99 blocks on the wall.....................

After 2 hours at the design wall, this is the final layout for this 16 patch quilt.  There are 2 alike of each block except one and 18 of the alternate fabric blocks.

After lunch I went back down to the basement and took the blocks down in stacks and numbered them, ready for piecing the quilt top.

In the main floor studio I took the 71 extra strips and pulled out all of the duplicates and then paired them for a future quilt.  The 3 strips on top need a partner.  I need to cut a few more strips and they might be all greens and blues.  I had to get these stacked up and moved since they are on my sewing cabinet and I want to sew today.

First finish for September 2026................

The Snail's Trail block is easy to cut with a die and fun to piece.  This color scheme worked out well too.  The quilt finished at 58" x 83".

The backing fabric has tools in the print: hammer, wrenches, saw, and others.

In case you want to enlarge it and find the tools, this view is better.  Just click to enlarge the photo.

A lot of the fabrics in this quilt are from the 1990s and early 2000s.  I still had a good discount at a couple quilt shops during that time.

The camera has a hard time showing beige and gold correctly.  The third one down that looks like it has a blue background actually has a beige background.

There are 2 blocks alike in most most of the fabric combinations.

I have always loved the rich browns and golds, and the rust prints give it a bright touch.

The temperature and humidity are at comfortable levels now for 2 days.  I plan on opening all of the windows today.

 

Busy day......................

I started out the day making the backing for the Kaffe Zipper quilt.  I had 4 yards and had to do some creative cutting and sewing to piece the back.  There were 4 seams altogether.  I had one piece 1" x 3.75" left over.

Then I pressed the binding fabric and cut the needed 7 strips.  I got the binding sewn to the back and started the machine topstitching to finish it.  I decided to finish it today instead of pushing ahead while I was tired.

Today is supposed to be 78 degrees.  What a relief that is after all of those 90 degree days with tropical humidity.  The humidity will get down in the comfortable range by afternoon.

Snail's Trail..................

The Snail's Trail quilt was back from my longarm quilter so it was time to trim it and find a binding fabric.

I'm sure I bought this brown and black stripe with bindings in mind.  I think it looks great with the front of the quilt.

It's okay with the backing fabric too.  I need to press out the creases and cut 7 strips and get busy.

It is disappointing that Google Blogger has messed up leaving comments.  Several people emailed me yesterday when they could see the comments weren't going through.  I hope it is fixed today, but if not, my email address is on the right sidebar if you care to comment that way.  You may also have my comcast email address if I have answered your comment previously. 

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.

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.