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August 21, 2023
Final layout for I Spy............ from Exuberant Color


The only thing I had to decide was where the red/orange/hot pink I Spy prints would be.  I could have just sewn this together without a layout ahead of time but I didn't want those colors clumped together in one area.





Good news!  My tomatoes are finally turning red.  There are about 5 more that probably can be picked today.

Yesterday got up to 90 with a feel like temperature of 103 at 2 p.m. yesterday.  Today is supposed to be a few degrees cooler but still high humidity and then back to mid to high ...

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August 20, 2023
Almost there................... from Exuberant Color


All of the I Spy blocks are sewn and I only need 5 more of the black and white print blocks.  I need to sew one more strip of the neon stars and white print and cut them into segments to piece with the segments of the other combination.  I thought I had sewn the same number of each combination but I guess I didn't.  After those 5 blocks are sewn I need to turn on the iron and press all of the blocks and then go to the design wall.

I mowed the remaining portion of the front ...

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August 19, 2023
22 out of 63................ from Exuberant Color


All of these blocks need pressing so this isn't a final layout start.  I just keep putting them up on the wall to clear space on my sewing cabinet.  I changed my mind on this quilt and the new size will be 56" x 72".  I may put a border on it.  I'm a third of the way through sewing the blocks.


I showed this tiny yellow plant before.  It came up earlier in the summer and something came along and had it for lunch.  It was stubborn and sent up some new leaves and a teeny tiny ...

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August 17, 2023
Sorting and testing............ from Exuberant Color


I sorted all of the I Spy novelty prints into 2 piles, lights and darks.  Then I chose 4 fabrics for the blocks.  I haven't sewn any of the 4 patches yet but might get to it today.






 There are some that the parents may have to explain to the little ones, like the luggage labels.








The fabric at the bottom right is a Catfish Calhoun print.  I'm not familiar with the name but I have a couple other fabrics with his signature on them.






Here is a close up of th bottom right edge of the fabric ...

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August 15, 2023
I Spy Quilt................ from Exuberant Color


My plan is that every other block will be this 4 patch.  I didn't have enough of either one of the black with neon designs so I used them both.







Then I plan on sewing 4 I Spy squares to fill in between those 4 patches.








I started a mock-up on the design wall so I can see if it will work.  The next thing I will do is choose the groups of 4 of the I Spy squares to make sure I have enough for 40 blocks.  As planned this quilt would be 64" x 80".  These I ...

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June 14, 2023
Pinwheel progress........... from Exuberant Color


It was a good day for pinwheels yesterday.  I cut some more triangles while I was in the basement doing laundry. Then last night I paired some more pieces and sewed for 3 hours.





None of the pinwheels have been pressed yet so I grouped them all in  columns for a photo before they come off the design wall.  I have enough made for one double row border.  There are 3 more of those borders plus 4 shorter single row borders so there is a long way to go. (About 90 more needed.)


I have spent the last 10 years ...

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March 12, 2023
New Challenges from Elaine Adair Pieces

 

Wow - trying to find where my photos got downloaded is a new trial! 

 G'daughter asked me to make her a Hawaiian quilt - a new kind of quilt project, so I found this book of patterns, altho these are not the colors she is wanting, it's a beginning.  She lives 6 hours from me, so that's another challenge and she is not familiar with sewing.   I'm going to start in June when we have a Guild class for this project, and then I'll make simply one block for a pillow. and see how it goes.  The ...

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February 20, 2023
Weekly update: pink and a lot more! from With Strings Attached

 


Friday, 6:30 a.m.:  I shoveled the driveway and front walk before I'd had any coffee!   We got about 3" from the storm.  (Milwaukee, 45 miles north, got 9".)








Saturday evening we enjoyed the Lake County Symphony Orchestra's performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 1.  



I enjoyed a long, albeit muddy walk on Sunday afternoon.  Upper left:  beaver lodge.  Lower right:  horsetails greening up and dogwood reddening up.


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Friday afternoon I delivered the I Spy baby quilt to Eva, the baby's great-great-grandmother.  Eva is 92 and still lives on her own!  We had a lovely visit ...

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February 15, 2023
Midweek: the joy of giving, and I Spy progress from With Strings Attached

 

On Tuesday I gave ten of my quilts to CTCA in Zion.  

The concierge and I took our masks off for the photo op. (I keep a mask in a ziploc bag in a pocket of my purse and had tor rummage around to find it.)


