Decision made........................

I decided to go with the wildcard fabric staggered.  I stacked all of the pieces for 8 block A and layered them on a cover of a plastic bin so I could carry them up the stairs.

I did the same for 6 block B.  Now I have some sewing set up for a couple days.

Since I was not using fat quarters, but instead cut a 10" strip selvage to selvage, I had room to cut 2 more stacks of each group.  These are stacks of 5 pieces in the order they would be sewn.  Maybe I can use them on the back of the quilt.

Last night's sewing, this far on 8 blocks, about 1/3 of the total piecing of the 14 blocks.

In the afternoon I tackled the big project, cutting batting off the roll and trimming it to the correct length, and cutting 2 lengths of backing fabric for each of these quilts.  I still need to sew the seam in the backings.

Every year I think I'm going to make a Christmas quilt in July.  I had planned to make one with the die cut large half hexagons and had cut strips off many fabrics.  For the ones that have a one way design I cut a strip tall enough to cut the pieces in the other direction.  I even have a large enough piece of that red and green paisley for the back of the quilt.  I know I cut these strips before the big shut down in 2020 in March.  I was cutting one day when my 2 friends were over here sewing.  So, for one more year I have missed the Christmas in July project.  One part of me says still make it, the other part says what's the point when I don't know anyone who needs a Christmas quilt (however it would look good draped across the bench in front of my fireplace).  Pros and cons, I would like to see what it looks like, and I think it will be pretty, but my life is different since I injured my leg 2 years ago with the off and on pain.  This is definitely a design wall project.  Who would have thought I still have many quilts I want to make and I'm in my mid-80s.  I don't think I ever thought that far ahead to how long I would still be quiltmaking.

Pieces cut....................

All of the strips were pressed and cut into segments yesterday.  There are 2 blocks in the Kaffe zipper quilt so I laid out 1 of each.  My wild card fabric is at the exact center and this is how they would be sewn together.  That would made a stripe of it from top to bottom 2 places in the quilt.

I wasn't sure I wanted that so I rearranged 3 of the fabrics to stagger it.  I'm leaning toward this version but haven't made the final decision.  I think this way it might cause more attention to that fabric than the version above.  I have to continue looking at the photos.

Meanwhile I started sewing some sections that won't be affected by that decision.  I can sew more today while I contemplate it.

I had letters to mail so I went grocery shopping while I was out.  It was 82 degrees with moderate humidity.  Today more humidity predicted.  Rain expected tomorrow into Thursday.  

 

More sorting fun....................

Here is the whole rack that I showed a portion of in yesterday's post.  Yesterday I sorted the reds, what fun, and there weren't any I wanted to get rid of.  To the right of them is the overflow of Brandon fabrics (which you can see the edge of on the right) and a couple Kaffe yarn dyed wovens.  There is a pile of fat quarters in front of the stack.  So  the second shelf from the top was sorted Saturday and the reds on Sunday.  The 2 unsorted shelves are the Philip Jacobs prints.  On the bottom shelf is Laurel Burch fabric on the left and in the 2 storage boxes are black and white batiks and red and black batiks.  The very top shelf has 2 groups of Robin Pickins fabric and 3 boxes of scraps sorted loosely by color.  Also up there in a plastic bag is the remainder of the Wishwell Weather Report fabric.

Last night I got the rest of the dark brown strips sewn on the 15 ten inch strips for the Kaffe zipper quilt.  Then I knitted for awhile while I watched a cute movie on Prime.  It was called Sheep Detectives.

We ended up with 2" of rain on Saturday, much needed to turn the grass green again.

 

Keeping busy..................

While I was waiting for clothes in the dryer I took down all of the fabric on the top shelf and reorganized it.  I found a few more pieces in other places that belong on that shelf too.  It is a miscellaneous group.  The 2 lower shelves are mostly Philip Jacobs fabrics.  I started organizing it by color a few months ago and never finished.

We finally got some rain yesterday.  I checked it around 9 a.m. and there was 1.75" in the rain gauge.  It rained a little more after that so I'll check the gauge again this morning.  It stayed in the 60s most of the day so it was a perfect day to bake ginger cookies.

Last night I got started on the Kaffe zipper quilt.  I have the brown strip sewn on 7 of the 15 pieces so far.

  

 

July 2026 monthly recap.........................

 Two favorites were finished in July.  The "Other 16 Patch" was made with Marcia Derse fabrics, front, back, and binding.  On this one I staggered the blocks by using half blocks at top and bottom in every other column.  I think I like it better than the first few I made with the blocks in rows both horizontally and vertically.  This one is 61" x 79.5".

The floral stars was in a time out for a year and half and then I made final decisions to get the top sewn together.  A large percentage of the prints are from the 1990s and I have a huge collection of them in my stash.  This is the third quilt this year from that bin.  I even had a backing fabric from the same time period.  This quilt measures 66" x 78".  Both of these quilts were longarm quilted by Robin Diaz.

The Snail's Trail quilt top was fun to make.  It is an easy block, in this case cut with a GO die.  The blocks are 12" for a top that finished at 60" x 84".  I have a backing chosen so it will be next in line to be quilted.

On the right is my Trip Around the World top made with William Morris prints.  It is 63" x 77".  I have the backing chosen for this one too so it may get finished in August.

I was playing around a bit with my knitting.  I used lots of ends of balls of yarn for the 3 coaster size pieces.  I decided to use a straight knitting pattern for the pink one instead of the diagonal knit that I usually do.  That makes 30 regular size dishcloths for the year so far.

Just under the wire for July................

Top finished at 4:30 p.m. July 31.  Seven weeks procrastinating to cut and sew the border on, 1.5 hours to cut, sew, press and photograph it.

Monthly recap tomorrow.

 

A little cutting....................

I had to turn on the iron yesterday to press the Aboriginal Dot fabric.  All 15 strips are cut now so I can start sewing on this project.  While the iron was on, the 13 little 9 patches got pressed too.

The Zinfin Doll Hydrangea blooms are just starting to turn pink.  I hope we get the rain they are predicting for this afternoon through tomorrow.  Otherwise I will have to start watering this bush.

There is one tiny Tiger Lily in the front flower bed.  I'll have to dig it out because it is right next to the sidewalk and keeps falling in that direction.

I have one more day (today) to get the borders cut and sewn on the William Morris TAW if I want it included in my July recap.  It will probably just take me an hour; I just need to do it.