Some Sewing, Some Sleeping.

First, let’s talk about the sewing. I was in a sewing frenzy over the last weekend and Monday, and churned out 60 string blocks at 6.5”. Four safety-pinned sets of 15 green blocks. As Bruce would say, “They are a thing of beauty!” Haha. 

For some reason - I think it was my grandson’s wedding quilt I was working on last spring - I never did much with greens when they first came around. So, I’m making up for lost time. I am also working in October to finish up the block sets I need for this year’s projects. Next up was five green Hollow Nines blocks. 

All I have left to complete this block set is 6 blue Hollow Nines, which are waiting with pieces neatly stacked for my next sewing session. All year I’ve had no plan for these blocks, which will total 40 when the blue ones are sewn. But then I saw a picture of a quilt somewhere (Pinterest maybe?) that was perfect, and Ruby had just brought over a bolt of brights-on-black fabric for us to gift to Quilts for Kids. So I cut off about 2-3 yards, and this is the plan in its rough stage:

I’ll alternate the nine-patches with the print fabric for a quilt with 80 squares set 8x10. That’ll yield a kid quilt measuring roughly 48x60”. Simple, bright, effective. 

I did have a single finish, my first of October. This quilt measures about 40x58” or so, if I recall correctly. And with my cat Darla asleep on my lap as I write this post, I’m not getting up to check my records!

The back needed an insert, but I had the perfect green scrap chunk for it. 

The only other thing I got done was sewing together the inner portion of this Block of the Month quilt. I ran out of the cute Tula Pink Fairy Frost fabric for the inter stop border, so I’ll be using plain white. Both that and the outer colored border are cut, and the backing is ready to be sewn too. Again, the backing will need a vertical insert strip because these quilts are being made intentionally “medium kid”-sized. The tops are better suited to slightly older kids, not baby or toddler kids.

The color for October in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is Neutrals, which I was planning on anyway. I have four more Gameboard block to finish for that set. Two will be done in browns and two in grays this month. Then I’ll be focusing on trimming down by brown scraps drawer. I can’t even get all the stuff in the drawer. I hope I can remember to get Before and After pix of the brown scraps! I think I’ll be trying to sew 2-3 little quilts this month in brown with other colors. Like brown and pink; browns and golds, and maybe brown and… blue? Green? Whatever wants to come play. I’ve picked out some simple designs - checkerboards, rail fence, and chunky patchwork. 

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Some Sleeping?

The Operative word this week was “some”. I had a cortisone shot in my shoulder this week, and a few of you may know how cortisone can play havoc with your sleep. At least on the first night of the day you’ve had the shot. But the old cortisone-by-pill routine was worse because it lasted longer, along with frazzled days and brain fog. Well, I got through a sleepless night (does 30 minutes count?). 

The next day, ironically, I got the results of my recent mid-September sleep study. I’ve used a CPAP for 25 years this month. It was time for a new machine, which Medicare allows once every 5 years upon a sleep study. My machine is 6 years old and decidedly noisy. Imagine my surprise (and elation), when the results showed that I no longer have OSA - Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I did have a few minutes of low oxygen saturation in the 7.75 hours of the sleep study, but not to the length or level of their minimum standard. So, I’ll just elevate my upper body slightly going forward, and that’s it. The doctors attribute the results mainly to my weight loss of about 3 years ago (70 lbs, most but not all of which is still gone and I’m holding steady).

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The start of our remodeling has been delayed by 3 weeks because the ceramic bricks have to be shipped in from Arizona since the local distributor was out. The re-facing and new hearth of the fireplace will be first, and then they’ll replace the living room carpet with flooring. Once that gets going, the main bath will be next - just cabinet and wall painting and a grab bar in the shower area. 

We’re still waiting for the final bid on the master bath, which will be a more complete re-do; flooring, cabinets and counters, a new mirror, and new tile flooring. Only the existing shower and toilet will stay. I’m anxious to get the “show on the road”. 

