Saturday workshop

A friend and I hosted a hand appliqué workshop for the HHQG members.  There were eight people in attendance and six if us doing appliqué.  The others were sewing other projects on their machines.

During the class, we all made an acetate plastic template of the full block, to help with placement.  We taught them how to do vines with a bias bar to get a very smooth stem. Then we moved on to showing them how to do regular appliqué and reverse applique on the heart.  We covered placing the stem and heart using the acetate template.  They learned how to overlap the stem to cover the end beneath the heart and also how to then trim back the background fabric prior to finishing off the outside of the heart.  

The heart used two different colours, but you only had to appliqué the one shape.  In my case above, the pink was my background fabric for the heart and I only appliquéd the red portion, both the perimeter (regular appliqué) and the inner heart (reverse appliqué).  This also took care of learning outside curves, inside curves, outside points and inside point...twice...lol!  

Appliqué is a slow process and requires patience.  The workshop was from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and in that time, most of us got to this stage.  Just these few steps though, shown in different techniques, will be sufficient to proceed to finish the block.

I did send everyone additional instructions in an email, just to go over the overlapping part a little more in depth, as the bird requires many pieces to fit underneath the bird body and letting them know that the body is not whole under the wing and that there is only the 1/4" seam that goes under the wing.  

There were also some additional tips and tricks showing different methods on how to address appliqué in different ways.  The outcome is the same, but the execution is sometime different.  We went through lots and lots of information.  Hopefully they were not overwhelmed.

After I got home and spent some time cleaning up the yard (it was such a beautiful day), I went down to my quilting studio to put away all the stuff I brought to the workshop, which was way more than I needed...lol.  I still had some energy so decided to cut out all the pieces for the appliqué, before putting the fabrics away.

This is the pattern we went with.  This is a version of the Distelfink bird.  According to Google it is a prominent bird in Pennsylvania Germen (Dutch) folk art, representing happiness and good fortune.  These stylized birds symbolize joy and harmony within German-American cultural traditions.

I am making mine all bright and colourful.  All the others have chosen many different colourways.  They will all be nice and reflect the maker's personality.  When I finish my block, I will be making it into a NICU quilt, with some additional pieced blocks and borders surrounding it.

Take care everyone.

A couple of updates/progress

Guess what finally made it's way onto the longarm?  It took a while!!  I had this quilt top done before Christmas.  It didn't get quilted right away as I got frustrated that the backing was not big enough and had to unload the whole thing to make the backing bigger.

But.....I can now call it quilted!!!  Yesterday it took me the best part of the day and I didn't finish it until after 9:30 pm.  It's looking great though and I am really glad to have this king size quilt done!

I also stated working on this wool penny wall hanging again, while I was standing there keeping an eye on the quilting.  I previous wrote about this back on Oct 13th & 14th/2025, if you want to read all the details about it.  

I am now sewing these penny circles to the background fabric.  So far I have nine sewn on.  I have enough circles complete to finish one quarter of this wall hanging, so I will work on it as I can.  This is a good hand work piece to do while I still pay attention to the quilting.

I am liking how the colours are popping when they are sewn to the black background.

Take care everyone.

Medallion quilt inspiration (QW)

To start off with, if anyone knows the name of this pattern or where I can get the instructions, name or maker, please let me know in the comments.  I really want to make this!!

Update:  Pattern is called Timeless by Lynn of Sew'n Wild Oaks Quilting Blog and fabrics are called Timeless Stitches by Marcus Fabrics.  More details regarding this quilt can be seen though this address:  https://sewnwildoaks.blogspot.com/  

I fell in love with this quilt the minutes I saw it.  There are not many medallion quilts that I can say I love all aspects of.  I wouldn't change a thing.  I like the soft background fabrics that showcase all the various blocks and the colours are so Spring!!  

I contacted the maker of this quilt to inquire if there is a pattern coming soon.  Hopefully there will be.  In the meantime, I am lurking on her blog and checking out all the other lovely things she has been making.  She also has many other beautiful patterns for quilts to inspire you.  Take a look.  You won't be disappointed!!

Take care everyone.

