Larger pinwheels................

Yesterday morning I got letters ready to mail and made a shopping list.  I did the grocery shopping and the fun part, putting it all away.  Then I went out and cut down a few peonies.  I'm doing a few a day and hope to get them all done this week while the weather is nice.

Last night I sewed some of the 8" pinwheels to go with the 4" ones.  The row of triangles across the top is the rest of the 4" and the variety isn't very interesting.  I'll cut some more fun Marcia Derse fabrics and make new pairs.  I thought I would get around to cutting the 3" ones but it was a busy day.  

 

New plan.......................

I had a change of plans after reading Kathy's comment yesterday.  She said How about pinwheels?  I have been planning to do a pinwheel quilt at some point so this was the perfect start.

Last night I sewed 27 little 4" pinwheels with all 4 segments matching.  I will now make a few more with some 2 and 2 sections.

My plan for that future pinwheel quilt included 3 different sizes of pinwheels.  I had some half strips of Marcia Derse fabric left over from cutting a previous quilt.  I was able to cut 8 four inch triangles from them and the leftovers will be used to cut some more 2" triangles.  I need to cut some three inch triangles next.

Earlier in the day I went through my big bin of brown/rust/gold fabrics and pulled some choices to audition for the binding on this 16 patch quilt.  I'll look at them closer today.  I was mainly looking for fabrics with more than a half yard.

Yesterday morning I was enjoying the gold leaves on the Redbud trees against the brilliant blue sky.  About a third of the leaves have dropped.

In the afternoon I checked out the tree across the street.  It is changing color slowly, giving us a lot of time to enjoy it.

When I was out checking the tomato plants I cut a new bouquet of Marigolds.  They are at their prime now, 5 months after I planted the seeds.  I was beginning to think they were going to just be leaves after months of no buds.

The draping plant is now changing to gold in the pots on the front table.  I think we are past worries of frost for about a week.

Trimming...................

I was going to prepare the layers of a small quilt for basting on my large table in the basement when I remembered I still needed to trim this 16 patch quilt.  I didn't look for binding fabric yet.

This is the one with the rooster fabric on the back.  The quilt was 72" x 88" before quilting so it will need 8 strips of binding.  I'll be searching for a binding piece large enough today.

I got all of these squares pressed and now I need to decide whether I'm going to sew them into 4 patches or leave them loose for a random layout.  

I ran out of yarn 7 rows from the end of this dishcloth so I dug into the little bag of ends of balls and found a blue that matches the flecks in the yarn.  I didn't have an ecru yarn that was close enough of a match to use.

My pacemaker is working properly, the wires to my heart are in good shape, and my EKG was good, so I won't see the pacemaker duo for another year.  It was a long wait for the dr. but my son who drove me there was patient.  We went through a carwash with my van on the way home.  It is 22 years old and looks brand new now.  Even the wheels are the shiniest silver now.  That hasn't happened for a long time.

Fun sewing triangles...................

I cut light triangles from Marcia Derse fabrics for my night sewing.

In the afternoon I sorted the pile of triangles.  There are 4 of some and 8 or 12 of others.

Last night I paired the light triangles with dark ones that were cut a couple years ago.  I got a lot of them sewn while I watched TV.  I need to turn on the iron today and get all from both nights pressed.

I have my annual pacemaker checkup this morning.

First quilt top for October 2026...........

The Fractured quilt top is finished except for the staystitching around the perimeter.  I think maybe it should be called Shock Wave or Epicenter.

Last night I got the second shelf of green batik fabrics sorted.  About half of the fabrics were turquoise on that shelf.  I now have 65 pieces to choose from for my future project.  The top 2 are frog prints and both of them are at least 2 yards.  They will probably be used as part of the backing.

Last night's mindless sewing was creating triangle squares with Marcia Derse fabric.  I don't have a purpose for them yet but thought I would rather have squares on the tray than triangles.  I need to cut some more light fabrics to pair with all of the blues and greens.

Seven seams to finish................

Only seven seams needed to be sewn and they were long ones.  I finished the top at 10:30 last night.  Today I'll press and photograph it.  I'll also cut the backing for it.  I got in on a sale of a 10 yard bolt @$5 a yard from this same line of fabric.

Most corners matched but there were a few off a tiny bit.  I'm not going to worry about them.

It got down to 34 yesterday morning but I didn't see any frost damage on any of my plants in pots or the tomato plants.  It sounded like one more overnight in the high 30s and then we will go back to the 40s overnight.  It was 58 degrees in the house yesterday morning and high only going to be 59 outside so I finally turned on the heat.  

 

Slow day..............

Some days have slow starts and yesterday was one of them.  I did go down to the basement and brought up the Fractured blocks, but never got around to sewing them together.

Instead I finished sewing the 8th pink Bear Paw block.  It will look a lot better when it gets its final press (I hope!).  I like the combination of the 3 fabrics.

I put it up on the design wall with the rest.  At this point I'm wondering if 14" blocks look too large for a baby quilt.  It would only take 9 blocks for a 42" square quilt with no sashing.

A friend wants to reproduce  a quilt I finished 15 years ago and she asked if I had any fabrics she could buy.  The quilt used 1.5" batik strips and I knew I had a box full of them, double layer.  With all of those strips, there are hardly any in the right color and value range.  So, next I will look through the yardage in the colors she would need.

 

Back in the pink..................

I decided I wanted to work on the Bear Paw blocks again.  I looked through my Tula Pink fabrics and decided I needed the bunnies in one block.

That makes seven blocks so far.  The first 6 were made with just 2 fabrics in each.  I'm running out of some of the fabrics so the rest of the blocks will have 3 or more fabrics in them.

I chose the fabrics for the next block but only got part of it sewn.

This is the final layout of the Fractured quilt and after I took this photo, I took the blocks down in numbered rows, ready to sew.

We had rain off and on all day yesterday.  I think we are in for another overcast day today.

Final layout, or maybe some changes......................

After I made the decision where the final 2 rows needed to be, I put the blocks up on the double design wall.  I did change 2 blocks with each other after I took this photo. In the 4th row down I changed blocks one and three with each other.  I'll look at it again this morning and decide it will stay that way or get changed back.  Since there are 2 different blocks I was limited on which blocks could be moved to new locations.

I was intending to wash a load of light color clothes so I am glad I walked past my living room window first and saw that they were flushing hydrants.  That means you might get rust in the water shortly after.  I did a load of dark clothes instead.

It was a gloomy morning yesterday but I wanted to record that the Redbud tree leaves are mostly yellow now and lots were dropping all day.

The smallest trees have the most yellow leaves.  The rest of the leaves will probably drop quickly, especially since they are predicting rain for today.

When I went out to pick tomatoes, I also picked a few Marigold blooms.  I planted them by the tomatoes and some of the plants are 2' tall.  I couldn't find any seeds for small plants.  Next year I'll probably buy little plants at the nursery instead of planting seeds.

 

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.