The bin of ufos, quilt parts and other stuff if finished. There are two exceptions. Two of the community quilts still need quilting. They won’t take long.

Fall is here. The flowers that were outside on the deck all summer are now in the house. Unfortunately, they don’t like it in here. I’ll spend a few months bringing them back from their decline.

These geraniums were rooted last winter from the mother plant. I have had her for four years. They, now, look almost dead. If they don’t come back, I can root more babies this winter. The mother plant is recovering faster that her babies.

The mystery quilt is up to date. I like the method of precutting all the fabric. The labels are with the instructions

October’s instructions made sixty Irish chain blocks. The fabric was pulled from it’s baggie and sewn in stratas.

The stratas were cut apart and sewn together.

Lea Louise had another version of the Potato Chip block. It is the easiest one to do. It has only one round. The rectangles are 2 1/2inches by 4 1/2 inches. Two rectangles are sewn together for the center. The trick is to make sure the white rectangles are in the right orientation.

The one round doesn’t look like much, but when four are put together, it makes a beautiful block.

The whole quilt doesn’t look like a Potato Chip. This quilt can be made any size by adding more blocks. It’s a great scrapbuster.

Another easy quilt is made by sewing a black strip to a rectangle.

The rectangles are sewn around a center square.

You can make the quilt any size by adding more blocks to the center of the quilt. There is sashing in the center to set off the blocks. The rectangles on the border are 6 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches. This is another easy quilt. A quilt doesn’t have to be complicated.

Now that this project is finished, I have to think about what I’m going to do next. I have several ideas in mind.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

Where did September go? It’s October already and I didn’t finish much in September. Pictures of everything that I started have already been posted. I have no new pictures to post so far this month. The weather was beautiful. It was enjoyable to sit on the deck and read a book. I did some handwork out there also.

Most of what I started in September still needs to be finished.

My goals for October are to finish everything from the bin. I have five more placemats to quilt and bind. The rest are finished. Three of the five community quilts are quilted and bound. One is in the process of being quilted. I’m practicing ruler work on it. The remaining one is waiting to get under the needle when that one is done.

The mystery quilt instructions for October have come. It shouldn’t take long to make the blocks. It’s assembly line sewing. The pieces are already cut, except for the background.

In September, I cut all the colored fabric pieces for an easy quilt. I needed 2 1/2 yards of black fabric for an accent. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find any so ordered some black Kona. Yesterday, while looking for something else, I found a 2 3/4-yard piece of black fabric. It wasn’t where it was supposed to be. I have enough black fabric for a long while.

I ordered the black Kona from Missouri Star Quilt Company. When I opened the package there was a Block Idea book enclosed. What a happy surprise. The book was dated 2023, but the articles were for today as well. The articles were about Refresh Renew, Reinspire. All good things to jumpstart your quilting life. I may incorporate some of their hints into my quilting.

The trouble with sitting on the deck is that one thinks about things to do. I’ve been saving pictures of interesting blocks that I’ve seen on the Internet. Lots of pictures. I will never be able to make all those quilts if I made quilts with the same block. It was a “what if” moment. What if I put color coordinated fabrics in a bin. I could make one block from each picture, using the fabric in the bin. Eventually, I would have a sampler quilt, and all the blocks would go together. I’ve started to put the pictures into their own file. I could work on this quilt when I get tired of finishing old ufos. One block at a time.

My inside plants have come back inside from their summer vacation on the deck. They are having a hard time adjusting but have had a little food and will be all right. It’s almost time to clean out the gardens and rake leaves. The leaves are just beginning to turn orange. It’s a beautiful time of year.

I have lots of ideas for this winter. But first, I have to finish up what I started in September.

Hopefully I’ll have pictures for my next post.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

The little bin is empty. All of the bits and pieces are either in a quilt or a placemat. I did add other fabrics to the pieces and combine some of them. In all, I made five community quilts and twenty-five meals on wheels placemats.

Today, I cut all the backings and battings for the quilts. My plan is to package them one at a time and quilt them. Some of the battings are whole pieces and some are Frankenstein batting.

Twenty of the placemats are finished. One more needs the binding tacked down. The other ones are watermelons and lemons. I sewed them together in the pillowcase method. After I sew the opening, they need a little quilting to be finished. These were pieced long ago. I have no idea where I got the pattern or where it is. They should be easy to replicate. It’s all in the fabric.

I’ve had a basket block that was left over from another quilt. I was given the little basket blocks. The baskets are not the same but together they make a pretty quilt.

