Saturday, February 21, 2026

Green Scraps


Snowball 9 Patch
9 inch finished
Made with 3.5 inch squares and 1.5 inch corners
Blocks with light and dark corners will alternate in a quilt

Crossroads
7 x 9 inch
Made with 3.5 x 4.5 rectangles. All blocks have brown sashing and red center.
I think I've been making these blocks since 2024. 
After I made blocks using what was in the 3.5 inch width scrap box I noticed I only needed a few more to reach my goal of 81 blocks for a quilt layout 9 x 9 (63 x 81).

So I made a few more blocks from scraps in the 3.5 inch width scrap box and met my goal.
Last year I assembled a child sized comfort quilt with these blocks.  Now I'm going to cross this block off of my list of scrappy blocks I make for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC). 



Buckeye Beauty
6 inch blocks
Made with scraps from the 3.5 inch and 2 inch scrap bins. 


Courthouse Steps
7.5 inch 
Made with scraps in the 2 inch width bin.



Rick Rack Blocks
8 inch
Made with 2.5 inch width scraps.
1 width of fabric makes two blocks. 

And sew on...

Friday, February 20, 2026

Pie Birds - A Complete Block Set

 





Pie Birds
I now have completed 35 ten inch (finished) blocks.
They sure used a lot of 1.5 inch width scraps!


Now there is some assembly required!

And sew on...

***
I thought the groundhog was wrong when he predicted six more weeks of winter. We have had a week of unseasonably warm weather with 50-60 degree temperatures.  It was so nice to get out and putter around outside.  There were a lot of sticks to pick up because we have had some 30-40 mph wind gusts. This morning I woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground and 28 degrees. It is predicted that temps will be below freezing for the next few days.  

***
You may or may not know that I do my laundry the old fashioned way - two washtubs with a wringer in between. My clothes dry on a rack or line in the basement or clothes line outside.  Why I do my laundry that way is another story for another time. This story is that I took advantage of the nice weather and hung my sheets and pillowcases outside on the line to dry IN FEBRUARY on a sunny and windy and warm day. Oh, I had the smell of wind and sun  and fresh air on my sheets when I went to bed last night! 

***
I finished reading the first two books (Seeds of Hope and Beneath the Panhandle Sky) in the Dirty Thirty Saga series by Jean Hackensmith. I've started the third and final book in the series. A family who has lost many relatives in the mines of Pennsylvania moves to Oklahoma to claim land under the Homestead Act. 

***

I have only managed to get two of the seven Amaryllis my husband gave me last year to bloom again this year. The rest of the bulbs have leafy growth but have not sent up any flower spikes. I have been enjoying and thankful for what I have. Both plants have many blooms on them now. 

***
Oh joy! Wanda D. in TX sent me another box of scraps. And I mean SCRAPS. I measured every piece with my little six inch ruler so I could add them to my bins of scraps I organize by width. I usually have a block or two going for every scrap bin.  Most of these scraps were under 3.5 inches in width. I had such a good time sorting scraps. Now I will have a good time using them!


Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Courthouse Steps Finish


It's a finish!
Courthouse Steps
52.5 x 73.5

The 10.5 inch finished blocks were made from 2.5 inch width scraps.


I quilted it on my sewing machine with vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. 

The backing is pieced with two green fabrics and the binding is scrappy greens from the leftover binding box. 

And sew on...

Monday, February 16, 2026

Round Four - Curves


Orphan Block Center
Round one with 2.5 inch finished Hourglass blocks.
Round Two with borders and Double Four Patch cornerstones.
Round Three I added a Flying Geese border. 
Round Four I added 3 inch Drunkard's Path blocks.
The top is now 42 inches square.

The round three prompt for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) 2026 is "Curves".

I am making three comfort quilts using the SAHRR prompts. 


Curves - Drunkard's Path blocks with fabric that has curves in it.




Curves - Faux curves in the top of the heart blocks and fabric with curvy hearts. 






Curves - Faux curves in the top of the heart blocks and fabric with curvy hearts. 

Raggedy Ann and Andy

Round One with 4 inch finished Hourglass blocks.
Round Two - In round one I used Four Patches for the cornerstones.  I replaced the cornerstones with Double Four Patches. 
Round Three - I added a border to two sides of each top and added Puss in the Corner blocks to the top and bottom of those side borders. 
Round Four - I added borders with hearts to the top and bottom. 
Both are 36 inches wide and 32 inches in length. 

And sew on...



Sunday, February 15, 2026

What's In The Hoop?

What's in the hoop?
Log Cabin 

I am big stitch hand quilting it with pink, ecru and brown perle cotton.


. I used civil war reproduction scraps to make the blocks. I assembled the top back in 2021. 

I think I have finished stitching more than half the quilt. I stitch about an hour or so each night after dinner. 

The theme in my sewing space this month has been "log cabins and variations" so that's how this top got picked for the hoop.

And sew on...




 

Saturday, February 14, 2026

Green Scraps


Uneven Nine Patch
7.5 inches
Made from 3.5 inch squares

Four Patch
6 inches
Made from 3.5 inch squares

Hollow Nine Patch
9 inches
Made from 3.5 inch squares

Waffles
5 inch
Made from 1.5 inch x 5.5 inch solid rectangles and 1.5 inch squares

Puss in the Corner Variation
6 inch
Made from 2 x 3.5 inch neutral rectangles and 2 inch squares
After I made blocks with green...

...I noticed I only needed 10 more blocks toward my goal of 108 blocks for a 9 x 12 (54 x 72 inch) layout. So I made more blocks with squares I had cut. 

Now I have met my goal of 108 Puss In the Corner Variation blocks! 

And sew on...

 

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Greek Key Log Cabin Top

It's a flimsy!
Greek Key Log Cabin
36 x 45

I was going to make Greek Key blocks as one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects to use 1.5 inch width scraps. January's RSC color was blue and February's is green. Between those two colors and neutrals I had enough pieces in the 1.5 inch width scrap bin to make a small comfort quilt top. 



And sew on...



***
I have been winter sowing a lot of seeds. I sow native wildflowers as well as some hardy annuals that need stratification or cooler soil temps to germinate in pots on the deck. I have more to sow in pots before I start winter sowing some seeds directly into the gardens.  I noticed a big increase in some seed and bulb prices this year. Glad I ordered a lot of seeds on clearance last year from a variety of places. I briefly glanced through the Harmonized Tariff Schedule  and it appears that maybe tariffs have something to do with the price increases. 


***



I finished two books. 

The Friend of the Family by Dean Koontz. " We exist now as we have always existed...forever in a mystery so strange and so profound it cannot be solved. Such is the world."

Falling Apart and Other Gifts From the Universe by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  It is not within our control to save everyone. 

***
Oh joy! In the last few weeks I have received scraps, fodder and fabrics for comfort quilts from Ann D., Julie S., Barbara A., and Wanda D.  I am thankful. 

***
During the winter we had some high winds. Some trees fell on an area in my new Perky Goth/Moonlight  garden right where I had planted some bulbs in the Autumn.  I have a chainsaw that can cut branches up to six inches. We also have big chainsaw I don't operate but I need to take it in for repairs to the pull cord. It needs a new one. My oldest son and I cleaned up what we could until chain saw gets fixed. 


Before. Branches look small in the photo but they weren't! Flags mark bulb area and also in that area was a wood trellis with Clematis. I need to make a new trellis. 




After. Waiting for chain saw repair to cut the bigger stuff but for the most part trees and limbs are off the planted area.