nature

Taking it easy.......... from Exuberant Color

I had another steroid shot to my SI joint yesterday morning and they said to take it easy for one day and then resume normal activity. I decided to sort the extra strips one more time by dark and light. I could make 'the other 16 patch' with them if I cut a few more light strips. I could also make 9 patches and do a layout with an alternate plain block (Single Irish Chain). I could just put them away and do nothing with them but they would make a good sharing quilt to put into my inventory.

This ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 day, 2 hours ago. under food , nature , strip piecing

First quilt top for September 2026................ from Exuberant Color

Even though I have an ironing table 30" x 60", I was dreading pressing this 72" x 88" quilt top. It wasn't as bad as I expected but I'm sure glad it is done. It was hard to get a good straight on photo because my longarm bar is in the way. This was the best of the 3 that I took. I haven't looked for a backing yet but I still have 2 (of 3) that I pulled when I was making the Snail's Trail quilt with many of these same fabrics. They are on ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 days, 2 hours ago. under nature , strip piecing

Top sewn, not pressed................. from Exuberant Color

I wasn't sure I could get the last 10 rows sewn yesterday but I stuck with it and finished at 10:15 p.m. I hope it will feel cool in the basement today when I go down to turn on the iron.

I planted Marigold seeds in the pots with the tomato plants. Some pots only had 2 come up but this one has about 6 Marigolds in there. I have a 6' tall stake in the middle of the pot to keep the tomato plant more upright this year.

I got a few Marigolds to grow in ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 days, 2 hours ago. under nature , strip piecing

A little cutting.................... from Exuberant Color

I had to turn on the iron yesterday to press the Aboriginal Dot fabric. All 15 strips are cut now so I can start sewing on this project. While the iron was on, the 13 little 9 patches got pressed too.

The Zinfin Doll Hydrangea blooms are just starting to turn pink. I hope we get the rain they are predicting for this afternoon through tomorrow. Otherwise I will have to start watering this bush.

There is one tiny Tiger Lily in the front flower bed. I'll have to dig it out because it is right next to the ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under kaffe fabric , nature

Miscellaneous............ from Exuberant Color

Yesterday was mostly household tasks but I did manage to get 5 more of the 3" nine patches sewn. I have 13 to press when I turn on the iron today.

I went out the check the garden and found a few more flowers on the Weigela bush.

Just past that bush, this sunflower in the cucumber pot is in full bloom. I don't know if it came from a seed planted a couple years ago or if a squirrel planted it. However it got there, I am enjoying it.

I didn't have a clear shot but there ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under 9 patch , nature

Turned on the iron................... from Exuberant Color

The basement had cooled off with those few cool days we had so I had a pressing session yesterday morning. All 20 little 3" nine patches are pressed and trying their layouts. Edge to edge always makes an interesting design.

I also thought about adding 4 plain squares (a floral print) for 9" blocks. I'll make many more before I decide.

I knew I had a little drawer full of strips so I pulled it out and went through them. I'll cut some squares from them for variety for the project.

While the iron was hot I pressed ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under 9 patch , kaffe fabric , nature

Binding completed................ from Exuberant Color

After I took this photo, I continued sewing the binding on the floral stars quilt. I finished it at 10:30.

It's getting close to the end of the month so I'll have to see what else I can finish.

Yesterday morning I went out to check the tomatoes and this is what I found on the biggest tomato out there. I had picked tomatoes the night before at 5 p.m. and this one had barely a tinge of orange on it so I left it to check on later. The squirrels had their party and took ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under binding , food , nature

The great yellow takeover.............. from Exuberant Color

Two years ago there were 2 Black-eyed Susan plants that somehow migrated from the back garden to the front. This year they have multiplied and have taken over the front garden. It's colorful, I will say that.

After an hour or so of playing with this group of fabric, this is the final batch. I removed one purple and like that end much better. Now I have to read the directions and decide if I will follow them or devise my own directions. I know the directions are for fat quarters and I'm not sure I want to ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under binding , food , kaffe fabric , nature

First quilt top completed in July 2026 from Exuberant Color

Snail's trail is a finished top now, just 10 days from the first blocks being cut to finished sewing. I will be looking for a backing today. It is 60" x 84". All regular printed cotton fabrics, no batik. 6.25 yards out of my brown/rust/gold stash. While I was cutting for this one I also cut a 2.5" strip for a future quilt from the larger pieces.

I went out to check on the tomato plants and found this big Rutgers tomato with 2 bites ouf of it, in the grass. I put it back ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under nature , snail's trail

Christmas in July Sewing / Going Through Stash from Grandma's Red Needle

Well, not much 'Christmas in July' sewing has happened since this post. However, some already prepped dog and cat mug rugs have been quilted, that's all.

I got sucked into decluttering accumulated fabrics and other crafts.

Some of the jeans will be donated and some are cut into useable pieces. I'm not going to use the most worn areas, and I see there are some spots too that won't be used. I will get to that eventually.

My goodness, jeans take up a lot of space!