There were six red stars and two blue stars in the bin. I’ve found that when there are eight small blocks, you can add seven alternate blocks and sashing, and the quilt will be large enough.

There were several 2 1/2″ squares in the bin. It was just enough to make eight 16 patches. Also in the bin was seven six sided pieces. They were similar colors to the patches. I added oversized pieces around the edges and then squared them up to the same size as the sixteen patch blocks. The eight/seven format worked for this quilt also.

This is my favorite. The house that I lived in, before I moved to where I live now, had a small wall near the ceiling. the adjoining rooms had different ceiling heights. I made the paper pieced village to go from one side of the room to the other on that wall. The color of the background is really a pretty forest green. It didn’t photograph well. Originally, I was going to make placemats, but decided that the village should stay together.

It’s amazing how many quilts can be in a little bin. I have another larger bin that has a lot of mystery pieces in it. That will have to wait until I finish quilting this project and send the quilts and placemats on their way.

The first sewing instructions for the Meadow Mist Magnificent Mystery quilt has come. There are 56 quarter square triangles. The pieces are cut oversize and trimmed down. Making the squares was easy. I sewed in short time periods. The time-consuming part is trimming them down to 4 1/2″. I trim a few every time that I go into the sewing room. Then I go on to something else. They will be done long before the deadline of the first Thursday of the month. I like the method of making this mystery quilt. The main cutting is all done before sewing starts. Everything is labeled in baggies. The little labels are provided in the download. Every year when the new Meadow Mist mystery quilt comes, I say that I’m not going to make it. But every year I give in and really enjoy the journey.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

The bin is a small bin, but there are a lot of quilted pieces in it. This one has four leftover squares from a wedding quilt that was made over 30 years ago. It’s about time it came out of the bin and came together in a quilt.

Somehow, I had acquired three packages of charm squares. Along the way I started to make half square triangles. I have no idea what was in my mind for a pattern. This pattern showed up on the Internet and was just right for it. Both of these quilts will be community quilts. They still need to be quilted. I will do that as soon as all the bits and pieces that are in the bin are in a quilt or the mile a minute basket. The backing and binding are cut and ready.

So far, I have 20 placemats for Meals On Wheels. They are made with leftover blocks and cut square of all sizes. The top one was a handout in a class. We ever did use it. It was already quilted and the perfect size for a placemat. It just needed a binding.

There are several placemats made from squares that I cut out from leftover fabric. The squares were different sizes from 1 1/2 inches to 2 1/2 inches. The rail fence 30’s fabric blocks just showed up. I don’t know where they came from. They were different sizes, so I squared them up. There are two cats cradle block placemats. They were left over from a fill size quilt. The fourth one is a log cabin block left over from a quilt that I made years ago. A twelve-inch block with three-inch strips on each side makes a good size placemat. I tack down the bindings while watching tv in the evening.

There are still a few quilts left in the bin, so there is more to come.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

While organizing the sewing room, I came across a small bin of bits and pieces.

My challenge is to use up all the bits and pieces and empty the bin.

In the bin was a few placemat tops., several blocks, cut squares and lots of other things.

Using the 2 1/2″ squares in a 6 by 9 setting made the placemat the perfect size. I added 3″ strips to the sides of 12″ blocks to make them the right size. In all, I ended up with nineteen placemat tops. I have a bin of leftover pieces of batting. I sewed the batting together with a zig zag stitch to make them the right size. A stack of fat quarters was there so I matched them up to the colors on the top. All is ready to be quilted. I’ll use leftover binding to bind the placemats. There are three additional placemat tops to finish.

At some time in the past, I had started to make half square triangles from three charm packs that were alike. I finished making the half square triangles and trimmed them to 4 1/2″. I have found a pattern for an oversized block. Four blocks and a border will make a good size quilt. These pieces are in a craft bin.

These little pieces were found. They made this.

All the new blocks are going into a waste not/want not craft bin to be made into a community quilt.

In the meantime, I have been wanting to try a new method of making four patches that was found on the Internet. Line up two fabrics right sides together. Sew on two sides. Cut in half.

Reversing colors, line up again and sew on both sides.

Then, I wanted to try another new method of making quarter square triangles. Line up two four patches, reversing colors, and sew all the way around the block. Cut on the diagonal, both ways. Trim.

Several 2 1/2′ blocks were made into four patches.

