Quilting

My planned WIP for aqua month has been this Utah quilt by Maker Valley. The squares have been cut & in my pile of kits for several years. Why haven’t I sewn it up? You can guess. Squirrel! Shiny & new! I’ve been dealing with a stress fracture in my foot for a while now but have been walking with a post-operative shoe (not big boot). So I’ve been mobile. But it’s not healing as fast as they want, so now I’m using a wheelchair. Ugh! I can’t stand & cut, so my sewing is a bit limited. I had started laying this out before the wheelchair, so I could sit & do the bottom part. Then hubby pulled the columns & we clipped them so I could sit & web it. And it’s done!

So more aqua will have to wait a bit. I have a small area to trim by my machine, but large cuts are impossible. So I pulled out another WIP called Hamilton Gardens by Bonnie Hunter. Some 4-patches were sewed, so I finished those & started making triplets. I can cut the little sashings by my machine, so I may finish this.

This was an RSC2025 project. I sewed the blocks each month last year & finished sewing it together this week. So happy to have another WIP finished, especially one that’s only from last year! This is ScrapStash Plus & you can get the free pattern by subscribing to the Quilty Love newsletter at the bottom of this page. It’s great for scraps. Mine was made with 2 jelly rolls from my stash.

I made 6 blocks in the third colorway for the charity block drive for Many Hands and Many Hearts. You can find the instructions here. All of these blocks used up a good pile of my 2.5″x4.5″ bricks & they are ready to send off.

I’ve been working on these Ocean Waves blocks as L&E’s for over a year now. Sometimes I set it aside temporarily, like when I made the charity blocks above as L&E’s. But I decided it was time to sew the small blocks into the bigger blocks & see where the pile ended up. And it’s about 2/3 of a lap quilt, so yay!

For the last 3 months of evening hand sewing, I’ve resurrected the old hexie project from sometime in the 2010’s. I sewed together the three sections I had made & created an amoeba. So I began on one side & tried to make a straight edge to see what I need to fill in. I cut a bunch more pieces of fabric to make more flowers & have been basting those so that more can be added. This is an improv Grandmother’s Flower Garden & it certainly looks crazy in its current shape!

Since I have been sewing hexies instead of binding quilts, I have a bunch hanging in the closet that need hand sewing. So this week I pulled one out & took a hexie break to finish this Birds quilt. It was a quilt group project, also from the 2010’s. Glad it made to the final finish line.

I began the week thinking, “What shall I sew this week?” I wondered if I could scrounge enough pastel charms to make a 99 Charms, inspired by Nancy. I pulled a bunch, cut a few from yardage & voila! another donation top in the box for Many Hands and Many Hearts.

I made a patriotic table banner that got put out for Memorial Day & is staying up with RWB decorations until after July 4th. But then I thought I needed a summer one on the side table where I have summer decorations. So I bought another stand & made this Sand & Sea banner this week. Now I have to make a bunch more so I can keep both stands full all year! LOL

These are in the second colorway for the charity block drive for Many Hands and Many Hearts. You can find the instructions here. My bin of 2.5″x4.5″ bricks made 6 red & green blocks. Next week I will make the last color duo for L&E’s.

And finally, I started webbing the blocks for last year’s ScrapStash Plus. It leans toward pastels, and it will be good to get it done.

How are your pastels coming along?

Since my pastels are done, I pulled out a set of blocks from RSC2025 that never got put together. I have five of these! When I saw Angela’s Sawtooth Stars in 2015, I wanted to make some, but it took me 10 years to get around to it. These patterns are available on her site in a tab at the top. I made all the blocks last year & couldn’t decide how to lay them out, so they sat. This week, I pulled them out & got to work. I made 5-strip sashing & found the rainbow star print in my stash for the center block & borders. It’s a nice lap quilt size.

I also started working on the new charity block drive for Many Hands and Many Hearts. They are modified potato chips in 3 colorways. You can find the instructions here. I pulled my bin of 2.5″x4.5″ bricks & made 8 purple & yellow blocks. Next week I will tackle another color duo. These make great L&E’s.

I don’t really do pastels, so I had to dig around in the scrap bins for some that would qualify. I made 7 houses that will add some different value to Our Town. The Starlets blocks are all coming from a kit I purchased last year with the express intent of sew]]]]ing this year for RSC2026. I have light aqua, dark aqua, & gold left to make. Turns out the light aqua is very pastel, so it worked for this month. I don’t have a ton of Nine-Patch & Snowballs left to make, so opted not to make any this month.

This 2024 Riley Blake free SAL called From Our House, made it to a top. I worked on the remaining blocks for orange May & finished up the top in pastel June. Both of them work & it’s ready to hang in the closet & wait for quilting.