Actually, I am doing a little quilting, but nothing is finished enough to talk about. The one project that I’m working on was much bigger than I expected and I’m still working on it.

In the meantime, I have made a tote bag to take on my trip. I used the pattern for the Wow Bag. It is named appropriately as when people see it they most always say “wow!!!”.

I’ve had this pattern for a long time. I checked the Internet and it is still available.

Once you figure out how to make it, it is very easy and goes together quickly. The designer says to read all the instructions before you begin and she is right. It’s put together a little bit different than most tote bags. I was able to follow along until I was putting the zipper in the bag. The instructions clearly said to put it on the bottom. I didn’t and had to do a little unsewing and resewing. I made two bags. The second bag was made in half the time that it took me to make the first. I plan to make more Wow Bags in the future. It’s a great way to use the large print fabric that you don’t want to cut into little pieces.

The Wow bag is great for shopping at a quilt show.

It has a front and back pocket between the straps.

It has another strap which covers a zipper. When the zipper is opened, the tote bag becomes a double size duffle bag.

The duffle bag strap is long enough to fit over your shoulder. Now, you can buy many more items at the quilt show.

I used the colorful fabric to make a small pocketbook and a change purse. The pocket book has a skinny strap that can wrap around the duffle bag strap. The change purse will go inside the pocketbook along with card holder that I intend to make this week. The Wow bag and a small suitcase will be all that I need for the trip.

The Maximillian Sunflowers are in blossom. They are perennials. Somehow, they self seed all over the place and like to be in the front row. They are so pretty. I just let them go where they want to go.

My neighbor has the most delightful garden. It is beautiful. One of her sunflowers grew taller than her house. I’m trading my rose campion seeds for some of her giant sunflower seeds. If you look close, you can see three bumble bees on the flower.

Another one of her flowers is an avocado thistle.

I’m having new flooring laid in four of my rooms. I’ve been taking items out of closets and moving things out of the construction zone. The rest of the house looks like a disaster area. The project will take about one week. Fortunately, the sewing room floor was replaced a few years ago. Miss Molly and I can go there and have a great time. Maybe I will be able to finish something. There will be no housework for a week.

Then, when the project is finished, I can be selective about what I put back. This is a wonderful way to downsize.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

The 12th row of Dear Jane is finished. It is much easier to work on small quilting projects when the weather is hot. Two blocks of row 13, the last row in the quilt, are pieced. I will put piecing Dear Jane aside for a while and concentrate on something else.

I’m adding the row to the body of the quilt in the evenings while I watch TV. When that is finished, I have the bindings of two large bed quilts to tack down. It’s amazing what one can accomplish when you set your mind to it .

My friend, Jean, and I are going to a quilt show in Pennsylvania in September. My community was bought out by Sun Community. They sponsor the My Jump program. My Jump is a program where a member of the community is given something that is on their bucket list. We had a community meeting. Everyone there said what was on their bucket list. I said that I wanted to go by train to Oregon to the Sisters Quilt Show. My request won. Unfortunately, because of Covid and the wild fires, we couldn’t go to Sisters, but plans are being made to attend Quilt Extravaganza in Pennsylvania. It still is unreal that we are going on this fabulous trip.

We’ve already been interviewed on video. The videographer came to my home and videoed my sewing room and some of my quilts. Jean was videotaped at the Community Center. We’ll go from Boston on Amtrak. While there , we will stay at a Sun Resort. I’ll take lots of pictures to share on the blog.

There are several people involved in this trip. Jean and I want to give them a gift so I made several embroidered wall hangings. Jean is tacking down the bindings. I used Donna Dewberry’s embroidery patterns for this project.

After I finished making the embroideries, I had a pile of scraps that was leftover. The scrap bin is full, so these scraps have to be made into something and not stored away for future use.

The scraps were cut into 1 1/2″ strips. They will be the start of a new quilt that has 3 1/2″ nine patches. I’ll just make the nine patches and decide how to set them later. I’m starting a new mini quilt that uses 1 1/2″ strips and the leftovers from that project will be added to the nine patch quilt. I can sew the nine patches together when I want an easy project.

The cutting instructions have come for this year’s mystery quilt. I may cut the pieces, or I may wait until the block instructions come and cut the fabric then, I have until next month to decide. It’s interesting to see other people’s fabric choices on the blog.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

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