Mickey, I made more (to get it over with…)  

These don’t get trimmed up til I’m ready to sew them in the block

They’re kinda cute. And - surprise - batch sewing makes them easier. So now I’m thinking I should make more than I planned?? I may never get this quilt done…

But progress is being made. Mickey and his sparkly eyes are done, giving me three of the nine blocks I need.

 Not their final placement

The next Birdwatchers Project block comes out tomorrow, so that’s what I’ll be doing this weekend. Still hoping to get the ghosties to my long-arm quilter pal before the end of this month. Any bets on that? 

These Eyes

Every time I start a ghostly creature I’m surprised by how long the prep takes. Now that the 3.5” squares for all 9 creatures are cut, I tell myself it’s just a matter of deciding on a layout and sewing it together. 

Pre-spider web eyes

Not. 

Each creature has a different layout with a different number of additional foundation-paper-pieced parts. Our Boy Mickey has 2 eyes, no mouth,

5 left-leaning and 4 right-leaning snowballs (not interchangeable, believe me, I’ve tried!), 

1 double snowball and 2 half square triangles. Oh, and a star or two. 

Tonight I tried some fussy cut sparkly webs for his eyeballs. Like! Now to decide which eye layout looks best…. 

BOOne on the left for eyeball comparison.

It’s no wonder these take forever, but it sure is fun to play around with the options. 

Mathing the Palms

Three more palms are done, making a grand total of 12 so far.

They’re each 7.5”, so the finished size will be 7”. If I want a throw size quilt, as opposed to a wallhanging, I’ll need at least 8 across (56”) and 9 down (63”). That’s 72 blocks total. So only 60 left to go. 😳

Since I don’t have anywhere near that much fabric, I guess we’ll see how many blocks I can make and go from there. (I could get more colors for the leaves but there’s no chance I could find more of the background fabric. ☹️)

More Fall Projects

This month’s Project #3 (5? 18??) is the fall palms (here). 

I’ve made a couple each time I work on the Birdwatchers Project, enough that I ran out of precut pieces (left over from the original start in 2022.)

In a burst of optimism, I cut all the remaining fabric, not just what I need for the next couple of months. 

And this weekend I plan to sew 2 or 3 more blocks, before going back to Ghost Party. 

Such pretty colors. Really hope I keep up with this one. 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

I was really pleased the hummingbird was going together so much easier than its companion, the CA quail. (Here)

Until I sewed the last seam and turned it to admire…

So disappointing. (And yes, there was a swearing.) 

It worked!

Considered calling it a ‘design decision’ and leaving it as is but a night’s sleep convinced me I could maybe fix it without ripping everything out or starting over.

Oh so carefully ripped the old piece out, opened the adjacent seams a couple of stitches, folded everything back out of the way and sewed the new piece back in. Nerve wracking but much better than having to redo everything. Hooray! It’s a first for me.

That gives me 3 finished Birdwatchers Project blocks, with 11 more to go over the next 10 months (another month will also have 2 projects). Only one week until the next block drops! 

Back To School

All the grandkids are back in school, so here’s the annual roundup.

Jaclyn, 9, started 4th grade today in Idaho, still rockin’ her hats and sunglasses.

Donovan, 7, started 2nd grade yesterday. He’s being homeschooled again this year and says he likes it like that. 😍 OOPS! Apparently he starts school next Monday. Yesterday was just a practice first day. 😜

Leia, 17, had her first day as a college junior at Arizona State University (Go, Sun Devils!) on August 22. She sent me a first day pic without being asked, ‘cause she knows I love them. And that’s why she’s my favorite*. (Also, it made me cry that she remembered. 😍)

Leo, 14, is doing internet school, beginning August 21, for her freshman year of high school. Iddy the cat is keeping her company. 

Cyrus, 18, is in her second year of college in Colorado, starting in August also. Since I don’t have a first day pic I’m using one of my favs from our Alaska trip. (So fabulous.)

Travis, 13, and Isaac, 8, are in 8th and 3rd grade respectively. They started back August 20 in Culver City. I love that their mom also sends me first day pics every year. She’s my favorite too*. 

* They’re all my favorites, who am I kidding. 😂

The New Normal

Starting tomorrow, all the grandkids will be back in school. It’s going to be very strange not having to do the before- or after-school run for the first time in… 13? 14? years.

Good news is we still have Donovan two or three afternoons each week. He’s being homeschooled so his mom drops him off when they are done, on her way to work. 

See his holey smile? That tooth had been loose for awhile but was stubbornly hanging on … until D fell on his face yesterday and knocked it out. 🤣

His first day was today and we celebrated with a new Lego build. 

He picked this one out before we went on vacation and I think he’d forgotten about it.

He told his dad he built all these animals - it’s pigs birthday party, see the cake with candle front and center? - in 30 minutes. I don’t think it was quite that fast but it was definitely under an hour. Sweet boy does love his Legos!