That’s all from here. Today I plan to do the fall clean-up of the courtyard. Not sure yet if that will include putting the patio furniture to bed for the season. I’m thinking not. I’d also like to go grab some more bulbs to plant and see if perennials are on sale yet. Wish me luck. Have a great week!

Feeling Fallish

Well, that was a quick summer. And a hot one too. So far the autumn has been nice, with warm, sunshiney days alternating with cool and often rainy evenings. Perfect in my book. I’m happy as long as I can get out and exercise those new knees! Even Bruce has started walking out and about again. His back bothers him somewhat (whose doesn’t when they’re seniors?!), but the benefit outweighs the discomfort.

On to the sewing that happened this week. First up, I stitched three Rolling Stone blocks in yellow and gold. That was the color of the month in August for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC), but I did purple then. So now I’m doing yellow. These blocks finish at 12”.

Earlier in the year when we did green, I only made one green block for some reason. So, since I was on a roll with the Rolling Stone blocks (pun definitely intended), I finished up three green blocks, which completes my set of 20.

When I get around to assembly (likely next year), they will be set 4x5 for a quilt that measures approximately 48x60”. 

I also sewed just four Hollow Nine blocks at 6.5” each, unfinished size.

These will continue on this year and next until I decide what to do with them. Use as is? Use them as the center of a larger block? Who knows… I sure don’t!

No progress was made on the Block of the Month quilt top I’m assembling. I just didn’t feel like working on it this week. Here’s a reminder of what that one looks like as it hogs up my design board..

Instead, I had the itch to finish out my yellow/gold scrap sewing by playing with my crumbs. I was able to sew 15 blocks (an entire set to go into a Quilts for Kids kit) at 6.5”.

Nothing much else is going on with us, and that’s alright with me. The “same old same old” routine of HOA Board meetings, Weight Watchers, medical appointments (think booster shots and cortisone injections), outdoor walks, and “Church of Bernina” sewing days lend a pleasant rhythm to the weeks. And pssssst - keep this a secret, OK? - I am even feeling the fall nesting urge to do some batch cooking in the next week or two. I’m planning on lasagna, meatloaf, enchiladas, oatmeal cookies and a pot roast in my October. Bruce is rooting for the cookies in September. Could happen!

Catching My Breath

It was another busy week around here, but the rest of September looks to be finally settling down. Our family visitor from Arizona, Bruce’s older brother Marv, ended up arriving on Friday and leaving for home on Sunday morning after his high school reunion. He originally planned to stay about a week, but the travel wasn’t agreeing with him (he’s almost 83) and just wanted to get home. So the visit was short and sweet and Bruce and I may or may not have given each other a high five when he pulled out. Don’t judge; there are so many things I am not sharing! 

Other happenings this week that were fun: taking a landscaping class at a local garden center, playing cards with my friends at the clubhouse and picking out all the rest of the things for the upcoming remodel of the two bathrooms, living room floors and fireplace, as well as carpet for the master bedroom. The electrical work in the bathrooms (adding outlets and covering others, changing switchplates) has been completed. I also had a nice lunch out with one of my sons on Friday. Not so fun was my sleep study in order to get a new CPAP machine, but it wasn’t bad. The worst part was having to go check out the equipment at the hospital and then return it the next morning. On Saturday (tomorrow morning as I write this on Friday evening) a friend and I are going to the Jordan Valley Water Conservation Garden Park at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley to check out their water-wise gardens, weather permitting. It’s been raining a lot here lately, so we’ll see. Rather ironic, I think, if we were to get rained out.

But I managed to squeeze in some sewing this weekend, which is always fun. Not too much sewing, but then it was more than I thought would happen. I finally trimmed up the 45 yellow string blocks from the previous week and added another set of 15. So, here’s a total of 60 string blocks, pinned in sets of 15 for our Quilts for Kids chapter to use in kits. 

I always like to look at others’ pictures of quilt blocks or scraps to see if I have any of them in my stash. Do any of these yellow or gold fabrics live in your stash too?

My goal at the beginning of the month was to finish the final four blocks I needed for the Block of the Month class I took over the last year. I hated several of the blocks the instructor chose, so I decided to do my own. Last week I didn’t show any because I never got time to work on them. But this past week I got the last three sewn up. So here are those three blocks, which will each finish at 12” in the quilt.

