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.

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

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

Cosmic Cabin Quilting

I must confess, I envisioned the Cosmic Cabin quilt wrapped up by now, but life, as it often does, had other plans! A different non-sewing project spirited me away, but hey, three days still remain in the month – plenty of time to conquer my goal of finishing both these quilts!

Complete the borders on the Cosmic Cabin quilt ✔️

Create a backing for the Cosmic Cabin quilt  ✔️

Bring the Cosmic Cabin quilt to life!  Nearly finished

I spent a couple days playing with my ProStitcher Studio and devised three different quilting designs, and my husband was smitten with one in particular. It's a blend of feathery swirls and striking geometric patterns. I'll post more details and close-up photos with the finish.

Now, this pattern is definitely denser than my usual style, but I'm all in for a little adventure. Surprisingly, now that I've quilted a few rows, it doesn't look as dense as I initially thought it might, so I'm thrilled I took the plunge.  Chances are, once this quilt is finished, it'll find a new home with my husband's sister as a special birthday present. She's in for quite a treat!

For the coming week, I'd like to:

1. Craft a backing for the Comet's Revival quilt
2. Quilt the Comet's Revival quilt
3. Make Quilt Labels for the finished quilts
4. Bind the Cosmic Cabin so it can be Mailed

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

Sew & Tell

Tuesday ToDo

Tuesday ToDo #70

Well, well, it's been a whirlwind week over here in my crafting corner. I made some solid headway on the Cosmic Cabin quilt this past week, which felt like a bit of a victory. I managed to add logs to those salvaged green log cabin blocks and assemble everything with the sashing. I still need to add the borders, but that involves clearing a space big enough to lay everything out. (Oh, to have the luxury of a larger design wall.)

Remember at the beginning of the month, those green Comet blocks were combined with purple in a disastrous flimsy? 

Well, now that the green blocks have a new lease on life in the Cosmic Cabin quilt I find I can not yet declare victory. Those purple blocks? They're still sitting in a pile, waiting for their moment to shine.

Now, I'm not one for spontaneity. I need a plan. So, I spent a good few hours playing with Electric Quilt, trying to come up with a solution for those poor purple Comet blocks. I thought up a whole bunch of ideas, but most of them involved making extra blocks and ending up with a too-large quilt. Eventually, I settled on a simple layout that required just some sashing and corner blocks.

I think this one will be called Comet's Revival,
or maybe Celestial Rebirth

With a plan in place, I went on a treasure hunt through my stash to find more of the original fabrics. Sadly, the green fabric in the center of the block was just about gone so for the sashing I will have to substitute it with a marble print that's pretty close, but not quite the same. And that purple paisley yardage? I only found a small scrap. But, would you believe it? I discovered some of it hiding in a square dance skirt! Talk about a blast from the past!

So, I will do what any reasonable quilter would do: I am going to take the skirt apart for the fabric. I mean, I'm not square dancing these days, so it just makes sense to put that fabric to good use in a quilt, right? Better than letting it languish in my closet, never again to see the light of day.

And there you have it, folks. I'm making progress on my never-ending list of sewing projects. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with my seam ripper, trying to recover that paisley fabric. Happy quilting!

Linking up with 

Design Wall Monday
Monday Sew & Tell
Monday Musings
Tuesday ToDo

Flower Paths Progress

After I finished our taxes, I had time this past weekend to work on my One Monthly Goal (OMG). This quilt has proved to be more challenging than I anticipated.

It has been slow going as it's been difficult to get all the blocks sized correctly. It actually took me three tries to get those half log cabin pieces made correctly as the rotary cutting was too imprecise. I finally resorted to foundation piecing to get some of the blocks sized correctly. (I really love Electric Quilt.)

I also made the tulip blocks with paper piecing but I forgot to take photos.

I'm hoping the border is more straightforward, but there are still some more triangles to fit together.

My plan for the coming week is to keep working on this project until it's finished. 

