What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 Well, I didn't get any finish posts out this week.  It doesn't surprise me because this is the week I prepare for the MHMH board of directors meeting and that takes up huge chunks of time.  Plus, we are already starting to receive blocks from the newest block drive. Lots to process!

I did, however, put aside some time to do a bit of sewing.  We received some tubs of fabric and tucked inside one of them was a partial jellyroll.  It looked like it was leftover from a project.  I did some quick calculations, pulled a few ...

Not much getting finished, but projects have progressed along.

Rows are starting to be sewn together for this project.

This is not my idea …. saw a photo on Pinterest and it caught my attention.  That photo had me going through my scraps, my stash for darks and begging more darks from a friend and viola …… another top in the works.  

How happy this makes me!

Speaking of irons, mine died and I bought a new one.  Black and Decker is my go to and that is what I have again.  Now, I’m back to sewing and making blocks and more blocks.

The squirrels have been busy again and I’ve started a few new projects.  Oh no ……..

More rail fence blocks were made.  Just 18 more blocks and I can start laying out.  These blocks were made from my stash and scraps.  

Then, this Xmas quilt has been one that I have wanted to make for years and now is a good time to ...

Yep, another Rail Fence quilt!  This time I used 1-1/2" strips with 2-1/2" strips in the middle with the block finishing at 4" square.  Mostly scraps and some charms were used to make this quilt.

Going through my scrap bins, I started pulling out strips to make this quilt.  A great way to use up those scraps!  As I sew a piece of scrap ..... I'm thinking that I will never use that piece again.  This is my way of dealing with scraps because there are bins and bags still left to deal with.  I'm thinking it might be time to do a purge and pass on some of my scraps to someone else to enjoy.

With the political craziness that is going on between Canada and the U.S.A., I am so thankful that I can sink into my quilting to help keep me sane and my hands occupied. 

I'm so thankful that there is a healthy stash and lots of bins of scraps to pawn through in my studio.  With the cost of cotton fabric and all the accessories, there is no way with the added cost of tariffs that I could afford to buy new stuff.  Good thing I stocked up years ago.

So, with that in mind, back to the ...

March is Ambassador's Choice. 

March brings a free month for you to determine your own project of any size, using any theme and any technique!! This is an opportunity for you to express your creativity without guidelines. Have fun!

Here is my response.

Dreaming of Daylilies

Designed in EQ8, and made with Poetic Bouquet collection, it is a combination of Irish Chain blocks and appliqued Daisy blocks.

This is a lovely collection with beautiful gradations in purples and aquas.  I wanted to show off these value gradations in the design.

EQ8 Mock-up

Value Gradations

The petals are lightest in ...

 It is time to say goodbye to 2024.  It was a crazy, unexpected year for me and I think I am ready for it to end.  I am really looking forward to 2025.  Many Hands and Many Hearts should be an official 501c3 in a couple months and I know that is going to be fun to see.  I love my board members and all of them are enthusiastic and ready to see MHMH grow.

Oh happy day, happy day!  

The weakest area of my quilting game is machine quilting. Except for a handful of times, I have quilted all my quilts. That is thirty-plus years of steady practice and I’m still not good at it! I am still trying to improve, so a couple of months ago I signed up for Susan Smith’s Freehand Quilting Masterclass (link here). So far, I’ve watched the first class and put the lesson in practice.

Believe me, I have plenty of quilt tops for these practice sessions. I dug out an old treasure from and found a hunk of leftover ...

Here is the Stairway to Heaven...

Stairway to Heaven

I really enjoyed working with these gorgeous fabrics from Island Batik Foundations.

Nature Inspired?

Stairway to Heaven was published in Annie's One Day Quilts.

One Day Quilts

Published

Choose fabrics carefully and let them do the hard work while you enjoy the compliments :-) 

Thanks to Island Batik for providing the fabrics and Thanks to Annies for publishing the pattern/quilt.

Quilt in Magazine atop the Quilt :-)

Here are some more pictures.

Lighting up my yard

Quilting ...

 I have been wanting to get back to this quilt and I finally had the chance.

When I finished the first Compassion Quilt block drive, I ended up with a handful of rail fence blocks.  I was always planning on getting them into a quilt but I needed to steal some scraps from a friend.  Finally, we sewed together a few weeks ago and I was able to dig through her brown and teal scraps and pull enough to get these last few blocks into a quilt.

It is not very big (40" square) but I don't like blocks ...

 Whew!

I made it to the end of the rail fence block drive!  I still have about 30 blocks that I will use at a later date with some leftover fabrics that coordinate beautifully.

Getting so close to the end of the Rail Fence quilts.  

These two quilts are the ones I enjoyed the most!  Gail was gracious enough to make all the blocks AND sew them into tops.  Then she put together kits with the backings and the prepared bindings.  All I had to do was load them on my machine and go!