What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Spring Intensives are coming up in May. What are Intensives? At the school where I teach, the week before Christmas and the last week of school in the Spring, students don’t attend regular classes. (Honestly, what really gets done in classes at that time?) Rather, each student selects from a menu of classes and attends that one course for the entire week. After the success of last year, I am offering SEWING once again. How does an English Teacher get to teach sewing. Well, it is officially “Non-Fiction Reading Comprehension.” Doesn’t that sound like sewing to you?!

If ...

This is becoming a go-to pattern for baby quilts. (It just occurred to me that it could be done with two charm packs. I may have to try that soon.)

I found the yellow floral print during my cleaning just before the new year. There was only a little, but it seemed a shame to throw it away. 

I love the bright and happy results.

The plan is to donate it to the local children’s hospital. Ta-dah!

The Half Square Triangles were cutoffs from a quilt I built several years ago.

I wasn’t sure what to do with them, until the perfect backing showed up in a thrift store haul. Yep, I’ll pay $2.99 for that!

I wanted to connect the mostly navy front with the back–putting a few squares of the backing in the front helped.

Also, intentionally visible, bright pink quilting. It isn’t my usual look, but it really ties the quilt together.

The quilt finished at 34″ x 38″. It is planned as a donation quilt. It will find ...

I love anything goes scrappy quilts for donation projects. You never know exactly how they will turn out.

A great pattern for this sort of quilt is the Potato Chip block. All you need is a big pile of scraps cut into 2-1/2″x4-1/2″ rectangles.

You can even use scrappy binding scraps to finish.

My husband has said that my quilts are energy efficient. I assumed he was referring to my use of scraps. Nope! He says they are energy efficient because no one needs a night light since they practically glow in the dark. I’m taking ...

If you have followed me for a while, you know that Husband is a life-long (born in Athens, Georgia) fan of the University of Georgia, particularly the football team.

Because of this I have made a number of Georgia themed quilts over the years. You can see some of them HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The latest is a Quick Quilt for the baby of a near neighbor with Georgia ties.

It was such fun to surprise them with an unexpected gift.

PS–I haven’t forgotten the tutorial. Coming soon!

Carole, of From My Carolina Home, has shared a local guild project: Cradle Quilts. You can LEARN MORE about it here.

As soon as I saw her post, I thought about some particular stacks of possibilities in the sewing room. Ah, yes, finally I have the right idea.

I may have gone a little berserk, but I was having a really good time. Really, you can put together an 18″ quilt in nearly no time at all. It is a great way to use up various leftover bits.

NOTE: I do not have process pictures for all, but am happy ...

This quilt was inspired by a yard or so of fabric found at the thrift store.

Unusual for a baby quilt, perhaps, but it seemed perfect. I am certain someone will love it.

I’ll get a full tutorial later, but know that the blocks are made from 4-1/2″ squares. The points of the stars are 3″ squares using the stitch, trim and flip method. If none of that makes sense, feel free to ask questions or, as I said, a tutorial is coming.

I am certain this quilt, which will be donated, will find just the right home ...

I enjoy thrift stores for many reasons, but, while I always check the fabric section, I rarely find anything that suits me.

But today…

WOW! I am so pleased: 14-1/2 yards for $1.60/yard.

Can’t beat that. I see a quilt kit, backs for a twin donation quilt and three baby quilts, and red dots (because a person can always use red dots). YAY!

As many of you know, I keep promising scraps and hand-me-downs in a Possibilities Pile.

It was time to dig some out and pair them up with a promising idea. THIS TUTORIAL was perfect.

In three days I took the pile of scraps and created a nice baby quilt for donation. The back took a little extra creativity, but it works. To be quilted soon…

As usual, this started with a pile of donated scraps, this batch from Diane. I used many of them on a PREVIOUS QUILT, but there were still a good number left over.

Then inspiration struck in the form of a FREE PATTERN. I had to reduce the size, but it quickly added up to a pretty baby quilt.

It will be donated to the local children’s hospital. Someone is sure to love it.

The cut-off HSTs are in the pending pile and will be used in a future project. Every scrap seems to find its place.

Made out of fabric donated a few years ago, I believe by Stephanie. THIS PICTURE sparked the idea that finally pushed the fabric pieces to quilt status.

There was enough matching fabric included for back and binding.

It will likely be donated to the Children’s Hospital.

I used 2-1/2″ squares so this one finishes at 38″ square.

By “Camping” I mean Summer Camp. All those fun, outdoors activities that are part of growing up.

Again, this started with a small amount (about 3/4 yard) of the focus fabric, and was a quick finish as the blocks only have 7 pieces. The woodsy backing reinforces the theme.

MINI TUTORIAL: Start with a center 5″ square. Add 6 rectangles 5″ x 2-3/4″. That’s it! You’ll have a 9″ finished block. I used 20 blocks in this quilt, finishing at 26″ x 45″. It was fun, and a bit of a challenge, to get the scrap ...

Some of you know that my school offers children a learning experience known as Intensives. The week before Christmas and the last week of school in the Spring, students don’t attend regular classes. (Honestly, what really gets done in classes at that time?) Rather, each student selects from a menu of classes and attends that one course for the entire week. Offerings include theater, music, rock climbing, engineering, local history, and…sewing!

While on Spring Break this past week, I prepped samples for the Spring Sewing Intensive. SEW much fun!

There are still a lot of details to work ...

A pile of scraps and THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL got me started.

In no time at all I had a quilt. It uses 36 blocks and finishes at 35″ square–a nice symmetry there.

I can see using this pattern again. It would work for many different applications.

For now it goes in the donation pile. YAY! No bored babies if they sleep under this quilt.

I was in the mood for something easy and cheerful.

There was a bag of dinosaur print fabric that came from…somewhere. I get a lot of hand-me-downs. It didn’t take long to cut three 6-1/2″ squares, and several 4-1/2″ and 3-1/2″ squares. That used nearly every tiny bit. My bin of solids supplied the borders/sashing for the smaller squares (1-1/2″ and 2″ strips, respectively).

And, ta-dah, a baby quilt. Ready for donation. Such a cheerful finish giving purpose to those too-cute-to-throw-away scraps.

Right now I have three quilts in the works.

The Jewel Box quilt has become my leader/ender and there are suddenly 50 blocks complete. Only about 10% of the final total, but that is progress. One must be persistent with this sort of project.

Next we have a Second Chances quilt. It is slowly evolving and will be a fun small quilt, table topper or wall hanging soon. Fun colors!

And, finally, we have my new general scrap pattern for donation quilts. I use them to practice on the treadle. I am getting better rhythm and fewer thread breaks ...

Debra was so kind to share some of her leftover half square triangle blocks.

All they needed was some sorting and squaring up.

The backing was from stash, also donated, maybe by Stephanie?

Isn’t it lovely how fabric can find a purpose over time and distance?! I am really pleased with the results.

Whether you are a professed Christian or not, we can all agree that the world needs help. Consider making a specific commitment this year to actively search out opportunities to serve others and make a difference. Here is some information to get you started on making December a month to remember.

Since I already have FOUR quilts in progress, I really should have used my extended sewing time today to work on them. And I did. A little.

But then I heard the call of the scraps. I received these beauties recently and even had an idea of what I wanted to do with them.

A whole lot of cutting later I had a pile of small pieces that will be thrown away.

And an entire quilt kit, ready to use. As soon as I finish at least one of the four. Probably…

A bag of half square triangles came in a hand-me-down package.

They turned in to this.

YAY!

Just a lap size quilt, 42″ x 56″, but it will be a nice donation quilt.