A finish and RSC and Sparrows QAL

 This week I finished the quilting and binding on the second quilt from last year's Stash Buster Challenge. The original quilt was so big that I wasn't comfortable quilting it. I intended to send it out to charity as a flimsy but the postage was so much. I ended up taking it apart and making 2 quilts instead. The first (larger) quilt was gifted to friends. This quilt will be sent to charity as part of the Hands2Help 2023 campaign hosted by Sarah @Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  

I changed the layout to a 4 x 5 grid and quilted vertically in straight lines about 1" apart.

I used a piece from my stash for the backing and a coordinating piece for the binding. 

I'm calling this quilt Play Nice!

Linking to Finished or Not Friday @Alycia Quilts, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Linky Party @Patchwork & Quilts, and Wednesday Wait Loss @The Inquiring Quilter

I also finished 2 of the purple button blocks for this months RSC.

2 more purple buttons to stitch! Linking to ScrapHappy Saturday @SoScrappy.

My Sparrows top is all put together! I'm loving it. More to come soon!

It's been quiet on the blog but not behind the scenes

 Although I haven't posted on my blog since the end of September, I have been busy crafting and quilting. I find that if I spend time writing a blog post for every finish, I can't get to all the things I need/want to get done. Lately, I've been posting on Instagram and Facebook more frequently, then coming for a bigger blog post (WARNING). It definitely is a game of prioritizing the time I have. 

Since the last post of the baby quilt I finished, we have done many things relating to the season. My hubby and I also tested positive for COVID and needed to isolate for 1-2 weeks. Mostly fatigue which didn't help with the time to get things accomplished. We needed to cancel our annual trip to Door County, WI due to COVID but we did take a quick trip to check on our camper and stopped at a pumpkin farm and an apple farm and took in the beautiful fall colors. 

I made this Color Scavenger Hunt board and my grandson and I enjoyed a couple of walks looking for colors in nature! We also made a skeleton for Halloween!

I finally made time to make fabric postcards for Halloween

 for my grandchildren! I followed the tutorial

 by @annies_musings which was so fun and easy to follow!

 I have been an admirer of Annie's postcards for many years

 and I finally made these! 

I wrote special notes on the back so no pictures. 

(I'll have to take pictures before I write on them next time!) 

(Flowers from my daughter's cutting garden)

Didn't they turn out so cute?

I've also been crafting these rustic sunflowers for my daughters and a few knitted pumpkins to add to the collection.

In case you think I haven't been quilting...

I finished up the Stash Buster Quilt. It is large at 81" x 98". The layout I choose was on point which required 50 blocks but the challenge was for 52 blocks, so I framed the extra 2 blocks. I will be donating the flimsy and blocks to charity. 

This was a fun challenge and a fun block to make!

I'm currently working on finishing up my RSC blocks for 2022. Angela @Soscrappy allows November and December to finish your quilts and get ready for another year!
Here is my Hang Ten blocks finished and waiting to be sandwiched and quilted!

So, I may have been quiet over on the blog, you can see that I have been keeping busy! Hope you have had a chance to enjoy the beautiful fall colors this year!

I'm linking to Finished or Not Fridays @AlyciaQuilts, Off the Wall Friday @Creations - Quilts, Arts, Whatever, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Friday Foto Fun @Powered by Quilting, Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy 

Quick Update

         I'm dropping by to give a quick update into what I've been working on.                   I did a bit of sewing for the 4th of July this year. I made some small flags and put them on a ribbon to string in my windows. 

I used scraps from my stash to create them. Each one is approx. 4.5" x 6.5" and the blue corner is 2" x 3". I sandwiched them together, then sewed around the raw edges. I also quilted straight lines in the stripes. I also used them in a small white box with my table runner and flags.

For my monthly sewing, I made my 4 blocks for the Stash Buster Challenge. I choose to make the blocks in purple this month which is also the color for the RSC blocks (which I haven't made yet.) 

I have been slowly working on quilting my strawberry quilt. 

It should be done soon if I get some more time to devote to 

quilting. It has been a busy time helping my daughter 

with the kids!

A new month means a calendar journal finish! 

Here is June (my birthday month!) 

Hope to be back soon! How is your summer going?

My Secret Sewing Reveal and Other Things

 I have been very quiet here on my blog but that doesn't mean I haven't been sewing! I actually started and finished a bit of secret sewing. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my reveal reel. 

My daughter and SIL finally gave me an idea of what they wanted for their wedding quilt. We have had much conversation over the past year but when they told me they liked this pattern and the colors, I started right away. 

