Everyday America

Everyday America, May 2026

How can it already be the end of June? Time seems to be flying by at record speed. We've been busy with everyday life, settling into and organizing our home.

I am back to my normal pace in the sewing room, with a backlog of ideas waiting to be started. Today's quilt is a vintage 1920's design called Rob Peter To Pay Paul. It was also published as Sugar Bowl, Orange Peel, Turn About, and Pin Cushion. It would have been fairly common to see during the 20's through the 60's.

Red, white and blue remnants are perfect for this patriotic layout. The Janome with her HP ¼” foot made piecing these precise curves easy. I quilted in rows 2½” apart in a scallop stitch with white thread. Everyday America is 44” square, and completed in May.

With July comes the heat of summer. Temps are predicted in the high 90's with heat indexes around 110 degrees all this week in Tennessee. Guess I have no choice but to stay inside and catch up on my quilting projects! Y'all stay cool for Independence Day!

Accuquilt dies used:
55066 & 55067 Rob Peter To Pay Paul
55017 Strips 2½” binding

 

Amelia

Amelia

I've been staying inside and cool during this Tennessee heat wave. It's the perfect excuse to retreat to my sewing room, especially since I got to play with my new Blue Wren dies.

The block name is Propeller, a vintage design from the late 1930's that was published in the Kansas City Star under the name Air Ship Propeller.  I used EQ8 and BlockBase to lay out the quilt and experiment with color ideas. 

For my modern version, I chose summery fabric in hot pink checks and stripes, with a touch of yellow and a background of pale pink.

The curves sewed up nicely as long as I maintained a consistent ¼” seam. The yellow center piece is machine appliqued on with light yellow thread after finishing the block.

After assembling the quilt, I stitched on the block seams using baby pink thread and a serpentine design. Then I changed to straight stitch to sew across each propeller blade.

Amelia finished at 50” square, nice for a picnic once it cools down a bit. I'm too old and delicate to eat outside when it's 94 degrees with a heat index of 109!

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6924 Propeller 10”
Accuquilt 55017 Strips 2½” binding

 

Let Freedom Ring

Let Freedom Ring

I decorate our home with red, white, and blue each year from around Memorial Day through Independence Day. 

Today is Flag Day, a holiday which commemorates the date in 1777 when the Continental Congress of the United States approved the design for its first national flag.

This patriotic quilt uses Friendship Circles die from Australia, a pattern also published here in the early 1930's. I sewed sixteen identical blocks from remnants, and added a 3” border in mixed dots. Tiny red gingham checked fabric is used on backing and binding.

For quilting, I chose a double blanket stitch in white thread to follow some of the curved seams. The centers were stitched using a spiral ruler template.

Let Freedom Ring is 38” finished size, just right for a reversible table topper or wall hanging. I worked up the design in Electric Quilt 8, modifying their Papa's Delight block to match my die.

Dies used:

Blue Wren 6301 Friendship Circles 8”

Accuquilt
55017 Strips 2½"
55032 Strips 3½”

Side note: I'm truly happy to be sewing inside a cool house...it's been 95 degrees outside and heat doesn't agree with me any more. Our cooling system had a malfunction, but my handy husband fixed it right up. FedEx isn't delivering the needed part in a timely manner (Texas to Nashville to Kansas !?! and who knows where next), so it's a good thing he knows how to improvise. A keeper, he is.

Autumn Vortex

Autumn Vortex

The calendar shows it's fall, but the temperature says something else entirely. It has officially been the hottest and driest September on record in Middle Tennessee. Though endless summer sounds nice, I do not like ninety degree days this time of year.

I've stayed indoors, happily sewing with autumn colors: brown, black, gold, burgundy remnants with cream and white for contrast. This simple kaleidoscope block was cut with two Accuquilt dies. I combined the center sections of 4” triangle in square and kite blocks.

Alternating the dark and light colors creates a striking effect, much like swirling leaves. I pressed the seams so that they would nest together, which helps them lay flat at the center points. After sewing the 30 blocks together, I added borders in a black burlap print. 

