Playing with stash................

This block is made from the other pieces on the Fractured Studio die.  I cut them a couple days ago and sewed them yesterday.  I have made a table topper in the past with these blocks.

I have had a quilt in the back of my mind for a few months, to be made with batiks.  I started sorting through them last night while I watched 3 hours of NCIS.

The pile in front is the pieces to be put back on one shelf.  Behind it is the pieces I have pulled for the quilt.

Even my knitting is green right now.

I wasn't ready to work in the basement yesterday but maybe today I'll get the Fractured blocks down there and play at the design wall.  I need to do a load of laundry because I'm running out of clean clothes.

Last night we got a little rain at 10 and more was predicted to come through overnight.  It is only predicted to be in the mid 60s today.

 

Not much accomplished..............

All I got done was assembling the last 3 blocks for the Fractured quilt.  I realized yesterday that if I add a row on the right side of the quilt it will place the circular part at the center from side to side.  Right now it is off center.  I have to decide if I want it off center in both directions before I go to the design wall because the blocks will fill the whole double wall.

The tree across the street has more color every day.  It's not going to change completely though until we get some cooler weather.  It wa 86 here yesterday and still 70 when I went to bed.  It was 88 in Chicago and broke the record all the way from the 1880s by 4 degrees.  84 degrees predicted for today.

I wanted to have another photo of the Geranium because it is so pretty.

I had to get new tires for my 22 year old Chrysler van because the old ones were 12 years old and starting to rot from age.  I also got a new battery so I hope I get through this coming winter without calling for a jumpstart.  I only drive about 50 miles a month so it is hard to keep a battery charged up.

 

20 blocks plus 5..........................

The 20th block was finished first to fill in the spot on the bottom row.  Now the blocks need to be moved to a larger design wall to finish designing.  The decision I need to make now is where to place the last 2 rows: top and right, or bottom and left.  If I choose top and right, the 'center' will move in one row each way.  If I choose bottom and left, the 'center' will stay where it is and the design will just continue as it is.

Meanwhile I got 5 of the last 8 blocks sewn.  All of the pieces are chosen for the last 3 blocks so it shouldn't take long to sew them.

We have been in a period of 80 degree days (2 more to go) and by Saturday they are predicting 56 for a high. 

First finish for October 2026.....................

This quilt was created from a free pattern called Kaffe Fassett Zipper from Free Spirit fabric company.  It was intended to be used with a certain pack of fat quarters that was available at the time.  I ended up choosing fabrics from my ample stash of Kaffe collective fabrics.  I didn't have the exact value changes I needed in the purple and orange but it turned out okay.

The backing fabric was designed by Philip Jacobs.  It is one of my favorite prints of his.  The binding is by Brandon Mably.  The quilt is 58" x 80" and it has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it.  It is quilted in parallel lines 1/2" apart by Robin Diaz.

The binding is a large wild print  but it worked well with the front and the back of the quilt.

I took some closer photos of the fabrics.

The squares are a very dark brown in a print called Aboriginal Dot by Kaffe.

I have been checking my cacti closely because I know some of them start budding in October.  I haven't turned on my heat yet and it has been as low as 64 degrees some mornings.  Most mornings were around 66 in the living room.  I rarely have lights on in there so the cool temperature and more hours of darkness start the blooming season.

4 blocks ready to sew, 3 got finished..................

Sorry for the odd angle.  I should have held the camera lower.  I couldn't convince myself to go to the basement and get that large Kaffe Zipper quilt up on the design wall for its photo.  Instead I pulled pieces for 4 more blocks and worked on them.  I got 3 finished and up on the wall.  I also counted the pieces that are cut and I think I have enough of the dark ones and need a couple more sets of light pieces for the next 8 blocks.

The pieces for the 4th block are all sewn and I got started fingernail pressing and the rolling the seams.  It was getting late so this is where I'll pick up today.

I ended up with an hour plus on the phone with my cable company and hope my problem is solved.  The bird feeders are filled, tomatoes picked. 

Working on two..............

Yesterday afternoon I sewed one more Fractured block, bottom right.  When I get all 20 blocks sewn, maybe the ones with the darker backgrounds will end up on the edges of the layout.

Then I cleaned off my cabinet so I could sew the binding on the Kaffe Zipper quilt.

I started sewing on the binding in the late afternoon and then decided to go to the grocery store before it got dark.  I got home in time to pick some more tomatoes.

I finished the binding at 10 p.m.  You can see I went with the wild fabric for the binding and it looks good with both sides of the quilt.  I'll try to get it photographed today.  

We are enjoying nice weather right now, temperatures in the 70s and high 40s or low 50s most nights.  It looks like the hurricane rain that comes north might clip us but most of the rain will be east of us.

I turned the first 4 blocks to create a center................

I turned the first 4 blocks to create a center like I had in my previous quilt in 2013.  I don't know for sure if I will keep this or continue with a diagonal design.

I got the last 3 light fabrics cut and sorted groups of 9 pieces for more blocks.

I pulled sets of 9 dark color pieces and matched them with 3 of the light groups.  This is the group I was sewing last night.

There are 2 different kinds of blocks to make the design continuous.

I have added the 3 new blocks on the design wall.  If I make 20 blocks it will be 72" x 90" so I would need to go to the basement and do the layout on the double design wall.

I noticed a few yellow leaves on my Redbud trees so I checked out the big maple across the street.  Our nights in the 40s last week encouraged it to start changing color.  I'm hoping we don't have any heavy frosts or freezes soon.

I moved the Begonia pots that had been on the bottom shelf to the front of the porch.  They are doing well and so is the Geranium.  The rest are slowly dying back with only a few Petunia blooms now.