New Scrappy Quilt

I was tidying up the scraps leftover from my Jade Garden quilt and I realized I had a rather large pile of triangles. At that moment, my brain told me I needed to make something to use up these triangles. I should have taken a photo.

I poked around and found Bonnie Hunter's Twirl Around pattern from her book, Addicted to Scraps.

Except for one 2" strip from the green fabric yardage, this has all been cut out from the leftovers. One downside of using the Cricut to cut out projects is there are often extra scraps generated because you cut off 12"-wide WOF strips to put on the cutting mats and there are often portions leftover (large hunks, but smaller than fat quarters). Those are what I used to cut this quilt out.

I'll be finishing the current border and adding two more. The two outer borders will be cut from yardage.

One reason why I don't often make quilts with so many triangles is because I am such a perfectionist I tend to cut the triangles too large then have to trim down all the blocks to the correct size. I spent 3-hours yesterday trimming these.

This has been a fun, quick project. I should be able to finish the flimsy in the next day or two. I actually have a customer quilt on my long arm right now, so I won't be quilting this right away.

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday
Sew & Tell
Monday Musings

Jade Garden Blocks Assembled

I paced myself the past couple of days and finished sewing the Jade Garden blocks together. I love the colors and it will be beautiful when it is done.

While doing it, I realized I'd made the kaleidoscope blocks incorrectly. I just used a correctly-shaped block from Electric Quilt rather than use the specific templates provided with the pattern. Obviously, they had to be replaced.

I'm also not happy with the border blocks. I cut the triangles that go on the points the right size, but the 6-inch "arrow" pieces are ending up about 1/8" short. Not acceptable for my perfectionist-self, so I'll be spending a few hours ripping and resewing these pieces. I think I'll also cut some new oversize triangles that sew onto the top pointy edge and then I'll be able to cut them down to the perfect size.

These are the three borders I need to add before the flimsy is finished.

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday
Monday Sew & Tell
Monday Musings

Fall Foliage Spectacular Quilted

I am delighted to have finished the quilting! I'm quite happy with how this one has turned out. This pattern is from Judy Martin's Cookies 'n' Quilts book and I used fabrics that coordinate with my living room furnishings.

Since I couldn't find an edge-to-edge design I liked, I created this block design by combining two different triangle blocks. I think it worked pretty well. I had tried a number of different triangles with that leaf design, but this was the one Jeff liked best, and the quilt was for him.

Heart Block P2P Triangle 01

Chloe's Garden Triangle 2

The small sashing design I created by snipping the leaf out of the garden triangle and slightly editing it.

I used Quilter's Dream Green batting, made with recycled soda bottles, as I feel it's the least I can do for the environment. And I used Madeira Aeroquilt thread in a dark green.

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday
Monday Sew & Tell
Monday Musings

Brag About Your Beauties
Finished (or Not) Friday

Fall Foliage Nearly Finished

My weekend unexpectedly freed up so I was able to spend it working on my Fall Foliage quilt! I'm delighted with how it is turning out.

Since I made this primarily from fabrics that have been in my stash for years, all the pieces were a yard or less. I need about a yard for the two borders and the binding and I don't have enough of any of the fabrics. I'd like to use the darkest green fabric, and I'd settle for one of the darker rust colors, but I don't have enough of either. Sigh.

I did find a quilt shop online where I could buy more of the darkest green fabric, but I don't know if I want to wait for shipping and prewashing to finish this quilt. (And I, of course, would buy enough to get free shipping.)

I dug around in my stash and I found this batik that is close to the right color, but I'm picky enough to not be quite satisfied with it because I never used it in the quilt. I'm probably just being overly fastidious.

I was hoping to finish this today, but I think I'll sleep on it for a day and decide whether to buy more fabric, or just settle for this batik. What would you guys do? 

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday

Monday Sew & Tell

Monday Musings

Chilhowie Progress

I sewed up a storm this past weekend. I've finished all the Chilhowie blocks. 

Now I still need to make the sashing and add a fairly detailed border. I'm happy to finally be in the mood to sew again.

But first, I actually need to turn my attention back to the Easy Street quilt on my long arm. I've received the extra piece of fabric and it's time to get it going again. I need to finish it before my husband goes to visit his family next week.

Linking up with Design Wall Monday, Monday Show & Tell, and Monday Musings.