This is the tag that I pinned to each quilt.

I've donated 25 quilts this month.    I will take the wheelchair quilts I've finished (7 out of 13) to the March 1 guild meeting.   I have reduced the mountain of finished quilts to a hill.


# # # # #


In the studio:  I added a row ...

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February 13, 2023
Weekly update: bits and pieces from With Strings Attached

 

On Friday we had lunch with our friends Ann and John at Hackney's in Glenview. Stevens and Ann were kindergarten classmates in Summit, NJ, in 1945. Ann is a wonderful keeper-in-touch and found us through Rotary several years ago. I hadn't been to Hackney's since I was in high school.

AAUW-Waukegan Area Branch met in person (yay!) on Saturday.  The program was about the African-American Museum at the England Manor in Waukegan.  After her presentation we all look forward to touring it.

I stopped at three thrift shops on my way home from the AAUW meeting and ...

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September 6, 2022
Another "I Spy" quilt, ready for gifting from Elaine Adair Pieces

   



Many of these cutsies are from many of YOU!  Thank you Jody, Carol, Candace, Elsie, Alice, Anita, and others!  8-)))  Also, Thank You Janet for the 4.5 in ruler which meant I didn't have any trouble quickly recutting fabric bits to exact measurement needed.   Oops, forgot to photo the back, that I  enlarged a little bit past 42 in. in width.  

This layout is copied from https://mangobeans.wordpress.com/2014/05/30/i-spy-quilt/.   Thank You Wendy!  Her description even included the tricky layout.    


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June 18, 2022
"I Spy ...... from Applique 'n Patch Quilting

..... with my little eye" ...... a finished quilt!  Yeah!


This quilt is heading out to a wee cousin (three times removed for those who follow genealogy).  

There are all kinds of theme fabrics and I can just see her playing the game with her parents and herself alone as well.


It's not often that I show backings, so here is what I did with this one.

I'll have to make up more of these for donation quilts.

Quilt Details:

Started:  November 2021

Finished:  May 2022

Source:  saw a photo or something similar on Pinterest and off I went cutting ...

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April 12, 2022
"Mo-Jo" found again!!!!!!!!!! from Elaine Adair Pieces

 I'm still heeeeere!!!!!!!!!!!  

Remember a previous post where I was sorting my ever-increasing pile of boring light and dark scraps?  This is what happened -- 16 blocks, on point.  More strips had to be cut for this WIP!  





I've been working on the border and faux flange binding of our group Raffle Quilt.  Here are some teaser photos - not allowed to show the full project.  We chose to feature "low volume" and "taupe".  There were some doubts as each block maker checked their stash and wondered "what were they thinking?"  Never fear ... the planners had faith!  


 

I still remember ...

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February 20, 2022
Still Here - Making "I Spy" quilts from Elaine Adair Pieces

 

Another "I Spy" quilt - the back - I finally can use that wild stripe!



Some of you kindly sent me "cutsies" - I'm using them.  They are so bright and colorful - again, thank you to all.  More kid/toddler quilts to come - this one will be ready when needed.  I only quilted little curvy loops in the white borders and left the cutsies unquilted.  The white was quilted from left side across the jaggedy line to the right side  - simple.    As simple as these little squares were, I blanked when it came to their assembly. 

.  

My days have been filled with ...

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May 1, 2021
Checkered Spy Quilt from Expect Moore

I love so many things about this quilt. It is simple to make. You can customize it to the favorite colors of the recipient. And it uses FUSSY CUTTING. Which is basically my favorite. This is the perfect time to go through your stash and justify all the adorable prints you’ve been collecting (not that […]

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December 1, 2020
I Spy Blog Hop from The Cloth Parcel

We have something fun to share with you today! Kimie and Missy from On Williams Street sent us a copy of their brand new I Spy book, which is full of 100 foundation paper pieced block patterns. We love this fresh take on the I Spy quilt, plus you can just use the blocks for […]

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October 16, 2019
"I Spy" Quilt for kids, Thanks Joan! from Elaine Adair Pieces

Joan, I'm using your novelty fabrics!  So cute



I quilted this in big swoopy swirls - nothing fussy.  I put 2 straight lines of quilting in the border.   

(Notice, our lawn is still GREEN!)


This backing is some of the fabric given to me, hoping I'd use it in a kid's donation quilt.


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