Candy Corn - the Quilt

The gift quilt for Young Man's house is done and it even has a tiny label.

Quilted with Glide thread in Raven (supersize to see the purple stitching) using my liberated all-over nested spiral fans.

Candy Corn measures 51" x 70" for the month of October on their living room ottoman.

(details on design and fabrics are here)

The binding is a Paula Nadlestern print with tiny dots and scattered stars in green and shades of orange.  It plays well with the colors in the quilt and adds a bit of sparkle around the edges.

I found the high contrast colors had not always been true in some of my photos so here is the quilt against our backyard grass which is still green but will start moving towards khaki before long.

Backed with spiderwebs on soft black that pre-washed with no bleeding at all.

To be gifted sometime this week. 

* * *

Candy Corn was a mid-September squirrel project that was, amazingly enough, completed three days before the end of September.

Next up is a pair of pillowcases for younger son's bed.  They're cut out and ready for me to sit and sew.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos."

Saul Bellow

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

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  

Monday Check In

By late Sunday, all six of the placemat sandwiches were quilted.

I also turned 14 WOF into binding.

Quilted with liberated wavy lines using Glide thread in  Dijon.

Having used that kind of quilting on previous sets of placemats, I know they will launder well.

The quilted texture shows up better in black and white.

Meanwhile, our visiting grand-dog Darcy kept a watchful eye on things . . .

* * *

My most pressing to-do item this week is to stand in line for a long time to renew my driver's license and get the Read ID certification on it; otherwise I would renew by mail.  DH managed to get his done in under 2 hours earlier this year.  I hope I'm as fortunate.  

Quiltdivajulie

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"Your smile is a reason for many others to smile."

Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne)

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

Ruska - the Quilt

Ruska is now a finished quilt.

(Ruska - a Finnish noun for the time of fall foliage)

Young Man created his ottoman-topper layout for this one in February during one of his Camp Sefton adventures.

You can read about that HERE.

I pulled more stashed pieces to create a scrappy backing.  I failed, however, to note the information of the selvages - none of these are "new" fabrics so they might be online but more likely are not.

This is a view of the entire scrappy back.  The filmstrip fabric along the sides is by Mars Auslander for Ink & Arrow by QT Fabrics, 30434-X (another older fabric).

One corner flipped . . . 

. . . and the opposite corner flipped.

Quilted using my liberated all-over nested spiral fans with Glide thread in Dijon (top) and a mix of warm browns in the bobbin.

52" x 68" 

* * *

Now it is time to pin baste Yutori if I'm going to meet my goal of three finished quilts in July.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The act of creating for children is about the process, not the outcome.  Children need to explore, take risks, make their own choices.  This is the richness of creativity.  This is the groundwork for future problem solvers."

Meri Cherry

Paint Party - the Quilt

Paint Party, No. 12 in the Macnas series, is finished.

Quilted using Glide thread in Yellow Whisper and my liberated all-over nested spiral fans.  

I had planned to bind Paint Party using a black and white stripe but after switching backings, I used the same fabric for binding.

(Color Splash Multi purchased from eQuilter)

The palette for Paint Party was inspired by this photo of Young Man helping a local restaurant owner paint her patio fence in early 2025.

Again, I am so glad I made the decision a few weeks back to eventually gift eight quilts from this series, otherwise I would have let myself fall head over heels with Paint Party.

* * *

Next up in the quilting queue will be RUSKA as it needs to be gifted in early August.

Once Ruska is finished, it will be Yutori's turn.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment.  It fashions its own

 perfect moments out of ordinary ones."

Bruce Garrabrandt

Xanadu - the Quilt

I finished Xanadu in mid-June but couldn't share these photos until the quilt had been gifted.

These just-finished photos were taken on one of the in-between-rain-showers days, hence the gloomy sky in the background.

I bought the backing in 2024 because I loved it and it was on sale

(Xanadu by Ann Lauer of Grizzly Gulch for Benartex, Style # 16152)

The HST fabrics all came from the stash, including the background fabric which had taken up residence in the stash back in 2023. 

(‘On Dragonfly Wings’ – “Splatter” – White/Pearl by Ann Lauer of Grizzly Gulch Gallery for Benartex) 

It wasn't until I noted the selvage info for my tracking sheet that I realized the two fabrics were by the same designer - what a happy coincidence.

A day or so later, the sun peeked out so I took this additional photo with the quilt on one of our back porch rocking chairs. 

Quilted with my liberated all-over nested spirals using Glide thread in Amethyst. 

* * *

The already-much-loved quilt was gifted this past weekend to elder son and DIL in honor of their 20th anniversary.  

Yet another example of how time flies!

Quiltdivajulie

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"If I create from the heart nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing."

Marc Chagall

Morning Fog - the Quilt

Morning Fog, number 11 in the Macnas series, is finished.

The final binding stitches were taken at 7:50 pm and the outdoor photos were taken just before 8 pm.  

ONLY during the week of the summer solstice can I get decent outdoor photos that late in the day - for which I'm grateful as it is supposed to rain again tomorrow (more on "rain" below).

This was the random online photo that inspired Morning Fog's color palette.

Here is the just-finished quilt on my sewing table under indoor lights.

Quilted with my liberated nested spiral fans using Glide thread in Hawaiian Blue.

Backing - Midnight Floral 108” by Chelsea DesignWorks for Studio-e (a division of Jaftex).

Binding - Down on the Farm by Stacy Hsu for Moda.

I really, really like this quilt.

* * *

This was our back yard on Monday morning.  

We knew it was supposed to rain an inch or so . . . 

. . . but we had NO idea it would rain just over FIVE inches. 

There was so much rain pounding the back roof that one of our living room skylights leaked (first time in almost 20 years).  

Tuesday afternoon DH used his engineering knowledge to safely get on the roof and re-caulk the

skylight's seal.  

Fingers crossed that tomorrow's rain is more drizzle than downpour.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Even when the sky is filled with clouds, the sun still shines above."

Janet Donaghy

Hanabi is Finished

Hanabi, number 10 in my Macnas series, is finished and it happened before the end of May - yes!

I quickly took the quilt outdoors to get these photos since it had stopped raining earlier this afternoon and the next cloudburst isn't expected for another hour or so.  It's been like this for over a week now - intermittent thunderstorms, heavy gray skies, brief patches of sunshine with blue skies and puffy white clouds, and then more rain.  I'm not complaining because in a few short weeks we will wish we had some rain.  

Here's a detail showing more of the fabrics and a bit of quilted texture.

The backing is from the Writing on the Wall collection by Seth Apter for Free Spirit.  I knew the instant I first saw it that it would be perfect to back Hanabi - a Japanese word that means fireworks.

I used a bit more of my Rollicking Robots stripe by Patrick Lose (an elderly fabric from the stash) for binding and I love how it interacts with the scrappiness of the quilt top.

Quilted with my liberated all-over spiral fans using Glide thread in Mulberry.  Not pink, not purple, but a heavenly blend of the two that worked well across all the colors in the quilt.

* * *

Be back in a day or so with my month end recap for May and the June first backyard photo.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Quilt fabrics aren't purchases, they're investments in happiness."

Kristine Art 

(edited slightly by yours truly)