In The Pink! Economy Block Finish

It's a finish!

Economy Blocks

42 x 48

I started it in 2023 to use up some  four inch finished Four Patches I had in the Parts Department as well as some scrap chunks of mostly pink and blue florals.  I used two four inch squares of the florals cut on the diagonals for the Four Patch corners to make a six inch finished block. 

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

Here's the back. The binding is a pink floral.

And sew on...

***

A little quilting marathon will be going on here in March . Soon I will have boxes of comfort quilts to send off to two of my favorite charities that provide quilts for kids  - Wrap-A-Smile  (WAS)  and      Quilts Beyond Borders.  (QBB).

Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) partners with Rotaplast International.

 Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities.

Quilts Beyond Border (QBB) quilts go to many different initiatives...foster care, refugees, Indian reservations, orphanages, women's recovery centers...you will just have to go read the QBB blog because I can't remember them all. 

***

One day when we had some very nice weather I put together a couple of Adirondak Rockers for one of my newest gardens close to the house. Of course the directions were all pictures and some directions/pictures were a little difficult to decipher so a few choice cuss words were uttered. 

There are two old rusty swing sets without swings in this area. I used the swing sets as trellises for some roses and have planted a lot of fragrant perennials and bulbs around here. I call it "John's Garden" because I made the area for my husband to go sit and enjoy the birds and bees and flowers and stop and smell the roses.  The rockers are sitting on cardboard that I put down to keep the weeds out. I'm going to pull that out and plant a ground cover like sweet alyssum. My husband is frail and on oxygen so can't walk far.

I also put together another bench for the "Perky Goth/Moonlight Garden" I started a couple of years ago. I cleared the area overgrown with mostly elderberry, wild grape and honeysuckle so I could plant pink, black and white flowers in memory of my perky goth granddaughter Kayla who died unexpectedly four years ago. This garden is quite a walk from the house and a greater part of it is shady so it has been quite an ongoing journey figuring out what pink, white and black plants I can put in the garden. 

I put up a fence at the bottom end of the garden to hopefully make the deer that come up through the wooded area take a detour around this garden.  I put the bench in a sunny area and soon I hope to sow some poppy and bachelor button seeds and maybe a few others around the bench. Our last frost date is around May 15 but some things can be sown before that date. The ground is very dry but rain is predicted Thursday-Saturday so maybe I will sow seeds after that. 

***

I am thankful for friends who keep me sewing. In the last week or so I received a bolt of yellow fabric from Liz, some backings and bindings from Ann and a lot of fat quarters from Teresa. Oh the makes I can make!

Winter QOV Quilt Along Part II

Alycia is hosting another QOV Quilt Along. 

I usually make a scrappy version of Alycia's Mystery Quilts and Quilt Alongs. 

I was thinking I would not participate this year because my patriotic prints are down to very small bits and pieces. However, I was looking around at some of my other options and now I think I have decided to actually make two quilts. 

I gathered together some red, white and blue civil war reproduction and similar fabric scrap chunks for quilt number 1 and...

...for quilt number 2 I gathered together some shirtings, plaids and homespuns. 

This week we made six 8 inch (finished) red Sawtooth Stars on white. 

Winter Sew Along Introduction

Week One of the Sew Along

Week Two of the Sew Along

If you want to join in on the conversation and photos of others working along - join us at :

https://groups.io/g/MysteryQuilts4Military

And sew on...

Green Cherrios Finish

 

It's a finish!

Green Cheerios

40 x 60

I made these 10 inch blocks from scraps in 2024 and 2025 as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project. Last year I looked at the stack of blocks and divided them up into piles for four comfort quilts.  I had enough green blocks for one quilt. 

This is the first of the four Cheerios quilts to be finished. 

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

The backing and binding are a light lime green fabric. 

***

A little quilting marathon will be going on here in March . Soon I will have boxes of comfort quilts to send off to two of my favorite charities that provide quilts for kids  - Wrap-A-Smile  (WAS)  and      Quilts Beyond Borders.  (QBB).

Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) partners with Rotaplast International.

 Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities.

