September Monthly Recap

September was a month filled with pondering, planning, stash shopping, and stitching.

Studio Squirrels Exhibit A  - the quilt top and scrappy pieced backing for Ludiosis were started and finished, neither of which were seriously on the radar until after the first of the year.

The long-planned set of twelve new pillows achieved a major milestone with the top slabs stitched and the batting and backing for those slabs cut.  Next month I'll get them sandwiched, quilted, and trimmed to size before cutting any of the pillow envelope backing pieces.   The goal is to have them in use by early November.

The vacuum sealed pillow forms were released from their packages and are expanding while the rest of the process proceeds.

Exhibit B for the studio squirrels is Candy Corn - a gift project that saw a quilt top and a finished quilt started/completed during the second half of September.

Exhibit B-Part 2 is the long runner made using the three extra columns from Candy Corn.  

On the intentional side of things, Rastro (the second bonus quilt from the Macnas series) became a finished quilt.

Githerments, the third bonus quilt from the Macnas series, was pin basted and is ready for quilting/binding in October with thread chosen and bobbins wound.

Motley, the fourth bonus quilt top from the Macnas series, was donated to Many Hands and Many Hearts along with yardage I had planned to use for binding.

September saw plans come together and significant prep work for several sets of seasonal utility mats and placemats.  

The squares cut for December's set of reversible utility mats (posted here) have now been sorted into groups for 5 top slabs and 5 back slabs ready for piecing.  Batting and binding strips were also cut.

(Above) Six 

tops (gray print), six backs (spotted black), and six pieces of batting were cut this month with lots of binding made for a second 

set of January placemats.  

I pulled this gathering of pieces from the resource boxes to make a companion set of five utility mats for January.

The scrappy tops will be pieced using these fabrics and the backs will be cut from companionable yardage (pulled but not shown).

I finished this pair of gift pillowcases on the 29th making them the last project of September.

Finally - squirrel Exhibit C - introducing Dug.

* * *

Stay tuned for lots more stitching/quilting/binding during October. 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Little by little, one travels far."

J.R.R. Tolkien

Rastrophiliopustrocity aka Rastro - the Quilt

This is Rastro crumpled on the sewing table just after I finished sewing down the binding.

I can't tell you how much I ADORE everything about this quilt!

Rastro (for short) is the second of the Macnas series bonus quilts designed to use up more leftover rectangles from earlier quilts in the series.

(Rastrophiliopustrocity - noun meaning a spontaneous combustion of creative spark followed by action in order to manifest and bring into existence)

In case you didn't notice them in the photo above, do supersize these photos and check out the amazing early morning clouds in that beautiful light blue sky.

(I took quite a few more photos of those clouds to save for drearier days)

I couldn't resist this shot with the flamingo picnic tablecloth clip and the flamingo fabric beneath it.

(and yes, I did sew the binding on using hot pink thread)

I am thrilled with how the Philip Jacobs Peony and Chrysanthemum backing originally intended for Motley suits Rastro.

(Motley's top was donated to Many Hands and Many Hearts)

Quilted using Glide thread in Graphite and my liberated free motion nested spirals.

51" x 71" 

* * *

After Sunday's family dinner, as he was lighting the candles on my birthday cake, Young Man asked how old I was. 

"MeeMah!  The two numbers in your age equal my ten!"  

Gotta love how he looks at things.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The artist is the one who recaptures that child-like fascination with the world."

Rick Rubin

Studio Squirrels At Work

In the last post, I mentioned my dilemma for backing Rastro.  

The large scale floral in this photo was intended to back Motley (the fourth Macnas series bonus quilt).  After weeks of dithering, I finally decided that Motley, the top, will be donated to Many Hands and Many Hearts so it can become a comfort quilt.  

That decision left the floral yardage available and, truth be told, I like it better for Rastro than either of the other scrappy pieced backing options.

There wasn't enough yardage to match the design along the center seam so I inserted a strip of Kaffe Fassett 's 2021 Moss Flower.  

And now there are two freshly pressed backings hanging on the balcony - Rastro's on the left and the one for Ludiosis on the right.  (both are approximately 62" x 84").