Pooh Bear blocks

Today I have the day off work.  I am working hard on learning to take it easy.  To relax and go slow.  That has always come hard for me, as I seem to always want to be doing something to get ahead.  To try this and that.  Basically, to do it all!  But I am learning that it is not good for my health. 

There are many other things that we as humans do, that are not good for our health.  Gradually I am trying to remedy all the aspects of my life. to contribute to a healthier lifestyle.  It's been a long journey so far and I've got a lot more to do, but one step at a time, making new habits and changing the composition of my mind and body.

I'm telling you all this, to explain why my posts have been more sporadic these days.  I still love my quilting and posting about all that I and others do, but all the things that I have to concentrate on to better my health takes time and focus.  So, I've had to cut back on some things to make everything work.

I'm hoping that once things become habit and I am where I want to be, that I can then again concentrate on my quilting passion.  Until then.....things will be a little bit less intense.  I think that if I commit to posting on the weekends and Wednesdays, I should be able to manage it.  If you get a little in between, then that will just be a bonus!!

Enough of all that.  Let me show you what I have taken the time to do recently.  I was given some Winnie the Pooh Bear blocks.  I showed you the one previously of Eeyore.  Now I am showing you what I've done so far with the next three blocks in the panel.

Here is Winnie the Pooh himself!  I didn't like the simplicity of the soft grey shades.  The background is a soft bluish grey, Pooh bear's shirt was a dark grey textured pattern and the honey pot was dark grey wood grain.  So one day, I borrowed my mom's wax crayons.  She keeps them on hand for the grandchildren that may pop by and want to colour.  I decided I wanted to colour these block to make them more appealing to me.  

Then we have Tigger.  The original block, only had Tigers main body shaded in a with a light grey tone.  I coloured him per his true self, all in orange, pink nose and yellow belly and face.  Much more cheerful!!!  More spunky, as is Tigger.  Or maybe that should read bouncy....

The last block I decided to colour in, was one of my favourite characters from this book/movie.  Piglet!!  Piglet was originally shaded in a medium grey for her body, ears and nose.  Again, I coloured her per her true self, dark pink and light pink.  Isn't she cute!!

  

Now I need to get the parchment paper out to iron the blocks and set the crayon.  When you set the crayon, it melts and really bonds with the fabric, making it permanent.  Then I am going to come up with some ideas for blocks and borders to enlarge these small panels.

I think I mentioned this before in a previous post, but just in case you didn't see it,,,,  To entertain kids of all ages, you can use colouring books and trace the designs on plain white fabric, held taught by a piece of parchment paper.  Then put out the crayons and let everyone go to town on colouring them all in.  It makes for a couple of fun hours and colouring is very relaxing for the adults. 

Take care everyone.

Scrap Attack quilt

I've been working on the scrap attack blocks.  These are a bunch of blocks that the HHQG members made for me, as I parting gift for being president.  The picture below shows four blocks and in this case they were all made by the same maker.  The only instructions they were given was to think of me and make it bright and scrappy......lol......I am known for making scrap quilts.....lol.

I got about 40-45 blocks from the members.  The blocks were all different.  Very different!!  It is my job now to make some bridging blocks to, one, make the quilt a bit bigger than the initial blocks would allow and two, to try and blend all the various blocks of various colours and styles.  That last one is the hardest.

Some people went all bright, some went medium.  Others did coordinated and the majority of the others did completely scrappy.  What a mélange of blocks!!  Was I up for the task?  At first I was frozen.  I just didn't know if I was going to be able to make all the blocks turn out cohesive in a quilt.  

I thought I would show you an example of a small corner section that I just recently pulled together.  Above is the main section that was done.  Below you will see another set of four blocks that someone else put together.  This maker made each corner a specific colour.  Beside this second block, is another set of blocks that was made primarily with beige and brown, which is why I put it beside the gold/orange, to help these blocks blend.  

The first block has some blues in the right hand side to blend it into it's neighboring block and the dark pink blends a bit with the red of the block beside it.  I know what you are all thinking.....it looks like a mess of scraps, but you'll have to wait for the overall appearance of the quilt when it's done.  Something magic happens when you move back and look at the whole.

