Month: September 2026

What a handsome quilt from Emily Dennis of “Quilty Love.” And I really enjoyed making it. I especially liked working with color placement to draw the eye around the quilt.

“Cross Tiles” finished at 62 by 78 inches–a perfect lap size. The grey “field fabric” and binding is Kona Titanium. I like the soft look the grey gives this quilt, and though less dramatic than a lighter color in the white family, it will not show smudges and so on as easily.

Here’s a picture to give you a better sense of the size.

The backing is “Bohemion Garden” from P&B Textiles, DSN#05323. I wanted a backing that didn’t “fight” with the graphic front of the quilt, and I’m really. happy with this choice. The pantograph is “Arcadia” by Patricia E. Ritter.

The choice of quilting thread color is always…interesting. For this quilt, Signature (cotton) Cobalt Blue was very quiet on the back and worked well on the front.

I will be making this pattern again, probably because it sews up fast and is just fun to cut and sew. The other recent pattern I made from Quilty Love, “Plus and Minus” falls into this same category. (And I have future plans to make a larger version.) I named it “Fall in Maine,” and it is part of my 12-month table topper project.

Have a great weekend everyone!

“Pumpkin” is going to be my fall table topper small quilt. It’s 24 by 24 inches. And it took me FOUR DAYS” last week to make that foundation paper pieced pumpkin in the center. Yes! I went on a side trip with at least 4 projects on the design wall waiting for me. But, also yes, “Pumpkin” scratched a quilting itch I had. And what’s the rush, anyway? The design wall projects aren’t going anywhere.

I had grandmother duties on Sunday which involved taking a granddaughter to a tutor session at a local book store. So, I took along “Cross Tiles” to work on her binding, and I made myself a little nest on a small round table.

And in one hour, with no distractions, I was able to bind the whole of one of the long sides.

I cut this binding at 2 1/2 inches as I was thinking maybe I would try to machine stitch it down. But, in the end, I couldn’t do it, and so, the binding went onto the right side, turning to the wrong side to handsew. I normally cut binding at 2 1/4 inches and I like that tight binding so much better.

I finished all the binding later Sunday night! So, pics and information on “Cross Tiles”will be coming soon. “Pumpkin” will be slower as I’m hand quilting it.

How did that happen? This summer flew by for me, and it was a delightful summer, too.

This morning I switched out the table toppers. Here’s “Fall in Maine,” which is meant to remind me of the brilliant blue fall sky and the bright, bright fall leaves set amidst the green “pointy firs.”

My air conditioning is fixed, and the misbehaving zone damper is on order. I think it makes sense to fix that before giving it any more time to…misbehave sporadically. Thus, next summer should hopefully be without air conditioning drama.

It’s going to be a quiet week for me, which is a blessing after last week’s busy schedule.

A quiet week means quilting, gardening, and, as always for me, cooking.

“Bright and Beautiful” has landed in its new home. When it was unboxed at my longtime friend’s house in Colorado, her kitty found it immediately while she was dealing with the empty box. She sent me this picture with the news that it had arrived safely.

It has now been washed (with color grabbers included) and gifted to its intended owner.

“Cross Tiles” is on the longarm. The English Paper Piecing table topper project grows each night. I’ll need 25 blocks plus edge pieces, unless I applique to a border. And look what is happening on the design wall:

These blocks are Leila Gardunia’s “Scrappy Stars.” I purchased the 8-inch block size and 25 different center patterns and was making blocks slowly as a kind of leader/ender project. But, at some point, a quilt grows in size until it is time to make it the primary project so it can be moved along.

There are two of these blocks in process on my sewing table, so that leaves five more blocks to make–and, then, the the task of sewing the rows and the whole top together. Will it be finished this week? That’s the goal.

This scrappy quilt has been a fun project. Blocks will, of course, get moved around. AND, note that Leila now has now designed “Scrappy Diamond” blocks.

It’s bright and sunny here today. A beautiful day that will not be too hot.

Fall is…here.