This lovely quilt was pieced by Liz. It is one of those that I can stare at for hours, and my brain will come up with all kinds of secondary patterns. I just love this kind of quilt, made up of fairly simple blocks but clever placement and fabric choices give the eye so much to discover. Liz chose a simple swirly pattern called “Constance” to finish her quilt.
And suddenly it’s October, and the last quarter of the year begins. We still have summer weather with pretty hot temperatures (by our standards) forecast for the whole week. On some level we certainly deserve this because June was so cold and wet but on the other hand it is not exactly normal and we really need some rain. But it is good for my butternut squash that has struggled in previous years and is doing exceptionally well now. I have seven more on the vine that need another two or three weeks without frost to be ready. And I gambled and planted a third crop of bush beans, and the first ones are ready to be picked now. After all my complaining in the beginning I have to admit that the garden season turned out quite well in the end.
Our bunny friend is also busy in the garden this month but not tending to flowers or veggies. The garden fence needed some maintenance, so he grabbed a brush and a can of paint and is doing his best to cover it with an even coat of paint without making too much of a mess. The last blocks are a little more detailed/complicated, so feel free to simplify or embroider small details. Once again the pattern will be available for free download until the end of the month and move to the pattern store when the November block is realeased.
EDIT: The month of free download is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for free download.
Für die deutsche(n) Version(en) mit metrischen Maßen bitte dem/den Kauflink(s) unten für die englische(n) Version(en) folgen und beim Checkout angeben, dass die deutsche Version gewünscht ist. Ich verschicke dann per email die Anleitung(en) in der gewünschten Sprache.
Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.
Here is another quilt suitable for Jelly Rolls, this one was made by Denise. Aren’t the colours just lovely? And if you take a step back and/or squint, the layout seems to become almost three-dimensional, with half of the blocks floating above the others in a gentle wave. Or maybe that’s just the way my weird brain works but I absolutely love it. The batiks Denise used have floral and leaf patterns, and since green is the dominant colour in her quilt, we chose the leafy design “Jasper” to finish her project.
Here is another quilt made by Lillian. Aren’t the colours just striking? I love how the black strips pull it all together. The quilt didn’t need elaborate quilting, and Lillian chose the modern design “Taj Mahal” to finish her project.
This cheerful quilt in bright colours was also made by Bonnie. I love this pattern, it can easily be used for a scrap quilt, and it is also one of those that shows secondary designs when you look at it long enough. In fact it has been a while since I quilted this, and I wondered why I called it Nine Patch Stars because I couldn’t see any stars at all… until my brain figured it out and presented me with Ohio Stars that have a Nine Patch block in the centre. The quilting design Bonnie chose for her quilt is called “Constance”.
“Hummingbirds” is a lovely quilt in soft colours made by Bonnie. She chose the design “Ginger Flower” to finish her project. Once again I would like to point out that the quilting is not as visible in reality as it seems in the pictures. It does not take away from the quilt itself, there are some tricks to make it more visible in pictures.
“Beach Glass” is a Trip Around The World quilt made by Penny, using an assortment of batiks. Aren’t the colours just lovely? The pattern we chose for quilting is called “Felicity”, and its curves and up and down movement create the feeling of gently rocking waves.
Even though I haven’t been to Germany since the beginning of Covid, I am still sewing preemiequilts. These eight are from 2020 and 2021. I am hoping to visit my mom again next year, and hopefully I’ll have eight more little quilts ready by then. I usually have one feature fabric that I buy on sale and use for the back and outer border, and then make up the rest from my leftovers and stash. The NICUs prefer to have just a few seams and not too much quilting, so I usually just stitch 4 inch squares together and quilt through them diagonally.
Where did summer go? I can’t believe it’s already September. However we had cool and rainy weather until the end of June, so I guess it’s no surprise that only two months of proper summer weather feels a bit short. And while I don’t like that it is getting darker every morning, I do enjoy that it is cooler and doesn’t usually heat up as quickly anymore. My garden is doing great, and I seem to be able to keep the powdery mildew away for longer this year… keeping fingers crossed. With our climate here it usually takes over at some point, and while the squashes do mostly okay, last year I had to pull my second batch of peas in mid-August because all the plants were so heavily covered in mildew that they were just done. Somebody in my gardening group said that spraying them with a solution of half milk and half water every few days as a preventive measure works really well, something about the milk protein reacting with the sunlight (?). That sounded easy enough, and as soon as the second batch of peas emerged in July I have been spraying the peas, cucumbers and squash plants. Aside from the occasional sour mik smell and the fact that the milk residue builds up on the leaves which doesn’t look too pretty it seems to be working really well. The peas are flowering and producing pods, and I have more cucumbers and butternut squash than ever before.
Our bunny friend is using the garden for a different purpose this month, hanging up laundry. While it is so much easier to just stuff wet clothes into the dryer than hanging them on the line, nothing feels and smells as good as freshly sun/wind-dried laundry. As always, the pattern for this block will be free until the end of the month and then move to the pattern store when the next block is published in October.
EDIT: The month of free download is over, and the block has moved to the pattern store where it is now available for purchase. If you just need the finishing instructions, they are still available for free download.
Für die deutsche(n) Version(en) mit metrischen Maßen bitte dem/den Kauflink(s) unten für die englische(n) Version(en) folgen und beim Checkout angeben, dass die deutsche Version gewünscht ist. Ich verschicke dann per email die Anleitung(en) in der gewünschten Sprache.
Wer nur die Anleitung zur Fertigstellung sucht, kann diese nun auch auf Deutsch kostenlos herunterladen.
