A play day..................

Yesterday I couldn't decide what to work on so I didn't work on anything.  It's not that there wasn't anything lined up ready to work on, the heat is getting to me.  It got up to 93 yesterday with a dew point of 78 in the evening (tropical humidity).  I went to the grocery store in the middle of the morning for an ingredient for fudge that I needed to make for my out of state family.  There are 2 birthdays to celebrate so some of the family is traveling to see them and I'm sending cookies and fudge.  I did play with fabric, sorting my pink fabric.

Once it cools off I want to go through all of the quilts on my racks and in the closet of the guest bedroom.  I have that room closed off right now because I only have 2 window A/C units to cool the whole house.  I want to pull everything off the shelves and change the order when I put them back.  One of the racks (right) is my favorites plus baby quilts, the quilts hanging in the closet are also favorites and one rack (left) is quilts I will gift to others.

The cool nights we had last week got the tomatoes into ripening mode.  I'm still picking them early and letting them ripen inside.  Most of these are the golf ball size 4th of July variety.  The larger ones are Rutgers and Early Girl.  This is 3 days picking.

Added later:  If you are trying to leave a comment today, they don't seem to be loading.  I have tried leaving comments on other blogs and  the word publishing just sits there and never publishes.  I hope Google has this fixed by tomorrow.  I love hearing from my readers.

 

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

I had errands to run in the morning before the heat became oppressive yesterday.  When I got to work this backing was the first project.  I have cut the pieces so maybe I'll get them sewn together today.

Next I cut 19 squares from the alternate block fabric.  I will have to design this quilt sideways on my double design wall in the basement.  It will have 99 blocks to make a top 72" x 88".

I braved the heat late in the afternoon and filled the birdfeeders and picked tomatoes.  Most of the tomatoes are up high on the plants now so the squirrels haven't bothered them lately but the birds are pecking holes in a few of them.

I have 71 extra strips that I cut when cutting for the 16 patch blocks in photo above.  There are duplicates of some that I cut when there was only a little fabric left and I could get another strip out of it.  I might add more blues and greens and make "the other 16 patch" quilt from them. It would be a smaller quilt and would be my mindless sewing while between planned projects. 

August 2026 monthly recap.......................

My only finish of the month is my elegant quilt for this year.  It is made of William Morris prints on the front and Jinny Beyer fabric on the back.  It is 62" x 76".  I decided the fabric called for a traditional quilt pattern and decided on Trip Around the World, one of my favorites to make. 

I completed two of the three quilt tops I started in August.  The one on the left is Zipper, a free Kaffe Fassett pattern by Free Spirit fabrics.  The pattern came in 2 versions, warm and cool and I chose the warm version.  The directions have you using a fat quarter pack in the order they are packaged, but I didn't have that and instead chose from my huge Kaffe collective stash.  The top is 60.5" x 81".  On the right is a quilt top that I made up as I sewed.  I didn't pre-plan anything but the 9 patches, to use up 2 trays of 1.5" squares.  It is 39.5" x 61".  It is a 4th quilt in a series to use my 1990-2000 floral fabrics.

There were 4 knitted dishcloths for the month.  I was able to find the Sugar 'n Cream Scrub Off yarn in a couple nice colors.  This lavender is the prettiest one of them.
 

Second quilt top finished in august 2026...........

This last quilt top for August was pressed and photographed yesterday morning.  It is 39.5" x 61.5".  When I started making the three inch 9 patches I had no quilt in mind.  I had been thinking about another quilt with the Economy block with more of the 90s florals and I wanted to add white and black to a quilt.  All of the ideas came together to make these 40 blocks.  I was happy to find another white with black print in my stash to use for sashing.  

I ended up cutting 15 floral fabrics for the large triangle corners of the blocks.

I also ended up cutting a few more 1.5" squares for the 9 patches to add a little more bright color to the quilt.

Last night I started looking for backing fabric for it.  I will need a little less than 2 yards.  There is enough of each of these 4 fabrics.  I probably have others that I could consider but I'd be happy to use one of these.

I'll do my monthly recap tomorrow.

Almost done.......................

All that is left to do on this quilt top is a final pressing and staystitching around the edges.  I decided to go with the 5 x 8 layout and use all 40 blocks.

This quilt started when I rediscovered 2 trays of 1.5" squares that I previously used for colorwash blocks.  I made the decision to make 9 patches with them and it snowballed from there into Economy blocks with sashing for this new quilt top.

 

A little more.................

All of the 8" strips were cut for the top sashing on 40 blocks, and sewn on but not pressed yet.

I spent a couple hours in the kitchen prepping a some meals for the next few days.  If I had stuck with the sewing I could have had this top done but I'll be happy I don't have to prepare any meals for a few days.

Last night i put a few blocks on the design wall to check how it is going to look.  Picture it in your mind with a medium to dark floral print for binding which will cap the edges.  The blocks will have a floating effect.  5 blocks across would be 39" so I could use one width of fabric for backing.  I could stop at 25 blocks for a small square baby quilt.  I could make it 7 blocks down for 54".  That would be a nice baby quilt size or lap quilt or wheelchair quilt.  I would have 5 blocks left over or I could add one more row down for 61.5" and that would use all of the blocks.  40" x 60" was the size I used to make for baby quilts, thinking of them as play surfaces on the floor.

Working on a quilt top.................

This is the first quilt top I needed to work on.  I cut enough sashing strips to sew one to each of the 40 blocks.  I'm not sure how many blocks I'm going to use in a quilt but any left over will be made into a small project.

I haven't decided if there will be cornerstones or if I will cut the sashing strips for the tops of the blocks longer.  I hope I know what my decision is this morning so I can get to it.

My granddaughter was craving some Chex Mix so I told her if she would pick up the cereal I would make it for her.  The 2 little great-grands came along to deliver the cereal to me.  Then they were on their way to play at a park.  It was another beautiful day so I made the Chex Mix right away.  Next week is predicted to be hot and very humid so we need to enjoy every minute of this nice weather before the A/C will be running again.