My recent blogging output pretty much reflects my recent quilting output. I've been keeping up with my Quilty 365 circles and working on some red and white Broken Dishes blocks for Barb Vedder's current swap, but that's about it. I haven't lost my quilting mojo - lots of ideas are percolating around in my head - but I've been short on stitching time. I'm looking forward to next weekend when Dear Husband has to work and I can have a mini quilt retreat at home!
They will join other red and white Sawtooth Stars I made for last year's RSC.
My ultimate goal is to make a medallion-style quilt with these blocks.
I would like to report we've been having lovely cool weather here on the Gu'f Coast, but alas, Autumn is only teasing us. We've been spending weekends at the camp, though, so I dug out my hand-crank Singer Model 99 to stitch some HSTs for a block swap. I'm using Star Singles Triangle Papers to make my blocks - this type of sewing is perfect for using a hand-crank sewing machine.
I'm using this wonderful empty candy tin to store all the parts and pieces for my swap blocks. I thought it was The Very Thing for red and white blocks.
I believe I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with these 9 patch blocks! This has been an ongoing Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. I only need to complete the blocks for one more color - yellow - and I'll have all the rainbow colors represented.
I finished the white/red center blocks last night. I already had all the components cut, so it was a quick job to assemble the blocks.
When I finish the yellow 9 patches, I'll have 128 blocks. I'm thinking I may make a few more so I can do a 12 block x 12 block arrangement. I already have lots of parts and pieces cut, so it shouldn't take much time to add the additional blocks. Maybe I'll have another flimsy completed before the end of the year?
There's more red Rainbow Scrap inspiration to be seen at Angela's Soscrappy blog.
Back in June, I blogged about some red, white and blue scraps that were struggling to become Scrap Jar Star blocks. My plan at the time was to find some additional fabrics that "read" as solids, in an attempt to calm down the busy-ness of the red, white and blue prints.
After hours of play and experimentation, I ripped apart all the SJS blocks and changed direction.
This medallion of 16 patches and pinwheels was the result.
I still had a huge batch of red, white & blue HSTs, so I was inspired to do yet another zig-zag border.
Before adding the zig-zag border, I wanted to enlarge the quilt a bit and make the math for the zig-zags work out evenly. I auditioned this red fabric with white stars, but it reminded me too much of Minnie Mouse's polka dots.
This isn't a great representation, but the fabric is red with small dotted stars - it works much better as the inner border.
I still have to stitch all the HSTs together for the zig-zag border. Although today is a holiday in the U.S., I won't get to enjoy it by stitching. It's time to return my grand-dog to my son, so I'll be driving half the length of Louisiana to meet him.
David & Jozy
It's been great having Jozy Labrador (named after a U.S. soccer player) visit with us this summer, but it will be nice to be back to our usual menagerie of just two dogs and one cat!
Quilty 365 circle stitching continues. As of August 31st, I'm up to 301 blocks. The end is in sight!
My fabric journaling this month focused primarily on bad weather. There was the day I drove through a tremendous thunderstorm and skirted a tornado on my way home from work. And then there was a week of almost constant rain - so much rain it seemed half of the state of Louisiana was going to wash away!*
On a lighter note, I added some pet-centric circles. I felt my cat, Moxie, was getting short shrift in this quilt, as the dogs seem to get all the mention. I made a cat circle just for her. And in observance of National Dog Day, I used some dachshund fabric in honor of my mom's rescue doxie, Oscar.
I used a bit of vintage handkerchief for another circle. I stabilized the lightweight hankie fabric by using some fusible interfacing.
One of this month's favorite circles: some blue & white teacups. This marked a day I spent re-organizing my display of blue & white china and cobalt blue glass.
New Orleans had two somber events to remember this month. Early in August, clarinetist Pete Fountain died. Pete was often called "Mr. New Orleans", so I used some of this antique New Orleans map fabric to remember him. The end of August always marks the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed. The dotted circles on navy fabric reminded me of the symbol for hurricanes, so that became my Katrina anniversary block.
There are still some resilient Quilty 365 circle quilters sharing their work at Audrey's Quilty Folk blog. I'm linking up with them as we stitch through the home stretch!
*Louisiana has a history of floods and resiliency. This song by Randy Newman is one of my favorites - I think almost every Louisianian knows this song by heart!
