A variety of things..............

 I sewed a few samples of the other block on the die I showed recently.  It is similar to the Fractured series of quilts I made several years ago.  There is a Label for Fractured in the label list on my right sidebar.  The difference being the angle is the same on every block with the die and the angles varied with the 2 methods I used on the other quilts.

I emptied another project box. I think these are the leftovers from this quilt top. I'm pretty sure I have another location where I have 1.5" strips that I can move these strips to.  The 2 blocks can go in the orphan quilt block box.

I had 3 sessions of hand sewing yesterday and have only 25" left to stitch.

It was hot and steamy outside so other than picking a few tomatoes I was inside all day yesterday.

First finish for January 2024.............

Batik is so much prettier in person than it is in a photo.  The top was finished in March of 2019 so not quite 5 years waiting in line.  When I started making the blocks I hadn't really analyzed any pineapple log cabin quilts that I saw so I made both light and dark blocks, not realizing that most quilts were all light blocks or all dark blocks.  I'm glad I came up with a layout that worked and used most of the blocks.  It is 69.5" x 89" after quilting and binding.  It has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it.  I used my accuquilt die cutter to cut all of the pieces from many containers of batik scraps.

Yesterday I decided to sew the columns of crooked cobblestones.  I added some more blocks to either the top or bottom of the columns to make it taller.  I have the tops lined up here and will need to fill in with some batik strips to make the rows all the same length.

Last night I was checking the leftover blocks and found enough 3" wide blocks (the 5 center rows) to make another column.  Since the columns in the above photo aren't sewn to each other yet I can experiment with its position in the quilt.  I think it might be inserted between the 5th and 6th columns.

Today I need to start stitching the binding of the next quilted quilt.  It will be easier that the batik one because it will be Kaffe fabric.

 

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

Not a lot of time was spent on the hand stitching yesterday but I do have one long side and half of a short side stitched.  I may take a break from it this morning and trim the second quilt and choose a binding for it.

The red double Amaryllis has one open flower now.  There are only going to be three blooms on this one.

There is hope for more blooms though because there are more bud stalks on this bulb.  The third one is still pretty short but they grow pretty fast.

My internet provider sent me a new modem and said I hook it up myself.  At 83 I think someone should be helping me......

Well, anyway I got it hooked up in a half hour and spent another half hour trying to get my computer and phone to hook up with it.  I finally called for help.  The automated lady wouldn't give me to an agent for help for over 15 minutes.  The agent spent almost a half hour helping me and finally we got it connected.  Now I have to go through the process of sending back the old modem.  Luckily there is a choice of having it picked up at my house.  I just have to be sure I click on the right thing on the website to get my label and pick up time.

Possible freezing rain today and early tomorrow.  My son and daughter-in-law picked up some groceries for me yesterday so I won't need to leave home.  I filled the birdfeeders yesterday too so I won't have to go out in the rain.

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

I got 2 quilts back from my longarm quilter and they are 2 favorite quilts.  I got this one trimmed so it is ready for me to choose binding.  It is all batik fabric so it will be a batik binding and will be hand finished.

There are lots of colors in this quilt so almost any binding color will work.

The back is a batik too.  I think I will look for a medium value for the binding since there is a light end and a dark end to the layout of the blocks.

I finished pressing another huge backing and trimmed a piece of batting to size so I could send 2 more with my longarmer.

I tried a new die yesterday.  I haven't pressed these 6" blocks yet.

I just cut a lot of batik scraps for the trial sewing.  Batik is not the easiest to sew curved seams in so my real project will not be batik.

The die cuts little notches that match up at the center point on all of the pieces.

Last night I finished the denim blue dishcloth and the black and white one was finished last week.

I have 2 more in progress.  They will be smaller because there wasn't as much yarn remaining for either one.

Since I had an empty needle I started another one, a new color that I found.  It is pink and 2 shades of grayish green.  I like to knit while I watch the 10 p.m. news because it is so relaxing.

Weather news: we were back below zero last night and it won't get much above 10 today.  The warmup starts Monday. 

Getting closer.............

I got both of my quilt tops sewn together and now I have to decide whether this one gets a border.  It is about 63" x 84" so it doesn't need it for size but maybe just to look more finished.

I'm definitely planning on a border for this one.  It is only 45" x 64".  I'm wondering if 4" wide by length of block pieces in an assortment of blues, greens and purples would look good rather than just one fabric. I have some thinking to do.

I got more columns sewn on the colorwash and have just 5 left to add.

