Distraction

Distraction, January 2026

It's no secret that purple is my favorite color, even though there aren't too many hues that I don't like. I'm definitely a color lovin' woman. For this simple design, I wanted to use some large and medium florals that have been in my stash for a while.

I added pink, purple, and green scraps in coordinating colors along with a white-on-white print and black & white mini gingham. These half and quarter square triangles are easy to stitch, especially on Annie, my Singer 221 Featherweight.

A sweet paisley print in purple, green & cream was perfect for backing and binding this 50” square quilt called Distraction. I quilted on the Janome with pale gray thread, using a utility zig-zag stitch in diagonal rows, plus straight stitching along horizontal and vertical seams.

I'm off to do some more rain dancing, since we are so very dry. April showers are needed for May flowers, and we have only had 0.65” so far this whole month. Not your usual rainy April in Tennessee, despite several storms passing us by.

Accuquilt dies used:

55001 HST 6½”

55002 QST 6½”

55017 Strips 2½”

Camping, Scraps, and A Clever Substitute

Obey River, Dale Hollow Dam Campground

We're home from an interesting trip to Dale Hollow Dam Campground. First, it rained every day...Hurricane Helene remnants...but thankfully no flooding or wind damage at our campsite or our house. I'm so sorry for everyone who has been devastated by this unbelievable storm.

After we determined we were safe, our stay was actually very quiet and relaxing. Soft rain on the roof was nice and the campground was less than half full because of cancellations. A few days there were only a dozen sites occupied. We had plenty to do: tablets loaded with books, movies on a hard drive, and fairly good internet access. We cooked some nice meals, ate delicious Mexican food at Los Primos in Celina, and walked the trail in between showers.

Of course, there was sewing! I brought along my Featherweight (Annie), bins of cut pieces for blocks to make two quilts, plus some random scraps. As I set up my sewing station, I realized that I forgot my thread stand. Huh. I tried putting the cone thread in a cup, but it wasn't working well.

My clever husband pulled two items out of his tool kit: Vise-grips and a long screwdriver. I added a little binder clip to the top as a thread guide and it worked a treat! It never hurts to have a backup plan or the ingenuity to create an alternative.  A bit of redneck in us, I guess.  We could have gotten extra points if we had also used wire-ties and duct tape. 

We made the best of a rainy escape, plus came home relaxed and happy. And I have two nearly finished quilt tops ready to sandwich and stitch. That's a story for another day. See ya next week!

 

Signs Of Spring

Here's a sweet quilt that reminds me of April rain and flower blooms.

I used batiks of shades of peony pink, lavender, sky blue, light teal, sunny yellow and grassy green for triangles to accent the calm gray pin dots. 

The backing is pieced using a white and gray wood grain print, strips of 3” x 6” rectangles, along with a section of gray dots.

Signs of Spring is 48” square. I quilted with pale gray thread, doing free motion scribbles diagonally across the blocks. The die is another new design from Blue Wren, called X-Quisite.

April is one of my favorite months. I just feel energized when the weather is warm, with flowers blooming. And, my birthday is in a few days. I think cake and ice cream should be on the menu, don't you?


Dies used:
Blue Wren 6656 X-Quisite 6” finished

Accuquilt
55005 Rectangle 3” x 6” finished
55017 Strip 2½” binding

 

Lucy In The Sky

Bright yellow and orange batiks combined with a small navy print make a striking combination for this quilt.

After my last quilt, I was ready for an easy project with larger pieces. Cutting and sewing went very quickly, and I used a simple alternating row layout.

Lucy In The Sky finished at 45” x 49” after adding a 3” border. The back is yellow with gold polka dots. I quilted with gold thread, using a walking foot and serpentine stitch, 3” apart. It would make an adorable baby quilt or wall hanging.

Dies used:
Blue Wren
6557 Spinner 8” block
6380 Diamond in Rectangle 4” x 8” block
Accuquilt
55017 Strip 2½” binding

Weather note: March came roaring in like a lion across the southern US...rain, hail, storms and ferocious wind for three days made quite a mess. Thousands of trees are down in middle Tennessee, damaging homes, cars, and power lines. We lost two 50 and 60 foot white pine trees during the near hurricane force winds. Thankfully, they fell away from our house into our neighbor's hay field. Our electricity was only out for a few hours but many are still in the dark. Unfortunately, there were several local deaths. Our thoughts are with those families.

Rainy Monday List

What to do on a rainy Monday? 

✓  Sleep late 

     (thankful to be retired)

✓  Enjoy hot coffee and a good book

✓   SEW!

✓  Shop online

✓  Light housekeeping

✓  Make homemade soup 

     (I REALLY want brownies)

✓  Update blog

🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀

Some people feel the rain.

Others just get wet.