Working on more blocks

I spent a nice amount of time in my sewing room today playing with blocks. I hav about 110 made.. not even halfway to the amount I’ll need. 

 But I wanted to see how they were coming along…did I have enough of each color so far? I definitely still need more red. And purple. There are tons of blues… quite a few yellows and pinks. 

And as I was going through them, I pulled out my scrap bins to see if I could use up any novelties, reproductions and shirtings. Guess what discovered? I’m never going to use up even half of these scraps! I think it’s time to donate a bunch.

So I stitched up a bunch more blocks but I also started filling some baggies to take to the resale shop. I love to go through these when I find them at shops so I know someone else will have fun with mine.

I like how this one is developing…I may change my mind but I like it without sashings. Just have to be sure to alternate lights and darks.

 

Tutorial for making 4” economy (thrift) blocks

I’m working on my 4” blocks for the #scrappymeetsthriftchallenge that I’m doing on Instagram. If you would like to join us, follow Taryn of @reproquiltlover and sign up. She’ll send you all the info. You’ll get foundation paper patterns that work for 3 sizes. I chose the largest. The main reason was, I didn’t want to foundation piece and this acrylic template gave me the same size. 

I thought I would put together a demo of sorts. I use the SQUARE ON SQUARE TRIM TOOL from creative grids. They have a video online … but I thought this might help too.

I use the corner window (see above) to fussy cut a 2-1/2” square for my center. I have a lot of cute 30s and vintage fabrics that I’d like to use, but you could just cut with any regular 2-1/2 ruler.

I’m making what the trim tool calls the “A” block. This is for the 4” block. The tool also makes a 8”. There’s a little area on the trim tool that tells me what size to cut squares, then these are sub cut on a 45 degree angle.

So these are the triangles for round one or the first border of your center square. They are oversized and will be trimmed after I stitch them to the center.

First triangle attached, pressed, and roughly trimmed. I trim away the excess triangle piece that’s hanging past my center square, as I go.

Attach the pieces in the order you like. I do top, bottom, side and side.

Now give it a spray and a good press so it’s nice and flat before trimming.

Using the trim tool, center the lines of A-1 over your center block like above. If it doesn’t line up perfectly, that’s okay. Center the best you can, then trim the two overhanging side. 

Now flip the block, recenter it on A-1, and trim the two remaining sides.

You have a perfect “triangle border” on your center. Now pick out a second fabric. I like to use something that matches but contrasts a bit. 

Here is a bunch of my blocks with round one on them so I’m matching up fabrics for the next set.

I’m trying to use only scraps because but sometimes (like that brown one) I just can’t find a scrap that works. That’s fine. I’ll dig through my larger pieces of fabric..pretty is more important than sticking to the rules 🤫

For this block I had scraps that would work just fine. The trim tool says to cut (2) 3-1/2” squares then cut in half.

I have a 3-1/2” template with a diagonal line so I’m lining up the fabric straight edge with the 45 degree line on the ruler and cutting triangles that way. 

NOTE: I’ve found that you can also cut a 5” charm on the diagonal, twice, to get 4 triangles that work. Those will have bias edges though, so I give them a heavy dose of spray starch to keep them square.

SO…back to this…using half the square ruler gives me the same size triangle as if I had used the whole square and sub cut it. 

The other two scraps will work because they were on a different block that I did an OOPs 😬 on. I saved these two, ruined two others. I set the pieces on my ironing pad, next to my machine so that I don’t make a mistake in how I want them arranged.

I put the matching pieces across from each other.

Sew them on, spray, and press.

Now I’m ready for the final two cuts. 

This time, line up the first border of triangles with A-2. Double check that you are lining this up correctly…my earlier OOPs was from improperly lining up the template (and not having my coffee b4 cutting anything 🤣)

Trim the two sides.

Then the two remaining sides.

Your block is finished!

Now, this might just be me but I like to cut the remaining scraps from making that block, into sizes I save. I keep 1-1/2” squares in a tin for making scrappy nine patches.

I am getting quite a collection so another 9 patch scrap quilt is probably in my future.

This is the last one I did…just needs quilting 🫣

Doing another scrap challenge quilt

This is my latest project….. it’s going to be a very scrappy quilt using mostly 30s, shirtings and novelty scraps in softer colors. This is a scrap challenge I’m doing through IG @retroquiltlover

She organized a nine patch scrap change last year and this year it’s these economy (or thrift) blocks.

I bought a new acrylic template to make cutting/trimming these blocks easier. I cut the center using my 

2-1/2” template then cut 2 three inch squares which I then subcut on a diagonal. Those are added to the 4 sides of the center piece. I  press then my new template is used to trim. 

 

 

After trimming I add 4 more triangles and use it to trim again. It gives me perfect little 4” economy blocks. 

I’ve decided that I’ll need about 250 of these blocks to make my quilt. So far I have 70. And of course that hasn’t made a dent in my scrap basket🫣

But I’m having a great time digging through these …making fun little blocks. 

Tomorrow I’ll probably put these away so I can make my next RSC2025 block (rainbow scrap challenge). Plus it’s time to pin baste the thousand pyramids quilt!

