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April 29, 2024
A good sewing day.............. from Exuberant Color

We really didn't get much rain yesterday except in the early morning but I had decided I was going to sew since the end of the month is creeping up and I have my self imposed quotas to fill.  I finished the binding on Charley in the Forest in the late afternoon.


Next I cut the setting triangles for my 1996 quilt.  I need to cut 2 more of them and also the corner triangles today.








After that I cut the binding for this star quilt and got it all finished by machine.





There was still a half hour ...

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April 27, 2024
Another round of squares............. from Exuberant Color


I cut one more group of squares to add to my 1996 project.  It is the same fabric that is used in the center 9 patches.  I think I have enough of the lightest fabric to cut setting triangles and then I can sew this together.


Another 110" is hand stitched on the Charley quilt.  There is only 108" left to stitch.  I may spread that over 2 days.





The last 2 cacti buds are finally blooming.  I think I can safely say these really are the last blooms.





The Redbuds are in full bloom and now the rain will ...

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April 23, 2024
A quilt top for April................. from Exuberant Color


I really like this quilt top, but then I like all of the quilt tops I have made with these neutral color batiks.

This one is 55.5" x 72".  The next one which will use the rest of the blocks will be larger.











Here are 3 of the others made with most of the same fabrics and a few different in each quilt.  Unfortunately the lighting on the one on the right is bad and I sold it so I can't take another photo.


I mowed grass for a half hour and then went to the garden center ...

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April 18, 2024
Layouts............... from Exuberant Color


There are more little 1.5" batik squares to make more 9 patches but I decided to play a little with layouts.  Edge to edge isn't very spectacular.  Since the blocks will finish at 3", this would only be 12" x 18", about the size of a placemat.









Spacing the blocks out with plain blocks between would stretch this to 18" x 24".












With the blocks on point they measure about 4.25" across so this would be about 21.5" square.  After sewing 400 of the 4.5" 9 patches I'm not very anxious to sew a ...

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April 17, 2024
More tiny 9 patches............ from Exuberant Color


I went through all of the piles of 1.5" squares and matched 5 dark/4 light for another batch of blocks.  In some there are 5 of the same fabric or 2 similar fabrics and others are 5 different fabrics that look good together.  The same is true of the groups of 4.







We had storm warnings last night which turned into nothing in my area so I sewed blocks.  This is 23 blocks, 8 of which were made the day before yesterday.  I haven't turned on the iron yet to press them.



The Redbud trees are pinking ...

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April 16, 2024
A finish for April 2024............... from Exuberant Color


Brown Bear Paw is finished.  I made the decision to use the border fabric for the binding and it is all finished by machine.  It is 68" x 82".

This will be a raffle quilt to raise money for Prader-Willi syndrome  which my youngest granddaughter's first child was born with.  It is very rare and most of us had never heard of it.  She is organizing a fund raising walk in mid-May and is including several raffles.


Here is the spectacular back.  Having a stash is so wonderful.  I had all 3 of these fabrics, no shopping required.











Cable ...

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April 11, 2024
First quilt top for April 2024........... from Exuberant Color


The quilt top was pressed and posed for its portrait.  It is 40" x 49".  The blocks are 4.5" finished and there are 99 of them so there are 198 different fabrics in this quilt top.  There are high contrast blocks and low contrast blocks in the mix.  I think it has softer contrast in person. 

I sewed 100 combinations of 2 fabrics and two 2" strips of batik was enough for 4 blocks.  This is the other 301 blocks.

This is the only block I didn't use.  It is in the early layouts that I showed on ...

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April 10, 2024
Charley is home................... from Exuberant Color


Charley in the Forest came home yesterday, quilted and ready to be trimmed and bound.  The trees are upside down in this photo.





I got this Charley Harper fabric, enough or a backing, on sale at a good price and I just love it.  You will see the whole quilt in a week or so, depending on when I'm ready to do some hand stitching.



In last night's sewing session I got this top sewn together but it isn't pressed yet so I'll do that today and post its photo tomorrow.





Most corners matched pretty well ...

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April 9, 2024
Ready to final scrutiny................ from Exuberant Color


A final decision: I would just make 2 more blocks and then sew it together.  I made the 2 blocks last night and now I will decide if any blocks need to be moved and then sew it together.  I will still have the option to make one or two more blocks if I'm not entirely happy with it.  The photos aren't totally accurate so what I'm seeing on the design wall looks a little different than the photo. 

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April 8, 2024
Decisions, decisions................ from Exuberant Color


My plan from the beginning was to make this quilt 9 blocks wide by 12 blocks tall because I think that would be a well proportioned rectangle.  As I get closer to the end I may have changed my mind.

This is currently missing 11 blocks.




(Better lighting on this photo; I remembered to turn on my auxilliary light.)

I rearranged the bottom area shortening the layout to 11 rows tall.  This makes the rectangle only 9" longer than it is wide.  I just don't think more blue and purple at the bottom would do anything to enhance the ...

