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.

Back to the design wall...................

I knew I didn't have enough blocks made yet so that was keeping me from going to the design wall and starting the layout.  I am contemplating making this a twin size quilt which will mean at least 40 more regular size blocks and 4 more of the 1.5 ratio blocks.  That also means more of the little blocks.  I only have 7 more tree blocks made.  I am thinking of a Charley Harper border with strips of different lengths pieced together.  It's all still a "maybe" thought in my mind.  Will I be able to stick with it or will it be a smaller quilt?  All I know is it won't be finished anytime soon.  Too many things going on right now, including nice weather to be working outside.

My Zinfin Doll Hydrangea blooms are starting to turn pink now.

I couldn't decide which photo I like best so I'll include all of them.

Oh, so pretty!  I'm glad I bought this variety last year.  The bush has filled out nicely in its first year in my front garden.

I have 2 different varieties of the dark mini Sedum plants.  This one has a pink bloom.

The other one has a darker rose color, more vivid.  

I love the Dainty blooms on this Coral Bell.  The leaves are green and purple mix and the flower fluffy and dainty.  I have one more piece of this plant in a pot.  Maybe I'll look for a place to plant it.

Baking, mowing, moving blocks...........

I baked frosted creams for the family and packed them into containers I saved from grocery store products.  That way I don't have to wonder if I will get my containers back.

I moved the Charley Harper blocks to the design wall in the basement.  They are at the far right of the double design wall.  I carried all of the Arboretum blocks down there too but haven't started arranging them on the wall.  I need to decide how many more of the 1.5 ratio blocks I want to make.

I mowed the back yard, pulled out Poison Ivy, and picked tomatoes.  The first piece of Poison Ivy had a root that was over 3' long and extended into my lawn.  The second piece had a 2' long root.  The reason I pulled them out instead of digging is because it was growing in with a Peony plant and I didn't want to disturb those roots.  I think I got all of it but I'll check again today.

All over the place...............

I have too many days where I wander all over and do a little on a lot of things.  It doesn't feel like progress somehow.

I chose a batik backing for this crazy pieced wallhanging.  I needed a little under 1.5 yards and looked for a yellow but didn't find enough yardage on any piece.  Second choice was a black and white and this very early 1990s Hoffman batik is perfect.  It is one that isn't easy to use in a lot of patterns and there was plenty for a back with almost 2 yards still left.

If you look closely you can see the little imperfections that batiks have since they are hand printed.

I have a lot of the plastic project boxes and I decided to see what I have in some of them.  The first one I opened has leftover Kaleidoscope blocks and pieces.  There are 5 blue blocks sewn (minus corners) that are using leftovers from 2 quilts.

There are enough red/orange/yellow pieces for either 2 or 3 blocks. I should have put a note in there after I counted them....but I didn't.

I laid out one combination of color block.

There are enough pieces for 2 more blocks like that.  I can't tell you how many times I have pulled these out over the last 10 years, played with them and put them back in.  Do I really want to get sidetracked with this?

I really made an effort in this last year to put all of the leftover wedges in the same box.  There are 50 wedges here, enough for 6 blocks and 2 wedges left over.  They are 1/4" shorter than the previously shown pieces.  I don't have a good photo of the quilt these are left over from so I need to do that soon.

After all of that I went outside and pulled weeds along the rock edging of my backyard flower bed.  My knees weren't happy so I just did one large bucket full.

Then I went to the basement to put in a load of laundry and while I was down there I started rearranging my Martha Negley fabrics.  I started pulling the pretty pink prints.  They are really large prints so I think I need to cut 12.5" squares and then make 9 patches with 4.5" strips for every other block.  Maybe just a small quilt.......

Today I need to bake frosted creams.  My grandson from CO is moving back to IL (not sure of the date) and this is his visit before the move.  This was his favorite dessert when he was little and I think he still likes it.  It's actually a favorite of the whole family.  The recipe is at the bottom of this post.

#2 finish for August...........

Winged Square a/k/a Cut Glass Dish block.  I made 2 quilt tops with this block so I could call one Winged Square and the other one Cut Glass Dish.  This one is 47" x 58.5".

It is quilted with a medium size meander, gray YLI cotton thread on top, Bottom Line light beige thread in the bobbin.  Batting is Hobbs 80/20.

The backing is an early Brandon Mably (#05) fabric called Dapple with an added strip of Dahlia by Kaffe Fassett to make it wide enough for the top.   Binding is Fern (Kaffe) in purple with blue.

When I looked out the kitchen window yesterday morning this is what I saw.  Both Shepherd's hooks were leaning and the caged feeder on the right was hooked over the end of the pole on the left.  It appears something climbed up one of them and then was pulling the caged feeder over toward them.  I'm guessing maybe a small raccoon.  The ground was soft after the 2" of rain and the poles had already been leaning slightly.  Time for me to go out and reposition both poles and fill the feeders.

Early last evening I mowed the grass in the front and side yards.  Last mowing was 2 weeks ago.  I might mow the back on Thursday as that sounds like a cool day.  Today is supposed to be the warmest day this week in the mid 80s.

Marcia Derse's new line, Random Thoughts, is at the stores now.  I had to have a little of it to add to my previous stash.  I was glad there were some new light fabrics this time.

 

More wonderful rain..............

We had another rainy day with light rain for several hours yesterday.  We got another 1" in the rain gauge.  These 2 days of rain were the first measurable rain in 2 weeks so we were ready for it.

While it rained outside I quilted this quilt in my cool basement.  The backing is an old Brandon Mably, maybe from his first line.

It may look like black and white on the longarm but it is really a beige background with charcoal gray dots. 

I figured a meander would work fine since you can barely see the quilting on all of the Kaffe collective prints.

I needed a little more than one width so I added this Dahlia strip left over from another backing.

Trimmed and ready to bind.

I kept at it and cut binding and sewed it on too.  I'll have the full quilt shot and specs on tomorrow's post.

The Sedums loved the rain and are in their early bloom now.  There are 2 different kinds here that look pretty much alike until they get to this stage.  Once the flowers turn the fall rosy red they look a lot alike again.

The Moss Roses loved the rain too.

 

Lovely rain..................

Yesterday we had many hours of a light gentle rain that ended up at 1" in my rain gauge.  It was a perfect day to go through my quilt tops and make a few decisions.

I made this quilt top in 2016 and have been stuck ever since trying to decide if it needs a border.  The fabric next to it is the backing fabric.  It is 59" x 72.5" right now.

This backing fabric is one of the Liberty reproductions that Kaffe chose colors for.  I didn't make any decision on it so back to a hanger it goes.

This is the group that I'm thinking I will quilt next.  The yellow crazy pieced one will be done on my straight stitch machine.  I'm not real sure about the top left whether it will be longarm or straight stitch machine.  I made it in 2018 and it is called Sunlight in the Forest, inspired by one in a Kaffe book.  The rest will be quilted on the longarm.

This will be the next to be quilted.  I sewed the backing seam and got it loaded yesterday afternoon.

Next I cut the batting for some of the rest of them so I can get the roll of batting off my work table.

While down there cutting batting I found these 2 already had batting cut for them so I guess they are in the lineup too.  Now I need to get backings sewn for all of them.