And speaking of Ludiosis, despite my earlier statements about setting the blocks aside for later, this has become a full-on project (thank you, studio squirrels).  

I simply had to put some of the blocks up on the design wall to reassure myself that my plan would work.  Happily, there's definitely enough potential to keep going.  As of Thursday evening, I need only another 30-40 blocks before I can take these off the wall and start on the real layout.  

I'm very glad I did not follow the tutorial's suggestion to sew everything into one massively long strip before pressing and trimming individual blocks.  I've had so much fun adding the narrow cut off edges into the fabric mix and trimming the 4.5" blocks a little along.

* * *

With another ten days with temperatures in the high 90s predicted, I'm hopeful this run of available studio time continues.

Quiltdivajulie

Holus Bolus - the Quilt

In her comment on the previous post  Charlotta mentioned being disappointed that there was no photo of a finished quilt.  There was a good reason:  the quilting was done but the quilt wasn't finished, hence the absent reveal photos.

The quilt sandwich has been trimmed, binding applied, and NOW Holus Bolus is truly finished.

The story behind this one - after each of the Macnas series quilts were finished, I set aside any leftover rectangles for a bonus quilt that would have blocks representing each of the quilts.  

Hence this quilt's name - Holus Bolus - which means all at once or altogether.

When Yutori joined the party, the top for Holus Bolus was already designed and the blocks made.  So I used Yutori's leftover rectangles as an insert strip in the backing.  

After taking photos outdoors, I spread the quilt out on the living room floor.  

Here's a list if you want to click back and see each of the finished Macnas series quilt reveal posts:

Macnas (the inspiration quilt) 2024 

Reverie 2025

Tuxie-Tude 2025

Rubricate 2025

Vellichor 2025

Wallaroo 2025

Fandango 2026

Grandiose 2026

Enchanted 2026

Hanabi 2026

Morning Fog 2026

Paint Party 2026

Yutori 2026

Finally, here's a flat-on-the-floor view of the back and its insert.  

Quilted with my nested all over free motion nested spirals using Glide thread in Robin Egg

Backing - Petra from Satin Moon Designs for Blank Quilting

Binding - Michael Miller's Bellflower

* * *

There are three more bonus quilt tops to be quilted before year-end (sooner if I can manage it).

But there will be no sewing or quilting over the weekend as Young Man will be here for a two-night sleepover (the last one was before the previous school year ended).  

Looking forward to sorting Pokemon cards into his new binder, building Lego, catching up on his summer stories and tales from fourth grade, etc., etc. etc.

Quiltdivajulie

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"When the work has no soul it's an empty thing.  It needs the human smudge.  Fingerprints all over it that say, "This thing lives because there I am - in it."

Joel Uili  

Crazy Week Ahead

Holus Bolus did get pin basted over the weekend.  

It measures in the 48" x 64" range and I was surprised how much easier it was to pin baste than the quilts in the 52" x 72" range.  I didn't think those few additional inches would make that much different, but it certainly did.

You can see how I used the extra rectangles from Yutori (no. 13) in the back.  

After only minimal pondering, I'm going to use Glide in Robin Egg to quilt Holus Bolus, the first of four bonus quilts from the Macnas series.  

(I've added a label in the sidebar for those bonus quilts)

Still considering how to do a recap for the Macnas quilts.  Hopefully by the time the fourth bonus quilt is finished I'll know what I want to do.

On the paper side of my creative life, the pink and green journal is done -- this is the cover (the back cover uses the other half of this page from an old calendar).

I added the journal's name cut from a magazine and a bit of woven trim to the title page.

I love how many little bits of this and that from so many different sources were used (meaning they're no longer in the stash).

I have hoarded this black and white asemic writing tissue and now I wish I had more of it after using it.  

I also left several pages with open space in case I find more unique bits along the way.

There's one more two-volume journal lurking in the background that involves threads, notions, sewing, and quilting.  All in good time.

* * *

Now about that crazy week - DH has a contentious board meeting for his woodturning guild, a day of setting up for the three-day visit to his guild by a woodturner from the UK (one day of demonstrations and two different all day workshops) plus an evening meet and greet event.  There always seems to be a lot of drama the week of his meetings . . . 

