Pastel Strings Top And A Week In Review

It's a top!

Pastel Strings

40 x 60

Strings was the April theme in my sewing space to move UFOs and scraps forward. I didn't get very far because that month I called the ambulance for hubby John and he ended up an hour away in MICU and Respiratory unit for a week. And the reason he got aspiration pneumonia that put him in he hospital is because he has a fractured jaw and jaw bone infection. And since he can't swallow a lot of infection and blood built up and tried to go down his throat but couldn't so instead went to his lungs. The infection also tried to get out of his jaw and made a little hole under his jaw so  gunk could ooze out.  Reason he can't swallow and has fractured jaw is because long ago when he had oropharyngeal cancer he had radiation and all these years later the side effects of radiation are still taking a toll on him. 

I made a few string tops in April but still have quite a few that need attention. Since the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) "color" of the month is pastels I thought I would sort out all the pastel strings for a little top. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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And now for the "Week in Review" part of this post...

June 12 - we made a trip an hour away to the University of Iowa (UOI) hospital and clinics for a presurgical evaluaion and ENT appointment.  John was hoping for a free flap restoration of his right jaw like he had on his left jaw in 2016. At that time they took his fibular and blood vessels and made it into a jaw bone.   This time they had told us they might take a bone from his arm to reconstruct his right jaw.  John's goals were to get rid of infection in jaw and keep it from coming back, fix jaw fracture so he was not in pain.  The jaw bone fractured because it is necrotic from long ago radiation.   After much discussion it was decided that they would remove the bone but not rebuild it so he would have a "hang jaw".  He doesn't need jaw to eat since he will always have G-tube so doesn't really need it. He will still be able to talk. The surgery will be easier on him as will be recovery. He was agreeable with all of that. Of course they placed a lot of emphasis on "quality of life over quantity of life".  No date has been set yet for the surgery. 

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June 10 - 16 - A lot of John's family were in town for a family reunion/camp out at the county park down the road.  I took John over to the park several days for a few hours so he could visit with everyone. Thankfully the weather was beautiful most of the time.   John(1st generation) is the oldest of 8 children. 3 are now deceased. He and his siblings and spouses had 25 children (second generation). Those 25 children (second generation) are still having children. I think the oldest of that generation is 54 and the youngest is probably 3.  And we now have Scarlet who will be two in a month or so and the first of her generation.    We took family photos on Saturday and 47 showed up that day although a lot of families came and went at various times so were not in the photo. A lot of the second generation and their families did not attend. They are all scattered across the U.S. from Oregon to Texas to Arizona to Missouri to Florida and probably other parts unkown. 

A small fraction of the family.

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June 17 - I took John to UOI for Mohs surgery on the squamous cell carcinoma on his nose. Appointment was for 9 o'clock and they did not finish with him until 4 o'clock. It was an hour drive and in the morning I had to drive right into high winds and heavy rain. Thankfully I was on an interstate; however, at one point I drove with my hazard lights on at 35 miles per hour. And thankfully it was sunny and clear when I drove home.  John's nose is so bandaged up that he can't wear his glasses for a few days. Sunday afternoon we take off that bandage and then I start wound care and thankfully for his follow up appointment on Wednesday I just need to take a few photos of his nose and add to his chart, they will review them and then follow up with a phone call. 

Poor guy.

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Also this week the storms took down some trees  I need to have my son help me clean up. And this morning I saw a raccoon on the garage roof I chased away. I think it has been sneaking into my garage. And I read four books. So more on all those things and the state of the gardens later.  

Pastel Streak of Lightning

It's a top!

Streak of Lightning

in pastels.

36 x 45

At the beginning of the year I decided to use scraps to make three different types of "Streak of Lightning" quilts. I had a little box of pastel scraps I intended to use to make a baby quilt. For this quilt I decided to use the instructions at the Root Connection blog to make 9 inch finished blocks. 

Back in January I made 4 "A" blocks and 3 "B" blocks using light blues and grays and neutrals found in my 3.5 inch width scrap box. 

So this month when the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) "color" of the month is pastels I decided to finish up blocks and assemble the top for this little quilt. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

 

Hollow Nine Patch Top

It's a top!

Hollow Nine Patch

42 x 52.5

I'm trying to empty a box of 4 inch width scraps that I have accumulated over the years from others. I usually have a couple of Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects going for each width of scraps but sometimes I just have so many odd lengths of different colors so I decide to just see how many comfort quilts I can make to empty the box. 

For this quilt I made Hollow Nine Patch blocks. All the squares came from the box I'm trying to empty.