In case you were wondering the frost didn't harm my tomato plants early yesterday morning. The way I can tell how cold it got is to look at my Coleus plants in their pots.  They totally collapse if touched by frost or if there is a freeze and they are still standing tall.  However tonight and tomorrow night it is supposed to go down to high 20s.  Next weekend 60s and maybe 70.  I don't know if I can keep the plants alive to enjoy the warmer weather and possible ripening of the green tomatoes.

 

Blocks all made.............

I finished sewing all of the blocks for "the other 16 patch" (compared to the 16 patch made with all squares).  I'm pretty sure this is the final layout.  I'm thinking about putting a border on this one.

This was the design wall at 6:30 p.m.  Earlier in the day I sewed the first 4 columns of the colorwash and I folded them accordion style and pinned them above the rest of the pieces.  Below the colorwash are all of the pieces for the last 3 big blocks of the log cabin star quilt.

By 8 p.m. I had 2 of the log cabin blocks sewn and after this photo was taken I finished the 3rd one, sewed that row and then sewed all 4 of the rows together into a quilt top.  It isn't pressed yet so maybe tomorrow I can show it up on the wall.  I also sewed 4 more columns of the colorwash so it was half sewn by 10 p.m.

This is the final layout of the colorwash after a few days of tweaking.

I went outside and picked another bunch of tomatoes that were starting to turn color.  Now the weather people are saying we will have a freeze around 5 a.m. today.  I couldn't cover the plants last night because it was raining and dark outside.  I hope they were wrong and it didn't get that cold. 

Sewing on 2 quilts.............

I sewed 3 more of the log cabin blocks and sewed 2 together, will add the third in the row today.  9 sewn, 3 to go.  I have to figure out how many more of the butterfly and travel print fabric squares I need.

I got this far on the strip sets for the other 16 patch quilt top.  I need to remove the colorwash pieces from the design wall so I can put all of the blocks on the wall when I finish sewing them today.

I think there is a ghost outside of my studio!  No, really we were supposed to have a freeze last night so the tomato plants in the back are covered with sheets. I hope they survive a few more days.

I broke the branches full of tomatoes off of the 3 most exposed plants by the driveway and piled them in a box in my heated garage.  I did this last year with a couple branches and the tomatoes all turned red in about 2 weeks.  I pulled out those plants and removed the cages.  I covered the other 2 plants that my little neighbor girl keeps picked.

I picked all of the tomatoes that had started turning color.  I'll go out after 9 a.m. today and remove the sheets if the temperature is warm enough.

 

Progress on two..............

I sewed the last 2 blocks for row two of the log cabin quilt and assembled the row.  I put it up on the design wall for a photo and then took down both rows and sewed them together.  I didn't want to hang it back up again so I took down the pieces for the bottom 2 rows and pinned block pieces together for later sewing.  I need to cut more light and dark squares before I can continue.

I took these blocks down one by one and measured each of them to see if I need to do some trimming.  There ended up being 3 blocks that are smaller than the rest.  I may make another block to replace one of them since I have the parts already assembled.  The other 2 I will probably have to let out a seam.  I may still trim them all by 1/4" just to straighten them a little.  

Outside I cut down about 20 Peony plants.  There are still 2 or 3 left to cut but they are behind a tomato plant so I'll get to them later.  I found a little more Poison Ivy under one Peony so I dug that out.  After that I picked up small branches that had been hidden under Peonies.  I have 2 Peony plants in front of the house that I just remembered.  I'll cut them today. 

Sorting fabric, 2 more blocks............

I have a few days of sorting fabric and getting it all put away in its proper place.  While I was working on that yesterday I chose 4 more fabrics for the LeMoyne Star blocks.  I want to add some purples into the red side of blocks. This purple has a red-orange with it in the print.  I have a few more candidates chosen and hope to cut them today.  

I really need to think about quilting something this month.  I have the top chosen, batting cut and the backing fabric is waiting to be ironed.  It is the only 16 patch that I set on point.

 I brought a couple stripes upstairs to see if they might work as a border for the log cabin quilt.  The blocks right now would make a 42" x 56" quilt, a little small for an adult quilt and to me it doesn't look like a child's quilt.  I could add a 5" border for a 52" x 66" quilt or I could make another 32 blocks for a 56" x 70" quilt and still add a striped border.  I could continue making blocks in between other projects, or I could assign a day to it like I did for my Sunday only project.  Another option would be to add another round of strips on every block which would change them from 7" blocks to 9" blocks.  Too much to think about right now.  I will continue to work on getting all of the leftover fabrics from the last 3 projects put away.

Playing around............

I turned the iron on....pressed the newest 10 log cabin blocks....pressed the Arboretum quilt top.

