What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

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 ...

I love making potholders. Small, satisfying, and useful.

Here is a batch of three I finished this weekend for my own kitchen. I recently did a deep-ish clean on the place, and it wanted some brightening up. The old ones were tired. Looking back, I made them in 2016. See them HERE. Time flies…

No change in the numbers.

I finished stitching the boro piece.

I used both #12 pearl cotton and DMC embroidery floss for the stitching. I found I preferred the pearl cotton for the look and texture. Although I don’t mind raw edges, I didn’t like the really frayed ones. In hindsight, I wish I’d trimmed them before layering. I also found the hand basting a distraction when stitching. Next time I’ll do something else, either glue or misty fuse.

I see more projects like this in my future.

Fabric In: 0

Fabric Out: 16.75 yards ...

In a hand-me-down bag there were these little bits. A 1-1/2″ strip with 6 1-1/2″ squares attached. Twenty of them. Such cute little bits. They wanted to be a quilt.

Adding 6″ stars in matching colors and some sashing fit the bill. I like the way it makes the stars shimmer with movement.

The polka dot binding was an unexpected decision, and the backing is a little odd, too. But they do work, and it all came from stash, so that’s a win.

Second Chance projects can make one dig deep to find a solution. I do ...

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 ...

In a scrap bag I got small scraps of this raccoon/bear/tree fabric. Sort of odd colors, but the print was cute.

The solution was Churn Dash blocks with the fabric in the centers. And some sashing and matching binding.

It will be delivered to a co-worker who is expecting her first baby soon. The baby shower was a few weeks ago…but we are all doing the best we can.

Churn Dash blocks are so versatile.

I’m working on my 4” blocks for the #scrappymeetsthriftchallenge that I’m doing on Instagram. If you would like to join us, follow Taryn of @reproquiltlover and sign up. She’ll send you all the info. You’ll get foundation paper patterns that work for 3 sizes. I chose the largest. The main reason was, I didn’t want to foundation piece and this acrylic template gave me the same size. 

I thought I would put together a demo of sorts. I use the SQUARE ON SQUARE TRIM TOOL from creative grids. They have a video online … but I ...

 I found EIGHT books at the used bookstore in North Bay. And I love that ALL their titles are searchable online. Even better, you can search by author, and whatever they have from that author comes up! It's called Allison the Bookman, and I LOVE the site. I will call today and pay for the books, then they will go on the Pony Express. Yes - Our Pony Express reaches faraway places! Now, I need to update my list, and I have a couple of other bookstores to check out. Oh my -- this is super exciting! 

Oh, I should mention ...

Do you keep a journal? I do, I have for years. Back at least twenty five years ago I read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and began the habit of "morning pages", although I don't subscribe to that discipline as strictly as I used to, I do still find that putting my thoughts down on paper first thing every morning helps me clear my mind and to organize my thoughts and plans. I have always used

Do you keep a journal? I do, I have for years. Back at least twenty five years ago I read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and began the habit of "morning pages", although I don't subscribe to that discipline as strictly as I used to, I do still find that putting my thoughts down on paper first thing every morning helps me clear my mind and to organize my thoughts and plans. I have always used