March rainbow block

The color for March is yellow, for the rainbow scrap challenge. These are really large blocks (18”) so I’m only doing one a month. I’ve decided to use Kaffe, Amy Butler, Brandon, type fabrics… But this month, since I was short of yellows, I tucked in a couple Dr Seuss scraps

Three months in and I’m already loving how this quilt is looking.

This is my other “current” project. I have 12 rows done, 15 total needed for this Thousand Pyramid quilt. I’d love to have this completed this month. It’s gonna be close. I’m also hand quilting a top that I’d also like to finish up. 

It’s going to be a busy month with all this and helping my brothers with maple syrup. They have a farm in northern Michigan with 40 trees they plan to tap. 

This pic is of Lake Michigan as we were heading into the U.P. of Michigan. The frozen lake is so beautiful. It looks cold but it was a beautiful warm (57 degrees F) day. Perfect to start collecting maple drippings.

Blue February block

 

My current projects: 1. Hand quilting my vintage style quilt 2. Making monthly rainbow scrap challenge blocks (above), feb is blue 3. Still making triangular blocks for my Thousand Pyramids quilt. 

I decided to do a very large Bear Paw block for this year’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I really love these blocks. It’s going to be scraps of Kaffe or Amy Butler or whatever brighter pretty scraps are hanging around, then a coordinating solid. The background fabric is one I found as I cleaned and unpacked my sewing room. It was supposed to go with an animal quilt that I decided not to make. So I have plenty. These are 18” blocks, so I figure I can make one a month for 2025 and I’ll have a bright top for quilting in the winter of 2026.

I’m trying to make a few blocks a day for the pyramid quilt. It’s really fun digging through old fabrics to find 3 that look good together and work with the quilt. Some of these fabrics are REALLY old like that Wamsutta in the photo… might be 90s? There’s also a bunch of shirtings thrown in plus text fabrics, Kaffe stripes, and even Jinny Beyer. Of course it’s mostly Judie Rothermel and Paula Barnes, my favorites!

And this is what I’m hand quilting… I’m not the best at it but it works for me. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be so I’ll be happy just to have it done. I’m taking it on my trip to Florida when I go. It’ll give me a nice project to work on if we have any rainy days.

 I have a finish for 2025!! This is the first of what I hope will be many finishes this year. This quilt started in 2019 or 2020 as something to keep me busy in Florida.  I had planned to just do the curved applique pieces but quickly got bored so I put it away. 

In 2024 I was unpacking and cleaning, and I found 16 of those petals. I played around with them and came up with the block with the plus and 4 petals. After that I thought I'd design something Swedish /Scandinavian looking and drew up the pieced block to alternate with the petals. Those were time consuming...I think there were about 69 pieces per block. But, Al really liked them so I made more. 

And I'm glad I listened to him (dont let him know I said that, it'll go to his head). Im really happy with this. The red and white quilts have always been a favorite of mine... glad I now have one.

First quilt finish this year

This is the first finish of 2023!

 I wanted to get one of two "great niece " quilts finished. The top was made last year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I did 4 sets last year. One set I gave away, 2 are tops and one is still just blocks. 

Basting was pretty quick on this one, but finding batting wasn't.  I had to piece together a few smaller white scraps. The only whole batts were cream and those showed through the white background. 

I'm using my favorite pinning tool, which I heard isn't being made any longer. It's called the Kwik Klip. If you'd like one, maybe try Ebay or Etsy? 

So, it took 2 days to quilt the top...I had to work a bit at a time. It's really hard on my shoulders lately (must be getting old).

The backing is a purple and aqua print that my granson, Charlie,  thought Evelyn would like. Her favorite color is purple but I couldn't find a matching purple fabric for binding so I used this aqua gingham. It's cut on the bias, just to look cuter. 

And that's a finish! Evelyn's quilt is done...time to baste her sister's quilt.

 

Another block plus basting a rainbow quilt

Block 3 made. Since I'm starting a new quilt, I'm quilting a previous one.

Today I basted one of my Rainbow scrap challenge quilts. This one will be for my great niece,  Evelyn. I used a purple & blue backing because according to my grandson Charlie, Evie likes purple the best. 

 

I'll be doing two rainbow quilts...two sisters. I'm going to start FMQing this tomorrow so that I have time to add binding... done by Friday? We'll see.

Starting a Family Room Quilt

Here I go again.  Starting a new quilt 😆 My daughter Jenn came over and sorted through my HUGE pile of fabrics I dumped in the family room. I was struggling to choose fabrics that coordinated. She said I had too many so she narrowed them down these.

This is her picks on the floor. I like what she chose...they look perfect. 

I guess paying for that fine arts degree paid off.

The last few days I've gone through a bunch of patterns trying to decide what kind of quilt I wanted. I was thinking something simple. Also, I wanted stars. 

So here's what I picked...an Ohio Star block. These will be the main part of the quilt...20 blocks,  I think. The sashing might be dark or it might be scrappy...flying geese or 1/2 square triangles?..I'll figure that out later. There's even a possibility that I'll skip sashing and just alternate dark and light stars. Still deciding...

So right now, I'm putting the third block together. I'm using a pattern I found in a vintage magazine. It's easy cutting and so far fast sewing.