All of the little blocks and other squares that were found are in a waste not/want not craft bin. There are enough pieces to make a small quilt.

My goal ,now, is to finish the placemats and piece and quilt the two quilts. The bin of bits and pieces is empty. The pieces have been downsized and are in small craft bins, ready to finish.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

One of my grandsons asked me to make a wall hanging for his new apartment. Of course, the answer was yes, and that project went to the top of the queue.

His favorite colors are orange, burgundy and robin’s egg blue. I never would have thought to put those three colors together, but after I pulled out fabric in those colors, I thought that it would work. The size would be 40″ wide by 30″ tall. On my sewing room wall is a wall hanging that is 30″ wide by 49″ tall. The size would be perfect.

The pattern is Hunters Star. It would be perfect. I could replicate this wall hanging with other colors.

When I make a Hunters Star quilt, I use Deb Tuckers Hunter Star ruler. It makes the blocks oversize. They can be trimmed to the exact size.

The strips are cut 1 3/4″. The ruler can be used for several sizes of blocks. My original quilt used 5″ blocks, so I used the 5″ markings on the ruler.

Trapezoids are cut and sewn to the side of a strip. You have to allow for extra fabric at the top when the trapezoid is flipped and pressed. Also, a 1/4″ space is necessary between trapezoids.

The trapezoids are flipped and pressed. Trimming is easy when following the lines on the ruler.

Triangles that are the same color as the trapezoid are added to the edges.

Two sides are sewn together.

The block is trimmed to the correct size.

I made extra blocks, so I had a variety of colors to choose from.

The three colors do play nicely together.

I may make another Hunters Star quilt in the future. This was fun to make.

I’ve been cutting scraps into 2 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ rectangles for potato chip blocks. Maybe I could cut strips and triangles from the scraps for Hunter Stars. Who says the triangle has to be the same color as the trapezoid or the two sides of the block have to be the same fabric? The sides would have to be reverse values. That would be a very scrapy star.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

I came across a baggie of blocks that I received from friend’s sewing room. There were enough to make five blocks for a community quilt. They needed a little trimming, so I trimmed them to the smallest block. The blocks were dark, so I chose a gold sashing. Four plain blocks finished the quilt.

It is quilted and the binding is on ready to be tacked down. It’s definitely a man’s quilt.

A few years ago, I bought some blocks at a yard sale. They have adorable baby theme hearts appliqued on a square with sashing. I don’t know why the quilter didn’t finish it. There were just two blocks left to applique. That is finished. I was one setting block short so found a fabric that read like the other blocks. The first border is the same red. When this little quilt is finished, it won’t be obvious. When one of my daughters saw the blocks, she claimed it, so it has a home.

I’ve been watching Kate from the Last Homely House on YouTube. She has decided that 2025 will be the year of using what you have and not buying anything. I think that is a great idea and will try to do the same. I may have to buy some batting, but that is all. I enjoy having a cup of tea with her as she tells me what she is doing with her quilts.

We have had our quilt show and it was wonderful. These are the quilts that I had hanging in the show.

Kaitlin’s Quilt

Illusion

Hexagon Star

Trip Around The World

Irish Chain Star

Red Star

Postage Stamp

Dear Jane is out of her time out. Making and quilting the outside triangles is overwhelming. There are so many. I remind myself that it’s one triangle at a time and eventually it will be finished. She’s my go-to quilt when watching TV in the evening.

Meadow Mist Designs has started another mystery quilt. It’s called Magnificent Mystery. This looks interesting. I may make it when the instructions come out.

I’ve gathered fabric to make a wall hanging for my grandson’s new apartment. His favorite colors are orange, robin’s egg blue and burgundy. I would never have put those colors together, but they actually do play nicely together. The pattern will be Hunter Star. I’ll use Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 ruler to make it. Its quick, easy and accurate.

It will be nice to make new quilts instead of finishing ufos.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

Every once in a while, you find a block that is easy and beautiful. Where did it come from? Is it an old block that just came to light? My new favorite block was found on Laura Kate’s blog Daily Fiber. Tracing it back, it was on Quilting Gail’s blog. Quilting Gail said that Barbara G. Harper was the designer. All three sites are worth a look. There is no name for the block that I could see so I named it the Baby Potato Chip block. That block came from Lea Louise. The Baby Potato Chip is one round of the Potato Chip Block with modifications. Inspiration comes from others that are far away and yet are a sisterhood of quilters.

