Second finish for July 2026..................

I'm so happy to have this quilt finished because I love it.  I have always loved floral fabrics and this group, mostly from the 1990s and early 2000s are favorites.

The blocks were finished a year and a half ago so cutting the border pieces was my most recent sewing on it.  It is 66" x 78".

I didn't know if I had anything in my stash from that era for the back but found this green leafy print that goes so well with it.  I love my stash!  This quilt has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it and it was longarm quilted by Robin Diaz.

There are a few one way prints in the centers of the stars so I have them all going the same direction.

The binding is the same fabric as the back of the quilt.  Since most of the prints have green in them, I thought it would be the best choice.

Yesterday afternoon I looked through my backing fabrics for something that will work for the Snail's Trail quilt.  This print is spider mums but doesn't jump out as flowers.

This one is a Brandon Mably design and I have 6 yards of it.

You might have to click on the photo and enlarge this one to see there are tools in the print.  

Any thoughts on the backing?

 

First quilt top completed in July 2026

Snail's trail is a finished top now, just 10 days from the first blocks being cut to finished sewing.  I will be looking for a backing today.  It is 60" x 84".  All regular printed cotton fabrics, no batik.  6.25 yards out of my brown/rust/gold stash.  While I was cutting for this one I also cut a 2.5" strip for a future quilt from the larger pieces.  

I went out to check on the tomato plants and found this big Rutgers tomato with 2 bites ouf of it, in the grass.  I put it back in the pot for the evil creature to see when it comes back for more.

The Tiger Lily plants in the shade garden have started blooming now.  They are about 4' tall and so are a lot of the Purple Coneflowers.

The Jack be Little Pumpkin plants are doing well so far.  I cut down some Peony plants and the Tree of Heaven while I was back there.

The Cucumber plants that I grew from seed are doing well so far.  The 2 little plants I bought are in a different pot and not doing so well.  I have already pulled out one of the plants and I'm not sure about the other one.

This is the other pot of plants that I started from seed.  I watered them after I took this photo.

One little volunteer Sunflower is blooming.

Today is predicted to be a cooler day but the humidity is still fairly high.  Out here in corn country, we have extra humidity produced by the cornfields.

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

I ended up only moving one block from the layout on the design wall and then I sewed those 4 rows together.

Late in the afternoon I designed the bottom 3 rows.  I had to stop and use the dust mop before I could lay the final row on the floor.

Last evening I decided to start sewing the bottom 3 rows together and this is how far I got.  Just one more seam and pressing it and it can have its portrait taken. 

In the garden, finally some color.  They are still orange so they have a few days ripening in the house.  The largest are about golf ball size.  The 2 tiniest ones are the Sun Sugar variety.  We have another day of 90s and then they are promising 80s and finally by the end of next week, high 70s.  I think the tomato plants will be very happy.

All blocks finished for 5 x 7 layout............................

The last 4 blocks are sewn now for the Snail's Trail quilt.  The dark fabric I originally chose for this block was too small to cover the die so I went back to the stash and found this one which  I like better than my first choice.

There are two blocks of each of these combinations.

This is one block each of the 18 fabric combinations.  It isn't the final layout of them.  I got started too late in the day to spend a lot of time moving them around.

Last blocks.....................

While I was in the basement doing laundry I decided to press the last eight fabrics for the Snail's Trail quilt.  There are enough pieces cut for 8 blocks.

Last night I sewed four of the blocks. There are two like this.

The other two are this combination.  I hope to sew the last 4 blocks today and figure out a layout with one of each of the combinations (half of the quilt).  I'm at the point of wondering if this quilt will be too boring with just these colors....or should I add greens and blues and make 12 more bocks for a 6 x 8 layout (72" x 96").

It was another hot steamy day yesterday and I should have watered the tomato and cucumber plants, but they were in the sun by the time I was ready to do it.  It will have to be done early this morning.

Four of eight new blocks.......................

Eight new blocks were sewn yesterday, these 4 and their duplicates.  I went down to press more fabric but ended up trying to put the basement back in order after the water seepage a week ago.  I still don't have the design walls up because I need to put clean flannel on them and it takes me a long time to get it done.

This is the assortment of fabrics so far.  The duplicates are in a stack on my sewing table.  I now have 28 of 36 blocks made.  I will need 35 for a 5 x 7 layout so I will be able to eliminate one block, whichever ends up being my least favorite.

The Sun Sugar tomato plant is about 2 feet above the 5' cage now.  It still hasn't filled out much.  There are several little groups of tomatoes but none have turned color yet.

This is in the late afternoon with the bright sun on the Purple Coneflowers.  This is the 3.5' - 4' tall prairie coneflower compared to a lot of the shorter plants available at garden centers.