Blocks Assembled

Over the past couple of days I've managed to get my Easy Street blocks assembled.

I still need to iron it, get the edges trimmed down, and add borders.

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday
Monday Musings
Monday Sew & Tell

Easy Street

Back in March 2023, I dove into Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street pattern (from her More Adventures With Leaders and Enders book), excited to use up some of my colorful scrap stash. I happily cut out and assembled all the block components. But, in a classic crafting twist, when I checked the original pattern, I realized I'd made a little goof—I had set the block size too large in my planning. Usually, I transfer patterns into Electric Quilt to test out fabric choices, which I had done here, but this time there was user error. (Sadly, this is not the first time I've made this mistake.) Maybe, someday, I'll learn to double-check the proper block sizes before I cut everything out.

By the time I spotted the mistake, all the pieces were already cut and sewn. Looking over the components, I realized I could cut them all down to resize them to the correct dimensions, although it would mean quite a bit more work. At the time, I wasn't quite ready to decide, so I dropped everything into a project tub and stashed it on the shelf.

Now, feeling overwhelmed by the election, I'm ready to immerse myself in a project, I've decided to forge ahead and finish this quilt. I can't quite bring myself to waste all the fabric from cutting down these pieces so I think I'll go ahead and assemble the quilt as is. It'll be a larger than planned, but I'm embracing the done is better than perfect motto.

Design Wall Monday

Monday Sew & Tell

Monday Musings

Nine Patch Twirl

My husband left his full-time job with Intel last month and has been going full blast ever since helping out with canvassing and phone calls to encourage folks to vote this cycle. I am definitely more shy talking politics with people I don't know, but I've been helping out with writing letters. Other than these efforts, watching what is going on in the world is stressing me out so I've decided to go hide in my sewing room until the election.

Late last month, I decided to find a new scrappy pattern. I just wanted to try something new. The threaders on both of my regular sewing machines weren't working so I took the opportunity to bring them in for service. While they were there, I thought I would try sewing with my Pfaff Grand Quilter. I struggled to get the tension set properly, and I just didn't have the patience to figure out the correct settings. 

I spent one day sewing together this Nine Patch Twirl pattern, designed by Carolyn S. Vagts (from the Nine Patch Panache book). It is an easy and quick pattern. You make a pile of nine patches, cut them into quarters and then shuffle them into the final setting. 

The process was straightforward, but my choice of fabrics—a clearance batch of Flowerhouse Wildflowers fabrics by Debbie Beaves—didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. After assembling the blocks and laying them out, I realized the dark blues in the mix just aren't working for me. I suspect I would be happier if I'd stuck to just the light and medium fabrics. To be clear, the fabrics are pretty, I just didn't like how I laid them out.

Rather than unpick or redo the project, I've decided to finish quilting it as is and donate it. It might not be to my taste, but I'm sure it will bring comfort and joy to someone else.

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday
Monday Sew & Tell
Monday Musings

Tuesday ToDo #85

I finished the purple and yellow broken bricks flimsy. Since I assembled it for a friend to give as a gift, I'll let her make the backing the next time she visits.

I also finished quilting the blue and yellow broken bricks quilt. I used scrap 80-20 batting and quilted it with the Daisies 4 pantograph by Donna Kleinke. I used the So Fine Digeridoo thread I bought inexpensively last year. Once I had finished, I wished I'd used blue thread instead. I am still learning what thread colors will look good on quilts.

I have finally started working on my green stained glass blocks again. So far, I don't have any finished blocks, just lots of pieces. I tend to sew misc sized chunks and then at the end I join them up into blocks. I'll post a photo soon.

My plan for the coming week is to continue working on the green stained glass blocks. I need 12 blocks total and I'd like to finish them this week so I'll have time later in the month to work on bindings.

Linking up with:

Tuesday ToDo

Midweek Makers

Organizing Scraps

On my design wall is the little quilt I finished for my friend. We decided to name it Skittles because of all the bright colors.

I quilted it with Let it Bloom 3 by Christy Dillon.

Over the weekend I quilted a massive King size quilt for another friend. We used Cherokee Rose on it. I just love this pantograph, but it is a little bit of a challenge to get it aligned correctly.

For the past couple of days I've been sifting and slicing up my scraps. This was my scrap pile a few days ago and I'm tired of tripping over it.