I wanted to make a purple quilt. The Baby Potato Chip would be perfect. It could be made in eight units. I gathered eight different fabrics. six are purple and the other two are blue. There are 64 blocks, so each fabric was used for the center eight times. The second color was different than the center.

This is the Baby Potato Chip block. The center is 4 1/2″ by 4 1/2″. The surrounding rows are 2 1/2″ wide.

The purples, blues and black are dark so it needed a very light fabric for the sashing. I chose a white on white. Each block had a different orientation. They were sewn together in units of four with the colored pieces of the block toward the center.

The units of four were sewn together in units of four which made 1/4 of the quilt.

A 4 1/2″ black border was added to finish the quilt. It is 90″ by 90″ A very big quilt but could be made smaller by eliminating a row of four horizontally and vertically.

There is another version of a quilt made with this block in the above blogs. It is on the diagonal. At some time, I will make it. This block is so easy and fun to make. I’m sure that I’ll have another new favorite block in the future.

There are decisions to be made. Should I make another Baby Potato Chip block quilt. Should I quilt one of the community quilts. Should I finish a ufo top. I did organize the mile a minute basket the other night. There’s lots of ideas in there. This is where I need to make a list and see which one comes to the top.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

I need some placemats. The mini guild that meets at my house has grown to seven and I don’t have that many placemats that are the same. I need to make at least eight.

I had been cutting my leftover scraps into 2 1/2 inch by 4 1/2-inch pieces. They were for a future Potato Chip quilt. I had enough to make the placemats with the potato chip block.

Years ago, Woman’s Day magazine had a log cabin quilt pattern that sewed a seam and flipped the fabric over. The sewing was done on a batting and backing. It quilted the block as you sewed the logs. The potato chip block is sewn like a log cabin, and I thought that it could be made the same way.

I pressed the three pieces in half horizontally and vertically to make sure it was centered. The backing is at least 2 1/2 inches larger on all sides than the batting.

Rectangles were added to the top and bottom. they were pressed away from the center.

Two rectangles were sewn end to end and then sewn to both sides of the piece. Then they were flipped and pressed.

The first row was light fabrics. The next row was darker fabrics. Two rectangles were sewn end to end and then sewn to the top and bottom of the piece. They were sewn, flipped and pressed.

The next row was another dark row. Three rectangles were sewn end to end. The strip was sewn to both sides of the piece, flipped and pressed.

Another Three strips were sewn together end to end and sewn on the top and bottom, flipped and pressed.

The backing was trimmed to 2 inches all around. It was pressed to the front. One inch was pressed under. The corners were mitered. Then it was topstitched to make a binding. The yellow line is the light hitting the binding, not a flange. That might be a possibility if I make more.

Now I have eight coordinating placemats.

The Trip Around The World is finished.

It took one hour to cut the batting and backing. Thirty minutes to place it on the basting frame. Six hours to baste. I was watching TV while basting so it probably would have been less time if I didn’t look up from time to time. Seven hours to quilt. I quilted with an even foot. Forty-five minutes to trim the edges. One hour to cut and sew the binding. Then another four hours to tack down the binding. Again, while watching TV. Adding in the ten- and one-half hours before, it makes a total of thirty hours and forty-five minutes. It was a simple quilt.

I like an easy quilt that looks complicated.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

One of the questions that is asked when a quilt is finished is How long did it take you to finish it. When you are working on multiple quilts at a time, there is no answer to that. You just enjoy the process and don’t think of the time. I thought that I would make a quilt and time myself while making it.

I wanted an old-time pattern that was easy but looked complicated. A Trip Around The World was chosen.

The colors were chosen from the border fabric. It took me one hour to choose the fabrics and set them in order.

Strips were cut from the fabric. That also took one hour. Some colors were deleted ane replaced at this time.

The sewing took eight hours. The strips were sewn into a tube.

All seams were pressed to the odd number strips. Then the strips were cut.

When the cut strips were sewn back together, they moved up one block. Therefore, it was easy to finger press rather than pin each seam. The seams went in opposite directions.

The two borders were added. It took 1/2 hour to measure and cut the backing. and batting. So far, the time for making the quilt is 10 1/2 hours. I’ll keep track of how long it takes to package and quilt and let you know the total time in another blog.

There is a lot of fabric left over along with a set of strips. I have a plan for making another quilt with it. But it will have to be after I finish quilting this one. There is a time frame as it has been entered in the Guild quilt show. I have to change I think I can to I know I can.

Have a great day and happy quilting.