So now it was my job to take some of the other blocks I was given and try to coordinate them with what I had started on the design board.  My intention to help blend everything, is to have the perimeter diamond shapes be all in blue.  In the picture below I zoomed out.  The two blocks from the above picture are in the top right hand side.

So I then found a single, all blue block which was great for the bottom left hand corner.  Then I found a single block that had all blue on the left so I was able to form that blue diamond, on the right of the corner block.  That is how I did it for all the blocks I had been given.  Kept moving, swapping, rearranging.....lol. 

Then I had to make the two left hand side blocks to finish this corner.  Can you see how I used purple for the dart facing down toward the other purple dart of someone else's block.  I used all blue in the left diamond and I started to find similar colours to match the other block's diamond to make it look like a continuous multi colour diamond.  Sorry if that doesn't quite make sense.....  There are lots of darts and diamonds....lol.

I am doing what I can to try and blend everything together.  This corner has a lot of reds, blue and purples, moving out to some greens and golds.  I have another section of the quilt closer to the top that I've already posted about.  Something a bit more coordinated.  If you want to see the progression of this quilt from the start, I posted about it:  Aug 27/2025 called Scrap Attack blocks gifted by Guild members, a little on Dec 29/2025 called An extra Saturday sewing day on a Monday, and Jan 28/2026 called Scrap Attack quilt progress.

We will see how it all comes together in the end.  Wish me luck in managing it!!

Take care everyone.

The next Gathering Flowers appliqué quilt block

On Sunday, I pulled out the next block that I am going to work on for the Gathering Flowers appliqué quilt.  This one has four modernish hearts in the corners with four leaves and four berries separating them.  

The block was started way back when, where I appliquéd the leaves and berries to the background.  I did make an attempt to appliqué the hearts, but at the time, I don't think I had enough skills to pull it off.  I felt my curves were not curvy enough and I had points or concaves in the curves that I just did not like.  So in my frustration, I put it away for a while.

Now this block is back out again.  I picked off the heart pieces that were done and I am debating cutting out the shapes again, so that I won't have to fuss with these misshaped hearts.  I am ok with the slightly imperfect leaves, so they will stay.

I am not sure if you can see the block at the bottom of the picture enough to see the heart shapes stitched to the background.  These stitches act as a guideline for where the hearts are to be placed.  This was a new technique for me, which I think was a little too advance for me at the time.  Plus, as it turned out, I don't like this technique at all.  I reverted back to a few other methods of appliqué that I choose from, depending on what shapes and sizes that I am working with.  

I am going to bring this example to the next HHQG workshop, that is coming up on April 11th, which will be teaching hand appliqué.  Two of us will be teaching the class, which will be great, as we sometimes use different techniques to achieve the same results.  The more examples we can show the students the better.  Then they can pick and choose what method or methods they prefer after they try them all.

Take care everyone.

Dragonfly panel

As it turned out, we had a lot going on this past Saturday, at our sew day.  Here is yet another post of things that went on.....lol.  This is good, as I have not been able to do so much in quilting in the last little while.  

We had one of the ladies bring some show and share.  This will be a gift for her daughter.  She started with a dragonfly panel.  Apparently these panels came in purple as well. 

This time she did the low volume grey and beige version.  This is really pretty and the colours are so calming.  I like dragonflies.  They are unique.  This person added a couple of additional borders with two sides one colour and the opposite corners a different colour.  In this case a lighter grey and a tan/beige.  When she added the two borders, she did a mitered corner, where the two different colours meet.  That's a nice touch.  Then she did the second border the same, just in reverse.  Really pretty.

I was so caught up in the moment and admiring the quilt and quilting, that I forgot to take close up pictures.  So the maker was nice enough to take some photos and send them to me.  To be honest, that day I forgot a lot of opportunities to take a bunch more pictures of quilting candy/inspiration.  This person had several mini quilts that I thought were cute and I forgot to take pics of those too.  I don't know where my head was....lol.

Anyways, this here is a close up picture so you can see the centre, the panel, a bit better.  If you enlarge the picture some, you can check out how she quilted the borders.  She did two vines all the way around and added leaves to them.  It was well done!

