Design Wall Monday - March 31

Is it Monday again already?  It was a chilly wet weekend so you know there was plenty of time spent in the sewing room.  About a half inch of rain fell on Saturday followed by an inch of snow that evening. A repeat might happen tomorrow or the next day.  And we're thankful for any little bit of moisture we get.  

The Pyramid blocks are ready to sew into rows.  There is a cream background that will be used for some "half" pyramids to straighten out those sides.  There are 5 extra blocks remaining in the project box as "seed" for something else. 

The 10th block (of 12) for Circle of Friends has been posted by Carol Doak.  This is a beauty, and I hope to choose well when deciding on color placement.  This is a paper pieced block, but we're only doing 1 block per month.   

My desire to reduce the quilting clutter (UFOs and WIPs and PIGs) is continuing this week with the clearing out of a little more "stuff".  

Placemats and mug rugs are resulting from some of the things rescued from that stuff.  After finishing the quilt top using the Jelly Roll Race last week, there was still a big chunk of the jelly roll sections remaining.  Rather than putting it into a bag in a drawer or dropping it into scrap bins, I decided to use it to make some placemats and mug rugs.  This little stack is ready for hand stitching the binding.

While placemats were on my mind and because teal is the RSC color for April, this block came out of the orphan block box, and is now ready to quilt for a placemat.  The Drunkard's Path was something I made during a guild workshop several years ago.  I just never knew what I wanted to do with it, and didn't have any more of either fabric.  So it has languished with the orphan blocks.  But the leftovers from Tranquility (a 2025 finish) were just the right colors.  The 2 lighter teal pieces were added to the sides to make this 18" wide, and the darker teals yielded enough strips to make binding.  Now I need to do some simple quilting on this one.

I also chose 2 blocks I'd tested out for Quilts of Valor that were in with the orphans, and made a couple of patriotic placemats.  Those are also quilted and ready for hand stitching the binding.  The backing is was a gift of fabric from Nann, and the scraps of that striped backing have been mostly used up in 4 RWB mug rugs.  These will be good ones with that bold stars and stripes. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC25 - Week #13

It's nearly time to wave goodbye to yellow, and say hello to . . . whatever fresh new color is announced next.  Will it be purple, green, red?  March was one of the most productive months I've had recently.  I'm hoping to keep a steady pace into April.  

There is plenty of yellow going on in the latest doll quilt to be finished.  I had a bit of the yellow ombre, and it worked great with the leftover 6" churn dash blocks.  Some leftover binding strips, leftover backing, and a longer piece of leftover binding for actual binding - and another little doll quilt was born this week.

I strayed from my current RSC blocks this week, and tried out a couple of ideas for new block sets.  The finished RSC block sets are becoming quilts lately, so it's time for some new ones.

It began with these yellow Dresden Plate blades, made from scraps from the yellow bin.  

Now I have 4 yellow, 4 pink, and 4 blue Dresden blocks with black corners.  I'm going to use black thread to anchor these onto the grey background with blanket stitching.  The only purchased part of this new project is that grey background.  Everything else is scraps and I'm excited to work with the next color.

And because I was searching for ways to use more strips and strings, these Drunkard's Path blocks have been happening.  They finish at 6", and the neutrals are pieced onto phone book paper.  I have made 6 of these so far - yellow, orange, and purple.  And no - there is no plan for what to do with these yet.  But they are 100% scrappy!!

It was fun to go back through my blog posts to see what I've done with yellow this month.

It began at the beginning of the month with a flimsy that blended the blue from February with the yellow for March.  I love how this one turned out.  I hope to choose a backing for it soon, and get it quilted.  It has been on my UFO list for 2 years.

Lots of yellow in this quilt top - Make Your Point.  Every bit of this came from leftovers - HSTs, pinwheels, 16-patch units, and lots of strips, strings, and bits. 

A couple of abandoned projects became finished flimsies.  This is Anita's Arrowhead, and it had been hiding in a bag in a drawer. Doesn't it feel good when we empty a bag or project box and can actually make use of what was in them? 

 Two child-size quilt tops were assembled from finished blocks, including plenty of yellow in those churn dash blocks. There also was an Easter bench pillow with yellow chicks.  

Plenty of blocks have been added to the on-going RSC block sets in March, both new and old.

I've chosen this set of RSC blocks for my next flimsy.  These are the Pyramid blocks that I made in 2024.  One partial row was sewn together already, but it's all been just hanging out in the project box waiting its turn.  This morning they will be layed out on my "design floor" and the process of becoming a flimsy will begin in earnest. 

It's time to check out more RSC fun . . .
https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Reducing the piles

Quilt designer Bonnie Hunter posted the following meme on Facebook and on her blog a few days ago, and it really resonated with me.  There are definitely "piles" in my sewing room, and some are getting very tired of waiting for their turn.

