Paper piecing

Yesterday I got all of the pieces cut and labeled for the spring mini banner project.  And I started working on the first little bee block before leaving for a haircut appointment.

Three of the 4 sections are done, except for removing the paper.  There will be 2 paper pieced bee blocks, and a paper pieced pot of honey in this banner.  Very spring themed. 

This is the second of the mini banners I've made.  A winter themed one was first.  It's hanging on the wall behind my desk chair.  These kits are from Shabby Fabrics, and there is actually 1 for each month.  I've only bought the 2 of them but might buy 1 for summer and 1 for fall, then the 4 seasons would be covered. 

Quilt of Valor challenge

It was red/white/blue around here yesterday.

I had a repair guy here working on my dishwasher in the morning, which kept me upstairs. So I trimmed 4 Quilts of Valor that came back from the long armer, and did some paperwork on the quilts awarded recently.  Then I played with a few RWB blocks - in the limited amount of actual sewing time I had after he left.    

At Sew Vintage we decided we would do occasional "block challenge" projects.  Members will take turns providing a pattern for a 12" finished block to the group, and challenge us to make the block.  In some cases we will collect the blocks to make a special project.

This month's challenge was given by Louise, and it came in a pizza box given to each of us.  We're a small group of 12, so she got that many new empty boxes.  Inside each box she taped a cute vintage card on the cover, and there was a block pattern.  This block was the free pattern for Quilts of Valor Foundation's 2019 block drive.  Our QOV group has used this pattern for several quilts.  It's a favorite!! 

Louise asked us to make the block in patriotic colors, and her plan is to donate the blocks to our Quilt of Valor group.  It's a floating Ohio Star block, and very forgiving when being sewn by a group.  Her sample block had a print center inside the star instead of making the star all white.  So when I went home I cut the parts to make mine similar to hers, using a flag print for the star center. 

Here is my finished Floating Star block for the challenge.  It's now tucked back into the pizza box to return to Sew Vintage in March.  I think I'm going to make another one using a red background - just because.
 

While I had that chunk of flag print out, I decided to use it to make a couple more of this year's QOV block drive pattern, called Echoes.  There are 8 of these in my stack so far.  The QOV site shows the Echoes blocks used around panels, but it will make a nice quilt no matter how we use them.  These are 9" finished blocks. I've included the link to this free pattern.
https://www.qovf.org/in-the-news/echoes-named-as-quilts-of-valor-foundation-block-of-2026/

I also made a paper pieced block from the Moda Blockheads 5 series.  We used this block in a past QOV sampler and it turned out perfectly, but this time my block was only 11.5" instead of 12.5".  I think I printed my foundation papers slightly undersized.  So - after taking this photo, I added a 1.5" red strip to the 2 red sides of the block. It will look OK in a sampler.  On a side note - that pile of pieces to the left are the WASTE cut from the block as I trimmed each section.  That is a lot of wasted fabric, but I'll use those scraps in some smaller blocks. 

Design Wall Monday - February 16

It was a busy busy weekend - Valentine's Day, college basketball, Saturday Sampler, Sew Vintage, and a Quilt of Valor award.  

My husband doesn't miss bringing me flowers for Valentine's Day very often. And usually it's red roses because he knows they are one of my favorites.  The first Valentine bouquet of red roses was when we were dating in college.  It would have been in 1974.  I brought them with me that weekend when I went to meet his parents for the first time.  Couldn't just leave those beautiful flowers in my dorm to wilt over a long weekend.  Turned out that roses made his mother sneeze, plus she wasn't very thrilled about meeting "the girlfriend" either.  Not the best first impression.  LOL  

We didn't actually spend much time together this Valentine's Day.  Dave met one daughter in Sioux Falls, and collected her kids to go to the Jackrabbit game.  Jack even had his picture taken with "Jack", the mascot.  Sophia has apparently outgrown getting her picture taken with the mascot, but she enjoyed the game.  After the game Dave dropped the kids off with their parents at a favorite restaurant in Sioux Falls for Indian food.  And he came home and took me out for Chinese food at one of our favorite places. 

I stayed here and went to Saturday Sampler in the morning and Sew Vintage in the afternoon. Sew Vintage is only a group of 12 ladies, and we always have a good time. We all brought yummy treats and had a mug rug exchange.  At Saturday Sampler I enjoyed the Show and Tell, won a fat quarter, and we saw what the next task is to add to our Anthologie quilts.  Hopefully I'll get the new blocks all sewn right away. 
 

The mug rugs were so cute, and every single one was totally different.  The mug rug I got has a little pocket for a spoon or maybe a straw - depending on what beverage might be on the menu.  And it even had a vintage silver spoon.  Carol made this one and she said she used to go to lots of auctions and buy silverware.  Thanks Carol - I love it and it's on my desk being used.  Isn't that Snoopy print adorable? 