Then I counted the log cabin blocks and there are 50 just like I thought there were.

I decided to play a little with them on the design wall.

This would only be 42" x 56" if I sewed it now.  I have thought about using a stripe for a border to simulate a piano key border.

After doing the layout above I decided to turn some blocks and make another layout.  There has to be an even number of blocks to do this layout whereas the layout above is used with an uneven number of blocks in one or both directions.

On the next trip into the studio I changed every other block to the opposite dark/light centers.

There are hundreds of layouts you can do with log cabin blocks.  If you sewed them with the traditional value changes they are basically like a block made of 2 contrasting triangles.

Below are some quilts and quilt tops that I have made previously.  One is all Kaffe fabrics, one is Kaffe and batik, and the other 3 are all batik fabrics.

 

View from the sewing chair............

I pressed the sections that were sewn and then got them all sewn together.  There are 4 more rows to be attached at the bottom.

I got those 2 sections assembled but haven't sewn the long seam to attach them together.

I cut some more light pieces and finished the final 5 blocks from Sunday.

Here are all 10 of them together.  Now I have at least 50 blocks sewn.  I'll press these and then count to see how many total.

We got a half inch of rain Sunday night around 11 p.m.  Today is supposed to get really hot and humid and then by tomorrow night a cool down will be here.  One night might get down to the high 40s.  Sounds good to me.

 

Cutting little pieces..................

I played a little with the layout of the Arboretum blocks and then decided I really should mow the lawn.  Each day this week is going to get warmer and today was pretty nice. 

Last night all the energy that was left was used to cut pieces for the log cabin blocks I have been working on for a couple months.  I have quite a few 1.5" strips that probably wouldn't be used for anything else so they might as well be chopped into the sizes I need.

Last week I cut 3 bouquets of Annabelle Hydrangeas and replaced the bouquets from last year.  The green fades as they continue drying.  I wish they would stay the bright lime green that they are when I cut them.

 

Gathering and cutting.........

I pulled the next batch of fabrics to cut Arboretum block backgrounds.  Some didn't have fold marks where I needed to cut so I cut 14 of the original size blocks two of the 1.5 ratio blocks and 7 of the smallest block.  I will have to press the rest of the fabrics before I can cut blocks from them.  I also cut another color of Aboriginal dots for the branches.  I will have to cut more of that as I sew but I decided to use what I have already cut first.

I decided to put all of the log cabin blocks on the wall and there were 8 more in there that I didn't have in the count yesterday.  30 blocks that will finish at 7" so far.  I found some more scraps and cut some more pieces so when I want some mindless sewing I will make some more blocks.

The Annabelle Hydrangeas turned back to lime green about a week ago.  Now I have to watch for just the right time to pick a bouquet for drying.

The double Impatiens I showed a couple weeks ago that were totally ravaged by bugs eating the leaves have survived.  This is all new leaves on the bare stems that were left.  There was a bloom the day before I took this photo and now it is gone.  There are 2 buds in the lower right corner of the photo.  I had replaced the plants in 2 pots so I went out to the weed pile to see if the ones I dumped were growing and they are.

 

Cleaning up.........

 

Once again I'm attempting to clean off table tops.  I came across a pile of scraps and decided to cut them into logs for my ongoing project.  6 more blocks makes 22 total.  I need more light pieces so when I find a pile of light scraps I'll do some more cutting.

What do you do on a nice cool Saturday?  Bake of course.  I had a half package of frozen cinnamon rolls that I wanted out of my freezer.  They were all frozen in a heap so I had to microwave on a thaw cycle so I could pull them apart and let them rise.  There was a packet of cream cheese frosting in the bag too.  I ate one right away while warm, put 3 in the freezer and left 2 out for the next 2 mornings' breakfasts.

It has been a really strange summer for tomatoes.  We normally get some really hot days in the summer but this year we had several hot days in a row a few times and the tomatoes stopped ripening each of those times.  Now I'm back to a bountiful harvest again.  We have just 70s and low 80s predicted all week.

I love August.  Even though some plants are starting to dry up there are always the few stragglers that are just getting going into full bloom.  In August the days are so bright, the air so clear.  I think I would know it was August even if I didn't have a calendar to go by.  There have been a few years when August has been way too hot and humid but the normal August here in northern IL is ...well it is hard to put into words....clear, bright, blue skies, and the air just feels so pure.  By the end of August more plants will begin to dry up, seed heads being prepared for winter.  This is the last chance to enjoy summer.  Temperatures are down in the 50s to mid 60s at night for good sleeping with windows open.  Any day that I can have windows open is a good day.