March RSC blocks and another finish from 2024

 March is almost over and although I finished these blocks about a week ago, I haven't had time to post. March's color for the RSC is yellow. I made 5 yellow traditional blocks to join January and February's blocks. 

And 5 yellow improv blocks to join January and February's blocks.

I'm enjoying making these blocks and it is fun to see the difference between the traditional and improv of basically the same block.

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @Soscrappy

In my last blog post, I wrote about my Wish Upon a Star quilt that was started at the @craftymonkies retreat last summer. Another of the quilts that I started there was my Citrus quilt. At the retreat, Nicholas Ball taught a class called Fruits and Vegetables. If you don't know about Nicholas Ball, he is a improv extraordinaire! I went into the class with the idea that I would make a grapefruit with the possibility of adding additional citrus fruits later. I left the retreat with this completed block.

Once I got home and started on the orange, lemon, and lime blocks, I realized that the grapefruit should be the largest fruit but it wasn't. So I carefully unpicked the peel, the pith and then added a section and increase the size of the current sections. I then added back the pith and the peel. This is the final grapefruit block.

Here are the 4 citrus fruits together.

I straight line quilted this piece vertically about 1/4" apart but I used citrus colored threads to out line the word citrus. 

Citrus finished at 31" x 31" and was completed in October 2024.

I'm linking to Finished or Not Friday over @Alyciaquilts

Welcome 2025!

 I'm back and hopefully will be able to blog on a more consistent basis this year! Although 2024 had so many fun things packed in, it made for an extremely busy year! I will attempt to post about some additional quilts from 2024 at the end of each post (until I catch up), mostly for myself, as a record of my quilts. 

Starting out 2025, I finished the top for the Meadow Mystery QAL! 

This QAL is called Marble Mystery and was designed by Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs. She offers this annual QAL free. I have been doing her QALs for many years. They are well written and I love her designs. If you are like me and don't like mystery QALs, Cheryl offers a secret sneak peek. It helps me in my color choices and I feel confident that I will like the quilt after all the work put in. 😆

This quilt is about 63" square. I am thinking of adding an additional border to the top and bottom to make it a rectangular quilt. The final reveal parade will be in March!

I also will be joining the RSC QAL over @SoScrappy. This is my 13th or 14th year of joining in on this quilty fun. January color was announced as pink!

This year I choose to make this stripe block. I will alternate the month's color with a cream color. I'm using Confetti Cotton Vintage White from my stash for the background. I will make 3-4 blocks in each color. The block is 9 1/2" square.

While sewing the first blocks, I decided to try to do the same block but improv stripes. The color of the month is paired with a gray from my stash (not exactly sure the color name). This block is 8" square. 

I am linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy.

Now for one of many quilts from 2024 that need some time on my blog:

I made this quilt from a class I took with @quiltcarl through the @Craftymonkies platform. The class was called Improv Toolbox and I'm calling this Mix It Up. Carl taught a lot of different techniques as well as encouraged us to look up Irene Roderick and her book Improv Quilting. 

The backing is this graphic black and white fabric from my stash pieced with a strip of black. 

I quilted it with straight line quilting with 4 different color threads. This piece finishes at 31" x 35"

I'm liking to Wednesday Wait Loss @The Inquiring Quilter, Finished or Not Friday @Alycia Quilts, TGIFF @BooksandBlocks, Put your Foot Down @AQuiltery, Off the Wall Friday @Creations, Art Whatever, and Free Motion Mavericks @QuiltingandLearning

More 2024 quilts to come! 

The Summer has come and gone - Where have I been and what have I been up to?

 Wow! I have been absent for way too long! It has been a very busy season year for us! I will break my updates into smaller segments to not overwhelm anyone including myself!

Our youngest daughter got engaged way back in May 2022. They wanted to finish up her Pharmacy residencies before the wedding which would end in June 2024. The wedding date was set for October 12, 2024! All the planning started!

On Mother's Day 2024, our oldest daughter and her husband announced to us that they were expecting their first baby, due in November 2024. We are so excited!

I had previously signed up for my first @Craftymonkies quilt retreat in Lancaster, PA for June 2024. We drove to PA and my husband camped while I was at the retreat! It was the best experience! The teachers were fabulous - 2 from the UK and 2 for the USA. Rachel, the owner of @Craftymonkies is incredible and the best host!

