Crunch time

Nobody panic, but it's the end of July. Soon it will be August, and you know what that means, don't you? That's right--school. So it's time to buckle down and get all my summer projects done. (I say that like it will really happen. A woman can dream, can't she?)

Seriously, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and need to get some of these projects done so I can feel like I've actually accomplished something. I do this to myself all the time. I may need help.

First up is the blue fields and furrows quilt. If you recall, this came from Vicki Welsh's HSTeria quilt challenge. I really had no intention to start a new quilt, but all these HSTs were already made, so it should have gone fast, right? And it has gone reasonably quickly. I've finished the center:

I like the center, and I think the darker stop border is good. I think I have enough of that for a binding too. I have a ton of blue squares left, so I'm thinking of an inner border of blue and white squares.

 Maybe I'll cut them into rectangles.

Hmmm. I think I like the rectangles. Or maybe smaller squares. We'll see how it works out. Anyone with an opinion, please let me know. Since this started out as another quilt, I also have border fabric all cut and ready to add. Maybe this can get finished this week. While I didn't plan to make this quilt, I am grateful to have had an excuse to use those HSTs and get one more project out of the closet.

Aaah! Those are the only pictures I really have! The red and white dancing nines continues to grow, and the other triangle quilt center is almost finished. I'm also working on a top-secret project which is a gift for a friend, and I made a lot of progress on that, but I can't show it here until it's gifted. There will be pictures once it's sent off, I promise!

Hope everyone else is getting more sewing done.  Too bad life keeps interfering with quilting, isn't it?

Linking with Vicki's last HST linkup, Linky Tuesday, and Let's Bee Social. I always love seeing what everyone else is doing, so go on over and check out some new ideas!

Summer Friday

How is your summer going? We are having the weirdest possible season ever. It was rainy for a long time, then it was hot very briefly, and now we are having fall-like weather with lows in the 50s. It's been beautiful, which is my official explanation for being behind on everything that I was planning to do this summer (including actual work that I MUST finish). You can't waste weather like this when you have winters like ours!

I have been getting a few things done. First up is one of the red Odd Fellow's blocks:

I think this is my favorite one so far. It's really striking up close. I wish I had more of that fabric, but I used up every scrap of it in this block.

I've also made a bunch of the Dancing Nines blocks, and I'm so impatient to see it done that I started putting them together!

Looks wonky, but really just needs pressing!

See why they're called "dancing" nines? I think it looks great so far. The best part of this pattern is that while there are a lot of seams, very few of them have to be matched! It's a very, very easy pattern. (Available HERE, free!) I also found some fabric with larger cherries for an outer border when I'm ready for one. First I have to figure out what to do with all those 4-patches for an inner border. Actually, the first thing I have to do is finish the center, but that's going very quickly. I'm optimistic.

In a huge fit of productivity, I also quilted up the triangle mini that I made earlier this month:

I straight-line quilted this following the diagonals of the triangles. Sometimes a walking foot can be your best friend because this went really quickly.

 I even put the binding on it! It's completely done by machine, which I don't do very often, but it's just not exactly an heirloom, so I'm okay with it.

 Finally, check out these nifty quilt labels my friend Leanne made for me:

Obviously untrimmed.

How great are those? She has a personal embroidery business, The Sewcial Life, and I'll bet she'd make some for you too, for a very reasonable price. There's a link right here, and she's on Facebook too, so go visit and drop her an email if you want to chat about some labels. (Just giving kudos to a friend here! I get no kickbacks! But I am very, very happy with these.)

Hope you are also having great weather where you are. Get outside this weekend and enjoy it!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and SoScrappy. Check them out for more quilty goodness!

Bits and pieces

Wow, where has the day gone? Don't know, but it's 88 degrees and I'm blaming the heat for the time getting away from me.

There is a lot going on in the sewing room here, but little of it is fit for pictures. Everything is in pieces, some of them on the floor, and other things are in piles. The only thing that is really done are a few more blocks for the Loyal Union Sampler:

These were hard to photograph! I like them, though. Only one more block and I'm done with the February blocks. At this rate, this quilt will be done sometime in the next two years or so. They're only 6 inch blocks, so the pieces are small and some of them are very fiddly (if you know what I mean).

I'm also working on the triangle quilts. The center of the fields and furrows is done and now I have to work out some borders. Thankfully, there's a lot of fabric left for that. Then there is this one:

I keep calling this 'exploding triangles,' so the first thing to do is come up with a better name. I like the orange cornerstones with the aqua triangles, and I need to add another color, but I'm not sure what to add. I was thinking of lime green, or maybe yellow. I better decide soon, because I want to be done with this.

The other thing I'm working on (when I get bored with the triangles) is adding the sashing to the Dancing Nines blocks. They go quickly, so I already have a nice stack.

I'm already trying to figure out borders for this one too. I think there is a print with larger cherries, so I'm planning to look for that.

That's what's happening here! Lots of mess, and lots of progress, but not a lot that can be photographed  easily.

Finally, the red daylily has bloomed at last!

It's a good month late. I think even the plants are confused by our weird weather.

Happy sewing to everyone this week! Linking up with Linky Tuesday and Fabric Tuesday. Go check them out!

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!)