FINISH #14

 I made some bias binding and got it sewn onto the Patricia quilt I quilted yesterday.

It is 36-1/2" by 45-1/2"

It's done.  It's Finish #14 for the year.

I really like it.  I might not donate it for a while.

NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS

I had nothing but problems quilting this quilt top.  The top was made in a Patricia Belyea Workshop years ago and has some Yukata cotton prints in it.  I ran across it in my UFO bucket a couple of days ago and thought it deserved to be a quilt.

I started out with a quilting pattern of a geometric type pattern.  I set it up on the longarm and started it.  It made the first part then went around the first part again, and then started on it again.  I stopped it.  What the heck.  It had went over the same lines repeatedly for no apparent reason.  And I didn't want it to do that across the whole quilt.  So,  stopped it and picked all that stitching out - which took a while.

I erased that program and picked another and set it up.  Then got the machine working.  This one was stitching out right, one time around to make the pattern.  But, when it got to the next section of the panto the program would stop and want me to pull up the threads so it could go on.  Those of you who longarm will know what I mean.  For the rest of you, that meant I had to stand there and push the button to get it to do each section.  So, I did.  It's a small quilt.

,

And I got it done.

GRAPEFRUIT MARMALADE

 I made some Red Grapefruit Marmalade today.  

Peel the rind off, leaving any pith (white parts) behind

Peel, peel, peel.

Chop, chop, chop.

Then (no photo) I extracted the inside fruit and juice, omitting anything white which will cause bitterness (this is a little difficult).  Added it to the cooking rind, added pectin and sugar and then boiled.

Boil, boil, boil.

Pour into jars, seal and put in waterbath to process.

Wait for it to cool.  5 half pints.

I can hardly wait to give it a try!

STRAWBERRY JAM

 Darrell and I went to the West Seattle Farmers Market this morning.  We were looking for some dill for making pickles.  But, we spotted some beautiful organic strawberries and bought a box ($28).   We continued wandering looking in every booth and did find some dill fronds but no flower heads.  

When we got home I got busy making jam.  Darrell helped with the mashing once I cleaned and chopped them.

And after a lot of cooking and stirring and more stirring, we ended up with nine half pints.  

FINISH #13

 I found this little quilt in my bucket of UFOs.  I'm not sure who made it.  I know I didn't.  So, I'm going to assume that my sister Sue did.   It was quilted already, all it needed was binding.  So, I made some black bias binding and sewed it on.  So it's done.  That was easy!

It is finish #13 of the year.  It is called Pinwheels and is 35" by 35".  It will get donated.

FIRST BATCH OF PICKLES

 I made 5 quarts of pickles this morning.  It's the first batch of the year.

LONG LINE OF NAMES

 I've been working on putting a black border around the name labels that the members of the Monday Sewcial Collab quilt made for the back of the quilt.

ROSES AND ARROWS QUILT DONE

 Here is July's quilt for the UFO Challenge with Quilting Mayhem.

It is called Roses and Arrows after the charm pack of 42 5" squares it was made from, along with some light grey to make half square triangle blocks.

I made the bias binding from the same grey and got it sewed onto the little 32" by 40" quilt today.

It is FINISH #12 for the year!

COLLAB QUILT TOP TOGETHER

 I put the last seam in on the BP-Monday Sewcial Collab quilt top.  It went together very easily.  I had checked each block for size when they arrived and almost all were right on.  I did make some minor adjustments to a few, which made the final sewing together a breeze.  

QUILTED NEXT UFO

 I got the July UFO Challenge quilted today.

The longarm had a  glitch after the first run and froze up.  I had to close the app, which lost the program.  But, after a bit of fiddling I was able to reprogram it and get it lined up accurately and going again.  I used an allover pantograph.

This is not the first time the app has done that.  It is very annoying.  But I am getting better at restoring a lost program and lining it up.  But, I should probably look into why this is happening and make my life easier.

FINISH NUMBER 11

 I finished sewing down the binding on this quilt from the Maria Shell Workshop Round and Round.  So it is done!

It's name is "Not Enough Zucchini", it's 64" by 81".

It is  finish number 11 for the year.

JULY'S BOM

 Here is July's blocks made for the Seatte Modern Quilt guild's Block of the Month, also known as SeaMQGBOM2026.

ROUND AND ROUND QUILTED

After a few setbacks with Erik the longarm and help from Katrina at Bernina of Renton, in Washington, I got Erik up and running smoothly with a new pantograph.  He stitched out a vine pattern on the Round and Round quilt top, now named 'Not Enough Zucchini'.

It took most of the day, and it looks great.