She sent me this picture too, which is of the back.  Here you can see better all the quilting she did on the dragonfly.  So detailed that this side makes me think of a whole cloth.  It's like she did an outline of all the sections of the dragonfly wings!  It looks real life.  I love it!

I am sure that her daughter is going to love it!!  It is just the perfect size for a larger wall hanging or a small lap size quilt.

Take care everyone.  Wishing everyone a good Easter for those who celebrate it.

A pineapple quilt in the making

More productivity happened at our Saturday sew day, when this person was working on her pineapple blocks.  These really take a long time to do with all those individual pieces.  She was also working on other stuff, so by the time she took this one out, she still managed to finish two blocks.

She has a bunch of them already made.  This was a HHQG Workshop of May 13/2023, where we demonstrated paper piecing.  I asked her if she would lay them out, so that I could take a picture of them for this blog.  These are really looking great!!  

This person opted to swap the position of the light and the dark strips for some of her blocks.  Many people did the dark for the diagonal small pieces and light on the larger vertical and horizontal pieces, and others did the reverse.  Each version took on a different look.  

This person chose to do some of each.  She also chose to do her background in the same bright white throughout all the blocks.  Doing it this way makes it look so fresh and crisp.  The blocks have a Spring vibe to them.  I really like this lighter version.  So pretty!

I'm not sure if you caught the subtle difference between the three centre rows and the border blocks.  Can you see that she did the border blocks in reverse?  The centre blocks are going to be like most of the others were doing them, with the dark on the diagonal small pieces and light on the larger vertical and horizontal pieces.  It will make the border blocks just a bit darker, so that it will frame the centre blocks.

This maker said, she has a gazillion more blocks to make.....lol.  The placement of the bottom border above, is just there so you can see the difference the border will make against the lighter blocks.

Another aspect of this quilt, are the corners of all of the blocks.  Instead of taking her dark colour strips all the way to the edge of the block, this person decided to use the same blue or green fabric in the largest diagonal strips, just before the half square on the outer corner.  That one is white instead of a colour.  If you look at the picture above, you'll see what I mean.  When the corners of the blocks meet, they will match each other to form a blue or a green square. 

Above we have a sample of a light block.  See all those pretty Spring colours?  So cheerful!!  

Below is a sample of the alternate position with the light on the diagonal small pieces and dark on the larger vertical and horizontal pieces.  More cheerful Spring colours!!  It didn't escape my notice that amongst all the "Spring" colours, there is a snowman!!  Can you see it?  Is it Olaf....lol?

So cute!!  This is going to take a while to complete, which is to be expected with all the small pieces, but is it going to be well worth the effort.  I can't wait to see this one complete.

Hope you all enjoyed that one.  If you are looking for an attractive way to use up your scraps, a pineapple quilt like this would certainly help to make a dent in them.  

Take care everyone.

Some blocks were being made

Even though I didn't get much done on Saturday during our sew day, there were others that did get some blocks made....lol.  This first block is the Smith Mountain Morning star block for the quilt that is being called Bird Brain.  You can read more about that quilt on the Dec 9/2025 post, called Bird Brain....lol.

I like this block variation with the half square triangles (HST) in the centre.  I also like how she placed the top right hand corner HST to match the top blue point of the star and the bottom left hand corner that matches the bottom blue point.  It extends the blue and make the block look different.  This block is, I believe, going on the back of the quilt.  Gorgeous!

Then we had my mom who was also there at our Saturday sew day.  She managed to make the last twenty nine patch blocks that she needed for her blue string quilt.  Here is a sampling of nine of them.

The blue nine patch blocks are for her version of the Burgundy String quilt that I spoke about in an earlier post.  Here is the EQ design I made and printed up.  This is the same quilt that I am making, though mine is going to be done in burgundy.  This is also the same quilt that the person who is making the Bird Brain quilt is making, but hers will be blue, like my mom's.  

My mom is making her quilt for her bed, as the one she is currently using was made a long time ago and is starting to show signs of wear.  I am making mine for Quilts of Valor.

Take care everyone.  Have a great day!!

Making blocks

I did some more of the required blocks on my list.  I am happy to say that the blue stars from the Smith Mountain Morning quilt are done.  Now I have only about 32 chimney blocks left to do.  I'm getting there!!