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April 7, 2024
10 more............11 to go............ from Exuberant Color


I chose 10 more pairs of 2" batik strips for the 9 patch blocks.

A friend is coming today to acquire some of my quilts so I spent part of the day yesterday reacquainting myself with the quilts piled on 2 shelf units.  I have my stacks of "won't share" and then there are the rest.


Last night I got all of the pairs of strips sewn into strip sets to cut for the 9 patches.







Yesterday morning the raiders were in my backyard.  There is one squirrel on each of 2 of the bird feeders and one squirrel ...

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April 6, 2024
17 blocks added............... from Exuberant Color


The 17 new blocks made in the last couple days have been added to the design wall.  There will be some rearranging as I get the last 21 blocks made.  Some of these blocks might not make the final cut.







I was outside looking around late yesterday afternoon and noticed this Hosta in the front garden.  I was surprised how big it was since I hadn't seen any other Hostas up yet.



I checked the back garden where I have lots of Hostas and found one more coming up.






On the other side of the porch I found at ...

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April 5, 2024
Still organizing.....or was I playing with stash............... from Exuberant Color


I'm still moving things around in the basement and I came across a selection of darks and lights and decided to expand on it and add reds.  I have used 20 of these fabrics in 2 other quilts and added 17 more for variety.




These are the 2 quilts with 20 of those fabrics plus more that are gone now.  I gifted the quilt on the left but still have the one on the right so I could match up fabrics in my stash.  I have an idea percolating for the next quilt.

Last night I sewed strip sets ...

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April 3, 2024
Only a little progress................... from Exuberant Color


I pressed the 40 blocks from Sunday and put one of each set of 4 on the design wall and put the remaining blocks in a project box for later.



I sewed the rest of the next 7 groups and got the 28 blocks made but not pressed yet.

I spent the morning sorting through my flannel stash and grouping similar types together in storage bins.  I have a little more to do before it is how I want it sorted.


I think this might be the last cactus bloom but there is still one more bud that might make ...

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April 2, 2024
Lots of 9 patches.................. from Exuberant Color

I pressed 10 strips sets that I sewed Sunday night and cut them for 9 patches and chose 7 more sets to sew.



That pile of 9 patches pieces is enough for 40 blocks and sewing them kept my hands off the Easter chocolate that I bought at half price yesterday.








I got all 40 of them sewn while watching the NCIS programs on TV.  Today they will be pressed and 10 of them will go up on the design wall, the other 30 are for another quilt.





I only got 4 of the 7 new sets sewn.

My mind ...

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March 25, 2024
A lot accomplished............. from Exuberant Color


One of the two quilts back from my longarm quilter has been trimmed.  I used 2 fabrics on the back.  This is my Sunlight in the Forest quilt, one of Kaffe's designs but my choices of fabrics.  I did use the same first border that he did.  Colors are more accurate in the next photo.  As I trimmed it I was thinking I would have to use a black background binding and the back is dark....so that wasn't sounding like much fun.


Then I came to my senses and realized tat a red would be nice.  I ...

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March 24, 2024
Progress on 2 plus something new............. from Exuberant Color


The last flannel16 patch blocks that I made yesterday are now added to the previous ones for a total of 38.  I haven't come up with a final plan for them.





I sewed the blocks from the Friday strip sets and sewed 3 more new strip sets for the batik 9 patch project.






I added 5 new blocks to the design wall and rearranged a bit.  I made it one block wider and need to have 12 rows top to bottom.  This first quilt will have all different blocks, one of each of the 4 alike of each combination ...

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March 23, 2024
A better day.............. from Exuberant Color


I did more organizing with the flannel fabrics but am not done yet.  I found a light fabric to match with 3 strips that were cut for 16 patches.  I'll have to count how many 16 patches I have now.  These need to be pressed before I go any farther with them.  I have a huge box of flannel scraps.  The last time I sorted them was early 2017 and I cut lots of tumbler shapes and tossed all of the small pieces.


I selected 11 more pairs for 9 patches last night and sewed 3 of them.





This ...

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March 22, 2024
Planning, cleaning, and a lot of other uninteresting things to post about...... from Exuberant Color


Very little sewing, just one of each of the combinations of the 9 patches.

Thursday mornings are drop off times at our local thrift shop so that was yesterday morning's task.

Then I decided to look through my flannel stash and make a decision on my storage of it.  It is a bit of a mess after pulling pieces for 4 quilts.  I made some decisions but didn't get it all straightened out so I'll be back down there today.  

I spent time with my many notebooks full of notes and don't have a clue if ...

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March 20, 2024
Partial binding and 9 patch progress................ from Exuberant Color


I started out the day getting another huge backing made for my Charley in the Forest quilt.  You will see the fantastic backing fabric in a few weeks.

I salvaged some of the cut off backing strips on the Hugs and Kisses flannel quilt and sewed them together.  I went ahead and sewed it on the quilt and I'm short about 55".  I have a little yardage left so I'll cut the remaining 2 strips from it.  I should have the binding finished today.


For the rest of my 3 hour sewing session last night I got the ...

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