Graphic "borrowed" from Bonnie Hunter on Facebook

I'm making a little headway on the WIPs and the UFOs around here, and managed to assemble 3 small quilt tops from those this week.  

So, here is the 3rd one of the tops, ready for a backing and quilting.  It's 42 x 62, and used most of a Kaffe jelly roll plus that fish print that was a freebie from our guild giveaway table.  The colors of the jelly roll are repeated in those fish.  It's a pretty good mash-up in my opinion, and just as colorful as I had imagined it would be.

There is an 18 by 42 strip of the jelly roll section leftover, all sewn together.  I'm thinking I can get 3 placemats from that piece.  That isn't likely to happen until the weekend however. 

All 3 of these quilts were WIPs a week ago.  The churn dash blocks were all made, but hadn't been assembled into a top yet.  The Anita's Arrowhead blocks were not all sewn, but at least the pattern and fabric were still in the bag with the few blocks that I had made.  And the jelly roll race quilt at the top was just a mess in a bag, although the jelly roll had been sewn into the long single strip.  

It feels so good to have these tops hanging in the closet, one step closer to being finished quilts instead of just projects Waiting In Piles.

Making use of distractions

I've worked diligently the past week or so to meet some short term goals that I've set, and I'm pleased at the progress on those goals.  But I've also strayed a bit to play with some things totally unrelated to those goals.  Those darn squirrels are fun to follow!

One of the things I've played with is a scrappy Dresden project I'm adding to this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge repertoire of blocks.  I saw this online where I think they called it something like Badminton Birdies because of the layout chosen.  On point, they do look kind of like birdies.  

There are 4 blocks in each colorway, with 5 blades each.  Every colorful blade came from the scrap bins.  Yay!  Each Dresden unit will get a black corner piece and be appliqued onto a 10" square of grey background.  I had enough of the grey background to use for several months' worth of RSC blocks.  This could become a pretty good sized quilt, depending on how many blocks I make. I'm kind of excited about this one.

And the other distraction?  These are 6.5" Drunkard's Path blocks using neutral strings for that pie slice section.  And using scraps for the outer section.  There is even a narrow bit of flange or piping tucked into that curved seam.  This was an idea from an old magazine.  I have a bin full of neutral scraps and this is a way to make use of at least some of them.  The neutral strings are pieced on old phone book pages.  I have no actual plan for these beyond the fact they are fun to make.  And maybe I'll use the RSC colors each month when looking for colors to use on that outer section. 

In the meantime, I've pulled out the next UFO I plan to work on next week, and one new project that I want to begin next week.  The UFO is Pyramids, which was a set of RSC blocks from previous years of playing with a rainbow of scraps.  One row of triangle shaped blocks is actually sewn together, but all the rest of the blocks were still in that project box - waiting.  

The new project involves applique, and I'll have to share more on that another day.   

Midweek check-in

 Do you ever wonder how and why packages get delayed?  Last week on Monday I mailed 2 identical boxes holding quilts. Both were estimated to arrive at their destinations on Thursday, the same week.  I've been tracking both online.  One was headed to Atlanta with a baby quilt.  It arrived right on time.  The other was headed to Texas with a graduation quilt - from South Dakota, via Fargo, North Dakota on Tuesday - and then who knows where for the next 6 days.  The tracking kept showing "In Transit to Next Facility" for 6 days but never showed WHERE.  Was it sitting in a mail truck somewhere stuck in a snowbank?   It was finally delivered on Tuesday afternoon.  I think . . . 

Every single one of the novelty print churn dash blocks has now been used.  This is the 3rd quilt I've made using these blocks.  It has 19 of the 12" blocks, and 4 of the 6" blocks.  None of these are quilted yet, but will eventually be donation quilts most likely.  This was flimsy #2 for this week.  One more to go. 

There were 5 of those 6" blocks remaining, and those went into a doll quilt in a 9-patch layout with some yellow ombre that was in the stash.  Those outer borders are leftover binding pieces.  There was a batting chunk the right size, and I'll be looking at the leftover backing pieces for something that works for the back.  

I've been working on the #3 UFO quilt top this week too.  It involves a Kaffe jelly roll that I was planning to use in a Jelly Roll Race quilt a couple of years ago.  When I abandoned it, the whole jelly roll was sewn end to end into the first step - one long, long, long strip.  That was the hard work in this project.  Good news - it's now 8 strips wide. And I'm not hating it.  

No sewing at all is likely today as I'm joining in on the monthly coffee/lunch group of retired staff from the school district I spent 2 decades in.  And in the afternoon I'm meeting a couple of friends for cards and catching up.   

