New book..............

 The newest Kaffe Fassett book came in the mail a couple days ago and I finally had time to look through it.  I had seen a few kits for quilts in the book advertised at quilt shops that carry a lot of his fabric.

Here is a snippet of one of the quilts that I liked.  I like green quilts and that border fabric is one that I really like.  I have been thinking about making another quilt with lots of triangles in it.

It made me think about 2 quilts I made in 2022 and 2023.  I just made a lot of blocks, thinking they would all go in one large quilt.  In the end I decided I liked the darker blocks separate from the lighter blocks.  The lighter one is my favorite and I think I might need to make another one, maybe not in Kaffe fabric next time or a mix of Kaffe collective fabrics and other fabrics together.

I was pretty much pain free yesterday so I did some outside work.  I watered all of the pots on the porch and the ones in front of the garage.  There aren't many blooms on them but they are all still green plants so I have hope for a few more blooms.  Then I watered the tomato and cucumber plants.  They really needed it sooner but I just didn't get it done before I had the shot to my SI joint.  Then I had to take a day off so finally it happened yesterday.  We might have rain a few days this week.  This was yesterday's bounty, a little less than the day before.  Maybe the watering will encourage more to ripen.

Taking it easy..........

I had another steroid shot to my SI joint yesterday morning and they said to take it easy for one day and then resume normal activity.  I decided to sort the extra strips one more time by dark and light.  I could make 'the other 16 patch' with them if I cut a few more light strips.  I could also make 9 patches and do a layout with an alternate plain block (Single Irish Chain).  I could just put them away and do nothing with them but they would make a good sharing quilt to put into my inventory.

This was yesterday's bounty.  I'm staying ahead of the squirrels and the birds.  I shared 3 boxes of tomatoes with neighbors and a friend yesterday.

All kinds of plants have migrated from the back garden into this front garden.  Just right of center is some Goldenrod.  I pull it out all growing season in the back garden and didn't notice this one in front.  That's probably because there were so many Black-eyed Susans in here.  You can see they are all dead now.  I have a crew coming Sunday morning to clean out some of it for me.

First quilt top for September 2026................

Even though I have an ironing table 30" x 60", I was dreading pressing this 72" x 88" quilt top.  It wasn't as bad as I expected but I'm sure glad it is done.  It was hard to get a good straight on photo because my longarm bar is in the way.  This was the best of the 3 that I took.  I haven't looked for a backing yet but I still have 2 (of 3) that I pulled when I was making the Snail's Trail quilt with many of these same fabrics.  They are on this post (scroll down).  I think there is enough yardage of both of them.  I also thought maybe I should put flannel on the back so I'll check and see if I have a large enough piece.

When I went out to get my mail I noticed how pretty the Sedum flowers are. There are 2 different varieties here.

There were lots of bees visiting them.  I tried to get a photo with several of them and this was the best I could do.  They were very busy bees and didn't stay in one place very long.

Here is the bad news in the same flower bed.  The Zinfin Doll Hydrangea blooms totally dried up and never turned raspberry color.  Even though we had a lot more rain this summer, it was followed by long stretches of no rain and high temperatures with strong sun.  I should have watered it and I hope I don't lose the whole bush.  I haven't been able to do much gardening this year. 

Top sewn, not pressed.................

 

I wasn't sure I could get the last 10 rows sewn yesterday but I stuck with it and finished at 10:15 p.m.  I hope it will feel cool in the basement today when I go down to turn on the iron.

I planted Marigold seeds in the pots with the tomato plants.  Some pots only had 2 come up but this one has about 6 Marigolds in there.  I have a 6' tall stake in the middle of the pot to keep the tomato plant more upright this year.

I got a few Marigolds to grow in the raised bed too and they are too weak to stand up.  I was surprised it took 3 months for blooming.  They were planted the 3rd week of May.

Sewing 72" long seams..................

There were 10 seams the first direction, 72" long, and I got 8 of them sewn by bedtime last night.

This was the pile on the sewing cabinet when I quit for the night. There are storms predicted this morning and I hope we get some of the rain.  If it fizzles out I will have to be out watering the tomatoes and cucumbers today.

 

99 blocks on the wall.....................

After 2 hours at the design wall, this is the final layout for this 16 patch quilt.  There are 2 alike of each block except one and 18 of the alternate fabric blocks.

After lunch I went back down to the basement and took the blocks down in stacks and numbered them, ready for piecing the quilt top.

In the main floor studio I took the 71 extra strips and pulled out all of the duplicates and then paired them for a future quilt.  The 3 strips on top need a partner.  I need to cut a few more strips and they might be all greens and blues.  I had to get these stacked up and moved since they are on my sewing cabinet and I want to sew today.

First finish for September 2026................

The Snail's Trail block is easy to cut with a die and fun to piece.  This color scheme worked out well too.  The quilt finished at 58" x 83".

The backing fabric has tools in the print: hammer, wrenches, saw, and others.

In case you want to enlarge it and find the tools, this view is better.  Just click to enlarge the photo.

A lot of the fabrics in this quilt are from the 1990s and early 2000s.  I still had a good discount at a couple quilt shops during that time.

The camera has a hard time showing beige and gold correctly.  The third one down that looks like it has a blue background actually has a beige background.

There are 2 blocks alike in most most of the fabric combinations.

I have always loved the rich browns and golds, and the rust prints give it a bright touch.

The temperature and humidity are at comfortable levels now for 2 days.  I plan on opening all of the windows today.