Quilting with dark gray thread, I used a straight stitch to outline the overlapping octagon shapes. The intersections made an interesting star design. Borders were finished with a serpentine pattern. I chose Black Dimples 108” wide print from Keepsake Quilting for backing and binding. Autumn Vortex is 48” x 56” in size. 

Maybe soon it will get cooler. If not, I'll turn the thermostat lower so I can actually use some of these quilts. 

In the meantime, I'm drinking iced tea and listening to Endless Summer, the classic Beach Boys album.

Accuquilt dies used: Kite 55254 and 4 ½” Triangle in Square 55409

Bear Hunt

Here's an old fashioned block arranged in a modern way. I sewed 6” traditional bear paw blocks and added triangles on each side to set them on point. Then I laid out vertical rows, alternating the direction each time. These bears don't know which way to turn!

My background fabric is a pretty arrow design from Wilmington Prints, also used for the narrow outer border. I chose navy, turquoise, aqua, green, and gray fabric remnants for the paws. Everything was cut with Accuquilt, using the value die and triangle die 55002.

Backing is a cream and white tone on tone circular design. I quilted using a walking foot, with off white thread in a random wavy pattern. Bear Hunt finished out at 45” square. It would also look great in a single row as a table runner. I really enjoyed working on this, and used up more remnants too.

Bear Hunt

Useful Notion: Sometimes long borders can stretch as you sew them, causing uneven sides. For this quilt I cut short border pieces and added them to the outer blocks before I sewed each row together. That kept my rows square and even.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Well, honey, I think it's both!

Summertime Girl

Summertime Girl

It's officially summer here in Tennessee: 99% humidity, triple digit heat index, daily thunderstorms, and no way to control my unruly naturally curly hair. 

Call me crazy, but I'm staying in my air conditioned sewing space stitching quilts.

Fun summer prints -- cats, owls, popsicles, and straw hats -- share space with bright colorful stripes, checks, and dots, all pulled from my overflowing scrap collection. This is a definitely girly quilt for a summer baby.

This time I combined three Accuquilt dies to make a rectangular block that I saw last year in a quilting book. I don't remember which publication, but I sketched it in my inspiration journal. I attached 4 ½” triangles on a center square, and completed the rectangle with two 6 ½” triangles.

I sewed six of them together horizontally and stacked them into three rows, then added the dotty border and backing. Summertime Girl is 40” square. Quilting is a scallop stitch done diagonally in white thread.

You know I'd do anything for you...

except leave the comfort

of my air conditioned home

Lemon Lime Spritz

A refreshing little quilt in bright greens and yellow, this one was quick to sew. I cut the pieces with Accuquilt's bow tie 4” die by Alex Anderson. Turning the blocks made a pretty lattice pattern on this 32” square called Lemon Lime Spritz. 

Free motion quilting was done in a swirling design, diagonally across each block with bright lime thread. The backing and binding are a lime print fabric. Cute baby quilt, I think, or a cheerful table topper.

It's a hot August day in my corner of Tennessee. I'm inside, drinking coffee, doing a bit of Monday morning cleaning, and contemplating which design to start next. And, best of all, there are two dudes outside painting the trim on our house. Better them than me!

Just because you CAN do it yourself

doesn't mean you have to,

or that you want to.

~Christine Brummell

It's Too Hot

It has been just sweltering in Tennessee!! It's too hot and humid to cook, work outside, or BE outside at all. Salads, sandwiches, and the crock pot are my best friends right now. I sneak out in the early morning to water flowers. The weeds will have to wait. (Why don't they wilt in the heat, anyway?)

It's almost too hot to sew. When you have a hot iron in the room to press seams, you might as well have the heat on. I'll stick to design projects, scrap piecing, and straightening up the sewing room until the temperature drops.

Light housework, reading, and chilling out are on my to do list for the time being. Along with drinking icy beverages and eating popsicles. 

Y'all stay cool, now!

