Louisa Enright's Blog

This small quilt has been a leader/ender project with my leftover solid strips. I think this project has been a good use for a leader/ender project. The blocks are 14 inches square, and the quilt is 42 inches square. It will be a donation quilt.

The pantograph is “kindling” by Patricia Ritter, and I think it laid down such lovely texture. It’s my first time using this panto.

I had enough of the “Pixie Petals in Sapphire” (Moda) left over to make another backing, which just seems…perfect…for this quilt. I quilted with Signature cotton thread: Cobalt Blue.

Here’s an idea of the quilt size when seen on a sofa back. It’s a good baby quilt size.

So, on to the next!

How does one make “next” plural, LOL?

And this one is such a handsome quilt. I’m very pleased with how it came out.

To recall, this is a Tara Faughnan pattern (“Stacks”) from the first The Color Collective in 2019. I made one and gifted it for a wedding present. Then I saved the leftover blocks and fabrics and moved them with me to South Carolina in late 2022. I’ve been trying to catch up with old projects and with using up stash for the past few years, so here’s one result.

I love the backing–and this picture does not capture the rich color. It’s “Don’t Leave Me in Leaf” by Moda.

I used the pantograph “Sumptuous” by Hermone Agee and quilted with a Jade color thread from Signature threads. This pic of this quilt on the back of my couch gives an idea of its size. The blocks finish at 9 inches wide and 2.25 deep.

The texture on this quilt is just awesome!

Now I’m playing with making the block’s main fabric a neutral.

And we’re all keeping an eye on the weather. We need rain, but… We don’t need a hurricane.

And here we go into another week.

We’ve been having lovely cool and sunny fall weather, but things are, again, very dry here. Please send rain, but don’t jinx us with a hurricane.

I’ve been busy. The design wall is FULL of interesting projects, but I’ll send pics of it later this week. I want to finish a few blocks first before taking pictures.

Rachel LaBour has finished her “Under the Maple Tree” quilt and will start a sew-along October 6th.

https://open.substack.com/pub/stitchedincolor/p/under-the-maple-tree-quilt?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Yes, I bought this adorable pattern–which she will sew again in fall colors in the sew-along. Her recent posts on this quilt have shown many different ways to think about color for this quilt. And, yes, I love this Tilda Soft Teal background version and have ordered that fabric AND the Free Spirit “Spark Gold” Rachel uses for the non-leaf blocks. It is a bit harder to find, and I’m thinking the Kona Grellow would be a suitable substitute.

This little scrappy log cabin came off the design wall and will get its binding installed today. It is 42-inches square.

I love the quilting texture from the pantograph “Kindling,” which I used for the first time on this quilt. This one will be a donation quilt for the baby category of donation quilts and will go to Patchwork Gals as they have several craft fairs coming up to raise money for their donation projects.

One of my neighbors is so talented. She makes these clam-shell creations, and she gifted me with this one.

Decoupage is involved. Her front door has a wreath made from shells like this one, but she uses all kinds of patterns, not just this one. Her Christmas patterns are also very nice. I think, and other neighbors think, she has a business opportunity in the craft fairs with this idea.

“Oh! Wow!”–the 2nd Stacks quilt from a Tara Faughnan pattern in the first season of The Color Collective (2019) is quilted and bound. Pics coming soon. But look at this marvelous texture:

Now, on to the rest of this day.

This quilt is the 8-inch version of Bonnie Hunter’s 2025 Leader/Ender free block–which she reveals every year in July. Plus, I used her sashing variation in my quilt–which will be a gift to my backdoor neighbors here as they are expecting their first baby (a girl) in late November.

All these fabrics came out of my stash and my strip bins.

The backing arrived, and it is adorable and perfect for this quilt. I will get it on the longarm soon.

Still need to figure out a binding though.

The design wall is filling up again with fun projects. I’ll post pics of what is happening in a few days–when I get more blocks up there.