This next one was easy-peasy, and is a contender I’m considering as one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for 2027.

The next block is an RSC27 contender too. I think if I do select it, I’d use a multi-colored print as the center and constant (wherever the maroon dotted print is) and then use 2 different but complementing shades of any given color each month. 

So anyway, here are all 12 blocks together as I begin the assembly of the top. Right now, the only sewn sashings are the vertical strips between the blocks. Everything else is just pinned.

On the right is the backing batik fabric I’ll use, and on the left is what I’ll use as the outer border after I get the sashings and stop border sewn on.

My hope is to get some serious sewing done next week, if the sewing gods will cooperate. I think we have a plumber coming this weekend to move our sprinkler shut-off valve up from the crawl space to under the kitchen sink.  I’m also getting a haircut this weekend and attending our HOA Board meeting on Monday - my first as Vice President. Our President seems to think that I’m going to be his b*tch - he asked me to organize a going-away party for our trash collector person. Seriously? I suggested we meet him when he drives into the complex for his last garbage collection and serenade him with “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” on kazoos! Yes, that’s a joke - and it’s going to remain that way. I’m going to just say I thought he (the President) was joking. We all have more important business, right? Right.

Have a great week, friends. I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

September Gold

For most of the participants in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC), September means purple. But because I worked on purple last month in error, I’m doing yellow and gold in September. It all works out in the end, right? And if truth be told, I’m also revisiting green this month because my green scraps are threatening to take over my sewing room - and I never sewed green string blocks earlier in the year. 

Ok, where to start? …. Let’s just go in chronological order. Last Saturday at our Quilts for Kids workshop, I sewed a set of 15 multi-colored string blocks. I think I’ll have to focus on these strings again, perhaps in December, because my big bin is full and I see at least another couple hundred blocks coming out of that mess! But for now, here are the 15 - oops, make that 16 - blocks from this week.

Last Saturday afternoon and evening we met with my sons and family to celebrate granddaughter London’s 17th birthday, as well as my daughter-in-law Kim’s birthday. Bruce and I went with London and her boyfriend Jaden to the mall where we shopped at Sephora, the make-up store, for her (and me too, LOL). Then we met the rest of the family for dinner at Red Lobster. London and grandpa Bruce named the lobsters in the tank (all I remember were Hank and Phantom). 

There were a couple meetings this week of our HOA Board (I’ve been moved to Vice President after ours quit for health issues), as we finalize the budget for next year (I do the spreadsheets) and meet with the first of the roofing contractors. We’re beginning the re-roofing process next year, a million-dollar-plus  project that comes up every 25-30 years. It will be split into two or three years. Oh joy. 

But between that and fighting with my primary care provider and pharmacy to get my prescription refills taken care of, I did get some “relief sewing” in. Sanity sewing. Whatever you want to call it. 

Here are four yellow Gameboard blocks. They’ll finish at 8”.

I did one Switchplate block in yellow, too, and that was the last one I needed. Those are now complete and will wait for their turn to be sewed into a quilt top.  Anyway, I’ll sew the last four Gameboard blocks next month, probably in brown and gray and/or some other color that’s lacking.

On Friday morning I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. So at 5:00 I went in to my sewing room and webbed the chips quilt I showed up on the design board last week. I’m pleased with how it turned out, although the black and white makes it look wavy to my eyes (although it may just be my usual wacky pinning to the design board). I also got a backing sewn, and now it’s ready for Ruby to take and quilt next week.  It’s roughly 48x56”. 

I also decided it was time to focus on and finish the last four blocks of my Block-of-the-Month quilt. I dropped out of the class because I hated the blocks she was selecting, which are primarily designed to sell specialty rulers. So, I got rid of (literally threw away) one block I’d done earlier in the year (attempted without the requisite ruler) that was just plain awful and not salvageable. So that block, along with the last three which I never did from class, meant I had four 12” blocks to come up with. No problem. The background is the same Tula Pink fairy print, and we paired them up with various-colored batiks. 