I ordered the pattern, Banner Day by Heather Black and some Kona cottons. I did change the colors a bit from the original pattern. I used Kona Prussian, Ivory, Natural, Shell, Seafoam, Yarrow, Raffia, Black and Snow. 

When I first looked at the picture, I wondered 'How do you make this?' But after reading through the pattern, I found that it is cleverly constructed to give the layered look and that it wasn't as complicated as it looks. Of course, there is a bit of curved piecing and some long straight piecing!

the picture looks like the quilt is not straight but it is just not smoothed out

                  The quilt is all machine pieced and machine quilted. The quilting                                    was inspired by the beautiful quilting by Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl                                  and her post about the quilting she did on her recent                                                   Garden Peony Quilt. I used several of her tips                                     and invaluable advice. The quilting is 1" apart. 

This quilt has an modern feel yet 

also a mid century modern feel...so I named it Modern Mix. 

The backing is pieced with a coordinating print and Kona solids.  

The binding is Kona black. 

My daughter and SIL, happy with their quilt!

The finished size approx. 60" x 72"

Linking to Finished or Not Friday @AlyciaQuilts and Friday Foto Fun and Favorite Monthly Finish @Meadow Mist Design @Poweredbyquilting

In other quilty news, I finished 4 blocks for the Stash Buster Challenge.

...and 31 Ohio Star blocks for the Oh Say Can You Sew Mystery QAL. 

I have a few more projects in the works. Hopefully it won't take so long for the next reveal!

It's Strawberry Season at my house!

Nothing better than some freshly made strawberries (except freshly grown ones!) While I'm waiting for a fabric order, I started making these adorable strawberry blocks. I bought the pattern last summer and never got around to making them. It is called Strawberry Social by The Picnic Basket.

I will be making 7 more blocks. These are all make from my red, pink and green scraps! The background is Kona white. Aren't they just too cute!

I finished my 4 May blocks for the Stash Busters Challenge. 

So pretty in pink! Next I'll work in purple or turquoise!

Angela announced blue to be the color of the month for the RSC. 

Here are my blue blocks.

Blue with scrappy gray background

Blue Hang Ten quilt block

Blue Squiggle blocks

Here are all 6 color blocks together!

Although I forgot to post my April calendar, I have been keeping up. Here are my April and May calendar journals.

I'll be linking to Scrap Happy Saturday at So Scrappy, Finished or Not Friday @Alycia Quilts, Friday Foto Fun @Poweredbyquilting, TGIFF @Anja Quilts

Part 2 - The Quilt Blocks

 My last post was getting a bit long so I thought I would continue on Part 2 for the quilt blocks I finished. 

For May, Angela announced sage and/or dark greens as the color of the month. I pulled my green fabrics and started cutting for the Hang Ten block.

The bonus of this block is the HST I use in my Squiggle blocks. 

Then I pulled more greens and some scraps of gray for my 3rd RSC block.

I will link up with Scrap Happy Saturday @So Scrappy.

I made 2 blocks in pink for the Stash Buster Challenge on FB.

Kat over @Kat and Cats quilts posted the new block for the 

May/June 

blocks for Covered in Love charity. Here are my blocks. 

On YouTube, I have been following Lisa Bongean for her QAL: Oh Say Can You Sew. This is a mystery QAL but I decided to try it because of the patriotic colors. Each month another clue is released. I finished working on Clue 1 for April.

Scrappy 9 patch blocks in blue and white!

I'm also getting close to finishing my Hands2Help donation quilt. Stay tuned for a separate post about this great cause!

The March color for RSC is yellow/gold

                  Angela announced the color for March. It is yellow/golds!                    Bright colors to help get through the month of March!

I have been busy finishing a wedding gift quilt and my SAHRR quilt. I'll save those for another post (the wedding is April 2nd and the SAHRR parade is March 21st.) After those were finished, I got started with my monthly challenges. First up is Hang Ten in yellow and the 1st three together.

Next up, is Squiggle in yellow and the 1st three.

and finally my scrappy gray blocks!

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy, Finished or Not @Alycia Quilts,

and Linky Party @Patchwork and Quilts

I also managed to piece 2 more of the blocks for The Stash Buster Challenge on Facebook. 

This year I'm participating on the #igquiltfest hosted by @amyscreativeside.

Everyday during March there is a prompt on Instagram related to quilting. One of the prompts was Upcycle. I wanted to show you the jean jacket I embellished. I had been thinking of making a quilted coat (it's all the rage 😜!) and even took a class with Victoria Findley Wolfe but just haven't had the time. So the next best thing was to        find a jean jacket at Goodwill and add an orphaned quilt block to the back.              I hand quilted the block after machine stitching it down. 

I love how it turned out!

That's what I've been up to! How about you? Hope you are finding time to create!