ONCE UPON A TIME TOP

This morning I finished trimming the HST blocks to 4-1/2" and put them up onto the design wall.  These were made from a charm pack called Once Upon a Time with some Kona solids added to make the Half Square Triangle (HST) blocks.

After lunch I started sewing the rows together.  Then I sewed the rows to each other.  It is now a finished top, ready to be quilted, after I make a backing for it.

 

MUD CLOTH TABLE MAT

 I started with a piece of black fabric 24" by 36".  I cut randomly sized pieces from my collection of African Mud Cloth and fit them onto the black backing.  Then I zigzagged them down onto the backing, connecting them to each other also.

I cut some wide binding from the black Kona and bound it by machine.

It will now reside on our dining room table for a while.

ANOTHER HANDMADE BOOK

 Here's the second handmade book I made from a cookie box covered with some painted papers.  The signatures inside this one are made from mixed media papers.  The seven signatures are stitched in with a mixture of an 'X' stitch and Saddle stitches and beads. 

COOKIE BOX BOOK

 I stitched together the signatures made from leftover papers into a cover made from a cookie box.  The box was covered with paper I had painted and printed.  The closure uses some silk sari ribbon and an old button from my Grandma's Button Jar.

HAPPY PI DAY

It's Pi Day.  I've made several Pi quilts.

Here's my Pi quilt, Nine-Patch Pi. 

Okay, start at the upper left and count the colored squares...

MONTH 3 BOM

 They uploaded the instructions for this month's SeaMQGbom2026 and I was on it right away assembling some blocks.

CHANGES

 My design wall is oriented horizontally.  I like quilts that are vertical, so I end up putting them up on the design wall sideways when designing.  Sometimes it's bothersome.  

I've been having this problem with my current project, Improv That Block 2026.

Today I wasn't satisfied with way the Fan blocks were and wanted to change them, so I put them up, took a photo, then reoriented the photo to vertical then decided if it was looking how I wanted or not.

I went through several iterations.  Here they are:

Lots of work to do now.

FINISH NUMBER SEVEN

 I found a fabric that would work for the binding, made it and sewed it onto the quilt I just finished quilting.  It is done.

Finish number seven for the year!

"Clouds" 50" by 50".

Last night was the change to Daylight Saving Time.  We moved the clocks ahead an hour.  We basically lost an hour. I really don't like this.  I didn't sleep well and didn't feel like doing anything today.  But, I am very happy I at least got this project done.

QUILTED WITH RAIN DROPS

 The little (50" x 50") quilt called Clouds is finished being quilted with a pantograph of rain drops.

It is off the longarm awaiting binding.

CLOUDS ON THE LONGARM

 I loaded the small quilt top, Clouds, onto the longarm today.

This top was made from six wide selvedge to selvedge strips with the same print of clouds but in different colorways sewn together side by side and bordered with some black fabric.  I believe I picked up this collection from a fabric distributor back in the day.  I never knew what to do with them.  The top has been languishing around for a long while now.

It is on my list of UFOs to finish this year.

MADE A BAD CHOICE

I got out a charm pack, Roses and Arrows, and picked a  fabric for the other half of the half square triangles.  I cut the squares and marked the sewing lines on the backs of them. 

 I thought it best to cut a few and see how they'd look before sewing them all together.  

Good thing I did.  I did not think they were a good match after all.  So I took them apart and looked for a better match.  I settled on a light grey, Kona Lighthouse, and started over.

IMPROV THAT FRIENDSHIP STAR

 Today was Sherri Lynn Wood's Improv That Block Squad workshop on her BravePatch channel.  We were exploring the multitude of possibilities making a Friendship Star block.

Here is mine at the end of the day.  I put them up with my previous Block Squad work.  I think I'll be making more stars tomorrow to fill in some blanks.  And maybe even sew some of this together.  But, I'm not going to finish it until we've explored other blocks in the next few months.

FINISH #6

 I made the binding out of the same background fabric for the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild's Block of the Month 2024 quilt, "Like Totally", yesterday.

Today I sewed it on.  And I lost the game of binding length.  It was less than 6" short and I had to stop and cut a strip and sew it on to the binding end.  [notice that beautiful backing]

This quilt is done.  It is Finish #6 for the year.  It is 64" by 80"

QUILTED SEAMQGBOM2024

 I finished the quilting on the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild's Block of the Month for 2024 today.  It's off the longarm and ready for the next step to get it finished.

QUILTING SEATTLE BOM 2024

 I finished this top at the end of 2024.  It is the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild's Block of the Month for 2024 called "Like Totally".  Pattern by @imfeelingcrafty.  I had bought a Tula Pink sateen backing fabric for it but am now just getting to quilting it.  I set it up with a wave pantograph using varigated green and white thread.  I got it loaded and started today but didn't finish it.