I did get some more of the sea swept blocks done too.  I have four more blocks to do, to catch up, and I still have three days left of March....lol.  Will I do it....

I was reviewing my list of required blocks and overall I am doing well.  I am ahead and actually done two of the columns for two different quilts!  So I'll try to put those together soon and get them completely done.  

The only one so far that is falling behind is the Welcome to the North Pole appliqué quilt blocks.  But I am ok with that.  That one has a bit more intense appliqué to do.  I didn't really think I would pull it off, but figured if I got some of them done, that would be nice.

Take care everyone.

Appliqué block for March update

Yesterday was a very nice day.  I had some friends over for a sew day!  Always a lot of inspiration with show and share, chatting and laughing.  I get so distracted that I usually don't get much done...lol.  But I am ok with that.  It's just nice having people over sharing the day and our passion for quilting.

While the ladies were here, I got three more leaves done.  During the week leading up to Saturday, I managed to get all the leaves on the left hand side, plus the two berries.   By this point it is starting to take shape.

Then, after the ladies left, I was going to pull out my wool appliqué that I picked up at the 2025 Quilt Canada show called Thimble Blossoms.  I've been dreaming of getting that one moving along.  But I stopped myself and rationalized that this required block for March is due in just three days.....  

So, I push through the urge to start working on something else and continued to do this Gathering Flowers appliqué block.  I am glad I did!!  It feels good to get blocks done.

I added this block to my pile of completed blocks and ticked off the box to say that this March block is done......whoohoo!  I even pulled out the next block that I am going to work on.  More about that one in another post.

While I was reviewing the blocks that I have left to do for this quilt, I noticed I have more of it done then I thought, which is always nice.  According to the list, I have only eight more blocks out of twenty to do.

Take care everyone.

Appliqué block for March

Yesterday afternoon, after I brewed my cup of tea, I gathered my appliqué block for March.  I've been wanting to get this one started for a couple of weeks now, but time just would not allow it.  I decided that now is the time.  I sat and had my tea and admired the vine parts of the appliqué that were already done.  I did that part years ago.  I did the vine parts on most of the blocks years ago...lol.  

Sometimes that's just how it goes.  Appliqué is an on and off thing for me.  I like handwork, a lot, but finding the time, literally hours, to sit and do it is hard....or at least it is for me.  Especially went there are so many other things that I also want to do!!

I forgot to take the before picture.  So above is when I remembered to take a picture.  I just finished sewing on that bud and pinned the two leaves.  The block is laying on top of the pattern paper that I have all the pieces pinned to.  The paper is face down, so you just see the pencil marks, of the shapes and where they go, in the background.

Below is how much I was able to do in the time I had.  I stitched the two leaves and added the green part of the bud, and later the two berries.  

Now, just to keep things real and give you a gauge as to how long this handwork stuff takes, from the time I started, it took me 2 1/2 hours to sew on the full bud and both leaves.  Then after dinner and taking the dog out for a walk, I gave it another go and worked on the two berries.  The berries, starting from scratch, took me about 45 minutes using the perfect circle method.  That's where you gather the fabric around the perfect circle shape with a basting stitch, then starch and iron to set your shape.

All aspects of appliqué take time, but that's what's nice about it too.  You sit quietly working away with no rush or hurry.  You, the fabric pieces, thread, needle and your thoughts, turning out a pretty block that's special, because of the amount of dedication you give to it.  I really do enjoy the process of it.

As I was getting ready to shut down for the evening, I thought maybe you might want to see how I set things up to do my appliqué blocks.  I have this ironing board that I made with a piece of 3/4" thick wood and an ironing pad that I cut down to fit.  The board measures about 16" x 24", give of take.  The padding is thick enough to stick pins in it and they stay upright.  

My plastic template pieces have holes that I've punched through them, and I use pins through the holes to hold the templates on the board, on the right hand side.  I also stick pins in the pad standing upright, to hold the small spools of thread, so when I travel with my board to another room, everything stays put.  There's plenty of room for my paper pattern with the pieces to sit flat on the left side. 