Day 1 was the Amish Day! It included learning about the Amish, visiting Amish stores, fabric shopping, and visiting an Amish family for dinner! 

Day 2-3

The first day of classes were taught by the 2 UK teachers - the amazing and talented @NicholasBall from @quiltsfromtheattic and @SarahHibbert from @quiltscornerstone!

Nicolas taught improv Fruits and Vegetables and Sarah taught Collage to Quilt! I have not fully completed these pieces yet but this is what I finished in class.

My plan is to make the bottom left collage into a quilt and to make several more citrus fruit (orange, lime, and lemon) to go along with my grapefruit!

(Rachel, Nicholas and Sarah in one of the classrooms)

The 2nd day of classes were taught by the 2 US teachers - @victoriavanderlaan 

and @jenniepickett from @cloverandviolet

Both amazing and talented!

Victoria taught her method of textile scrap art. We arranged scraps, stitched them together then stretched them over an 8" canvas frame.

(Victoria vanderlaan teaching)

(Victoria and myself with the piece I created) 

Jennie Pickett taught a bag that she designed for the retreat - The Agnes Bag. It was a bit challenging for me as I am not a bag maker. I am pretty proud that I did actually finish it (with a zipper closure!) 

(Jennie and myself with the bag I made!)

(Several of the pieces and bags made on the 2nd day of classes!)

I made several new friends at the retreat!

Here are just a couple:

(my roommate, Susan...we were put together by Rachel)

(Elizabeth, a fellow quilter from the suburbs of Chicago)

Rachel and myself - I adore this lady!

So if you haven't heard of @Craftymonkies, you should head over to the website or search for craftymonkies on Instagram. There are live zoom classes with teachers from all over the world, video recordings to purchase and watch on your own, and of coarse, the retreats offered. I personally love the platform and have taken the classes in all forms! ❤️

That's Part 1 of my busy, busy summer! How was your summer?

New finishes and RSC update

 Last Saturday I took a class hosted by Rachel Pierman of #craftymonkies. This was the second class I took taught by the talented @victoria_vanderlaan. Her technique is called intuitive stacked forms. The results are unique and amazing! You can read about the 1st class and my finish here.

This 2nd class was a follow-up class - Explore your Intuition Further. I started several quilts in the class and here are 2 that I recently finished. 

This mini I'm calling 7, 8 Lay Them Straight

It was inspired from Victoria's blunt edge quilt that she showed in the class. It was inspired by a pile of sticks she found on a walk. 

I choose a plum fabric I had in my stash as my background and scraps of light gray and a bright orange from my scrap bins. It is intuitively machine pieced and densely straight-line quilted every 1/4". It finished at 14.5" x 18.5"

This mini is called Disconnected

The forms in this quilt mini are cut-offs from the wedge table topper I made. You can see it here. I chose Kona butterscotch as the background. Butterscotch was also one of the colors in the wedges so after sewing them into this piece, I realized that the middle disappears into the background creating a disconnected look. I was pleasantly surprised how this piece turned out. 

When you sew intuitively, what you think the finished piece will look like doesn't always happen!

It is machine pieced and densely straight-lined quilted about every 3/8". It finishes at 14.5" x 16.5" 

Both of these quilts are faced as the finishing. 

I'm linking to Off the Wall Fridays @Creations-Quilts, Art and More, Finished or Not Friday @AlyciaQuilts, Linky Party @Patchwork and Quilts, Wednesday Wait Loss @The Inquiring Quilter

I also want to mention that I was featured on Wednesday Wait Loss last week. Thanks Jennifer!

April RSC color is purple and I have made all 4 button blocks. Here are the 3rd and 4th blocks and all 4 together!

Linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday @SoScrappy

Next up is ORANGE!

A Finish, SAHRR - Round 1

 Saturday morning (my time), I took a class with @Craftymonkies. This was the 4th class I took through them. Craftymonkies is a great way to attend classes with teachers from all over the world via Zoom. I love this forum. If you have never heard of them, you should check them out on IG!