I'm linking up with 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Sew & Tell

Monday This & That

Monday Musings

Tuesday ToDo

Cleaning FINALLY

At the beginning of last week, I printed out my patterns for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project and walked into my sewing room to start sewing them and looked around at the mess. And I'm not sure what happened, but I FINALLY started cleaning up. I didn't take any photos, alas, but it was a huge mess. I had piles in front of the design wall, I had piles in front of my fabric shelves, and I had piles on every horizontal surface which I'm not actively using on a regular basis. So many piles everywhere. 

A lot of it was my fabric binges throughout the last couple of years during the pandemic. I scored a couple of old-lady-retiring-from-sewing piles of fabric and I was still regularly visiting Hancock's of Paducah's clearance section. (You can get some amazing deals there on recent designs as they go out of production.)

This was the largest of my three fabric scores as it gives some indication of how much fabric I was dealing with.

When I sifted those big piles and started washing them, that was the start of the piles. And then, astonishingly, I kept shopping. Anyway, I have now spent the last 5 days ironing fabrics. This was most of Sunday's iron pile. 

I am trying to get my stash under control. I am sifting out fabrics that need to find a new home. And I am trying to find room to store the fabrics I am keeping so I can actually see them. 

Before my current effort, when I looked for a particular fabric, it could take me an hour as I dug through boxes and piles and I still might not find it. So, hopefully, I have come up with a workable solution. I ordered eight large Sterilite tubs and I plan to store the fabric overflow like this. Then, in theory, I can pull out the tub and look in the side and see what is in there. It will still take several minutes as I pull out each tub, but at least I'll be able to see how much and what I already have.

I also will store my current set of UFOs in my husband's old closet.

At the moment, these are mostly just fabrics I've ironed.
Once I get the tubs, I'll shift some of these fabrics into them
and organize my UFOs on these shelves.

I've gotten my fat quarters rounded up and sorted into one set of ArtBin Super Satchel project tubs. These may not be their final destination, but I had these bins handy and they all fit. And I made another bin for the half-yard pieces (not pictured).

I also bought a set of Sterilite drawers where I will start storing my scraps. (They just fit under my long-arm table!) My plan is to adopt some sort of scrap-saving system like Bonnie Hunter recommends, where you precut strips and pieces.

Right now I am focusing on sorting and organizing fabrics piled around everywhere. Next month I will likely start sifting and organizing my scrap bins. I'm hoping to alternate days of ironing/organizing with days of actually making forward progress on my sewing goals.

For this coming week, I would like to change gears and get to work on finishing my One Monthly Goal to finish those Arlington Square quilts. And I really would like to start working on my blue Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. 

And one last parting thought because it is obviously true about me:

Linking up with:
Sew & Tell
Monday This & That
Monday Musings
Tuesday ToDo

Weekend's Progress

I worked all weekend and made good progress on my weekly task list. I nearly finished my purple log cabin. Since I decided to custom quilt it, it took a lot longer than I anticipated but now it only needs a label and binding.

Finish the Purple Log Cabin flimsy
Make backing for this log cabin flimsy
Get at least one of the above projects quilted!

On Sunday, I managed to finish quilting one of the Arlington Square flimsies. It also needs to be bound. I am in the process of pre-washing the fabric for the second one.

For this coming week, I would like to:

• Label and bind the Purple Log Cabin quilt.
• Bind the quilted Arlington Square quilt. 
• Quilt and bind the 2nd Arlington Square Quilt.



• Start working on my Blue RSC blocks. I kept falling behind last year and I'd prefer to keep up this year.
• Cut out the Aged Elegance bonus crib quilt.
• Figure out Chilhowie fabrics.

Thanks for dropping by. I am linking up with 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

Monday Sew & Tell

Monday This & That

Tuesday ToDo

Aged Elegance Bonus Quilt

I started cleaning up my sewing room and practically the first thing I picked up got me distracted. Gad, I'm so good at coming up with new projects.

I found these leftover pieces of Aged Elegance border and put them up on my design wall and decided they were a good size to make a frame for a little crib quilt. So, naturally, I decided to play with Electric Quilt to make a little flower design to fill it in.

I think I'll give this design a try. 

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday, DrEAMI and Monday Sew & Tell.