Then finally, I use this tube shaped pillow to support my arms, just below my wrist, while I am appliquéing the pieces to the background.  I find the pillow puts the handwork at the right height to see the stitches without having to be hunched over too much.  Overall I feel it helps keep a better posture and relieves any stress on the upper body and your hands. 

I might try to do some more of this later today, but for now I need to head to the kitchen to make some breakfast and take care of a few things.  Have a great day!!

Take care everyone.

A Spring quilt made by many hands

I am not sure why it's taken me so long to post about this quilt.  I quilted this quilt back in April 16/2023 for a customer, who then donated it to the HHQG.  I guess it kept getting pushed down, as new pictures were being taken.....and got lost as time moved on!

I like this quilt.  It's a bit of a sampler quilt.  This was a joint effort, made by many hands.  I believe they called it a tinner's quilt.  The way it went was, that there were a bunch of people that decided they wanted to make a quilt.  They each put some fabric in a "tin" and these tins would go around to each person, who would then make some blocks, to make a row or round, that the owner of the tin would then put together.  Depending on what they ended up with, would direct the design of the quilt.

The tin would make it's way around to each person to add in their interpretation of the theme, that was chosen by the owner of the tin and fabrics.  The theme of this quilt, if you haven't guessed it already, was Spring.  You may have to enlarge the next picture to see the words, but it says Spring.

This was another section of the quilt that I thought was pretty.  The pretty paper piece tulips and above them is a block of different bird houses.  This one had some embroidery done to it, for the vines that are growing up the poles.  Do you see the bird perched on the top of one of the bird houses?  So cute!

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but here is hoping that Spring makes an appearance some time soon.....  I am so over all the snow we've been getting.  I want some beautiful sunshine and time outdoors in the garden.  Bring it on!!!

Take care everyone.

A cheerful, whimsical quilt

I thought this quilt was cute.  It's cheerful and whimsical in pretty fabrics.  I'll apologize for the quality of the photo now.  The top half is a better representation of the colours than the bottom half.  I almost forgot to take a picture of it all together and so felt rushed to do it before this quilt left the house.

The majority of the fabrics were Tula Pink, her more feminine style fabrics.  No skulls or wild animals in these fabrics.  I like the cheerful pinks, yellows and greens.

Here is a close up of one block section.  This is the gazebo with some trees and a bird perched on a tree.  It's pretty how the blue sky background is seen through the openings in the gazebo.

Tomorrow, after making the Project Linus drop off in the morning, I am hoping to finally have some time down in my studio.  Not sure what I'll do, but since I've already taken care of the straightening up part, I should have more time to enjoy myself.  Then maybe have more to post about.... .hopefully.  

Take care everyone.

A couple more quilts I had the pleasure of quilting for Quilts for Survivors

Way back in Feb/2024, I was helping out Quilts for Survivors.  I had the pleasures of quilting these two donated tops.  This first one was a very detailed paper pieced turtle.  The centre block was approximately 20" tall and just a bit less wide.  I love how the background fabric picks up all the colours in the centre block.  Up close the turtle looks great!  I'm sorry that I forgot to get a close up.

Then there's this one.  Someone obviously had some sampler blocks and decided to make this top.  I'm going to say that they were more of a random assortment of blocks as the fabrics were different in each block, with only a few that were similar.  But I'd say it still works as there are some common colours in each block.

These were both sent out shortly after I quilted them and my mom helped to attach the binding.  Two more quilts providing some comfort to the recipients.  I've lost count how many I've quilted for Quilts for Survivors.  My hope is to help them out again soon, as I try to get thing here back in order.  

It's a good cause, so if you have any extra blocks sticking around that you don't want or a quilt top, think of them.  They will take them and finish them up.  They have been given the use of a warehouse to get together and assemble the tops and they have a longarm to do the quilting.  Various other longarmers across Canada also help out to get more done.

Take care everyone.

December's paper piece temperature wheel

Sunday, after finishing the March temperature wheel, I was still in the mood to continue.  Instead of moving on to April though, as I still want to follow the months with these blocks, I decided to go all the way to December and work backwards for any times that I can get more done.

This is December's temperature wheel completed.  What a contrast to the March temperature wheel that I just finished earlier.  I put the March block below so that you could compare them.