This is the first of the four blocks I made this week. 

And here are the nine blocks together, not in any particular arrangement.

I’ve finally selected the colors and patterns for the last three blocks. 

My goal is to get one sewn every week this month to wrap it up. I may have to buy more of the background for sashing, or I may find something suitable in the stash. A problem for Future Cathy. 

Later today I’ll visit our contractor’s showroom to give them a push on their bid to install the flooring and re-do the fireplace in the living room. In a few days an electrician is coming to add and move outlets in the bathrooms before the remodeling starts in there. The cats will not be happy - they have become Certified ‘Fraidy-Cats. Whenever anyone comes, they run and hide.  

Anyway, if there is time this afternoon, I hope to get to repotting, trimming and fertilizing houseplants.  I also need to finish and post the signs for our upcoming HOA End-of-Summer party next Wednesday. And Ruby and I are visiting one of our mutual Weight Watchers friends for brunch on Labor Day to see her new condo. So, it’s going to be another fun and busy week. I hope yours is too! 

So Much to Share

It was another busy week, especially in the sewing room. Besides sewing, we’ve been preparing to go on vacation to Arizona for the first time since just before COVID. And I had a lot of “budget and bills” work to do before we left, both on our stuff and my late brother’s. It will be nice when the sale of his house closes at the beginning of May. Supporting two households is getting old. And expensive!

This week I worked on my two Gameboard blocks (I really love these!) for Pink April in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I’ll be linking up to Scrappy Saturday, hopefully sometime Saturday morning (if I can sneak a minute before we hit the road to Arizona). 

Here are all the blocks for this year so far:

I’m the monthly newsletter editor for our homeowners association, and I have started the practice of providing it in color (instead of just black and white) and adding a photo. So a couple times during the week, in between the much-needed and much-enjoyed spring rain showers, I walked around our 72-unit complex snapping pictures of anything in bloom. That was enjoyable! But for this blog post, I’m just showing three things I photographed in our little courtyard. 

Lamium groundcover 

Brunnera

Tulips

I can’t wait to get out in the garden and get things planted! But I will wait until at least the second week of May, which is what everyone recommends for our locale and planting zone. I just don’t trust Mother Nature not to surprise us with a spring freeze!

My friend Ruby, who owns a longarm quilting machine, was able to quilt two (of 5) of my little kid quilts this week. And I, in turn, was able to trim, bind and label them. These are the first two finishes for April. 

Purple Elephant Strippie (above and below). Finished size 37.5 x 44.5”. I used a smallish width-of-fabric piece for the front, and two small fabric chunks and a little strip set for the backing. I love using up these smaller pieces of yardage. 

The second finish was this cute fox and squirrel print (3 fat quarters) that I matched up with some solid chunks for this classic little Quilts for Kids pattern. 

Ruby quilted it with swirls, which is the same pattern we used on the wedding quilt for my grandson Easton. I have the binding made for the wedding quilt, but won’t finish that up until we get back from vacation. I’m hoping that Ruby, who is tall, can be my quilt holder for its final photos. But I digress. 

The backing for this little quilt is some aqua acanthus leaves, a patterned fabric I’ve owned and used in at least three color ways now. Foxes and Owls finished at 39x45”.

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I got my act together enough to finally share my progress on the Block of the Month (BOM) class I am taking (after much coercion from Ruby). There are several of our friends and family taking the class, so it’s rather fun. But don’t tell Ruby I said that!

I’m pretty happy with all my blocks, except for one. I hated the block and had no intention of buying the requisite ruler for it, knowing I would never again voluntarily make the block. But let’s start at the beginning.

The BOM started in September and will run through August. You pay $5.00 when you start the class and provide your own background fabric (fabric A). The store provides cuts of Fabric B and Fabric C. If you finish your block and bring it to the next month’s class, you don’t have to pay for the next month’s B and C fabrics. If you don’t finish the block or attend class, you pay another $5.00 for the next block. I’ve finished every one so far.

