What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I like denim. I’ve always liked to wear jeans, denim jackets, denim shirts or pinafore dresses. So, the desire to make a quilt from this kind of cloth came naturally. I asked my family and friends to give me jeans they no longer wore, and in time I managed to collect about 15-20 pairs.

In August 2023 I decided to use this pattern and started making the quilt using 10 pairs of jeans and two men's shirts. I finished it in January 2024 after taking about a three-month sewing break.

When it comes to sew quilts made of ...

Hand me down is finished. This is an older UFo from 2018. I found this pattern in the first Bonnie Hunter book scraps and shirttails. I brought this out of the UFO closet in March of this year, and, it was a top in April. I love this quilt. It is more colorful than it appears on camera. It is made with recycled shirts and a blue from my stash. It was part of my 5 quilts project, but, was late making it to the longarm.

90 x 90 - 21 yards

I finished one of my 5 quilts a little bit ago, but, couldn't get it on the longarm. I think it is time to dig it out again, and, finish it for August's one monthly goal.

hand me down blocks

hand me down border

oh scrap

one monthly goal

When I finished hand me down top, to be honest, I just wanted to be done. I had worked at it with intent, and, I was losing motivation. I really thought I would skip the cool border that was in the pattern and just add a plain border. I let it steep for a few days, and, I realized part of why I started the quilt, was the border. But, 5 rows? really?

I decided to go for it. I have enough fabric, and, I tend to make bed size quilts, and, I started the quilt with the border as ...

 I have been working on the blocks for hand me down in an effort to make rows and join rows. There was minimal matching with the every other block layout.

so fun

I finished the rows at an open sew at the library. Ooo I like it. I am not sure about borders. It is a bout 74 x 74 as it is. I think I will let it rest a bit, and see I want to finish it. 

I am linking to:

Sew excited to see progress on my Hand me down quilt Ufo. All the blocks are made, and, I am sewing each star block to its partner. I liked the star blocks individually, but, they look so nice, as every other block. My goal for the month is to have a finished quilt.

I opened an older ufo called hand me down  last month and have been making flying geese and star blocks. I am nearly done with the blocks. Each block is so different and fun to see, when I finish it. All of them are made from recycled shirt fabrics. I want to make finishing this as my one monthly goal for April. I cut this quilt in 2018, and made the hourglass blocks, before, adding it to the ufo closet.

ugly library carpet

April tends to get away from me, so I will need to stick to it. We have ...

It was so exciting to start making the blocks for an older Ufo called hand me down.   I didn't pay any attention to matching fabrics. I wanted to see how different combinations would work. I must confess, I didn't wait until all the flying geese were done... I just couldn't.

so fun

Geese are flying here, as I make the units I need for an older Ufo called hand me down. This is top of my list to finish. But, making flying geese takes a lot of patience and time. I decided I wanted them accurate, so, I went with the deb tucker's instructions and template called wing clipper. They are much more accurate, but, I have more fun if I "fly" by the seat of my pants with rectangles and squares. haha

I have started working on a new UFO ( hand me down) for my 5 quilts project. I had 2 finishes last week, and, that means it is time to choose replacement projects.

As always, when I open a box that has been in the ufo closet, I need to assess what is there, versus, my notes. My notes said everything was cut. I don't think so. And, it took, some sleuthing to figure out that I cut the flying geese pieces to use deb tuckers ruler and wing cutter. Now, where did I put that?

2018

Happy Holidays to you! Last I wrote, we were planning to spend Christmas Eve and day with my son and his family. We haven’t had the pleasure of watching the girls experience Santa and all of the related excitement. Alas, it was not to be. My son and his wife came down with the bug and were feeling ill. It was decided that each family would have separate Christmas celebrations in an effort to squash this virus we keep passing back and forth. We will go see the kids when given the all clear. We did FaceTime on Christmas ...

Here are my latest scrap-filled pet pillows, (photobombed by the Beatles.) I just unloaded a dozen of them! (The pillows, not the Beatles). Here's the the story: 

Nothing focuses the mind like a new grandchild, and one of my instinctive responses to this joyful development is that I'm trying to clear and downsize my sewing room -- so I can fit some baby toys in.

And the area most in need of clearing in my sewing room was a corner stacked with pillows, most stuffed with small fabric and batting scraps. 

Thanks partly to Covid, I had about five ...

I added 2 rounds to these 6 snail trail blocks. All I have to do is open the drawer, and I want to sew more. They are so lovely to work on, and turn out so nice. I may have to stick this project in a box and send it to the UFO closet, if, I want to finish up other projects.... but, what will I do for fun?

round 1

round 2

round 2

These blocks are addictive. While I was planning my new sea swept quilt, I made sample blocks in shirt fabric. Good thing I did, I made mistakes. But, now, I want to keep making snails trails in shirt fabrics too. I will need to cut more. If you can start one quilt why not start two.

I am linking to:

Sometimes, I forget to show the slow progress of some on going projects. I have sew days that don't seem to make any dents in the quilt making process. But, I know they do. And that has to be enough.

I am still hunting for old projects as I am trying to reorganize and label boxes, it consumes me. I have been very creative at storage, I must say.

Maple syrup is done. Hubby has it all put away for another year. It was my first year to trek around the trees and help with the buckets of sap ...

I made shirt strings a while back aiming for a string x quilt for leftover pieces of shirts. This weekend I spent some time cutting fabric for the sides.

I cut the strips 1 1/2 x 10 1/2. I am making a 7 x 9 setting.

Sometimes, while cutting shirts into useable pieces, there are off cuts that are not really useful for big pieces. I tend to throw them into a bucket to deal with later. I was in the mood to sort and cut. Some of these pieces will be great for string or crumb blocks.

As I dug into the bucket, some just went into another bucket for strings, but, a few, I could cut into HSTS. Most of my goals this month involve the longarm, which is currently busy.  I had fun just playing in the scraps.

I have an abundance of shirts whole, and in parts. I found a great idea for a block using shirt fabric, and, started cutting. The block uses a 4 1/2 inch center and 10 -2 1/2 inch hsts so I cut and cut and cut...and sewed and sewed and sewed.....

I used my slotted trimmers for the hsts.

oops I am angled challenged

It doesn't use as much from a shirt as I expected, so I have 2 sets ...

When I was a mere youth, in my 40s, I still believed I would live forever, so I bought a lot of vintage linens and embroideries at my favorite flea markets and thrift shops. Over the years, I accrued quite the collection. 
Now, a zillion years older, the pandemic quarantine has given me the time, space, and motivation to stitch some of my best old linens into this new 79" x 82" quilt. Front: 

The center is a spectacular linen tablecloth. I quilted around all the white foliage (but not close around every detail.)

At the center, I placed this ...