MAKING A BACKING

 I started making the backing for the Round and Round quilt yesterday.  This morning I made a label and then finished the back.

SEWING SCRAPS

 There are a lot of scraps from the Round and Round project.  And a lot of them are strips.  So I started making Log Cabin type blocks, more round and round.

I've been making blocks for a couple of days now.  The scrap pile is much smaller.  I'm holding some back to use as filler when I put all of the blocks together.

LAST BORDER AUDITION

 After meeting with Maria on Monday, I've decided to use all three of the fabrics for the final borders. I made more triangle pieces and sewed them into the border fabrics.

But, I trashed the loud corner blocks.  I had the idea to replicate the rectanges from the center block.  I made them as far as I could.  But, the only Kona Zucchini fabric I have left is in small pieces.  So, I'm going to think about what to do about that for now.

NOT HAPPY WITH THAT FABRIC

 I am not thrilled with that substitute fabric I made the border with yesterday.  So, using more of the triangles I made, I set them on top of some other fabrics I thought might work.  Now I'm going to let be and think about it for a while before I make a decision.  At one point I was thinking of using some leftover Log Cabin blocks as a border, too.

I made those corner blocks thinking they would tie into some of the other borders.  But, I think they are drawing too much attention.  I probably won't use them.

ANOTHER BORDER

 I wish I had more of the e bond fabric I used in the center of the Feathered Star block, but I don't.  So, I found another of her fabrics that are very similar in color.  So, I made the next border using it instead.

I made one side then auditioned them, first with the triangles pointing in then with them point out.

NEXT ROUND

 I'm trying out different things for the next round.

THIRD ROUND ATTEMPTS

 I started making the next round.  After several hours of sewing, the process was becoming tedious.  So, I put what I had up on the wall to see how they looked.  I decided No.  I don't like it and I'm going to try something else.

RABBIT PILLOW

 I finally got all of the things and tools that I needed to turn my Rabbit needlepoint into a pillow.  

Here it is, it's done.  And I like it!  It will be living on our bed during the day now.

FINISHED ROUND

 It took a while and a lot of fussing and fiddling, but I've got that first border all the way around and sewn on.  And I'm thinking bout the next border.

JELLY TURNS ELEVEN

 Today is Jelly's 11th Birthday.

Happy Birthday Jelly!

ROUND TWO OF R & R

 Here is my start of the first round of Round and Round with Maria Shell.  I tried a square on point but it was not looking right.  So, I trashed that idea.  And I started making some Beads on a String.

FINISH NUMBER TEN

 I made the bias binding and sewed it onto the previously quilted "Sing Your Song" baby quilt.

So it is complete!  

It is Finish #10 for the year.

This is a small quilt, 27" by 35" made from a small Charm Pack of only 24 5" squares interspersed with a dark grey Kona and quilted by computer on my B24 longarm.

ROUND 1 OF ROUND AND ROUND

 I'm taking a month long workshop with Maria Shell.  The workshop is called Round and Round and we will be making Medallion quilts.  On this first week we were asked to make a sketch or a plan for our medallion, to pick a palette of fabrics and make our center block.

I want a rectangular quilt, not a square one.  It adds a degree of difficulty!

My fabrics, so far.  Most of these colors are not showing up correctly.  Oh well.

My center block.  It took me several days to make all of those tiny 1" HSTs.

 

RABBIT FINISHED

 I've been waiting for the extra yarn I required to finish this needlepoint.  I received it in the mail today and finished weaving it in and am declaring this needlepoint finished.

It is called Leap and I got it through Ehrman Tapestries.  It is soon to become a pillow.

NEXT UFO QUILTED

 I sewed these Charm Pack squares together yesterday to make a very small top.  There was only 24 of them so I just added more 5" squares instead of making half square triangles out of them.  I boldly chose a dark grey for the alternate blocks.  And I boldly chose yellow thread for the densely quilted top.  

Today I quilted it with an allover pantograph.

CHANGED THE FANS

 I changed the direction of the fans yesterday.  Today I sewed a some more of it together and changed out some of the parts that were bothering me.

IMPROV THAT BLOCK WORKSHOP

Today was the fifth, and last workshop in the Improv That Block Squad on Brave Patch with Sherri Lynn Wood.  Today we got to pick the block we wanted to work on.  Sherri provided some prompts that we could use (or not).  

I choose to continue working on the previous types of blocks we have made, namely the nine-patch, the fan block, and maybe some four-patches and more friendship stars.  And I continued making tumbler blocks as a filler.

Here is how I left it after the workshop:

ROOTED BLOCK FIVE

I just finished block number five from Sue Spargo's Rooted.