Quilts Beyond Border (QBB) quilts go to many different initiatives...foster care, refugees, Indian reservations, orphanages...you will just have to go read the QBB blog because I can't remember them all. 

***

And sew on...

Monday Musings at Brenda's Songbird Designs

Final Round Six - Quilter's Choice

 

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.

Round Five with a two color border all around of two inch width strips.

Round Six I added 3 x 6 Flying Geese to top and bottom. 

The top is now 49 x 55

The round three prompt for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) 2026 is "Quilter's Choice".

I am making three comfort quilts using the SAHRR prompts. 

Well, I'm glad I measured twice and cut once before I made blocks for my final round. In my last post I stated the size of the quilt after round five as "42 x 48 inches". Well, I must have space out somewhere along the line because the quilt really was 49 x 49 inches (finished size) I meant to only add the round five two color border to the bottom.  So, it is a little wider than I wanted for a small comfort quilt but I guess it will fit someone. 

 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. 

Round Five - I added two color borders made of 2.5 inch width strips to the top and bottom of the quilts.

Round Six - I added 3 x 6 Flying Geese to top and bottom of both quilts.

Both are 36 inches wide and 46 inches in length. 

I have more of those Raggedy Ann and Andy panels. Someone gave me quite a bit of yardage full of them and some smaller motifs. I will be making more Raggedy Ann and Andy quilts sometime in the future; however, I don't think any of the future quilts will be quite as fancy as these!

And sew on...

Round Six Linky Party at Anja Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

More Green Scraps

NOT Disappearing Four Patch

9 inches

Made with solid and shirting scraps

I like the look of Disappearing Four Patch (D4P) blocks but I don't like to make a Four Patch, cut it apart, rearrange pieces and then sew pieces back together again So I just cut pieces and make the end result. 

This is the last day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color green. I am anxious to see what new color of scraps I will be sewing with in March.

Uneven Shoofly

10 inch

Made with floral and shirting scraps.

(Just like grandma used to make!)

Streak of Lightning

6 inches

Made with 2 inch squares.

Streaks will be black/white fabrics.

Another Streak of Lightning

9 inch blocks

Made with 2 x 3.5 rectangles

This one takes an A and B block.

Wonky Log Cabin Duckworth Style

6 inch

One color blocks made from scraps will have centers in a complementary color.

New start because this month the theme in my sewing space to move UFOs forward has been "log cabins and variations".  I have a lot more green scraps to sew into Wonky Log blocks but this is all I have managed to make so far.

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

***

Finished a book! When the World Fell Silent by Donna Jones Alward. "Historical fiction novel set during the 1917 Halifax Explosion, exploring loss, resilience and hope through the lives of two women."  I had never heard of the Halifax Explosion so I found it interesting at the end of the book to read the author's notes about some facts of the Halifax Explosion.  I liked the book because I like books about bravery and survival and I like historical fiction. I did find the book rather slow moving.

***

Happy 17th birthday to my grandson Jacob! I witnessed his birth and can't believe 17 years have passed already. 

***

February weather here in Iowa has been weird. We have 60 degree temps one day and below freezing the next. And the ground is very dry so we could use some precipitation but I sure don't want that four feet of snow they have out East. 

Sunshine And Shadows Log Cabin Finish

It's a finish!

Sunshine and Shadows Log Cabin

60 x 80

I made the top in December 2024 to use up 2.5 inch width scraps.

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

The binding is a multicolor print.

The back.

And sew on...

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Hidden Log Cabin Finish

It's a finish!

Hidden Log Cabin

40 x 56

In December 2024 someone with the Stashbusters group posted a link to Hidden Log Cabin made with a jelly roll or layer cake. I don't normally even look at jelly roll or layer cake ideas because I don't buy precuts. BUT at around the same time as the link came out someone sent me a flannel jelly roll so I went and looked at the video. 

The video calls for 42 strip jelly rolls and the one I had was 40. I used 35 strips which is all I needed to make a nice sized kiddo quilt. 

I finished the top in December 2024.

I quilted it on my sewing machine with vertical lines. 

The back and binding are a darker green flannel.

And now it is ready for donation.

And sew on...