Saturday's class was taught by the talented @victoria_vanderlaan. Her class is called Use Your Intuition and her unique, nature-inspired stacked technique of building your quilt was something I never tried before. It is a improv method. 

By the end of class I had this small quilt put together.

I wanted to make it a bit larger so I auditioned a few pieces of fabric in my stash. 

I thought this piece worked well and didn't take away from the actual piece.

I cut the borders and sandwiched the quilt with more of the same fabric for the backing. I kept the quilting simple with straight lines about 1/2" apart.

I rotated the piece because these reminded me of flames. I needed to make a decision on whether to bind or face my quilt. I squared up the quilt and then decided to face the quilt using the technique from @cottonandbourbon on IG. 

Finished size approx. 20" x 24"

backing

I will do some more of this method and try to change up the shapes. I will play and see what happens!

Linking to Off the Wall Friday, Finished or Not Friday, Patchwork and Quilts, Free Motion Mavericks and Friday Foto Fun. 

Linking to Favorite Finish @Meadow Mist Designs.

Today also announced the 1st round of this year's SAHRR hosted by Roseanne & Sue @HomeSewnByUs. They chose the spool block as their choice for round one. 

Here is my block.

My quilt measures 18.5" after this round. 

I'm linking to the Linky Party for Round 1

April brings on PINK!

 April! Bring on the PINKS! Angela announced pink for the RSC color for this month. I finally got some  time to pull out my pink scrap bin and start my RSC blocks! Here is my Hang Ten block, all pretty in pink!

The bonus blocks I get from the Hang Ten block are my Squiggle blocks!

I just love pink and gray together. Don't you!

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy

I also worked on a few more projects! Here are my first 2 Scrap Buster blocks for April. This is a Facebook group.

                      and here is the flimsy for Hands2Help. This year Mari @The Academic Quilter is hosting Hands2Help for Sarah.

Stay tuned for more updates. 

Linking to Finished or Not Friday @AlyciaQuilts and Linky party @Patchwork & Quilts

Last weekend I took a class from Craftymonkies and learned Improv Curves. This was a fun class. Here are the blocks I made in class.

And finally I will show you my March calendar journal. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend! It still is not warm here (-30º from last year's temperature). We will still enjoy some family time, Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, and Easter dinner!

A new project, some yellow scraps, and slow stitching

     I am so excited about this new project! Yesterday I took a class hosted by                                                           CraftyMonkies.                                                        BTW: I love that I can take a class in Great Britain thanks to Zoom! This is the 2nd class that I've                                  taken through Craftymonkies and they do not disappoint!                               The class was called Mindful Stitches by GaryMillsDesigns. Gary taught us how to create a fabric journal that you can store your keepsakes, pieces of art, stitching, even photographs! It really is up to you! Here is my journal!

I stamped the words Mindful Stitches on a piece of scrap linen and hand stitched it to the front. 

The cover is made of red/cream ticking fabric and the inside cover is some cream linen. Both I had in my stash. I used perle cotton thread to hand stitch around the journal. The pages are made in set of 4 that are folded to make 8 double sided pages. We made 2 set in class. I used some light colored calicos, some muslin and a piece left from a baby quilt I made. 

On my 1st page I put a scrap from a quilted jacket I made back in 1997. (Yes, I still have scraps from that far back! I also made quilted Christmas stocking ornaments from these scraps. 

On the backside of that page I put a candlewicking piece made by my mother. Over the years the piece got soiled/yellowed around the edges. I needed a way to preserve it. I cut it to fit and hand stitched it to the page. I added the lace flowers and  beads. I blanket stitched around the page edges. Here is a close up.

Other ideas I have to add in are my zentangle squares I made back in 2014 and some small orphaned quilt squares made as trial pieces. 

This is an ongoing project. Many more pages will be added before this journal is finished! I'm linking to Linky Party @Patchwork & Quilts. 

I worked on some additional yellow scraps for my EPP ~ tumblers project. 

I will link up to Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy. 

I haven't given an update on my Slow Stitching hoop embroidery in a while. Slowly I've been stitching more flowers. Here is where it is today!

I'm almost finished with on half!

I'm linking to Slow Sunday Stitching @Kathy's Quilts.

I hope you have found some time to sew or stitch! If your interested in taking a class, go check out Craftymonkies!