4/16/26

A Finish

Good morning, my friends. It's a sunny day today, but don't let that sunshine and clear sky fool you. It's very cold out. Looking at the day's forecast, we won't even break into the low 50's until later this afternoon. There was a frost warning last night, but it didn't get that cold. My flowering plants and trees were thankful for that.

Thanks to those of you who wished me well for my first day of physical therapy yesterday. It went fine. I've been given a series of isometric exercises to do. I'm still skeptical that it will help, but I'll be a good sport and go along with it anyway...starting today. I'll substitute in the PT exercises for the arms and still do the leg workout on the Bow-flex.

Before I left, I had some time to spend in the sewing room. The boss joined me there.


He helped me lay out the blocks for the Raggedy & Friends project.


When we had them properly arranged, they looked like this.


All of the vertical sashings were added as I made the blocks. To sew them together, I'll just need to add horizontal sashings and cornerstones. I went digging through my stash of red solids. I'd hoped to find a brighter red, but the best I could do was this brick red. I needed 20 of those, and I needed 20 black sashings.


There was time to sew together the first row before it was time to head out.


I'm hoping I can finish sewing it together today. There's also a yellow border to add, and I think I'll have plenty of time to finish it today. The yellow border was pictured in the pattern, but it so happens that my backing fabric has plenty of yellow too.


When I got home from my appointment, there was plenty of time to finish off the binding for the Amish Sampler. I turned all four corners...


And then there was just about half a side to go to finish it off. And Ta-Da! It ends up at 61 x 61 inches.


Here's a peek at the back.

I thought I'd need one more day to finish that, so it's nice to have it done ahead of schedule. This was my project for April's


And so I'll link up there when the party starts at the end of the month.

Today, I'll work on finishing off the Raggedy & Friends quilt top, and I'll make a back for it. If there's still time in the day, I'll start sewing together the Kittens in Cups. This was my project for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2025.


Mainly, it needs sashings. I'll use the same background fabric used in the quilt blocks. Already I have a backing fabric for this one. On a recent quilt shop outing, I found the perfect fabric for them. I saw this one in the fabric store, but I wanted a different color.


Going online, I found this one in an Etsy Shop, and so there's no excuse for not getting this quilt into the quilts to be sandwiched pile.

Okay, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Before I can do anything in the sewing room, I'll get back to my slow-stitching. After that, I need to feed the birds. Despite the cold weather, it's a good day to walk around and see what's going on in the garden. It's been nasty and wet the past couple of days, and so I need the check in on things and dispense attaboys as needed.

So, off I go. It's going to be a good day to stay inside and sew some more quilt blocks into flimsies.

7 comments:

Sara said...

Hang in there with the PT. You have found some perfect backing lately. The cats in cups is hilarious and just perfect.

Julierose said...

You have those quilts right going in line to the finish, Barbara. Glad PT went well--hope it stays that way for you...
Hugs, Julierose

Anne-Marie said...

Congrats on your beautiful finish. I hope the PT helps at least a little bit.

Jenny said...

Both of your backing fabrics are just perfect for the projects, what great finds!

Darlene Sewista said...

I was worried your PT might be painful, so I'm glad to hear it went ok. It would be wonderful if it helps, but I too think you'll still need surgery. So, let's think that there is hope that your PT will help expedite the recovery post surgery. I love that cat fabric. I think you deserve a bolt of it in every color!

Kate said...

You've been moving along with your projects Congrats on the finish. The Amish sampler turned out beautifully. The Cats in Cups are so cute. Looking forward to seeing that one come together.

Edith said...

Congratulations on completing your April goal. So many lovely projects on the go here. Love the boss and the cat fabric.