FINISH #5

 I had made and quilted this quilt in 2022 and then put it away and forgot about it.  It just needed binding to be able to call it finished.  So I did.  "Bears and Pears" is 46" by 33".

It's done, it's Finish #5 of the year.

FINISH #4

 I sewed the binding down on the front of the big Garden Club quilt.  It is done!  

This is Finish #4 for the year.  

Too big to fit on my design wall.

Then I picked out fabrics for the new SeaMQGBOM2026 and made the first set of strip sets.  I need a project box for it all.  Hmmm.

I couldn't decide whether to use the vibrant African fabric or go with the plain brown at first, but decided to be bold, I hope I have enough of that African fabric.

BINDING DAY

 I tackled the binding for the big Garden Club quilt.  It's 88" by 88" which makes it difficult so I decided to do only one side of it today and save my neck, shoulders and arms.  I took my time and didn't overdo it and got done.

Then I went ahead and sewed the binding on the much smaller charm quilt, One Room Schoolhouse which is 32" by 40".  I did both sides and it is done.

This is finish #3 for the year.

QUILTING CHARM QUILT

 I started quilting on the little quilt I made with the One Room Schoolhouse charm pack yesterday.  I finished it today.  

STITCHED CIRCLES PAGE

 I worked on more of my embroidered pages for the 100 Day Stitch Book.  I finished the circles page.

OWL AND CACTUS

 I've been working on this 100 Day Stitch Book page since before my trip to Tucson.  I finally finished the beaded eyes today so I could call it done.

It commemorates the Saguaro Cactus, the Great Horned Owl and the Snow Moon which occurred on February 1st, the night I arrived in Tucson. 

STITCH PAGE WITH CIRCLES

 I'm a bit behind with my 100 Day Stitch Book pages.  Here's one I made for the prompt "circles".

It still needs to be stitched down.  The one with the stitching is when I was practicing the Organic Blanket Stitch.

SMALL QUILT TOP MADE

 I randomly sewed the 4" squares together made from the One Room Schoolhouse charm pack.  These fabrics were designed by Brenda Ratcliff with RJR Fabrics.

Here's the finished top, 32" by 40".

CHARM QUILT STARTED

 This month's UFO Challenge project for me starts with one of the Charm Packs.  I decided to do something easy since the month is half gone.  I paired a light grey with them from which I cut 5" squares and drew a diagonal line on the backx.  Then I joined them with a charm square and sewed a quarter inch on each side of the line to make Half Square Triangle Squares (HSTs) when cut in half.

That will give me 84 4" HST squares to work with.

BEAD SORTING

 Home again.  Unpacked, laundry done, things caught up on, I finally made it up to the studio.  I began by sorting through the things I bought and collected on my trip to Arizona.

Here are the beads:

FOUR IN ONE DAY

 It was cold again this morning, 27 degrees.  Brrr.  I left after having a horrible breakfast at the hotel heading for Walnut Canyon National Monument.  I got there about 8:45am and had to wait until 9am for them to open.  The road into the park had dozens of elk feeding on the sides of the road and a little bit of snow, too.

The Visitors Center was perched on the side of the canyon.  I walked through to the far wall of glass and looked out to the canyon. It is a spectacular view.  On the far canyon wall you can see the dwellings built into it.   

When I left the center I took a short walk along the rim.

There are stairs going down into the canyon where you can get close to the ruins of the dwellings.  This sign is at the top of the stairs.

And then it was time to move on to the next park, Sunset Crater. I arrived at the Visitor Center at about 10am.  

A small doll display

Sunset Crater is a volcano that last erupted about 1000 years ago.

There is no access to the crater, but there are lots of beautiful hikes to take in the area.  I took a short walk through a lava field.  Its kind of creepy, and you wouldn't want to fall down on the rough lava.

I took a short walk around the lava fields.

Then it was a long drive to the next park, Tuzigoot National Memorial which preserves a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge. The pueblo has 110 rooms and was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE. Tuzigoot is the largest and best preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley.

I arrived at about 12:20pm and stopped in the Visitors Center to stamp my passport, buy some postcards, a magnet of the park and an info brochure.  Then I walked up to the monument.

It was hot outside but amazing very cool inside.

Back in the car I headed to the next park which was not a long distance away.  I arrived around 2pm.

Montezuma Castle National Monument.  Montezuma Castle is attributed to the Southern Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian archaeological culture that may be closely related to several ancestral indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States. Evidence suggests that the dwelling was constructed as early as 1125 AD and occupied until as late as 1395 AD.

It has been a long day with lots of miles.  There was one more stop to make very close, Montezuma Well.  I drove to it, but was just too tired and worn out to walk to the well.  So, I turned around and headed to Julie's where I will be spending the next few days.