Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Two new projects

Hi everyone!  Are you melting?  We sure are!  It's been in the 90s the last several days, and it's not supposed to end for a couple more days. The first day was nice, but I'm totally over it now.  Although the sunshine is very nice!  On a completely unrelated note, has anyone ever used the films that you put over the windows to block out some of the heat?  No reason, just wondering if they work.

So, with it being so hot and all, gardening and outdoor painting is out of the question.  Instead, I started two new projects.  Of course!  What else is there to do?  Remodel the kitchen?  Write a paper?  Work on my next book?  No, I think playing with some fabric wins out over those every time. 

Here's the first thing I've started:


This is the beginning of an I Spy quilt!  I think it's going to be darling. I mean, just look at those fabrics! Most of them came from friends,who all have much nicer fabric than I do, though I did have a few myself.  I thought about a number of different ways to use them, but I settled on a simple square in a square block to use up some scraps and showcase the fabrics.  I plan to set these on point with some fun setting triangles, though I don't have the specific fabric yet.


The centers of these blocks are 5 inch squares, and the sides are made from 4-inch squares cut in half.  This will make the finished blocks 6-3/8 inches square.  Since this is going to be a kid's quilt, I'll probably only need 35 blocks or so for a decent size. 


So, there's one project, and it's a lot of fun to work on, so I'm thinking it will go fast.  The fabric is fun, of course, but it also makes me happy that this little quilt will likely end up either with my tiny grandson or in my "grandma stash" for when little ones visit here.  Actually, I think my grandson would love this, and we'll be visiting him later this summer, so I have lots of incentive to work on it.

The other project that I'm starting is the June quilt along with Amanda at crazymomquilts.  She's running the quilt along for a throw-sized string quilt on her blog this month and I decided to go ahead and join in!  Here are the fabrics I'll be using:


I know I just made a string quilt, but I do have a ton of pink and green fat quarters and pieces, and I'll throw some yellow in, too.  The background is a cream with a pale pink polka dot.  They look pretty pale in this picture, but I'm sure they'll look great in the quilt together.  And for those of you who know me, you know that I didn't forget these, too:


Yep, tiny little skinny strings.  I just can't resist them, but I swore to myself that I'd try to avoid the smallest ones this time.  We'll see how that works out.

Finally, there's one thing the hot weather has been very good for (warning, this is a terrible picture):


Tomatoes!  My lone tomato plant already has 4 tomatoes on it.  I can hardly believe it.  The thought of fresh tomatoes before August has really warmed my Midwestern heart.  I can't wait!

I hope the heat breaks soon for all of us.  I've planted 4 trees so far this year and I'm worried about one of them, and the heat isn't helping.  Until it cools off, I'll be alternating between the sewing room and the library.  Good thing both of them are air conditioned!  

Sharing at Linky Tuesday and Let's Bee Social.

10 comments:

Vicki in MN said...

Your I spy quilt is going to be a cutie for sure! It's been hot here in MN too and the humidity is high this week. But a T storm rolled through yesterday, the humidity seems a bit lower.

Jo said...

Your I spy quilt will be so much fun for a little one. But I do love the colours for your second quilt. Very pretty..

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

I'd choose quilting too! And yep - I'm over the 90 deg heat already.... I like 70.....

TheEclecticAbuela said...

Hot here in MO, too. It's nice to be out of school and able to sew every day, though, so I'll put up with the heat. I always have a string project going--it provides mindless pleasure on those days when my brain is tired. Enjoy!

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

The weather here in the Pacific Northwest is rainy and 50's today. No melting going on here. I love your I-spy quilt. They are always so fun. You've picked some beautiful fabrics for your quilt-a-long. I look forward to seeing how it sews up. --Andrea

Unknown said...

I was amused by your tomato photo. I watered my plants today and was surprised to see 2 tomatoes on one of them. I also took photos and sent them to my friends! I'm going to join in on Amanda's string project. I need a couple of baby quilts.

Bernie Kringel said...

We have had great weather, unseasonably cool all week. Hurray. Except it is supposed to be back to our normal 90's by the weekend. Boo.
The film on the windows.... we did that to a bunch of the windows in our Downieville house. The results have been really good. It was a bit of a trick to do. Actually, what do I know? My husband did the whole thing. But as I watched him do it, I thought it looked kind of finicky.
If you have new trees and it is super hot, you might mulch them at the base. They will retain their water and stay cooler. Just a thought.
I love the I Spy quilt. Do you need anymore fabric for the centers? I could probably come up with some if you want. I just won a set of 4" I Spy squares over at Val Reynold's site and I am pretty excited about it. Maybe I will make a quilt like yours and we can have matching grandma quilts. ;-)

piecefulwendy said...

The I Spy quilt is going to be really cute -- your I Spy fabrics are so fun (I love the turtles). Will be fun to see your string quilt. I need to decide whether I'm going to join in on making one. I found background fabric in one shop last week, but didn't buy it thinking I could buy it later, and never found it again. Now I need to order it, so I'm behind. Ah well. I'll watch yours and Amanda's and maybe catch up!

Tirzah said...

I HAVEN'T PUT THE FILM ON MY WINDOWS BUT I DID PUT UP HEAT BLOCKING SCREENS. THEY ARE A FABRIC LIKE SUBSTANCE, MANY RESTAURANTS ARE USING THIS TYPE OF FABRIC FOR LIGHT BLOCKING BUT MINE ARE FOR OUTDOOR INSTALLATION. YOU CUT AND VELCRO THEM TO THE WINDOW FRAMES. THEY BLOCK A TON OF HEAT AND I CAN LOOK OUT BUT MY NEIGHBORS CAN'T SEE IN. SO WIN WIN FOR ME.

harada57 said...
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