2 days of gloom..............

It's hard to get motivated when it is dark and rainy out, having to turn on lights during the day.  The last I checked we had 2.5" of rain for the 2 days but we got quite a bit more after I checked.

I needed to do a load of laundry so while I was in the basement I cut the batting and pieced the backing for the fall color 9 patch quilt.  The backing is an early batik, probably late 1990s and has always been a favorite.  I have used it for the backing on one African quilt in the past so I had quite a bit of it.  I still need to press it and it will then be ready to travel for quilting.

I was looking through a pile of blocks in the studio and there were these 3 stacks pinned together from the last time I played with them.  I contemplated whether to make more blocks.  The fabrics are all by Marcia Derse.

This is the layout I had on the design wall in March.  The blocks will finish at 8" so 20 blocks would make a nicer size small quilt.  Or.....I could scatter them irregularly and fill in with odd sections of piecing.  It was a bright spot in the day to see color as I listened to the rain falling.

Sunshine is predicted for at least parts of the days of the rest of the week and into next week.
 

Here we are again, first day of the new month....................

The first of a new month is the same every time, I'm free of the monthly recap of the last month, I can do whatever I want.  But......what do I want.  I have so many different groups of fabric that I want to work with, that's usually where is starts for me.  I bought this group a couple years ago.  I have had it on a shelf where I see it every time that I enter my studio.

My first thought was maybe the smaller die for Snail's Trail (8").  I really enjoy piecing that block.

Then I thought about the Weathervane die from which I can make these 2 blocks.  I made these samples several years ago to remind me that there were 2 options with one die.

I have one yard of each of these light fabrics plus a fat quarter of each in the pack.  I need to figure out how many blocks I could get out of one of these.  There are a few other light fabrics if I decide on a variety instead of just one.

Just doing a lot of thinking out loud right now.
  

 

September 2026 monthly recap.......................

I had one finish and I decided to show the back also.  A few months ago I went through my two big bins of brown, rust and gold fabrics.  I pulled some that I knew I didn't want to keep, some matched other collections better and were removed, and I pulled the fabrics for this Snail's Trail quilt and got the 2 bins down to one.  The pieces for the 12" blocks were die cut.  The quilt ended up at 58" x 83".  It was longarm quilted by Robin Diaz.

I finished two quilt tops.  While I was cutting for the Snail's Trail above, I cut 2.5" strips from the fabrics and then added some blues and greens.  I had enough strips for these 2 tops and a bunch left over.  On the left is a 16 patch with a large print used as an alternate block. It is 72" x 88".  On the right is a 9 patch with 2 large prints used as alternate blocks.  It is 60" x 72".  The alternate fabric in the center isn't quite as light as it looks in this photo, it is more blendy in person.  I like both of these tops but what makes me the happiest is the fact that I used all of the 3 large prints used in them.  I own lots of large prints and they are a challenge to use.

I finished one small piece, 12.25" x 35.5".

I also knitted 4 dish cloths.  The one one the right is a little smaller and it is for me.  That is the size I prefer.

 

Busy day...................

Grocery shopping and bill paying was the morning yesterday.  In the afternoon I went out to clean up the tomato plants.  There were lots of dead leaves to trim to give more air flow to the living parts of the plants.  Now I'm waiting for these to ripen.  This is the last 4 days pickings.

I finished hand stitching the binding on this table runner.  It is 12.25" x 35.5".

I sewed 6 of these blocks together for a long table runner for my daughter-in-law.  She wants it as long as her table.  I'll be looking for batting and backing today but I won't finish it this month.

I checked out my boxes of cut pieces of flannel.  There are 3", 4" and 6" tumbler shapes with the most being 4".  I'll start pressing my flannel scraps and do more cutting this week.

 

Binding started..............

Since a table runner can be used with either side up, and people at the table would have a close view of the binding, I decided I needed to hand finish it.  I'm about 2/3 done.

I think the green looks nice with the back too.

I decided I needed a collage of the rest of the flannel quilts I have made since 2007.  This group is 2017 - 2026.  At least 7 of them are baby quilts.  I wanted both collages in the same post so below is the same collage I showed yesterday and it is flannel quilts from 2007 - 2016.

Binding chosen and cut.....................

I had so many household things to take care of yesterday that I only got the binding chosen and cut for this table runner.  I did work on finding a group of fabric that my granddaughter wants but no photo on that.

I was looking back at some flannel quilts I have made since 2007, hoping to decide on some patterns for this year.  This collage is missing all of the ones I have made with the tumbler block.  That is usually my default shape when I need to cut up a lot of scraps.

It was 47 yesterday morning but it got up to 70 with sunshine part of the day.  Tomatoes are ripening a little slower with several days in the 60s but there are lots of green ones left on the plants.  I hope we make it to the end of October before we get a heavy frost or freeze.

Breakfast first.............

It was cold enough in the house yesterday morning to bake something for breakfast.  Yes, I ate two of them before I thought about taking a photo.

The box mix was dated September last year but I knew it would still be good.  There were several ways to mix these and I chose the one with heavy cream.  Yum!!

I was clearing off a table in the basement and found this table runner top and backing already cut, ready to find a piece of batting.  I got it layered and quilted last night.  Trimming is next and then finding a binding.

I used 10" squares when die cutting the pieces for the blocks, but I had a larger piece of one of the prints.  It was actually a cut off strip from a previous quilt backing.

Today is a special day.  It is a granddaughter's 33rd birthday, a grandson's first wedding anniversary, and my 2nd pacemaker's second birthday.