I've made a lot of progress. The pile is now gone and I have a few tubs of sifted scraps. I'm now working my way through them ironing and slicing them into strips and squares and tucking them into my new scrap saving station.

I'm trying to wrap up the year with all my in-progress quilts finished and my sewing room cleaned up. I'd like to start 2024 with a clean slate.

Linking with up 

Design Wall Monday
Monday Musings
Monday Sew & Tell
Tuesday ToDo

Sewing Weekend

I had a friend visit this past weekend for a mini-sewing retreat. It was pretty fun. I had several of my own projects lined up to work on, then I just ditched them and worked on her projects. LOL

First, we had to make a quick run to JoAnn Fabrics so she could buy the backings. Then we quilted up this little lap quilt for her. I used the Nebula pantograph from Christy Dillon. I love how it turned out. Christy Dillon has definitely become my favorite designer so I'll be sure to not miss her 50% off sale on Black Friday.

She also picked up small pieces of fabric that coordinated with this in-progress scrappy quilt. It is so bright and fun; her niece will surely love it. If we had spent a little less time goofing off/sleeping we definitely would have finished it before she left Sunday evening.

Since it just needs another hour or two of work, I had her leave it with me to finish the long arm quilting. That is on my list for this coming week.

I did finish my Paducah quilt in time for it to travel down to California with my husband. I started a blog post on Friday but didn't get it finished before my friend arrived. I'll try to get it posted later this week as well.

I'd also like to work on my pile of quilted-but-not-bound quilts. I'd like to start 2024 with a clean slate.

• Flower Paths
• Cosmic Cabin
• Morris Garden
• Chocolates & Roses

I'm linking up with Tuesday ToDo, Midweek Makers and Wednesday Wait Loss.

Another Paducah Flimsy

The flimsy is finally finished!! I am so glad. I'm really hoping I can finish it by Saturday because that is when my husband is taking off for California to visit his mother and he'll be able to drop it off for me. I've made this quilt as a wedding gift for my brother.

I used a lot of William Morris fabrics and quite a few other earthtone fabric scraps. These are my brother's favorite colors. I really didn't like them when I started the project, but they've sort of grown on me. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

My plan for the week is to make a backing, quilt it, and get it bound by Saturday.

(This is actually the second Paducah Log Cabin quilt that I've made. This is the first one I made last year.)

Linking up with TuesdayToDo, Midweek Makers, and Wednesday Wait Loss.

Paducah Blocks Finished!

I've been hard at work this past week and I've finished making all the blocks for the Paducah Log Cabin! That's 144 for the center portion and then another 52 for the border. I'm so pleased.

For the coming week, I'd like to assemble them into the quilt. My goal is to finish this project within the next 10 days so I need to keep up my pace. I think I can do it.

Linking up with

Tuesday ToDo

Tuesday ToDo #79

I've been making steady progress on the blocks for my newest Paducah Log Cabin Quilt. My count as of tonight is 129 blocks for the center section, I need 144.

My plan for the coming week is to continue making blocks. I need 15 more for the center section, then I can get started on the 52 blocks for the borders.

I'd really like to have this quilt completed by the second week in November. If I can keep at it, I should have time to finish, but it's really easy to get distracted by movies and goofing off. LOL

This is approximately what the finished quilt will look like.

Linking up with Tuesday ToDo, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss

Change of Plan

About 3 weeks ago I came down with a pretty severe cold. It probably wasn't covid, but I wasn't tested. The cold wasn't debilitating, bit it left me with no energy or motivation to do anything. I mostly sat around and streamed movies.

I did finish the last of the eleven charity quilts. I am not going to show photos of all of them, but there are a few I'm pleased with. I tried out new pantographs and played with some new techniques to get them cropped right at the edge.

Avril pantograph

Cherokee Rose pantograph. This was a little fussy to get offset correctly, but I really like it so I'll definitely have to do it on one of my own quilts.

West Wind in Autumn pantograph

I don't need to finish the binding on these quilts and they'll be returned to the Quilts Beyond Borders charity.

A couple weeks ago, I spent most of a day cutting out the Snake River log cabin quilt, and then I realized my brother needed a king size quilt. I tried to figure out how to make the Snake River bigger, but I just didn't like any of the ideas I came up with, so ultimately I decided to change the plan.