September block

October block

November block

This next one, the December Block, is absolutely hideous. I hate the pattern and the colors they gave us (after that block, I have been changing out some of the batiks to keep them brighter). But in the interest of transparency, I’m showing the block. I know I’m merely an average quilter, and I’m just fine with that. But this block is cringe-worthy even for a beginner. (SO why, I wonder, would the instructor put this as block #4 in a “beginner” class?)  I did not have the right ruler or the inclination to make a real effort on this block, and it shows. Please don’t judge! It will definitely be replaced with prettier colors and a pattern I like better. And can sew better, LOL!!

December block

January Block

 February Block

March Block

Here are all the blocks so far. 

First Seven Blocks

I will not be posting next week due to our trip, but will be back in 2 weeks with lots of pink blocks (Rolling Stone, strings) and more little quilt finishes. And hopefully lots of sunshiney pictures of fun times! While we’re gone, Ruby will be over daily to feed the cats and talk to them. Alfie loves it when “Aunt Ruby” feeds him his Greenies treats.

Have a wonderful Easter, friends. Life is good!

Sewing Again

My Bernina 570QE finally came back from the shop from her annual “spa” visit. It took exactly a month, but it really was good timing.  I was not sewing during my surgery (right total knee replacement) or the first couple weeks of recovery. Now I’m at three weeks past and can move around more. We will have our regular last meeting of the year for the Church of Bernina here at my house on Sunday. Woo-hoo.

Thank you to the dear hearts who reached out while I was on “sabbatical”. I owe you all letters, and I promise I am working on them. Please be patient with me. I get tired easily, but again, I see improvement week by week, so that pushes me forward. A note to those just tuning in today, I did write a lengthy post yesterday about the last three weeks - surgery, family passing, etc. It’s not quilt related and if you’re not interested, well that’s cool. If you are, you can scroll back to yesterday’s post. For today, all I have to add to the saga is that we received a phone call Friday morning that Bruce’s sister Annette was at the hospital with her husband Glenn who was passing from heart failure. We are on tenterhooks waiting for more information. He is in our prayers and hearts (and tears - they come so easily this month).  This has already become an infamous December in our family (and our country). 2026 cannot come soon enough. 

I do have one finish to share. My friend Ruby has a longarm, and she quilted two of my last Rainbow Scrap Challenge finishes for me this week. I’ve got them both trimmed, but only one is completely finished. I apologize for the picture. It was windy and ominous outside on Friday, and my DH Bruce, with only one arm, can’t hold up my quilts! So I spread it out on our bed and did what I could.

The quilting is random hearts - so cute! It will be a gift for my housekeeper Sandy.

The weathervane blocks were one of my 2025 RSC blocks. The quilt finished at 48.5 x 60”

I love the backing fabric I used, but had to supplement it with a green batik stripe. Do you see the sweet affirmations in the floral print?

I have been taking a monthly BOM (Block of the Month) class with Ruby and Cousin Kim and Niece Jenny, and Ruby’s half-sister Cathy and a lady from our Weight Watcher’s workshop. Even Jenny’s  daughter Lily (age 14) has joined us. It’s a jolly fun group, even if the class is a repeat for Kim and me. We began in September, and have done 4 blocks so far. I will try to show them two at a time for the next couple posts, but couldn’t get decent pictures yet, so that will have to wait.

Next week will begin 2026 and the start of a new year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I will be participating, as I’ve done for over 10 years. I have one carryover block to continue working on and another 2-3 I may add to the lineup. As well, I have a wedding quilt to begin soon if I ever want to get it done by April! And then there is my box of 36+ self-made quilt kits (kid-sized)  that I’ll be tackling this year, hopefully finishing 1-3 of those per month. I’ll probably start slower than usual, but I’m determined to make a major dent in the stash this year. 

I’ll leave you with a picture of our Christmas Brunch with my son Ryan, DIL Kim and family. 

L- R: Granddaughter Lauren and her fiancé Graham, DIL Kim, son Ryan, me, Bruce

Have a wonderful New Year celebration, and I wish you all good health and happiness in 2026.