What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

After the quilt marathon it has been good to get back to some smaller projects.

I have managed to complete another four of the houses from Homegrown.

Mine are not always true to the original design. I have added different colours and fabrics, sometimes different stitches and even a ribbon or two. But the essential design is still there.

I have also made some progress on my giraffe embroidery. Slow and steady with this one.

Obviously still a long way to go.

Spring is a delightful time in the garden when the sun is shining.

The dark coloured orchids bloomed ...

Saturday brought a long sewing day while I watched some football.

I improved my ironing set up.

And finished nearly half of a quilt top. Being prepped is critical as I don’t see how to incorporate a cutting area.

I do love the machine. It has responded beautifully to the care given.

It was so much fun to play with Cheri’s gift.

The top is assembled, and I hope to have it quilted soon. YAY! I love to find purpose for fabric.

Cheri passed on a project, or a potential project. Looks like it needs a second chance.

Hmm…what can I make with this?

ps–Yes, using a lint roller to keep strips organized is pretty genius.

Life has handed me many changes lately, not all bad. In fact, there are many blessings. But, they are all time consuming.

So, my progress with sewing has been slow.

However, the blocks for this idea are nearly done. Only about 15 to go. It is based on a honeybun (I had one laying around). I call it Honey Hush.

Hopefully more to share soon.

With the start of school and events in my life generally, my sewing time has been significantly reduced the past few weeks. But, I did finally get the binding attached to the Big Diehl quilt last night.

I am hopeful for binding time this weekend. And a true finish soon. Remember: Quilting doesn’t really take patience, it requires persistence. If you don’t give up, you will finish.

Thank you, Christine, for the name suggestion. Considering that it uses a LOT of 1-1/2″ squares (finishing at 1″) it is a postage stamp quilt.

I started it in August 2023, so a year in the making. I wish I had recorded the day…

But, in the meantime, I am rejoicing over the finish. This one will stay with me for now and is on the full size bed in the guest room.

You can see the original quilt, the tutorial, and a number of variations HERE.

I received a bag of 2-1/2″ HST, carefully made and even seams pressed open. But a little dated. And maybe some odd fabric choices. But, I wanted them to be…something.

It isn’t perfect, but it is a flimsy. And a good reminder that finished (or nearly finished) is better than perfect.

It took most of the day, but it is done. Admittedly, I would do a section and then take a break by emptying the dishwasher, watering the plants, making that phone call, and related things. I could not stand to match that many seams for that long straight.

These pictures were obviously taken indoors in not-the-greatest light, but you can get the idea.

It is 92″ square. And assembled! Going to the quilter soon. I’ll share the finish when we get there. Thank you for all your kind words and support.

Well, we’ve made it this far. Husband is out of town camping with our young men from church, so I have time.

Slow going, but with a little luck, and a lot of persistence, it may be a top by the end of the day.

It is tempting to believe (and to show) that those leftover bits and pieces magically become a quilt. But the truth is more untidy. When I get a box or bag of leftovers, I usually have to lay them out and think about it for a while. Then, gradually, an idea starts to come together.

These pieces will be a baby quilt, about 36″x36″. I am sorting pieces and starting to create blocks: 4-patches, a few stars, some plain cut squares. And those pinwheels snuck in somehow. We’ll see how it turns out.

It started with a box of hand-me-down half square triangles.

And a block idea.

And it is growing towards this…

I don’t have a specific size in mind. It depends on how far the blocks stretch with some from scraps that I come across. But I am hoping for something between a throw and twin size. I hope it lives up to its name (Sunshine and Shadow) and doesn’t end up looking a busy mess.

What do you call it when you make the scale of a quilt SMALLER (1-1/2″ squares instead of 2-1/2″ squares), but the entire quilt ends up LARGER than the original (83″ instead of 72″ square)?

I don’t know, but what is does mean is a lot of pieces involved. And I’m really happy with it. It should be quilted soon and a finish shortly after that.

You can see the original quilt, the tutorial, and a number of variations HERE.

How do you manage major projects–those quilts that have SO MANY pieces and take SO LONG to finish? Here is a glimpse into my project management world.

NOTE: This varies by quilt, but I am using my current Big Diehl quilt as an example. It is based on her Windspinner pattern in the Simple Whatnots III book. Highly recommended.

The blocks are complicated, with many pieces. And true-random-scrappy is harder than people might think. It takes planning. So, one end of my table is taken up with laying out a few sets at a time. With the picture reference ...

I knew it would take a while, and I’m not in a hurry exactly, but it still feels slow.

This is my Film At Five based on 1-1/2″ squares. Ultimately it will be a 10 x 10 layout and over 80″ square.

Maybe by the end of next week…What I really need is an all-day-sew-day.

ps–This is my guest bedroom. Hard to find a place to protect the quilt from the dog while I get it together.

Each block has 76 pieces. It takes a while, but, 25 blocks are complete.

Now, a whole lot of sashing…

When I first had the idea to create a Film at Five quilt based on 1-1/2″ squares, it seemed so innocent.

At this point, using it as mostly a leader-ender, there are 100 25-patches for the centers and 220 sashing strips for between the blocks. Yep, 4040 pieces later, and there is still a long way to go.

Ah, well, quilting requires not so much patience as persistence. After all, the longest seam stitched so far is only 5-1/2″. Mere seconds. You just have to be willing to do it a few thousand times.

It shall be finished ...

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 ...