2 days of gloom..............

It's hard to get motivated when it is dark and rainy out, having to turn on lights during the day.  The last I checked we had 2.5" of rain for the 2 days but we got quite a bit more after I checked.

I needed to do a load of laundry so while I was in the basement I cut the batting and pieced the backing for the fall color 9 patch quilt.  The backing is an early batik, probably late 1990s and has always been a favorite.  I have used it for the backing on one African quilt in the past so I had quite a bit of it.  I still need to press it and it will then be ready to travel for quilting.

I was looking through a pile of blocks in the studio and there were these 3 stacks pinned together from the last time I played with them.  I contemplated whether to make more blocks.  The fabrics are all by Marcia Derse.

This is the layout I had on the design wall in March.  The blocks will finish at 8" so 20 blocks would make a nicer size small quilt.  Or.....I could scatter them irregularly and fill in with odd sections of piecing.  It was a bright spot in the day to see color as I listened to the rain falling.

Sunshine is predicted for at least parts of the days of the rest of the week and into next week.
 

Second quilt top for September 2026...............

I'm showing the close up shot first for the true color.

The greens don't jump out at you like the blues, but there are several of them in the quilt top too.  I'm happy the two alternate fabrics worked well together.  The leafy one had dark areas and light areas so it changed dramatically with the 6.5" cuts.

This top is so beautiful and peaceful looking, much better in real life than in a photo.  It is 60" x 72", the smallest of the 3 tops made with the same selection of browns.  More blues and greens were added into the 16 patch and this 9 patch.  It is definitely nature's colors.

With this series (Snail's Trail, 16 patch, and 9 patch) I was happy to use so many brown, gold, and rust color fabrics, and I was really happy to use up 3 large prints in the last 2.

 

Top half sewn, bottom half designed................

After I sewed the top half together, I folded it in half so only the bottom 3 rows are showing and pinned it back up on the wall.  Then I designed the bottom half, making sure I didn't get the same fabric near itself.  There are 3 blocks alike of each combination plus some strips were duplicated.  I started sewing the bottom section together last night.

The sixth pink Bear Paw block was sewn.

I put all six of the blocks up on the design wall while part of the wall wasn't covered with the 9 patch top.  These are 14" blocks and I'm not sure where this project is headed.  Hopefully I will know by tomorrow so I can continue working on it.

 

Half way point................

The top 6 rows (of 12) are ready to sew now.  Then I can move the blocks up and design the bottom half.

I cut two more Bear Paw blocks and sewed one of them.  This one has the least contrast between the 2 fabrics in it.  After I sew the other one I can take the pink thread off the machine and change back to brown.

Marcia Derse has flannel fabric now and the prints are from a couple of her previous lines.  I didn't buy all of them, but just my favorites.  I'll mix these in with other flannels in my stash.  I'm hoping to make at least 4 flannel quilts this winter.  I may add to that when I cut up all of the scraps and make baby quilts with them.  

The chickens won............

The chickens will be the backing on this 16 patch quilt.  It's unlikely that I would make another quilt in the future that could use this fabric.  Now I have 2 ready for my longarm quilter.

I realized as I got more blocks on the design wall that there needs to be a double row of the spotted fabric all around the perimeter.

This is so much prettier than the camera wants to show you.  I still need 2 more rows at the bottom and I will start filling in the 9 patches today.

Here is yesterday's pink Bear Paw block.  I love the light fabric in this one.  I hope I can get two blocks cut today.

Fall has arrived here. It was only in the mid 60s yesterday and will be in the 60s for the next few days.  Unfortunately it will be partly cloudy all week too.

 

Layout preview................

I wanted to see how the layout was going to look, so I took one 9 patch block of each fabric combination and previewed them with the 2 alternate fabrics.  I figured out that I need to do 2 columns on each side with the spotted fabric plus one row top and bottom.  Then the floral fabric will fill in all of the center spaces.  I think it will be interesting close up.  I'm not sure about a distance view.

Downstairs I cut the batting for the 16 patch quilt and looked for backings.  From top to bottom they are 

Spider mums

Random dots

Chickens.

Do I want it serious and use the Spider Mums or fun and funky and use Random Dots or Chickens?

While I was down there I cut one more pink Bear Paw and sewed it last night.

Rain report:  from Thursday through Sunday we got 6.6" of rain.  This is the third time this summer we have gone almost a month with an inch or less of rain and then got caught in the ring of fire thunderstorms as the hot dome moved and got from 6" - 8" of rain.

Rainy Saturday..................

It rained most of the day yesterday.  I checked the rain gauge about 5 p.m. and it had 1.5" in it.  I didn't empty it so I'll have a 2 day total including today's rain.  We got 2.5" on Thursday after a month with less than an inch of rain.  Three miles west of us got 4.25" on Thursday.

I turned on the iron and pressed Friday's blocks and the last 3 stratas.  Then I made the 9 blocks from the stratas.  I have 63 six inch 9 patches made now.  If I use 60 of them and 60 of the two alternate fabrics I can make a quilt 60" x 72".  I didn't end up looking for fabrics to pair with the last 5 strips that I showed yesterday.