Decluttering & a flimsy

 It's our 48th wedding anniversary today! Guess I'll keep him around for a little while longer.

My birthday was Monday.  He's good about giving me flowers, and red roses are my favorite. I will really enjoy them.  But one would think that after this many years he would realize I don't "do" houseplants.  And I no longer garden.  I have a brown thumb and rarely manage to keep anything alive very long.  

Yet he keeps finding interesting houseplants every year for our anniversary.  Maybe he's trying to tell me something.  This is a 3' tall Money Tree.  I got him strawberry bread pudding from our favorite local bakery.  And now I get to feel guilty for a couple of months while that poor plant tries to survive. I sound very un-grateful, don't I?

My weekly goals include putting 3 small quilt tops together using blocks that are already done.  I can happily report that 1 of those block sets is now a flimsy.

This is a lap-size quilt using the Anita's Arrowhead blocks that I rescued from a bag in a drawer last week and finished up.  Once it's quilted and bound it will most likely become a donation quilt.  It's so nice to throw away a now empty bag from that drawer.

Twinkle came back from the long arm quilter on Friday.  The navy blue binding was cut, so on Sunday afternoon I sewed those binding strips together, got them pressed and attached to the quilt.  This will be my evening hand work this week.  The quilting is gorgeous on it, so I'll be sharing a picture when the binding is done.

I'm continuing with the decluttering process, although this weekend I kind of jumped around instead of focusing on just one area of the house.  But there is still progress to report.  Last week Joy reported purging 65 balls of leftover yarn.  Her numbers jumped pretty high in one fell swoop!  I suggested she was cheating, but she reminded me that all is fair in love and decluttering.  LOL

That felt like a challenge to be met, so this week I have some bigger numbers to report too.  I went through a big stack of crafting and quilting magazines that had been saved WAY TOO LONG.  Next came a small purge of patterns and a few items that will go to my daughter's next rummage sale.  I have a box started for the rummage sale things.  And I cleared out a bunch of binders holding work paperwork no longer needed.

Design Wall Monday - March 24

Hello Monday!  March has seemed endless this year, and we haven't even been buried under snow like most years.  I'm currently caught up with the BOM and monthly sew-along projects.  That means I was thinking about new projects to start.  That could be dangerous.  Lately when feeling caught up with ongoing projects, I've pulled out a small kit for something that has been lying in a drawer.  That has worked out well. 

But right now it would make more sense to focus on using the block sets that are already done, and at the very least assemble them into quilt tops.  Or finish partially finished blocks.  I got 2 flimsies assembled last week from completed block sets, one for Quilts of Valor and one for a donation child quilt.  So far so good!   

I plan to assemble a flimsy from these 20 churn dash blocks.  Except for a few of the smaller 6.5" versions of the blocks, this will use up ALL the remaining churn dash blocks I've been making with novelty prints.  And the smaller ones might end up in a doll quilt.  

There are 20 of these Anita's Arrowhead blocks to make into a lap quilt.  Again, this was a project just waiting in a bag in a drawer with pattern and fabric gathered together.  I got the blocks finished last week.  The block pattern itself went into my binder for RSC blocks where I can find it.  Another empty bag!!  Yay!!

And then a reader prompted me to look for a Jelly Roll Race project that had been abandoned - and that caused me to dig into that purple bin.  

The hard work was already done because I had the Kaffe jelly roll strips already sewn into one long strip.  The plan had been to use that fish fabric somewhere in the middle of it all to break up all the wild prints and color.  The fish fabric was from the Giveaway table at guild.  So now that I've pulled this mess out of the bag (hidden in the drawer), it's time to deal with it.  It could become a fun child sized donation quilt.  

So, back to that purple bin - I emptied it completely and then sorted through everything in it.  Several fabric remnants have been set aside for the Giveaway table at guild.  A few small scrap pieces got cut into the squares or rectangles I commonly use.  And they are now in the appropriate little bin.  One larger piece is perfect for the back of a baby quilt.  Only kits went back into the bin.  Now - there are 4 more of those bins in that storage unit, and every one of them needs to be sorted and cleaned out. 

We'll see how the week goes, but my plan is to get 3 small quilt tops all assembled.  And maybe I'll get one more canvas bin sorted through. There is a large quilt ready for binding too, so there will be something to do while watching college basketball in the evenings.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

Easter quilts

My house looks ready for Easter thanks to having some quilts to decorate with.

The newest table runner is done.  I may switch out the buttons used for eyes because I personally think the ones in the kit are too small.  This paper pieced kit was a fairly recent purchase that I didn't want to stick into a drawer to be forgotten.  Shabby Fabrics has such cute small paper piecing kits available. 

