Sunday Drives -

Summer is so very quickly making a shift, a transition, and beautifully heading into autumn.

I can feel it in the mornings when I step outside to take Sadie for her morning business walk.  The dew on the grass is just a bit chilly.  The leaves in the trees are acquiring a faint hue of yellow.

I can only imagine how beautiful it will be up here – my first fall in the mountains of southwest Virginia where the altitude is just a bit higher, and trees are plentiful.

It won’t be long until fireplaces are blazing – hot chocolate and warmer “stick-to-your-ribs” kinds of meals are on the horizon.

And best of all:

Pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING!

But while the day was still mild, mostly cloud-covered with intermittent sun, we decided to break away from the cabin and get out on the road.

Our route in blue!

The black dot at the bottom right is the cabin.  You can see how “just across the border” from the North Carolina state line we are.  Our directions to friends are “Hit the state line and take the first left…..”

I ride shotgun.  I have no desire to power up a bike myself – I want to enjoy the scenery, and besides, all of these hairpin curves scare me!  We only sparked pegs on the pavement once, and I’m not a fan! LOL!

Why are there no pictures?  Because I needed a break and I kept my cell phone in the saddle bags. It was an unplugged kind of afternoon, and cell phones and wallets were only with us in case of emergency.  And should we need to be identified!

After lunch in Damascus, we headed back, taking a different route, following the upper loop and coming back through Troutdale.  It was a beautiful 75 mile ride, and the first one I had been on in many many months.

Stripping it up Stripology style!

Needing a bit of a distraction, I headed to my bin of recycled shirt parts up here with some block making in mind after yesterday’s Quiltville Quote background inspiration. I didn’t need much fabric for each block, and I wanted to see what I could accomplish with the Stripology ruler.

I’m cutting strips in two widths.  I don’t have a die for the Accuquilt that would do that, and I tend to only use the Accuquilt when I am cutting a whole tray full stacked many layers thick.

This works great for odd pieces!

Different widths for block piecing.

And some strings for the string bin.

Reasons to love the Stripology ruler:

Accuracy!  These strips came out great because the plastic is heavy and sturdy enough to not wiggle while I’m cutting.  The fabulous Creative Grids gripper texture on the bottom of the ruler keeps things from sliding.

Portability!  You can take this ruler anywhere where traveling with the Accuquilt isn’t always possible.

Speed!  Because I didn’t have to move and slide a rotary ruler to cut each strip, I could quickly move down my fabric cutting the widths I needed with no time needed to move and re-measure.

I’ve got these in 2 sizes, and I like the smaller one when working with smaller cuts of fabric.

And then I got busy with the Essential Triangle Tool!

Two blocks done in no time!

4 blocks done by dinner!

I was only using these as Leaders & Enders (My apologies to this year's Checkerboard Rails leader & ender blocks being pushed aside temporarily!!) while working on this year’s mystery project but I can see that I will continue with these as they are so cute.

6 by hand quilting time!

I needed something SEW SIMPLE in my life.  The other looming deadlines are insane, and I will get back to them today, but it did my heart & soul good to just do some simple blocks from recycled shirt fabrics.

Yes, this is on the back burner, but a close back burner!

Are you interested in making this block?  I can put it up as a tutorial and add it to the free patterns tab, but there won’t be a full quilt shown from me for a long while, just a block tutorial.  Leave me a comment in the comments section below.

My earlier similar Jacob’s Ladder version!

I finished the hand quilting on this little one in 2006, imagine my surprise when it resurfaced in a google search for Jacob’s Ladder/Sugar Bowl quilts!  Yes, the two blocks are related, but not exactly the same.,

Jacob’s ladder has 5 4 patches,  with the  dark chain of the 4 patches going UP through the ladder formed by the 4 half-square triangle units.  In the Sugar Bowl block, 2 of those corner 4 patches are replaced with solid squares, the light half of the triangle units point toward the center (opposite of Jacob’s Ladder) and the darks in the 4 patches go side ways across the block, not up the ladder.  It’s a subtle difference obtained with fabric value, and rotation of units, and it makes for an interesting change.

Floribunda, also from the Free Patterns tab is a Jacob's Ladder version in a larger size.  See the difference between the two?

It’s all in the value placement!

In the Sugar Bowl block, I love the shape made by the light squares in the 4 patches and the light triangles in the half-square triangle units coming together.

Let me know, and I’ll get this tutorial written up.

Last night’s View from my hoop.

I know WHY this got waylaid.  those South African Shweshwe fabrics (The chocolate brown ones) and a bit harder to needle and I was having a difficult time keeping my stitches small and even.  I decided to give up on the small tiny stitches, just get a rhythm and go with it.

I’m at the cabin today, headed home tomorrow.  The hubster is off to the dentist – in the midst of all of this, he’s been dealing with a toothache over the weekend (Always happens over a weekend!  My tooth BROKE over memorial day weekend) and he is off to see the dentist in nearby Jefferson, NC.

I’ll be at the machine – you know where to find me.

Maybe Quilt-Cam this week from home?

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how grateful I am for your comments after yesterday’s heartfelt overload.  Thank you so much for your words of support, and most of all the words of kindness from those who have walked this road with an ill loved one.  I’m not alone.  I know that.  I feel lifted and supported and cared for.  Thank you.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage quilt top from my collection found in Texas.

I've saved this quote for a long time as it really spoke to me. In other words, don’t pull the plug on your dreams just because you’ve hit a rough patch.

It’s Monday.  A brand new week ahead.  What are you going to do with it?

Much love from the mountains of southwest Virginia -

Follow me on Instagram!
Follow my Quiltville Page on Facebook for more fun!
Join our sister group, Quiltville's Open Studio on Facebook, a place to Sew, Share & Grow!!