Flannel shirts from a DF are also cut into pieces

The ...

added by Astrid 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under declutter , flora and fauna , nature , scrapbuster , scraps

First finish for July 2026...................... from Exuberant Color

Yes the flannel is back on the design boards and my photography wall is back. You can see here I stand behind my longarm to take the photos. I'm hoping to get the longarm working again soon.

The 'other 16 patch' (not the traditional 16 patch) is made of Marcia Derse fabrics. The top was finished in March. I used Hobbs 80/20 batting and it was longarm quilted by Robin Diaz in vertical parallel lines.

The backing is a wide back gifted to me by a friend when she realized she wasn't going to use it. The ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

Busy............................. from Exuberant Color

My friends came back early yesterday morning to dig some more hostas and Lungwort/Pulmonaria. They didn't get this Hosta though. All of the ones I can see from my kitchen window are still there in the back garden. One flower bed way over in the back corner had hostas overlapping each other and covering up some small ones. Most of the Lungwort plants were along the front edge of the bed so I'm glad to see them removed. I have dozens of them growing in other places. After they left I got the hose out and watered ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under nature

Four of eight new blocks....................... from Exuberant Color

Eight new blocks were sewn yesterday, these 4 and their duplicates. I went down to press more fabric but ended up trying to put the basement back in order after the water seepage a week ago. I still don't have the design walls up because I need to put clean flannel on them and it takes me a long time to get it done.

This is the assortment of fabrics so far. The duplicates are in a stack on my sewing table. I now have 28 of 36 blocks made. I will need 35 for a 5 x 7 ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under nature , snail's trail

6 blocks times 2.................... from Exuberant Color

Eight more fabrics got pressed yesterday and four new blocks were sewn. Since there are two alike of every combination, I'll just show one of each from now on. I will be able to design one half of the quilt and then repeat the same fabrics for each row for the second half, usually in a different order than the first rows. The basement is warming up since we haven't had a cool spell so ironing the fabrics has to be done in short sessions, in this case 8 fabrics at a time.

As I go around the ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under nature , snail's trail

Done but no formal portrait.................. from Exuberant Color

I finished the binding yesterday morning but my design walls in the basement are still on their sides, leaning against a table. The design wall on the main level isn't quite large enough to display it. Rain is forecast for today so I'm waiting to see if more water seeps into the basement before I put the walls back in place.

I cut 8 of the blocks for the Snail's Trail quilt and got 6 of them sewn yesterday. Most of these print fabrics are from the 1990s.

I noticed the first bud has bloomed on the ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under binding , food , nature , snail's trail

Pressing........... from Exuberant Color

I had to turn the iron on yesterday to press the binding fabric for the current finish so I paired the fabrics for the Snail's Trail and got 4 pairs pressed while I was at it. Hopefully I'll get some blocks cut today.

While outside checking on my tomato plants I noticed some of the buds on the Tiger Lilies are turning orange. It won't be long now for the first few blooms.

Thanks to a friend, I had blackberries on vanilla ice cream last night for dessert. Yummy!

I got the binding strips cut yesterday so ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under food , nature , stash

Tiring day.............. from Exuberant Color

I trimmed this quilt a few days ago and yesterday chose the blue stripe at the left edge as my binding. I'll get it cut today.

I didn't mention on yesterday's post that after getting 8.25" of rain in 3 days I had water seeping in along my south basement wall. I mopped up some Saturday night and then checked it again yesterday morning. There was more. I started working on it, making a little progress. My son and daughter-in-law stopped by to drop of my 5 gallon water bottle and I asked my son to ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under binding , nature

A collage and the garden................... from Exuberant Color

I wanted to have a collage of the finished quilts for the first half of the year, so yesterday seemed like a good time to do it. They aren't to scale, just tossed into the collage. It's fun for me to see them all together to recap the first 6 months.

I took a few photos in the garden just before the rain started...again. We have gotten 8.25" of rain in the last 3 days, 2.75" yesterday afternoon. My north neighbor has a lot of standing water in their backyard.

This is the Zinfin Doll ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under nature

Trimming, cutting binding.................. from Exuberant Color

I got this flannel quilt trimmed yesterday and then looked for a binding fabric.

I started looking in a box of flannel fabrics where I knew there were bright ones but didn't think I would find anything to use on this quilt. Surprise! This brown one was in there and it looks great with the quilt. I got the strips cut and started sewing on it last night.

The Geranium is in full bloom with even more buds to bloom later. The new self watering pots are working out great.

I spent over an hour yesterday trying to get ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 2 weeks ago. under binding , flannel quilts , nature

In the garden.......................... from Exuberant Color

The double Impatiens are like little roses. I can't decide if this is a very dark rose or if it is red. I guess it doesn't make any difference, it's pretty either way.

One hanging pot has this pale pink and the other has white. The whites are currently not blooming so they aren't getting documented on my blog.

The Tiger Lily closest to the house has some large buds now. It will still be a couple weeks I think, before I have any blooms. Of course with the heat we are expecting this week, they ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 2 weeks ago. under nature

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