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.

First finish for August 2026.....................

When I first heard of William Morris many years ago, upholstery fabric and wallpaper were things associated with him.  I'm so happy they printed his designs on quilting cottons.  I didn't have a large selection to choose from but I think this Trip Around the World turned out nicely.  It is 62" x 76".

I wasn't sure I had anything for a backing that would be of the same style, and then I spied this Jinny Beyer fabric on my shelf.  I had over 6 yards of it so I have enough for another backing.

I think I have a piece of another color of this print too.

The binding is the same as the border since there was 3/4 yard of it leftover after piecing the top. 

I have published a full tutorial of how to make a TAW like mine on this blog.  On my label list (right side bar) it is Trip Around the World tutorial.  There is a yardage chart included.  I have one more installment to finish writing on fabric selection and order of fabrics, coming soon.  It will have the same label.  

I wanted all of my green fabrics next to each other in my order of fabrics and the reds are also together. The rest of the fabrics are used in value runs rather than color groups.

Here is a better view of the greens and the reds.

The center has mostly neutrals, black and gray predominate with a touch of coral.

I'm still thinking about which top to finish before the end of the month, lots of time spent on that yesterday.

 

Binding finished..................

 I thought maybe I would have the binding done before dark but doing laundry and watering plants outside took some of my daylight hours away.  I put in the last stitch at 8:30 last night.  When I was in the basement earlier I noticed one of the 8' bulbs didn't come on in the area where I take my photos of finished quilts.  I thought waiting until morning was best.

All of the predicted rain yesterday was tiny little spots on radar and they either dissipated before they got here or went south of us.  No more rain is in the forecast for awhile so I may have to water plants again on Saturday.

One more day needed......................

There are four corners finished in this photo.  I have 52" left to stitch on the 4th side.  I worked on it 4 different times yesterday.

I also baked the chocolate chip cookies and shopped for groceries at two stores.

The humidity was up a little but still tolerable with the windows open.

When I could see I wasn't going to be able to finish the binding I picked up my knitting.  I was thinking about which quilt top I might be able to finish before the end of the month while I knitted.  Some years August is a big month for finishes.  This year, not so much.

 

Still hand stitching.........

A couple more days will be needed to finish the hand stitching on this binding.

This is the pile on the sewing cabinet as I stitch.  I get to enjoy all of the fabrics....for hours.

I mixed some chocolate chip cookie dough but it was too late to bake the cookies.  It will be cooler this morning so that worked out OK.  I put the dough in the refrigerator for the night.

It was another beautiful day so I took my clippers out and cut some trees that are popping up everywhere, and also cut down two peony plants.  A little every day will get it all done eventually.

 

Relaxing Sunday...............

My plan was to get at least one side hand stitched on the binding of the Wm. Morris Trip Around the World quilt.  I got one short side stitched and then went on to stitch 22" on a long side.  Then I took a break and went out to trim dead leaves off the tomato and cucumber plants and fill the bird feeders.

The only other thing planned was baking cookies.  I was going to make chocolate chip but changed my mind and baked shortbread instead.  I could swear my eyesight was clearer after eating 2 cookies.

Yesterday's weather was a 10,  You can't beat 75 degrees. low humidity, sunshine, and a light breeze.  I would like a whole month of that.

 

Turning on the iron..............

I knew it would take a while to press 81 blocks plus iron a few other things piled on the ironing table, so I started a load of laundry and spent a couple hours in the basement.  I have the blocks sorted into 2 piles since there are 2 alike of each combination except the one at the bottom.  I will be designing half of the quilt with one pile when I get around to it.

I got this quilt back from my longarm quilter so I trimmed it and then cut the binding strips, the same fabric as the border.

Last night I prepared the binding and got it sewn onto the quilt.  I'm going to hand finish this one because this William Morris fabric quilt is special.

It was a beautiful day yesterday with lower humidity by afternoon. Today sounds even better with a few degrees cooler and dew points in the high 50s, low 60s.  That's a big change from the 71-76 dew points last week.

Playing with blocks.......................

A few days ago I showed some fabric that might work as alternate blocks sprinkled through the new quilt I'm working on.  I tried these 3 yesterday.

This is the one I thought would be most likely to work.  The idea is to have a print that blends with the blocks, not one that stands out as "here I am".  The purpose of the blocks is to enlarge the quilt without having to piece more blocks.

This one is still a possibility but I think it might be too obvious.

