Red blocks

It has been a disappointing week for finishes here, folks. Probably because I keep sitting on the sofa watching movies and eating Lemon Oreos instead of actually working on anything.

Ha,ha! Of course I'm kidding. I'm really cleaning the basement and garage. Fun times.

I did manage to finish a couple of things. First, there were these babies:

These are the triangle blocks for my RSC14 quilt. Red and white always look so happy together, don't you think? I also did the cutting for the Odd Fellow's blocks, but haven't assembled them yet. I'm not sure I'll keep the polka dotted block on the left. Looks a little too "Raggedy Ann" to me.

I also made up one test block for the Dancing Nines quilt:

This block is much straighter than it looks in pictures!

I think I like it. I chose the more open cherry fabric as the sashing. The more packed cherry fabric is very nice, but I like the look of this better. Not to worry! I'm sure the rejected fabric will get used somewhere. I was worried about the width of the sashing because my blocks are smaller than those in the pattern, and I ultimately cut the sashing 1 1/4 rather than 1 1/2 inches. It's a little bit, but it made a big difference to me. I have enough 9 patches for 20 of these blocks, and plenty of leftover cuts if I decide to make more for a few more blocks.

Finally, our cool and wet summer has had some good side effects:

This astilbe hasn't bloomed in years (literally), but has tons of flowers right now. I forgot how pretty the blooms are! I think I even forgot what color it was supposed to be, but I'm loving it right now.

I want to take just a second here at the end of the post to say how much I appreciate all the comments people have been leaving on this little blog. It's very gratifying! I try to answer every one (sometimes a couple of days later because life gets in the way).  If you are a no-reply blogger, please know that I appreciate your comments too, but sometimes can't find you online to reply.

Thanks for stopping by, and everyone enjoy your summer weekend!

Linking to Sarah, Amanda Jean, and Angela -- stop by their link-ups for lots of happy inspiration! (Or some fun time-wasting. Either way!)