My mother's treadle machine is a good spot for a runner.  This Easter runner is one I made several years ago, along with 2 more for my girls.  It is a simple applique on an ombre fabric.  There wasn't a pattern but I saw a similar one at a quilt show and just went home and sketched out that silhouette.

The dining room table was loaded down with Quilt of Valor paperwork until this week.  Now it is cleared off and looks like spring.  This bunny table topper was a kit purchased at the local quilt shop, maybe 15 or more years ago.  The bunny face and ears are fuzzy.  I wonder where I might have put that pattern because the bunny is so cute with those big floppy ears, and the 3D bow tying them together.   

And last year I added the Easter door hanger. This was the first of the seasonal door hangers I've made and possibly is my favorite so far.  It's all applique.    

RSC25 - Week #12

Creative time this week saw a real mix of projects.  Two quilt tops were assembled using blocks that were already made.  One of those was a Quilt of Valor that I posted about earlier in the week.  The other is a Baby Churn Dash, in a somewhat girly colorway.  This is actually the second quilt top to come from these blocks.  The remaining stack of the blocks are more boy-ish colors, and that is on my To Do list for next week.  One by one, I'm getting some of the blocks sets from RSC made into tops and out of the closet and project boxes.   

Our guild used this idea for New Years Baby quilts a couple of years ago.  Each block is a combination of a solid and a novelty print.  And the blocks are 12" finished, or 6" finished.  I love making Churn Dash blocks so after making a bunch for guild, I've just kept making them.  The novelty prints are fun to shop for, and I've collected a lot of them on various shop hops.  Time to make use of them, right?

In between quilt top assembly I worked on a variety of current RSC blocks as Leaders/Enders.  The Gameboard blocks are totally scrappy.   

It's really easy to pull from the scrap bins to make these as the largest pieces are 2.5 x 4.5.   The squares come right out of the bins of squares already cut into 1.5" and 2.5".  So far I've only made 2 each month.  These will finish at 8".  I see that in that light blue block from last month I have the checkerboard turned the opposite direction as the rest.  Oops!  

Two more of the Travel Stars have been added, using yellow for the star points.  The centers are 6" squares shared by various members at guild. I've made 3 or 4 quilts using those squares over the years and there are still a LOT more squares to play with. 

And now a Public Service Announcement - there have been squirrels causing chaos this week again in my sewing room.    

Squirrel #1 - I've been seeing a lot of the Anita's Arrowhead blocks online lately.  It's an oldie but goody.  Since I've made it one of my missions in 2025 to reduce the number of projects lying around in bags, I searched for the bag I knew contained the pattern (downloaded ages ago) and 5 fat quarters I had planned to use including a yellow one.  Found it in a drawer!!  

That yellow dot has blue, green, orange, and brown in it, and there was a fat quarter of each in the bag.  Each fat quarter is just right to make 4 blocks.  Paired up with some neutral print backgrounds found in the stash provided a good start on what could be a small donation quilt.  Once the 4 yellow blocks were made, I moved on to the blue ones.  

Since taking the first picture I have the green, brown, and orange blocks almost finished too.  I'll have the blocks finished today - 4 of each color.  And assembling them into a lap quilt top will be one of next week's goals. 

 Squirrel #2 - Of course you know how easily I get distracted.  Since I've been sewing quilt tops from various RSC block sets, it was time to come up with some new ideas.  I've been online looking for more ways to use scraps in particular.  And I came across a cute Dresden idea.  It was fairly easy to pull out anything in that yellow bin that was at least 3" by 6.5" to use for the Dresden blades.  I used the Easy Dresden ruler to cut 20 of them from yellow scraps in only about 15 minutes.

And in about 30 more minutes I had pink blades and blue blades cut as well.

  The plan is to use 5 blades in each block, and set them onto a grey background.  The blocks would be set on point, so the Dresden blades point upward.  I might change those circle pieces to black, instead of the colors.  But we'll see how it goes.  

 Check out more RSC projects at . . .
https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

It Takes Two

With 3 small projects waiting to be bound, it gave me plenty of handwork to keep me busy in the evenings.  This one was finished while watching Survivor on Wednesday evening.

The Valentine wall hanging was the first of the finishes.  The pattern is It Takes Two, from the 2022 Cupid Box by Fat Quarter Shop.  The top was put together in January when pink was the color of the month for RSC.  I have a shelf with a quilt hanging bar in my living room, just the perfect size for wall hangings.  This is where It Takes Two will most likely hang for February next year.  For it's photo I just pinned it to the current one.

The long arm quilter did a really small design that I love.  It has hearts and flowers swirling around edge to edge.  I'm so glad I had it quilted professionally, rather than doing something really simple myself.  

I really like how the hearts are arranged in this pattern, so it could be made again sometime.  It would make a very sweet baby girl quilt.

Next up for binding - the Easter table runner, and a doll quilt.