December above, obviously has more colder days of purples, teals and dark blue.  Then we have March that still has some cold days, but the more colder days are heading into the warmer temperatures with an increase in the greens and heading into the pinks.  Pretty cool watching the change.

I really like seeing these wheels come together.  No moving things around to suit your taste.  This is mother nature doing her thing, every day and me recording it accordingly....lol....she is doing a fine job of it....lol....

Take care everyone.

March's paper piece temperature wheel

Yesterday, I spent some time in my sewing space relaxing.  I finished off ironing all the scraps that I washed and from mid-day on, I had some me time.  I have so many things I want to do that sometime when I get to do whatever I want, I just freeze for a bit.....lol.  I have to check in with myself to figure out what it is that I "most" want to do.

So, this time when I checked deep down, I decided that I wanted to make some progress on my 2024 temperature quilt.  I added this quilt to my list of required blocks and decided to try to do at least one a month.  I am following the months.  Being that we are March, I did March's block.  

Can you see how March is starting to show some of the softer colours?  Now we have some pink in there for the warmer temperatures.  Purple is the colder temperatures that move into the blues, then the greens and now the pinks.  

Since this picture was taken, I've taken off the paper and have placed the wheel on the background.  Later, I'll pin it down to the background so that I can appliqué it.  I still have a couple of weeks to meet this deadline, so no rush or worry.

Take care everyone.

A finished blue crumb quilt top

This post will be short and sweet.  I spoke about this little crumb quilt, that I was working on, all day Sunday.  The post was called, Small blue scraps.... from March 9th, so I won't go into too much details again here.

I'll just say that these strips are 2 1/2" wide with a 1/2" strip connecting them together to help avoid all the seams of all those crumb pieces.  I then cut 3" pieces for the borders.

It took some time to make these strips, but I really did enjoy the process.  With no rush or hurry.  Just sitting there with my machine, iron, a good pair of scissors and a backet full of very small crumbs.  Some mindless sewing.

And for those of you who are keeping tabs........yes........this is a newly started quilt.......lol.  But it's done!!!

This is a 25" square NICU quilt that will be going to Project Linus.

Take care everyone.

Yummy colours

I don't have much of my own to share with you at the moment.  Everything is in a partially completed stage.  I like working on many things, but that sometimes leads to longer periods of time before I actually finish something.

So today, I want to share with you this quilt made by a friend.  This was from 2025.  I call it the citrus quilt.  The colours of all the citrus fruits are in there, from lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines, and even pink grapefruit!!  I just love the colours all together. and the block itself adds a bit of spunk too.  With no borders needed!

The backing fabric was perfect for this quilt too.  It's got all the colours of the fabrics in the top.  Little bursts of sunshine!

This is a one block quilt, where the block just keeps getting rotated.  I'm sure any of you could draw up the paper piece pattern for this.

As for me, I am almost done ironing all the little bitty pieces of scraps and sorting all the recently washed fabrics.  I also have all the strips sewn from the tiny blue crumbs, ready to be assembled into a small quilt.  Maybe later today I can get some sewing done.  

We'll see.  My daughter is here today and currently making dinner.  So maybe I should try to slip down there now.....lol.

Take care everyone.  Don't forget to take some time for yourself.

Small blue scraps....

This is the starting point of making a scrap quilt.  First off, I gather up some of my scraps.  In this case I chose to do blue.  I had two quilts in mind when I gathered these scraps up, but today I'll walk you through the making of one of them.  Keep your eyes on that black basket.

My pieces are pretty small.  I would classify this as a crumb quilt.  I am making strips that only measure 2 1/5" wide by about 10-11" long.  I just grab one and sew it to the first one and continue this process until the strip is the length I am shooting for.  

Now you have to realize that these pieces are my really small scraps/crumbs and that some of them don't even measure 2 1/2" wide.  When that happens, which is often, I grab a similar scrap and sew them together, as seen in the strip on the bottom right hand corner of this next picture.

I keep working like this throughout the construction of my strips.  Grab, sew, grab, sew, piece, piece again, grab, sew, grab, sew....processing a lot of very small pieces.  In the picture below I show you my set up.  The pieces in the middle are the ones that already measure at least 2 1/2" long and the pieces toward the bottom are not big enough.  They will need to find a partner to be sewn to.

