Sashed Sixteen Patch Finish

It's a finish!!

Sashed Sixteen Patch

57 x 67.5

This is one of four quilts I started in July 2023 after receiving baggies of 2 inch squares from a couple of folks. Plus I already had a baggie of my own. 

At the time I assembled this top most of my stash was scraps (pretty much still is) but someone had recently given me the lime green yardage so decided to see if there was enough of that. Well, there wasn't quite enough - I used it in the nine patch cornerstones but didn't have enough lime for the nine patch corner stones in the sashings around the outside edges. 

I'm not really a fan of lime green; however, I have to say that I think it spices up a quilt of mostly older floral squares. 

I assembled the top in August 2023.

I quilted it on my sewing machine with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. 

I put on a scrappy binding from leftover binding pieces given to me.  I just sewed a bunch of pieces together so it looked like I had enough to go round. Strangely enough I had EXACTLY the right amount of binding for the second time this month. I had to add a little piece to the backing. 

Someone gave me that wild and crazy backing piece a long time ago and I set it aside for this quilt.  Not sure why. Maybe because it has a little lime green in it? 

And sew on...

Monday Musings at Brenda's Songbird Designs

***

I've finished three books in the last few weeks.

1.

The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer. A historical fiction novel inspired by Operation Paperclip. 

"Operation Paperclip was a secret U.S. program that recruited over 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians after World War II to advance American military, space, and intelligence capabilities."

2.

The Irish Daughter of New York by Kate Hewitt. Historical fiction. First of the Maggie O'Halloran series. 

"Kate Hewitt’s The Irish Daughter of New York (published March 31, 2026) introduces Maggie O’Halloran, an Irish teenager arriving in New York City in 1891 with her younger brother. Expecting to reunite with their father, they instead find themselves alone, penniless, and forced to navigate the harsh realities of the Lower East Side."

3.

7 Days by Mike Kraus.  Book 3 in the disaster/post-apoc thriller trilogy. Well, that's the end of that series. Not sure I like how it ended and not sure what caused the disaster; however, I must say if there ever is a disaster that changes our world as we know it there's a lot of good survival tips in the book.

This Week's Hats

Everyday Ease Caps Free Crochet Pattern

Everyday Crochet Beanie Free Pattern

For Christmas bags for Rosebud school children on the Rosebud reservation.

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

HST Four Patch Finish

It's a finish!

HST Four Patch

50 x 70

Made with 3 inch width scraps. I have it on my UFO list as a new start in 2024 and as a flimsy in 2024. 

I can't find a photo of the 2024 flimsy but I do see a post where I was making blocks in 2024.  It is one of many quilts I was working on to empty a box of 3 inch width scraps that is still not empty. 

I quilted it on my sewing machine with horizonal and vertical lines. 

It has a scrappy binding...

...and a wild and crazy backing. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

***

Polymyalgia Rheumatica. I'd never heard of it until Tuesday after a call from the doc office.  I've had neck pain since end of July that started as a burning sensation then developed into pain so severe I could hardly move my head. I did some neck exercises and massager. I put on ice bag. I put on icy hot. I took tylenol. Pain was worse when I got up in morning and I had a difficult time sleeping. I thought it was stress related.  Pain moved to upper legs. I could hardly get out of bed, sleep, brush hair, etc.  Sometimes I felt tingling on my scalp and feet. It was hard to tell if it was joint, muscle or never pain. And finally the pain spread to upper arms. Again, pain was most severe when trying to sleep and when I got up in morning. After a few hours pain lessened.  

Finally I called doc office on Monday and got in an hour later. Xrays showed a little degenerative disease disorder on C6-7 but doc said that shouldn't be causing all that pain. They drew blood for lab tests. On Tuesday nurse called to say my ESR, an inflammation marker, was very high. ESR is a marker of inflammation; however, it is not specific as to what causes inflammation. Doc thought Polymyalgia Rheumatica and prescribed prednisone for a week as well as physical therapy. I'm to call doc back on Monday to let them know how well prednisone worked. If it doesn't nurse said I would be referred to rheumatology.  I'm glad to say that after 4 prednisone pills I'm feeling pretty good. I'll report that to doc on Monday. I started PT on Wednesday, the same day I started the predisone.  I have also looked into foods to eat for an anti-inflammatory diet. Actually, it looks like I pretty much already have a diet like the ones I've seen - Mediterranean and DASH. 

The rain finally stopped and I was able to go out and do a little gardening yesterday. If it hadn't been raining the last week or so I might have been out gardening and attributed  the leg pain when it started to over doing it out in the garden. 

So, sorry if I haven't answered all comments lately. I just haven't felt much like sitting at the computer for very long. 

 

The Green Contessa Finish

It's a finish!

Green Contessa

40 x 60

I made the complete block set back in July 2025 and put them in my SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. At that time, I also made blocks for a blue version as well as a pink version. I wanted to use up scraps that accumulated in the 2.5 inch width box. 

I used Moda's free pattern called Contessa.  

(It is actually what I call a Basket Weave pattern).

BUT

I didn't use a jellyroll. 

I didn't make as many blocks.

I didn't make stripsets of 5 WOF strips (because I didn't have that many). Instead I made 4 strip sets of 3 or 4 strips and then cut them into the 6.5 inch sections and added  2.5 x 6.5 inch rectangle(s) (from 2.5 inch width scrap bin) to the ends of each section. 

This month I assembled the top and quilted it on my sewing machine with vertical and horizontal lines. 

The back and binding. 

Now it's ready to go hug a wee one. 

And sew on...

 

Hollow Nine Patch Finish

It's a finish!