I thought ths one was too busy but I kind of like it.  I can get 16 blocks for sure out of a yard of fabric and on some could get 20, depending on how wide that white selvage is.

Then it was time to layer 10 stratas, staggered by 1" (following lines on the cutting mat) and cut pieces for the next 20 blocks. I actually did that twice and got the last 20 cut also.

This is one block each of the first 20 blocks (there are 2 alike in every combination) which equals 1/4 of the quilt top.  The lightest block is in the top row and I think it is going to be fine with the darker blocks.

I sewed a lot of blocks last night, with just 6 left to sew today.  I have a lot of decisions to make.  Do I want a quilt 72" x 88" or do I want to make 2 smaller quilts (and piece a few more blocks)?  I could add in more blues and greens if I made more blocks. 

20 more blocks.....................

I didn't get to the sewing machine until quite late so I was out of steam and didn't even get them up on the design wall.

This is the lightest block in the bunch and I hope it plays nice with the rest.

I had an appointment at the pain clinic in the middle of the morning yesterday so I didn't get anything done before lunchtime.  In the afternoon I had a couple phone calls and then filled the bird feeders and watered the tomato and cucumber plants.  The weather was beautiful and I had all of the windows open.

Today I should be able to spend more time on my quilt.

Blocks started.................

Yesterday I made the decision to make the traditional 16 patch blocks with my stratas.  I pressed all of the stratas and cut enough pieces to make 20 blocks, 2 each of the ones in this photo.  I'm happy with the way it is looking so far.  Today I'll cut 20 more and lay out some of these blocks on the fabrics I showed yesterday for possible alternate blocks.  

Today is supposed to be the best day of the week for low humidity.  I hope the prediction is right because I would like windows open. 

Last two..................

There was just one strip to cut yesterday to complete the stratas.

This is all 40-1/2 stratas, ready for me to decide which 16 patch to make.

I decided to look through my larger print brown fabrics to see if there was anything I would want to use for a few alternate blocks sprinkled through.  This photo shows 22" top to bottom.

This photos shows 1/2 yard of the fabric.

This photo shows 22" top to bottom.  I think this might be the best candidate.

This is showing 1/2 yard of the fabric.  I think this one might be good too.

I didn't get any farther on decisions because I was invited to a family dinner at my son's house and had 2 little boys to entertain us.  They are 15 months apart in age and the oldest just turned 4 last month.

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

Ten more stratas are sewn for a total of 39-1/2.  There was a cut out of one of the fabrics so I could only make a half length strata from that combination.

This is one more pair but I decided it's a toss up which one is the light and which is the dark.  There are too many spots of the black background compared to the amount of lighter color leaves.  I'll look through some more fabrics today.  Right now I have 80 different fabrics in the sewn stratas.

I folded over the stack of the first 30 combinations to move it on my table and I had to take a photo of the edges.

We saw blue skies and white clouds yesterday after many dreary overcast days.  Today should have some sunshine too with a partly sunny forecast.

 

In my happy place.............

I love having nice long seams to sew at night while I watch TV.  This is the second set of 10 stratas that I finished early in the day yesterday.  They were started the night before.

This is the third set of 10 stratas which I sewed last night.  I have one more set of 10 to sew today.  Then I have to decide if it will be a traditional 16 patch block or the "other 16 patch" which is 16 rectangles per block.

I need to clean off a table and baste one of my small quilts so I can quilt it on my Pfaff.  I have 2 that I would like to finish this month.

The rain mostly missed us yesterday after an early shower.  It looks like we will have a little lower humidity and temperature today. 

Starting a new one................

 I took the stack of 2.5" strips that were cut at the same time as I cut for the brown/gold Snail's Trail and paired darks and lights.  I added some blues and greens into the mix for a woodsy nature pallete.  I'm not sure if they will be a 16 patch quilt or 'the other 16 patch' with rectangular shapes.

This is what the groups looked like (dark/light) before I started pairing them.

After I sewed 20 of the 40 pairs I did one more cut and sewed 9 of them together.

I made a collage of all of the "other 16 patch" quilts I have made.  I ran the blocks vertical in some and horizontal in others.  In 2 of them I added half blocks to break up the rows of blocks. 

The remaining 1.5" floral squares are off the trays and in a snack size ziploc.  I'm officially done with them.

We got another inch of rain from midnight yesterday until mid-morning.  The rain later in the day was just a dribble in the bottom of the rain gauge.  One more day with possible rain and then 2 dry days.