Row 4 of the Hometown Nostalgia Row Quilt

 This month has been a little short on quilting and long on home improvement projects!  Nevertheless, it is time for the next row in the Hometown Nostalgia Row Quilt!  This row is a fun little block called Linoleum.  Weird name, I'll have to see if I can find out the history behind it!

For this row I chose purple!  It's a nice spring color, and I have plenty of purple scraps for sure.  I've been  enjoying going through all of my fabric and organizing it!  I've been using pieces left from my 10 years as an Island Batik Ambassador.  So many pretty choices!

After sorting through fabric and making piles of light, dark and medium I chose these for my sample block.  You will need background, light, medium and dark for this row.

I decided to fussy cut my light fabric.  I had the perfect 2 1/2 inch square ruler to use for this!

Pieces are cut for my block.  You will need a 11 x 1 1/2 strip and eight 1 1/2 squares of background fabric, 11 x 1 1/2 of dark, four 2 1/2 inch squares of medium and one 2 1/2 square of light for the center. Start by sewing your background and dark strips together on the long side.  Press seam toward the dark and sub-cut into four 2 1/2 inch squares. (I didn't get any pictures of this step!)

Next, sew a 1 1/2 inch background square to opposite corners diagonally of the 2 1/2 inch medium squares. Personally, I am pretty accurate with this size of squares and don't need to draw a line, but please do so if you need to for accuracy!

I usually chain stitch the first side, then do the second side to speed up the process.

Then it's time to trim 1/4 inch from your stitching line and press out toward the corner.

That's it for all the units!  Now you can arrange them all in the correct positions and sew them together.

And now you can see what the block looks like finished!  You can download the pattern for this month's block now and get started on this month's row!  Row 5 will be available on May 15.  

Download Row 4 Pattern

All Buttoned Up - Project Quilting Final Challenge

 Button, button, who has got the button?  Is there a seamstress among us who hasn't got a tin or jar full of random buttons, ready to be used for any purpose?  I surely do have plenty of buttons, so I was ready for this challenge!  Now, the question is what shall I make that includes a button?

I chose to make a coffee cozy for work.  We often go down to the coffee shop at the end of the block by the quilt shop and every time I say that I should make a nice cozy, but do I ever remember at home?  No.

I have a little decorative jar of green and white buttons, so I checked that one out first and found the perfect buttons for my project.  The ones I chose have a curved bottom with a bit of a shank built in, perfect for my elastic to sit under yet not be too bulky!

I changed from the 1/4 inch elastic to a 1/8 inch.  This goes between the top and bottom layers of fabric.

The next step is to sew the buttons onto the front of the cozy.  I measured where I wanted the buttons to be first so it would fit well.

And voila, a finished cup cozy!  I'll pop this in my purse to have next time I visit the coffee shop and be able to hold my cup more comfortably!

Linking up for the final challenge!

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

 I decided to make this months UFO into a quilt for my husband, he's been hinting that he needs a cozy new quilt for napping under!  This quilt is perfect for him, not only is it beautiful and good colors for him, but it's a great remembrance of our big road trip in 2022!

My original plan was to use this gold for the sashing.  I liked it, but got to thinking that he might prefer blue as that is his favorite color.

I had enough yardage of this light blue, but it didn't thrill me at all

Then I tried this one and knew I had the winner!  I had to do some math and discovered that a skinny binding  would work the best and it would keep the quilt at a good size so it wouldn't be too large.  

So pretty!  I was halfway done by Wednesday.  I didn't get it done for his birthday on Thursday, but completed sewing the top on Friday morning and presented it to him!  He's excited for me to get it finished!

Just a quick snap on the floor on a rainy day, but you can see how pretty it is!  I've got a dark blue backing and will bind it with the sashing color.  This one is going to get a double layer of poly batting for lots of fluff and I will tie it with dark blue embroidery floss.  I know he will enjoy cuddling with it and remembering our trip!

If you would love to have the pattern for this, it's available here.  The pattern includes all 56 nine inch quilt blocks with basic piecing instructions.  There are also finishing directions using sashing and cornerstones with an outer border to make a 84 x 94.5 inch quilt.