I cut one more pink block and sewed the first two.  I'm not sure what I'm making here.  There may be more than one size block or maybe just 6 of these 14" blocks.  I am making a small quilt.

I can't believe how fast September is speeding by.  I need to get focused on what I want to finish this month.

 

Trying the layout.......................

Trying out the 2 favorite choices together: I think they work pretty well.  I was able to get 36 squares from the spotted fabric. I haven't cut the other one yet, but if I don't make any mis-cuts I think I will get 24 squares.

The busy print has rust color in it with brown in the spotted fabric. Even though they don't match exactly they coordinate pretty well.

I looked back through the brown bin and found another piece and this one is brown.  The problem though is the light color leaves; they are so much lighter than the ones in the rust color.  I could probably just fussy cut some squares from the darker areas if I need a few more pieces.

I got 15 more 9 patch blocks sewn and 2 of the 3 stratas.  When I ran out of bobbin thread I quit for the night.

I also pressed some of the pink fabrics and got one block cut out.  Maybe I'll get that sewn today.

 

9 patch progress..................

I didn't get as much done yesterday as I hoped but I had some other things to take care of.

In the afternoon I stitched 18 more blocks.

Later in the day I got 5 more sets ready to be pressed and then cut into sections for 15 more 9 patches.

Three more sets were paired but not sewn yet.

I still need to find 5  more fabrics to pair with these.

Two of my little great-grands are going to visit this morning.  I made some Chex mix for their mom.  She is pregnant and is craving it.

Sewing some 9 patches....................

 24 nine patches are sewn so far, lots more to go.  I had pulled some fabrics to try as alternate blocks so here are three of them.  This one of cheetahs isn't too great. I think it is too light.

This is my favorite but I only have enough to cut 24 alternate blocks.  That would only make a quilt 36" x 48".

I have two pieces of this fabric so it is a strong contender if I do this layout.

I decided to turn the camera to simulate an on point setting.  That is nice too.

I also chose some pink fabrics for a future quilt.  What a change from the fall colors I have been working on for the last couple weeks.

A little more clean up....................

It was a busy day yesterday.  My van needed servicing so my grandson and wife took me out for brunch after dropping it off and then we went back to my house.  Five sections were broken off the huge green Coral Bell and 4 planted in the center section and one in the section behind it.  Then they finished cleaning up the paver area and cleaned off the porch and sidewalk.  Also bottom dead branches of the hydrangea were cut off.  It is looking so nice now.  We went back to get the van afterwards.

This is the area where the new plants came from.  Now the little Coral Bell next to the green one has some breathing room.  It was almost covered up before.  Rain is predicted for several days this week but the radar maps last night look like a lot of it may miss us.  I'll keep watering if needed.

Last night I sewed a few more combinations for the 9 patches.  There will be 3 nine patches in each combination.  I'll sew a lot more combinations before I turn on the iron.
 

 

Two hours.................

Yesterday morning my helpers came to clean out all of the dead Black-eyed Susan plants plus weeds and volunteer trees.  I was hoping we could save some of the plants.  In two hours it went from this......

to this.  Now I need to find something that will grow in that center section.  The big green Coral Bell at the right front is overgrown and we could split 3 plants off of it and still leave a large plant where it is.  Since it has tolerated the heat it might be my best bet for that spot.  I have room to plant a few more things too so I need to decide whether to do it now or wait for spring.  I read that this is the perfect time to get perennials established before we get freezing weather.

In the studio I decided to make 9 patches with the remaining group of strips.  I sewed 3 sections and overlapped them to see how this first one will look.

This is one of the fabrics I chose to possibly use with the 9 patches.

 

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.

 

Decision................

All of the blocks were finished and pressed yesterday morning so I had to make a decision on the layout.  I needed to clean off my work table.  I decided it will be sashing, but wider than I originally tried.  I was thinking 1" finished when I first showed the fabrics, but I decided yesterday that the blocks need a little more space between them.  Now I'm planning on 1.5" finished sashing.  I haven't decided if there will be cornerstones yet.  I'm putting this aside now and will work on something else, plus I'm still cleaning and organizing the basement.  I can't stand on the cement floor for too long so it has been a slow process.

I pulled a box off a shelf to look through it and found these diamonds in there.  I had to put diamond in the search box at the top left of this post to go back and see what quilt the scraps were from  This post tells all about it.

Last night I decided to try them next to each other.  I love busy quilts that make me look to see what the pattern is.  This would become a table runner if I decide on it.  I need to find the diamond template so I can cut half diamonds to fill in the edges.  If i continue with this as the project, I need to move a few around first.

I started another dishcloth last night with this 4 color yarn, white, lt. peach, coral, and brown.  I was glad I still had a couple balls of it  because they don't seem to be making any more of it.  I have enough of all of the variegated yarns to last my lifetime making dishcloths but I still search the internet occasionally to see if there are any new colors.  I don't find more than a couple shops carrying it; most is through resellers on Etsy and eBay and most of that is solid colors.

The rain all missed us yesterday so we had a dry out day before more hits this morning.  It looks like the heaviest will go south of us.