“Summer is the time when it's too hot to do all those things you put off last winter when it was too cold.” ~Linda Poindexter

Pulling, Cutting, And Tossing

That pretty much describes last week at our little hacienda. We pulled weeds, and in this heat I'm wondering why we still live on five acres. We cut back shrubs and tree limbs that have been growing like crazy. And of course, we mowed grass. A condo started to sound pretty good once the heat index crept up to 108.

I'm just thankful that out in the country no one cares if your yard isn't perfectly landscaped. I was reminded why we enjoy living here when I saw a little fawn walking down our driveway. What a cutie, or at least I thought so until he made a beeline for his lunch buffet...my morning glories!

A rainy day was spent clearing out two hall closets and bathroom cabinets, tossing stuff that we don't need anymore. I've learned that simpler is better, so I was ruthless in my purging. I tossed a big bag of trash, and have a nice load ready to take for donation.

City Blocks

After all that manual labor, I took a day off to design and sew a quilted tote. I started with a pack of five inch dotted squares and cut borders and lining from a multicolored striped material.  The result is City Blocks, a 17” x 15” bag perfect for a laptop, groceries, or library books. 

Several more designs are in my mind for this week. I've got to use up more of my stash before the next fabric sale begins.

“Tossing clutter is like pulling weeds.

You have to make space

for beautiful things to flourish.”

~Katie Scarlett

Hot Summer Day

I can't think of a better place to be on a hot summer day than in my air conditioned sewing room. With outside temps in the high nineties and a heat index over 105 degrees, there's no relief in sight.

Yesterday's quilt project is appropriately named Hot Summer Day. I pulled out bright fabrics in orange, watermelon, and gourd yellow, then balanced them with medium turquoise batiks. After a few minutes with EQ7 quilting software, I had the design layout finalized.  

Hot Summer Day

A few rotary cuts, a snip here and there, zoomed along on my trusty Singer, and the blocks were done in no time. This week I'll add lightweight batting, backing and binding for a finished 38” square quilt.

Stay cool everyone, and make time for doing what you love!

“Happiness is air conditioning on a hot summer day.” 

“Yes, of course I remember when we didn't have air conditioning here in the South. Not in our car or in our house. We rode around with all the windows down and sat in front of a fan at home. Thanks so much for pointing out how old I am.” --Anonymous

And The Heat Goes On

I thought last week at the campground was hot enough. We came home a day early and am I glad we did! This string of temperatures over 100, along with the previous dry weather, has just about done in our yard and my flowers. My mama kept up with watering my roses and the plants on and around the screened porch, but our poor garden, blackberries, and the rest of the yard are parched.  She pampered our Rowdy dog with cool dips and naps on the porch. 

I don't believe I've ever seen crispy brown grass and wilted yellowing leaves this early. Our high temp so far here on the ridge was 106. A digital laser thermometer showed our grass at 152 degrees yesterday afternoon.  No wonder established shrubs and trees are showing stress, and even the cursed invasive wild ginger vine is drying up. (At least now I know what will kill it.) Unfortunately, poison ivy and other weeds don't seem to be affected. There's no telling what July and August will bring.

I intend to stay inside, drink lots of iced tea, and sew. During our trip, I designed several new sewing projects with my EQ software. Funny how I gravitated toward cooler greens and blues. Here's a sneak peak: 

 

Remember, these designs are copyrighted by Katie Scarlett designs & Useful Remnants.  Please give credit if you share or link. 

Too Hot To Fish

The temperature is nearing 100, there's no breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. Summer is going to be hot and dry. And we're at the lake. When the fish aren't biting, I'll take their hint to stay inside where it's cool. Fortunately, our camper has good air conditioning. We bring books, movies and icy cold drinks, so we're good here. Early morning walks and bike rides give us fresh air and exercise before the thermometer hits 90. Late evening stargazing is perfect with clear skies and a big bowl of popcorn.

People watching is another fun way to pass the time. We see lots of kids, dogs, old folks, fishermen and bubbas. We watch as they set up their sites and launch their boats. There are lots of interesting sights, sounds and activities going on at a campground. While I normally say to each his own, I do have one burning question: Why on earth do 300 pound fat women wear bikinis in public?