Did you notice that black basket!!  It is empty!  I can actually say I am making a small dent in using up my crumbs.  I haven't yet opened that bag on the right hand side of the picture....lol.....but, progress none the less!  Once I have enough strips, I am using a blue solid 1" strip to set them together as you see in the picture below.

I have these four strips sewn together, which makes me feel great!  I'm obviously not done this quilt, but I really enjoyed some quiet, relaxing, fun just playing with fabric and making what other people consider to be garbage into something useful.  

These crumb quilts do take more time, but I am trying to see this as a form of meditation.  Focus on only the small pieces.....grab, sew, grab, sew, piece, piece again, grab, sew, grab, sew.  No rush, no worries, just sew one to another and keep going.  If you are going to try this, it would be much easier if you don't have an agenda.  Don't think of the end product, just keep plugging away to a calmer sole.

Take care everyone.

Basket Case borders are on

Last Saturday, I got the borders put on the Basket Case quilt.  It's still waiting to be quilted, but thought I would share it with you.  I've been pretty busy with non-quilting stuff and haven't had much time to sew.  

This is an interesting way to use up  scraps with a geometric block.  It doesn't matter what fabrics you use for this quilt, as it all tends to mess in well.  For a more coordinated look, can you imagine each horizontal line a specific colour (ie hot tones) weaving in and out of the vertical lines another specific colour (ie cool tones).  It would look fabulous!!

For me, I am always trying to find nice patterns to use up my scraps and the scraps that people give me.  This one is a good one!

Excerpt from a previous post:  This pattern is called Basket Case by Cluck Cluck Sew.  I modified my version to use up what I already had on hand.  The scrappy strips I started with are only 2" wide.

Take care everyone.

A blue scrappy strings quilt

I started this quilt in March/2025, with four small blocks.  I made a sample, just to see if I liked it and check out the sizing.  I know Bonnie Hunter has a free pattern on her site.  I'll have to look it up to see what she calls it.  I am going with my own size, but otherwise the quilt will basically be the same.

I'm glad I did the four test blocks, as I noted that I prefer a longer, skinnier strip of strings.  I also decided that I didn't like one of the background fabrics that I chose initially.  All the new background fabric is cut out and here is a sample of the four new blocks, together to make up one larger block.

There will be two colours for the background that will alternate throughout the quilt.  I will need to make twenty-four smaller blocks of each background.  The quilt layout will be six blocks across by eight blocks down.  It will look like a lattice.  Between my friend and I, we made enough strips to make 20 blocks and on Sunday I added the background corners to them all.

It may be a while before I get the rest of these blocks done, as I have other things I want to get done first, but it was nice working with blue strings for a change from the red strings....lol.  This blue string quilt is only the first.... I have blue strings overflowing the drawer and need to get them into a quilt.

One at a time.....one at a time....

Take care everyone.

Finished all the Rhododendron Trail blocks

Well, as mentioned in my last post, I figured I'd have a full day of sewing yesterday, and I mostly sewed all day.  Other than taking a few hours break to walk to the store in the freezing weather to get a couple of ingredients for making dinner.  It was my turn to make dinner for my son.  He made me dinner the night before.  

My intentions for yesterday was to work on the red string quilt units, to try and finish them.  I worked on everything but the red strings...lol...I guess I had enough of them for a bit...lol...so instead I finished six start blocks for the Smith Mountain Morning quilt. 

What made me very happy though, was that I finished ALL the blocks for my Rhododendron Trail quilt.  Now outside of the appliqué blocks, on my list of required blocks, I only have the Smith Mountain Morning blocks and the Sea Swept paper piece blocks.  I did finish the Sea Swept blocks too for the week, but forgot to take a picture.
 

Not sure if you recall in a previous post, where I spoke about a friend giving me a jump start on some blue strings blocks.  I trimmed them all to size and got those all prepped as ready.  More on those in tomorrow's post.

Overall it was a nice relaxing day with some good progress on a few different quilts.  Today I have the guild executive meeting to attend after work, so no sewing will be happening.

Take care everyone.