There will also be lots of driving to and from appointments, a celebration of life gathering for the office manager at Davies Manor (where I serve on the board and volunteer), a hair cut, back to school night at YM's school (I'll stay with him so the parents can attend), the evening meet and greet, and transporting younger son to and from his volunteer activities and a bonus class at the library.

Not sure how much time I'll have in the studio - maybe enough to get the bobbins wound for Holus Bolus and a bit of clean up between projects.  Time will tell.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Having a luck dragon with you is the only way to go on a quest."

Falcor (from The Never Ending Story)

July Recap

Last month I spent time sorting and restacking the yardage in my stash.

There was also considerable editing done, along with culling scraps in the resource boxes.

This photo shows just how much space was cleared as a result.  The right half of the third shelf down is no longer filled with fabric.  

That same right half on the bottom four shelves no longer houses fabrics but a few magazines waiting to be harvested for my journal making adventures.

(the stacked drawer unit and Raskog cart were also cleaned up/out since the paper stuff accumulates even faster than fabric does)

I pulled out these fabrics to make a set of six reversible placemats for September.  

These fabrics were set aside to make a set of five utility mats for our December living room.

And these greens from the stash/resource boxes will become a set of six placemats for use next March.  The reverse side will be made using blocks Lynne sent after finishing her Field of Dreams quilt.

Ruska, a gift quilt, was quilted and finished.

Paint Party, no. 12 of 13 in the Macnas series, was quilted and finished.

And Yutori, no. 13 of 13 quilts in the Macnas series was quilted and finished.

There was also a squirrel invasion in July that led to this quilt top named Nimiety.

I also created Nimiety's scrappy pieced backing.  Both the top and backing are currently rolled onto pool noodles to be pin basted and quilted sometime this month.

No photos for this but I also emptied and sorting the overflowing box of leftover quilt backings and assorted other bits and pieces into six different project boxes for future quilts inspired by designs/patterns I've stashed but never used.   I don't plan to dig into any of these until next year aside from some cutting of pieces and parts as time permits.  But after staying so focused on finishing, it felt good to make plans for new scrappy adventures.

I also moved the two studio plants outdoors for the summer and changed the lower curtain fabric (the other yardage had faded over its 3 year life in that window).

The nearly 5-week month and lots of hot steamy weather that kept us indoors clearly made for more studio time than usual.

* * *

And because today is August 1, here's the monthly photo of our back yard.  The grass is the greenest it will get this summer, the neighbor's crape myrtle adds a big pop of color, our black eyed Susans are at their peak, the azalea bush has grown and filled in so much in the last month, the coleus in the large pot are thriving, but the in-ground hostas as struggling with the intense heat and hot sun but they'll recover later in the year when the weather moderates.   

(The temporary fence is there because we've had the grand-dog for the last two weeks.  Keeping her out of the dirt makes life much easier, especially when the dirt turns to mud.) 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Clutter is the enemy of clarity."

Julie Cameron

Yutori - the Quilt

Yutori, number 13 in the baker's dozen series of Macnas quilts, is finished.

(Yutori - Japanese word meaning intentionally slowing down to simply be, breathe, listen, and appreciate)

The rectangles for this quilt were cut out in April 2026 and final binding stitches were taken July 28, making it the quickest start to finish of the thirteen quilts.

The alternate fabric is Sweet Stripe by Loralei Harris.

The Kaffe Fassett rose backing was part of the February 2026 release as was the binding named Echo Stripe.

Quilted in my liberated all-over free motion nested spiral fans using Glide thread in Peacock (top) and Willow (bottom).  It took three tries to find the right green for the back, but thankfully I found Willow in the back of my thread drawer.

* * *

I need to take some time to contemplate the making of this series of quilts before I write any kind of wrap-up post.  And besides, there are four bonus quilts from the series that are still in the waiting-to-be-quilted closet, although I don't have as much sense of urgency to finish those aside from my stated goal for end-of-the-year.

I'll be back on August 1 with July's wrap up post.  

Quiltdivajulie

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"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship; stories are the thing we need most in the world."

Phillip Pullman