What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Saturday the weather here was not out-doorsy type weather…high, gusty wind all day. Oh, YAY! I don’t even need to make up an excuse to spend a little more time than usual indoors quilting.

First, I finished the top of a new Second Chances quilt I call “Have a (Few) Hearts.” Yes, it was inspired by the three applique heart blocks that were gifted to me. More information coming on that one soon.

And, there were tiny pieces left that didn’t want to be trashed. They became this improv log cabin-ish pin cushion.

And, another Windspinner block ...

I have shown my Sue Spargo houses before, when I had only appliqued the background. I am now steadily working through them to get each one embroidered. Slow and steady. I am working through the book in numerical order, so these are 1 to 8.

You can see the different wool backgrounds, but a lot of the small embroidery doesn’t always show up in blog pics.

On to the inspiration part of this post. We have spent several days staying in Sale, about 2 hours from home. The reason was to see Annemieke Mein’s retrospective at the gallery ...

I am an admirer of Kim Diehl and her designs–geometric, creative, small scale, lots of pieces.

But, sometimes I want to make a big quilt, and most of her designs are mini or small quilts. I get it. That is a lot of pieces.

But, I am making a Big Diehl. The Windspinner pattern it is based on is in the book Simple Whatnots III, which contains several others that are on my “someday” list.

Why Big Diehl? Because I plan to make the block 25 times, using the suggested border as sashing to join them. I have four ...

A quiet week here on the sewing front, but extra busy with grandchildren staying over for several days.

I have been working on these blocks. Lots of pieces. I had to cut nearly 600 blues and 600 whites. That’s not bad for me as I am not always that patient. I admire those of you who make the gorgeous quilts with thousands of pieces.

In the week prior to the grandies visit I had a lengthy card making session with friends. I managed to finish these and only have the cut some shapes and stamp sentiments to make them ...

Hello Everyone! I hope you're having a great year so far.  Mine is busy and already passing quickly which prompted me to get this Quilty Recap 2023 published.  

It will be short and sweet since I only had five finishes for the year...and one of them wasn't even pieced by me.  

Without further ado...

My first finish of 2023 is one I started in Missouri in 2021 w/ Angela Walters’ Build A Quilt club. I chose the Holly Jolly colorway, which consists of Christmas/Holiday prints in nontraditional colors.   It was the first full-size quilt I quilted ...

The 100 Mad Dash blocks are finally assembled. Now, sashing. I am adding mostly white sashing to 50 of them, and mostly black sashing to the other 50. 

Things are starting to shape up…

Well, it turns out that….

1. I didn’t really make 324 blocks, I made 274.
2. That is a dumb number of blocks because it doesn’t make a logical number of rows.
3. I did it because I was running out of background fabric. And, I don’t know for sure what “white” it was and couldn’t match it. (NOTE TO SELF–mark the selvedge of “white” fabrics with color name and manufacturer.)

SO…

1. I made 14 more 4″ blocks.
2. The layout is now 8×9 4-patch (sets of four/8″) blocks
3. The top finishes at 64″ x 72″.
4. Total ...

When I said that I had two WIPs (Works in Progress), I had sort of pushed one out of my mind: The Jewel Box Quilt.

I started this project in March of 2022, making 4″ blocks based on 1-1/2″ squares. All solids with a single white background fabric. By June of 2023 I had 324. 

And that is where I got stuck. The thought of laying out 324 blocks…

But, Monday I had a brainstorm! I could sew them into 4-patches, changing 324 blocks into 81 blocks. That doesn’t seem nearly so daunting. Now, I am back in ...

I haven’t had many finishes lately, partly because I have been busy with the rest of life. But, partly, too, because I have two WIPs (Works in Progress) that can feel like the song that never ends.

The first is a 1-1/2″ version of Film at Five, one of my most popular quilt patterns. The original is based on 2-1/2″ squares and takes 25 blocks to make a nice size quilt. This one will take 100 blocks. I have finished nearly 60.

The second also will need 100 blocks, Mad Dash blocks. I have 63 currently complete ...

September has flown by. But Spring is here and we are enjoying some lovely sunny days.

This is what is happening to our orange tree.

We have only recently finished picking the last of the oranges but that wasn’t going to stop the blossom opening. The whole tree is buzzing with bees.

I have been concentrating on hand work. My machines are still not repaired. This is going to be a giraffe, about 8ins wide by 11ins.

I think it needs a closer look.

The stitching is done with a single variegated thread. It is a design by Hazel ...

I am having withdrawal symptoms. Both of my sewing machines are in for repairs. My large machine had error messages that I could not rectify, so I turned to my smaller machine (plan B). I had only been stitching for a few minutes before I noticed a smell and then saw wisps of smoke coming from the motor. Oh, dear. So off they both went.

I didn’t realise how often I used my machines until they were gone.

On to Plan C! Hand stitching and lots of cutting in preparation for the return of the machines. It has been ...

A few little bits and pieces have been finished. And all have been worked in felt.

I made a box/cube using four Sue Spargo designs.

Each of the designs was stitched onto a felt square.

At first I was a bit stumped as to how to use the pieces. I think they were originally in a wall hanging. But the size made me think about a cube box.

Each piece was backed with more felt and had plastic inserted like a sleeve to stabilize the sides. Looks like it has worked okay.

The sides are about 10 inches square ...

I am sure I saw a similar idea somewhere online, but this is my version. It uses the NO POINT STARS made famous by cluck-cluck-sew, resized to make a perfect 36″ baby quilt.

It went together quickly, and I enjoyed it so much I am making some variations and size suggestions into a tutorial. If you have charm packs or a layer cake laying around, it might be just the idea.

AND, you have a dog.

And she knows she is being naughty.

But doesn’t care enough to change.

I suddenly find myself with 5 active works-in-progress (not counting two in the waiting-to-be-quilted pile).

I got the binding attached to the Halfway quilt Tuesday. Hopefully trimmed and start stitching down the binding in the next few days.

The carrot baby quilt is now a finished top. Need to get batting matched up and add to the (top of) the quilting pile.

The Mad Dash practice quilt needs an outer border.

My current leader-ender, Potato Chip Blocks, has 22 of 35 blocks to make a twin quilt for donation.

AND, today I made one block of the Water Colors quilt ...

I was searching for inspiration for a new leader-ender project and came across these little bags of (poorly cut) 3″ squares. In many different colors. (Thanks for the donation.)

Hmmm…

Somehow my brain decided to try Churn Dash blocks…and then there was an insight, and I was off on a Mad Dash. I’ll share the insight, along with a tutorial, soon. But, in the meaning time I am dashing around, thrilled with a new idea.

If you have squares of any size(really…ANY size…even 3-5/8″, or something equally random) laying around without a purpose, I ...

One of my current projects is a baby quilt for Sparkle Jane and her husband’s impending arrival. As he farms carrots (among other things), carrots it is!

So many carrots under construction. THIS PATTERN makes it easy, even though there are a lot of small pieces. Scraps?! YES! Just my thing.

ps–There will be a tractor, too. Hopefully I’ll be ready to share that by the end of the month.

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…

If my records are correct, I started these blocks in March 2022.

They add up surprisingly fast. I have met my minimum goal of a 72-inch square quilt: 324 4″ blocks.
As soon as it is assembled, that is…

Finally!

It is now at the quilter. More updates (and promised tutorial) soon.