I wasted so many hours trying to come up with another idea that would use at least some of the fabric I'd already cut out. Finally, I decided to make another Paducah log cabin quilt. The finished size was a couple inches bigger than the Snake River and it would be a LOT easier to add an extra border strip. It should end up about 100"x100", which is big enough.

This is one of Judy Martin's suggested layouts and I liked it when I first decided to make this quilt again, but now I'm not sure I do, I may
change it to the more traditional log cabin layout. 

These blocks only use a few of the same length pieces, but because all the strips are the same 1½-inches wide, I can cut them down to the smaller lengths with not a lot of waste.

Finally over the weekend, I felt like sewing again. This is about a quarter of the total blocks I need for the center section.

My brother's favorite colors are brown and olive/drab-greens; I appreciate the chance to use up some of these old William Morris reproduction prints I bought way too much of more than a decade ago.

My ToDo list for the week is simply to continue making blocks. I need 144 total of the center blocks and 52 border blocks so it will likely take me more than a week to finish this one.

Linking up with Tuesday ToDo, Midweek Makers and Wednesday Wait Loss.

New Project Started

Since last week, I've made significant strides on my to-do list. The Cosmic Revival quilt? Quilted and done!

Creating a backing for the Comet's Revival quilt  ✔️

Quilting the Comet's Revival quilt ✔️

Make Quilt Labels for the finished quilts  ❌

Bind the Cosmic Cabin so it can be Mailed  ❌

Instead of tackling the binding of my pile of quilts, I felt an irresistible urge to embark on a fresh project from my UFO list. For June, my aim is to wrap up the flimsy for this Diamond Lane pattern from Wilmington Fabrics. For my take on it, I'm weaving in Farmhouse Chic florals along with a duo of complementary rose-colored prints.

Since finishing my quilt last Wednesday, I managed to piece together the corner blocks and the uncomplicated large blocks.

Now, it's time for a couple of dozen of these sashing pieces to take the stage.

So, for the week ahead, my game plan is:

• Draft the Cricut files for the sashing units.
• Cut out the needed pieces.
• Piece together the sashing units.
• Assemble the central quilt section. 

I'm ready to dive in and stitch up some progress!

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday
Sew & Tell
Monday Musings
Tuesday ToDo

Comet's Revival Quilted!

Get ready for a comeback story – the tale of my second finish from the Comet blocks of my May UFO goal! It had a rough start; a quilt flimsy riddled with pleats and puckers that was far from perfect. I can't even imagine what possessed me to finish it in such a state (though, honestly, I probably just couldn't wait to be done...LOL).

Now aptly named Comet's Revival, this quilt breathes new life into the purple Comet blocks with fresh sashing and corner blocks. I'm thrilled that I didn't purchase a single new fabric for this revival! Instead, I used only fabrics I had on hand and I recovered the purple paisley fabric from a square dance skirt I made years ago for the sashing corner blocks. It was a small sacrifice to make, considering the skirt was gathering dust in my closet. For the backing, I unearthed a hefty piece of green marble-look fabric, a relic from the early 2000s.

For the quilting, I experimented with various feather blocks. Admittedly, I'm not completely in love with the result, but the idea of disassembling the whole thing never really took a serious hold. After spending an abundance of hours earlier this month unraveling the quilt stitch by stitch, I simply didn't have the heart for another round! The main culprit of my dissatisfaction is the large square feather block – it lacked symmetry, and with a nine-patch design, it's all the more noticeable. Nevertheless, I decided to stick with it.

But it's not all bittersweet! I adore the outer border feather from mycreativestitches; her Midsummer Dream Simple Border and Corner worked wonders. For the sashing, I went with a pantograph called Flipped on Feathers that came with my long arm. And the adorable corner blocks are the Funky Feather block by Anita Shackleford, another that came with my ProStitcher software.

The batting is my go-to – Quilters Dream Green 100% recycled batting. I paired it with another MaxiLock serger thread, this time in a Churchill green shade. For these low-stakes leftover block quilts, I see no need to splurge on pricey threads.

What a relief it is to have completed my May UFO before the month's end! There were moments of doubt, but I pulled through. And now, with a quartet of quilts piled up, I'm considering dedicating a few days to creating quilt labels and binding them all. A perfectly productive way to celebrate the completion!

Linking up with:

Midweek Makers
Needle & Thread Thursday
Brag About Your Beauties
Friday Foto Fun
Off the Wall Friday
TGI Finished Friday