Sewing and Stuff

Summer is in full swing here in the Salt Lake Valley and it’s hot, hot, hot. The next three days are supposed to be over 100 degrees F (37-42 C). I plan to stay indoors as much as possible for those 3 days, but I do have my last two physical therapy sessions on Monday and Wednesday. Even the dinner menu for the next week is easy and summery - salads, sandwiches, and a community BBQ on Wednesday. We have lots of frozen meals that can be zapped in the microwave if we want something warm. Luckily, the new air conditioner is working like a charm, so we’re all happy, including the kitties in their fur coats. 

I didn’t post anything last week because for the first time in months, if not years, I didn’t even go into my sewing room. I had a couple books in a row that were soooo good that I just didn’t have any ambition to do anything but read. Because I know I’ll get asked, the books were: Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) and The Calamity Club (Kathryn Stockett). I also just finished The Woman in Cabin 10 (Ruth Ware), and it was good too. But I’ve got the sewing itch back again, so I’ve got some balance back again!

The first thing I did, beginning last Sunday, was to sew 30 aqua/turquoise/teal string blocks. They measure 6.5” unfinished. Regular readers know that I pin these into groups of 15 for our local chapter of Quilts for Kids. They add them to 15 other matching fabric squares, plus two border fabrics, and check them out as quilt kits to be sewn by volunteers. 

Then I sewed four quick Switchplate blocks that will finish at 3x5” in a quilt. I’ve been working on these since last year. Mostly I’m just finishing up the last few in every color as we go through the spectrum for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I’m not looking forward to sewing these little things into a quilt top, but the end is drawing closer, so maybe I’ll make a start on it in the next couple months. 

I also whipped up these 4 Hollow Nines because I could. I added these a couple months ago, so there is no plan and no rush. 

Ruby quilted another couple little tops for me. The first one below is made from cat blocks that I was given to me in a huge batch of fabric last year by my friend Pat up in Ogden. They were actually made by her twin sister Kitty in California. Now, normally when I add labels to my Quilts for Kids donations, I put all the makers names on the back. This time, however, I think it would be really weird if I said that this cat quilt was made by Kitty L. and Cat K. So, I’ll probably label it from Pat and Cat. Sheesh, that’s not much better!! 

This quilt measures 37x43” and has a black and white wood-grain print on the back.

The second finish this week was another Strippie that I finished. I was so happy to use up this cute owl print that’s been in my stash for a decade or more. 

The color is truest on the photo below. 

And here’s a shot of the back.  This one measures 39x50”.

My least favorite thing I worked on this week was sewing together these blue blocks from June into a top. Well, almost a top. I still have to join the Framed 4-patch column in the center to the columns on either side. But it’s close enough for its flimsy pic!

I’m guessing it’s about 49x60” or so, but obviously I’ll get a more accurate measurement when the quilt is done. The backing will be some orphan blocks and chunks and strips of miscellaneous blue fabrics to make some room on the blue shelf. I’m going to play with that later today.

Have a great week! 

Worldwide Quilt Day, Last Red Scraps and Lots of Strippie Tops

Hi there friends! Why don’t you grab a cup of your favorite beverage and have a seat. We’ve got a lot of Stuff to get through today! This will be a picture-heavy post, at least by my usual standards.

Last Saturday, we (Ruby, Kim and I) attended the World Wide Quilting Day event in Sandy, Utah. Joining us were Cathy (Ruby’s sister) and Jenny, Cousin Kim’s niece (and my late Cousin Carrie’s daughter). We had a blast. After we got settled into our favorite spot (by a window and an electrical outlet) and got our machines set up, we wandered over to the stage area. There, boxes and boxes of donated fabrics and scraps and books and patterns and….anything quilt/sewing related were spread out along with tons of quilters (both figuratively and literally) were searching for treasures. 

Our group was restrained in our acquisitions; I concentrated on smaller scraps, strings and solid yardage, which were curiously overlooked by everyone else. I also picked up a brand new bamboo pillow form still in the package. Bonus: I’m short, so it was good to sit on while I sewed! Ruby found a needlepoint owl piece that she is going to make into a pillow for her daughter who loves owls. Everyone else got a few pieces here and there. 

Last week on the blog I showed the little scrappy quilt that I’d made from the scrap challenge baggie I picked up at last year’s event. Of the 26 kits that were checked out in 2025, sixteen of us returned them as finished quilts. We were entered into a drawing for $100, and I won! Kim took my picture with the quilt and Ben Franklin.

While we were there, I sewed three Strippie quilt tops, which I’ll show and talk about later in the post. The food was plentiful and delicious, although I will admit that I may have had one or two extra helpings of apricot crumble (hold the crumble, but beware the sugar!)

Did you do anything quilt-related on Worldwide Quilting Day??

The end of March is upon us, and I managed to finish up all my red block sewing for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. First, I made 15 red string blocks that will finish at 6”. They are pinned in a group for donation to Quilts for Kids. 

And finally, I was able to eke out four 6” (finished) crumb blocks, also for Quilts for Kids. 

But even when added to the four from last year, my count is only up to 8. Maybe next year I’ll have more time and scraps to make up the final 7 to get me to a full set of 15. 

***We now interrupt this blog post for some kitty pictures, which have been scarce lately. Ruby gave me a birthday present in this box. Alfie turned his nose up at the Talavera pitcher, but fully endorsed the box. This pic was taken a few days later during one of his many forays into cardboardland. Humans just can’t appreciate the finer things in life!

Darla agrees with Alfie. But she is much more dignified. Here she is, regally “loaf”-ing on her mid-level cat tree perch.  “You may carry on,” she said. 

So, back to the Strippie quilts. And it should be evident with these quilt tops why all of a sudden I had an urge to take solids from the giveaway tables. The cute focal prints were donations, mostly from my friend Wanda. 

I’ve seen these Strippie quilts done in a very formulaic manner before, but I prefer to let the fun print determine the eventual size, depending on how much of it there is to play with. Here’s a closer picture of the colorful print.

There was enough of the vegetable fabric below to do not only this top and its backing, but another top that is cut and has yet to be sewn. 

And again, a closer shot of the fabrics.

This next top is the first one I played with when pre-cutting all the possibilities into sewing kits. The garden theme is just so happy and bright! No close-up for this one because the print is large enough to clearly distinguish. 

I’ll give all the measurements once they’re quilted and bound, but mostly they start with width-of-fabric strips (hence the name Strippie). I do trim the edges enough so that a single width-of-fabric can be used as the backing/fold-over binding. 

The above three tops were done at WWQuilting Day, as I said. But I was on a roll and kept going with this concept during the week….

Here’s a cute elephant quilt top. 

And here is another one in progress. This isn’t a Strippie, though. I had a large batch of kid print fat quarters that Ruby found at an estate sale (27 FQ’s to be exact). I selected this fox and squirrel print to start. There were 4 fat quarters of this design, but I only used 3. The other FQ was cut into two Zipper blocks and strings. 

And here’s the close-up of this fabric. 

I’ll finish up the border on this and then hang it with the others to be quilted. I’m hoping that Angela at So Scrappy will announce April’s color of the month today so that I can get started on it this weekend. Update: she did! April’s color is PINK, 

This morning is our Block of the Month class. Once that is done, my goal today is to finish the garden clean-up in the courtyard before the rains begin for all next week. Also, we (Bruce Kim and I) will be taking off for Arizona to visit family next Saturday. I’ll have a post up Friday night, but not sure when or if I’ll be able to link it up to the RSC as we’re driving for a couple days. But driving will probably be easier and faster than attempting to fly these days. Enough said.

Have a great week!