Since I ended up with blocks with a lot of different values I decided to put lightest blocks on top and work down to the darkest. 

The box of 4 inch width scraps I've been working from is a large flat rate USPS box. 

So far I've made the following tops/block sets with scraps in that box:

1. Yankee Puzzle Top

2. Yankee Puzzle #2 block set of 48 blocks

3. Blue/Orange Four Patch Top (also added orange solid)

4. Basket Weave (also added orange solid)

5. Four Patch and Two Rails (brown, orange, yellow)

6. 29 Wonky Stars (for an ongoing Wonky Star project)

7. Squares on the Diagonal 

8. Quirky pink, blue, purple

9. Irish Chain (black and gray)

10. This top - Hollow Nine

I have one more post to go about that box of 4 inch width scraps and then I will maybe move on to another box. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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We will be leaving in a little bit for an hour drive to Iowa City for hubby's pre-surgical and ENT appointments. Hopefully they will give him a date for surgery to repair his jaw fracture. The antibiotic he has been on for about six weeks seems to have taken care of the jaw bone infection. 

***

After several days of thunderstorms and high winds, high temps and humidity we have a BEAUTIFUL day. The sun is shining and the humidity is lower and temp is about 30 degrees cooler now than it has been.  

 

Irish Chain Top

It's a top!

Irish Chain

52.5 x 73.5

I'm trying to empty a box of 4 inch width scraps that I have accumulated over the years from others. I usually have a couple of Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects going for each width of scraps but sometimes I just have so many odd lengths of different colors so I decide to just see how many comfort quilts I can make to empty the box. 

For this quilt all of the black pieces in the Nine Patches came from the 4 inch width scrap box. Most of the gray pieces in the Nine Patches also came from the 4 inch width scrap box. 

For the large squares I was thinking I had enough of that gray with those fancy circles. In the back of my mind I was thinking the Nine Patches were 7.5 inches unfinished and not 11 inches unfinished. Good thing I caught my mistake before I cut any gray chunks. 

And sew on...

The box of 4 inch width scraps I've been working from is a large flat rate USPS box. 

So far I've made the following tops/block sets with scraps in that box:

1. Yankee Puzzle Top

2. Yankee Puzzle #2 block set of 48 blocks

3. Blue/Orange Four Patch Top (also added orange solid)

4. Basket Weave (also added orange solid)

5. Four Patch and Two Rails (brown, orange, yellow)

6. 29 Wonky Stars (for an ongoing Wonky Star project)

7. Squares on the Diagonal 

8. Quirky pink, blue, purple

9. This top.

I think there will be one more top! Stay tuned! 

Singing The Blues With A Top

It's a top!

Singing The Blues

54 x 72

A big star center with a musical themed collage...

...and blue charms (5 inch squares) accumulated over time from others...

...make a nice comfort quilt. 

And sewing those charms together randomly is nice mindless sewing for when I just want to listen to those marbles rolling around in my head and for a rainy day when little Cathy wants to play.

Hmmm...there sure seems to be a lot of Elephant butts in there. I didn't realize when sorting or sewing squares. I forgot to tell myself  "no ifs, ands, or butts"

And sew on...

Monday Musings at Brenda's Songbird Designs

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When it is not raining I'm usually in the gardens more than the sewing room. 

Basket Flower 

Coreopsis

Rose

Sugar Snap peas

Roses

Clematis

Martagon Lilies

Daylily

Lilies

Rose

Penstemon (Beardtongue)

And sow on...

 

It's A Top!

It's a top!

Quirky

49 x 63

I'm trying to empty a box of 4 inch width scraps that I have accumulated over the years from others. I usually have a couple of Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects going for each width of scraps but sometimes I just have so many odd lengths of different colors so I decide to just see how many comfort quilts I can make to empty the box. 

For this quilt I used the blue, pink and purple pieces in the box. 

I made 7.5 inch unfinished Four Patch, Two Rail and Rail and Two Squares blocks...

...and I added in some saturated purple 7.5 inch unfinished squares.

Then I randomly sewed blocks together.

*** Edited to add...this morning when I went into the sewing room I found another row for this quilt under some other tops I had webbed together. So when I get that row added to this top it will be 49 x 70.  Sheesh!

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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The box of 4 inch width scraps I've been working from is a large flat rate USPS box. 

So far I've made the following tops/block sets with scraps in that box:

1. Yankee Puzzle Top

2. Yankee Puzzle #2 block set of 48 blocks

3. Blue/Orange Four Patch Top (also added orange solid)

4. Basket Weave (also added orange solid)

5. Four Patch and Two Rails (brown, orange, yellow)

6. 29 Wonky Stars (for an ongoing Wonky Star project)

7. Squares on the Diagonal 

8. This top

I still have pieces in my box of 4 inch width scrap so guess I need to make some blocks and/or another top! 