Sunday sewing began pretty early in the morning because I was awake way too early.  I started with cutting 3 sets of binding strips.  The red/cream strips are for 2 Quilts of Valor that just came back from the long armer.  The brown set was attached right away to one of my own PHD (Projects Half Done) projects. 
 

Contessa was from 2025, and was made from a jelly roll.  Binding it gives me some handwork for this week while I continue to watch the Olympics.

The kit for the spring banner is on my cutting board, and I'm ready to begin working on it.  This is mostly paper pieced.  And it's my reward for finishing last week's goals.  

One design board is now covered with all the parts for 8 Vintage Spools blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I cut the parts for 4 of the straight ones, and 4 of the tilted spools.  These 6" blocks will sew up in between some other projects each day.  Off on the right side is also a set of pieces for a green Give It a Whirl block for RSC.  

Several Quilt of Valor blocks were also cut and arranged on another design board for quick sewing, probably today.  One of those blocks is a challenge block.  I'll share more on that some other day this week. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

RSC26 - Week #7

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Today is Saturday Sampler in the morning, and Sew Vintage in the afternoon.  Our Sew Vintage group is having a little party, and a Valentine mug rug exchange.  And my "Valentine" guy is taking a buddy to the Jackrabbit game today because I don't want to miss Sew Vintage.  LOL

Lots of green was under my needle this week.  I had cut the parts for various blocks over the weekend, so this week it was quick to sew those up.  That particular design board is empty now, and waiting to hold parts for next week's projects.

The Hollow-9 blocks are made with 2.5" squares, and they make the perfect Leader/Ender in between other sewing.

The Snail Trail blocks were added to the brown and blue ones on the hanger.  The current plan is to make 4 of each color.

And finally - there was this one.  Yes, I admit it was a squirrel.  It's so adorable, so how could I resist this one?  There is a blue one for January still in the "pulled fabric" stage.    

                                            Let's go check out more Rainbow fun . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

A finish, SAHRR, and a flimsy

It's Finish (or not) Friday!!

The baby quilt is ready to ship to Colorado next week. Light icy blues, purples and pinks in every shade, and lots of neutrals make up this color palette.

It's actually half of a Bonnie Hunter mystery from this winter, Lupines and Laughter.  As soon as I saw the colors I decided to use it as a baby quilt for my nephew and his wife.  That way I only needed half as many blocks.  Their baby girl is due in March.

This week's prompt for Stay At Home Round Robin was to play with curves.  She gave hints about using curved piecing, yo-yos, or even a print with curves in it.  I woke up at 5:30 am yesterday morning and had been dreaming about this project.  So before I forgot what I had pictured in my head - this happened.  I appliqued circles onto 2 white borders. The other 2 white borders are cut but I'm going to wait until I see what next week's prompt is before ironing on any more circles.  The other 3 corner blocks are ready to add then too.  I had to fight a breeze to get this photo on the front porch. It really does lay flat.  

It always feels good to put the last stitches into a quilt top, or the binding.  And this one is BIG, so it feels extra good to have the top finished.
 

The pattern name is Showering Stars, but I used the licensed mascot print for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the centers of the stars.  So it seems appropriate to call it Jackrabbit Stars.  The pattern has a 16-patch scrappy center in those stars.  But one of the ladies at The Pin Cushion used college t-shirts as the star center for a friend.  That gave me the idea to use the Jackrabbit print. 

My husband and I, plus one daughter and a few other relatives are all alumni.  My plan is to give him the quilt in April for his birthday.  Might have to give him just the top if I don't get it all quilted and bound.  I tend to do the binding in the evenings while watching TV, but I don't want him to see it, so another plan may have to be made. 

Check out more Finishes (or Not) . . .
https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

More progress

Yesterday gave me more uninterrupted sewing time and I made good use of it.  First of all . . . the big blue and yellow quilt top I've been working on is now 2 complete halves.  Today it will become a finished flimsy, and I think I found a good backing option for it.

Binding has been added to the Lupines and Laughter baby quilt.  And I put a triangular label into one corner that I will write on.  Hopefully I can ship it to Colorado next week so it arrives before the baby girl does.  

And I cut the pieces to make 4 more Echo blocks for Quilts of Valor.  This is the free 2026 block drive pattern on the QOV website.  

More progress

Yesterday morning I had 3 hours of uninterrupted time in my sewing room.  I spent it working on the Jackrabbit Stars project.  

That gave me the focus time I needed to get the final strip set and other pieces done - in the correct order - to make the last star section.  That 4th star section is done, and the 3 long (90") sections that go on either side are pinned and ready to sew.  Now that the hard work is done, it's time to get this one done.

I'm really hoping to get this to the flimsy stage by Friday. The first half has been done for over a week, but I've gotten distracted by other things while working on the other half.