This has been the best assortment of plants in my backyard hanging planters.  The last 2 years I probably didn't keep them watered enough and this year we have had more rain.

More of the Tiger Lily buds have bloomed.  I have a larger group of these by the birdfeeders but only one plant has bloomed back there so far.

Two new blocks.................

I got 8 more blocks cut and 4 of them are sewn.  Here is one of each of the new ones.

10 of the 20 sewn blocks with the duplicate blocks in a pile on my sewing cabinet.

Here are the combinations for the next 2 blocks.  I thought I might get more sewn but I did some gardening instead.  I cut off lower leaves on the tomato plants and some dead leaves on the cucumber plants.  Then I put some fertilizer spikes around the plants.  Last I turned on the hose and gave them all a good drink.  I also cleaned out the cement birdbath and filled it and filled the bird feeders.  It was more comfortable outside yesterday although still a little humid early in the day.

8 of 16 Snail's Trail blocks.........................

All of the blocks have been pressed now and this is one of each fabric combination.  There are 10 more combinations of 2 fabrics left to cut and sew.

This is the previously posted photo of all 18 combinations.  I didn't have much energy yesterday so I didn't get any more pressed to prepare for cutting.  I plan on cutting 4 more pairs today.

This collage shows the previous Snail's Trail quilts that I have made.  The one on the left was made in 2017 and I experimented with alternate plain blocks in 2 different fabrics.  The one in the center was made in 2019 and is also brown fabrics but paired with mostly beiges instead of gold and rust like I have in the newest project.  The one on the right was made in 2023 and is proof that this isn't just a masculine quilt block but could be made in any type of fabric.  These were cut with the 12" GO die.  I also have the 8" die but haven't used it yet.  

6 blocks times 2....................

Eight more fabrics got pressed yesterday and four new blocks were sewn.  Since there are two alike of every combination, I'll just show one of each from now on.  I will be able to design one half of the quilt and then repeat the same fabrics for each row for the second half, usually in a different order than the first rows.  The basement is warming up since we haven't had a cool spell so ironing the fabrics has to be done in short sessions, in this case 8 fabrics at a time.

As I go around the corner of the house on the way to the backyard I pass the Weigela bush with the red flowers.  There are always a few branches of stragglers after all of the rest of the bush is done blooming.

This is the latest start I have had for ripening tomatoes.  These are Rutgers which usually ripen after the 4th of July and Early Girl varieties.

These are on the second Rutgers plant.  

The Jack be Little pumpkin plants are growing.  These are the little decorative pumpkins.  I was too late to plant big ones.

The spotty rain showers missed us yesterday and there is a small chance of some rain today.  I think I'll be safe setting up my design walls again.  I have to put a clean flannel covering on one of them and then tip them upright.  It sounds easy but I'm short and the foam 4' x 7' sheets are tall. 

Done but no formal portrait..................

I finished the binding yesterday morning but my design walls in the basement are still on their sides, leaning against a table.  The design wall on the main level isn't quite large enough to display it.  Rain is forecast for today so I'm waiting to see if more water seeps into the basement before I put the walls back in place.

I cut 8 of the blocks for the Snail's Trail quilt and got 6 of them sewn yesterday.   Most of these print fabrics are from the 1990s.

I noticed the first bud has bloomed on the Tiger Lily so went out to take a few photos.

This is the section that is all False Sunflower and Purple Coneflower.  It is just getting started with all of the blooms.

This section was in the shade and the coneflowers are more vivid here.  I had to cut a lot of bindweed off the plants.  It was strangling them and tying them together.

The Hosta bed is partially in the sun but by late afternoon is all shade.

This was my treat last night.

I like to put the colors in rows and I hit the jackpot in this package with all 6 colors.  I'm not so OCD that I need all of the little m insignias turned the same direction.  Do you line yours up too, or just eat them?

 

Second finish for July.........

This fabric has a slight sheen to it and it's so much prettier in person.

This Snail's Trail quilt made with Wishwell's Weather Report fabric is 58" x 83".

I used Glide thread in very pale gray on top and lt. blue Superior Bottom Line in the bobbin.  It has Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Glide is a very shiny thread and when I used it on another quilt I decided I didn't like the shiny look.  On this quilt however the fabric has a little sheen so the thread looks ok on it.

On the back I used a fabric from the same line which I was lucky to find on sale.

We had a storm come through with a lot of wind around 8 p.m.  When it had passed I checked the rain gauge and we got 1/2" of rain.  I thought it would be more but the storm moved rather quickly through.  On the news at 10 they showed big tree limbs down in the next town to the east (4 miles) so I need to check my yard this morning.  It was a hot day, near 90 and humid.  I did grocery shopping, 2 stores and then finished this binding.