 

99 Pastel Charms Top

It's a top!

99 Charms

40.5 x 49.5

I was reading about Nancy's (Grace and Peace Quilting) lovely project in memory of her husband.  One of the baby quilts she is making is called 99 Charms and was inspired to make a few for places I donate baby quilts. 

I have accumulated a box of charms (5 inch squares) given to me by others over the years. Maybe it is time to work on emptying the box.  Since the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) "color" of the month is pastels I pulled out 99 pastel charms...

...and made a top.

The theme in my sewing space this month to move UFOs forward WAS "reproductions"; however, with hubby's health issues and surgery pending and lots of doctor appointments an hour away I decided to change this month's theme to "free range" meaning "as I wish" which means "mindless" sewing for now.   Also a lot of John's family will be in town for the annual family reunion campout in the county park down the road.  Also I still have a lot of gardening tasks to do.

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

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We are finally getting some rain!!! 

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I probably won't post anything tomorrow but we will celebrate our 53rd wedding anniversary! Oh gosh, how can that be? 

Sunrise, sunset 

swiftly fly the years,

one season following another,

laden with happiness,

and tears.

 

A Small Plus (Mind Your Busyness)

 

It's a top!

A Small Plus

(Mind Your Busyness)

43 x 43

Mottled shade and wind made it difficult to take a good photo.

I started making these blocks back in July 2025. (On that post you can see the actual color or lack of color in the blocks). I had a little box of pastel scraps and someone had just given me quite a few low volume 4.5 inch squares so I decided to make a few plus sign blocks. (Also on that July 2025 blog post I mentioned I had a case of poison ivy. Funny thing...I now have a bad case of poison ivy!)

So...I made 15 blocks and decided I did not like them so put them away for a rainy day when little Cathy wanted to play. I'm not really a fan of pastels or low volume to begin with but this girl who loves scrappy and busy quilts decided these blocks were too busy for me. (Maybe I should have named it Mind Your Busyness???) 

Well, here we are today. Since the "color" of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) is pastel I decided to pull out these blocks and do something with them. I made one more block and added some light gray sashing to corral some of that busyness and now I have a little comfort quilt top and an empty little bag of blocks. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts. 

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We are supposed to get some rain the rest of the week through Wednesday as well as temps reaching 100. We can use the rain because the ground is like cement and anything in bloom has very small flowers probably because according to drought maps our area has been abnormally dry. I can do without the high temps especially since I don't have a/c and with rain there will be humidity. 

***

I finished a book! The Bible of Blackwater County by Jenny Cafaro. Inspired by the story of her great grandmother " The Bible of Blackwater County is a Southern Gothic historical fiction novel that tells the story of Bessie Winter, an Appalachian woman navigating trauma and survival during the Great Depression." 

It's A Flimsy!

 

 

It's a flimsy!

48 x 60

These are 12 inch blocks made with 4.5 inch squares and 4.5 inch width scraps.

I decided on a red, yellow, orange color scheme with low volumes. 

Most of the HSTs came out of the Parts Department as well as all of the dark and light squares.  I just had to make 20 more HSTs to make a total of 80 needed for 20 blocks. And I had to make 20 QSTs - one for each block. 

This is the third scrappy quilt I have made with this layout. 

I finished a blue one using 4 inch squares, HSTs and QSTs. 

I finished a larger top using 4.5 inch parts but haven' quilted it yet. 

Someone sent me an inspiration photo they said was found on Pinterest. I was inspired by the photo to make some blocks from scraps.

I later used Google Lens to track down further info about the photo and found it pinned on Pinterest and the maker on Instagram. I'm not on Instagram but could see enough info about the quilt to see that a Finnish lady has a pattern for it called "Busy Quilt" if you are interested in a pattern. I'm not sure what size her blocks are or what size squares, etc. she used to make her quilt. 

And sew on...

I finished a book! Three Ordinary Girls by Tim Brady. "The Remarkable Story of Three Dutch Teenagers Who Became Spies, Saboteurs, Nazi Assassins - and WWII Heroes".

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Oh joy! I received a surprise package of scraps from Sandi today that made me smile! 

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I'm still itching and scratching all over with poison ivy. And I thought I avoided a patch of it when I was out gardening. This year I sure have seen some ginormous poison ivy leaves popping up here and there. I've put clear plastic over some of it hoping to solarize it to death.

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