Hollow Nine Patch

52.5 x 73.5

Made with 4 inch squares, blocks finish at 10.5 inches. 

I completed the block set back in June 2025.

Quilted on my sewing machine with horizontal and vertical lines.

I recently received some binding pieces. There wasn't quite enough of the diagonal stripe for this quilt but there was a similar stripey piece in the box so I added in that one for a scrappy binding.

And the back is red.

And sew on...

Monday Musings at Brenda's Songbird Designs

***

Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. Little Cathy needs to get outside and finish up some gardening tasks!  It's been raining here every day for over a week. 

***

Oh joy! I mentioned I received some binding pieces lately. The box from Elle also contained some strings, some granny floral strips and a few pieces of the rainbow.

***

I haven't yet mentioned the books I've recently finished:

The Castle in the Glen by Rhys Bowen. "A ghostwriter plunges into danger as she unravels the dark secrets of a powerful Scottish family in a thrilling novel of romance and mystery "  - Amazon.  I've read several other books by Rhys Bowen. 

Once We Were Sisters by Ann Bennett. "Totally heartbreaking and page-turning World War II historical fiction".  I've read several other books by Ann Bennett. 

Books 4-6 of 38 of the Clint Wolf Mystery Series by BJ Bourg. But Not Forever, But Not For Naught, But Not Forbidden.  And on to the next in the series!

This Week's Hats

This week's hats. 

For Christmas project for children on Rosebud reservation.

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

Cheerios Finish

It's a finish!

Cheerios - Orange and Yellow Version

40 x 60

I made Cheerios blocks back in 2024 and 2025 as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project to use scraps in the 4.5 and 2.5 inch width boxes. 

In late 2025 I sorted the blocks into 4 piles for comfort quilts - 3 small ones and one larger one.

I quilted it with horizontal and vertical lines on my sewing machine.

The backing and binding.

The other Cheerios quilts:

Green Cheerios

Red and Yellow Cheerios

The larger complete block set with pink, purple, blue blocks is in the SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin.

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

Purple is the color of the month but I've been in quilting mode lately so maybe by month end I will do a little purple piecing. 

 

Orphan Milton Finish

It's a finish!

Orphan Milton

48 x 60

Last November (2025) the theme in my sewing space was "orphans".  Back then I made quite a few orphan block tops from orphans accumulated over the years - most made by other folks. 

I guess my theme for this one was blocks with brown in them somewhere. I added frames to some blocks so they all finished at 12 inches. 

I quilted it on my sewing machine with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. 

The back has some orphan blocks too. 

Quite some time ago someone had sent me the dark triangles I used to make HSTs and then some Churn Dash blocks and then put them in the orphanage. 

If you are interested, I have a page of orphan block quilts I've finished in the last couple of years. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

***

It's been raining for days so I haven't been able to get out into the gardens to collect flower seeds or herbs for drying. I do have some pics taken about a week ago of some herbs in the herb garden. 

Horseradish

The old gardening saying is that you should only harvest horseradish in months that have an “R” in them — typically from September through April — because cooler weather after the first hard frost develops the root’s full flavor and size. 

I've had horseradish in the herb garden for years. I like a little of it with roast beef but who can afford roast beef these days? And John doesn't eat food anymore so I'm thinking that next spring I will dig out all the horseradish (if that's possible) and replace that section of the herb garden with something like chamomile which is an annual. I like chamomile tea. Might as well grow my own.

Basil

I like it fresh sprinkled on tomatoes.  I didn't make any pesto this year.  I dry it and usually put some in chicken veg soup. And some I mix with other herbs for an Italian seasoning mix.

Parsley

I'm not a big fan of parsley but I do dry it and it also gets used to make Italian seasoning. 

Oregano.

It also goes into my Italian seasoning. 

Sage

A little goes a long way. I like to put it and other herbs in cavity of whole chicken and then roast it. I like sage dressing too. My plant is getting old and woody so maybe it will be time to take cuttings in spring if I want to keep any sage plants. 

Rosemary

It is not hardy here so I dig up and bring inside in the Fall. I used to make topiary wreaths of rosemary back in the days we sold things at Farmer's Market. Garlic and rosemary chicken is wonderful. 

And finally there's thyme. I use it in soups. 

I have grown other herbs - peppermint (for tea and for oil to keep away mice) took over so I pulled it all out. Same with lemon balm. I used to grow cilantro because John loved salsa but I don't like the taste so since it's an annual I didn't sow it this year. I sow dill every year but this year it didn't do well. I grow chives but not in the herb garden - I grow them near some of my roses along with other alliums. And I grow borage and more basil in my veg garden as companion plants. I used to have a long row of lavender but it all died one winter. I used to make lavender wands and sachets with it. 

And sow on...

 

String X Finish

It's a finish!

String X

42 x 56

When I work with strings I usually make a few quilts with longer strings and as the strings get shorter and skinnier I make quilts like this one.

I used Bonnie Hunter's pattern for String X

I started making blocks in 2025 and finished them up this year.

I quilted it with vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines.

Now it is ready to go off and hug a wee one. 

There's polka dots on back.

And sew on...

More news later.

 

Rail Fence Finish

It's a finish!

Rail Fence

40 x 50

I started making the blocks back in March 2025 as one project to empty a box of 1.5 inch width scraps. 

Blocks finish at 5 inches.

I quilted it with lines on my sewing machine. 

The back and binding are purple.

And sew on...

Monday Musings at Brenda's Songbird Designs

Lately I've been working in the native wildflower garden. Several types of Asters are in bloom now. 

And sow on...