Here it is Monday again! Have a great week everyone.

I don’t like to play “binding roulette” with my quilt bindings.

So I lay the quilt on the floor and lay out the binding until I’m sure a binding join is not going to wind up at a corner.

I’m loving this rusty dark red color in this quilt and for the binding.

I also pin my label to a corner while laying out the binding–for me the bottom right corner though it doesn’t matter really, especially as quilts when used never stay in an “upright” position.

Before sewing the binding on the front of the quilt, I baste the label down at the quilt’s edges. I use an 8-inch square folded on its diagonal and pressed into a triangle. When I’m ready to hand-sew the binding on the back, I start with sewing down the top of the label on the back of the quilt.

My labels are “funky” by design. And I leave room on the label to be able to write a message to the recipient when I give a quilt away.

I chose the added name “Lovey Dragonfly Quilts” the summer we explored Maine (2003) before choosing to move there in 2004 because of the highly colored dragonflies which are everywhere in the summer, but are really dense around the many lakes. And “Lovey” is my grandmother name. I have never had any intention to make that name a business as I never wanted to have my creativity curtailed by someone else’s desires for pattern or color or size. My quilts make so so happy because I just let them happen. My quilts come from “play” for the most part, and that is what makes me the happiest.

Here’s a quilt (Traverse design by Tara Faughnan) and label that has been washed. I can still write on it if I need to. But this one is mine for now and is completely hand quilted via the “big stitch” method with thicker threads. It lives at the foot of my bed.

Just a bit of what I do with my quilting, for whatever that is worth.

What a gorgeous day here today.

I woke to temps in the high 60s. Suddenly my shorts are feeling a bit…cool. But It’s a great day to walk.

I spent most of yesterday’s sewing time getting the Stacks 2 quilt off the longarm. And, it suddenly got its name: “Oh! Wow!”

The texture of the “Scrumptous” pantograph is…wonderful…for this quilt. And, note, this is a Tara Faughnan pattern from The Color Collective’s first year in 2019.

When I was making blocks, I was thinking about 63 by 63, but decided to add two rows to the length to make a nice long lap size for longer people.

It’s trimmed, and today’s first sewing will include sewing the binding. So, yeah, I’ll have some hand-sewing tonight.

But, now, about that walking business…

Good Sunday morning!

The Monarch butterflies are, once again, here–on their way to their breeding grounds. What a pleasure it is to see them flittering around the red roses when I sit on my porch.

“Stacks 2,” a design taught by Tara Faughnan in her first “The Color Collective” year (2019?), is on the longarm. It is interesting to me that Tara has never released this pattern, as she did for many others from The Color Collective’s five years. I still find it very graphic and interesting. I used the remnants of cut blocks and fabric from this project that I saved when I finished the first quilt. So, six years and a new home later…

It’s a handsome quilt.

AND, I just signed up for Tara’s new “Blocks” class, which will be starting October 1. I debated, but these classes really do give me so much room to play.

“Four Patch Fun 2”–made with the free 8-inch version of Bonnie Hunter’s 2025 leader/ender block, released in July–is ready to be sewn together. Note that I used the setting version that adds sashing. I might still be moving blocks around–I moved some yesterday–so I’ll let this one simmer a few more days while I play with other design wall projects. (This quilt’s destination will be a baby girl who will arrive in my backdoor neighbor’s home late November–and this quilt will be the third that I have given to new babies in our neighborhood.)

Play Progress:

I won’t proceed with “neutral Stacks 3” until I finish the new “Four Patch Fun” quilt and the “Crayon Colors” log cabin quilt made from solid strips AND have played with more blocks for whatever is happening above “Crayon Colors.” That is some sort of improv project… And I did add a block to the grouping yesterday. Play like these blocks will use up some of the cut solid strips and bits, but play like these blocks also gives me MORE creative energy and ideas.

The new leader/ender project seems to be making more placemats. Four are now layered and an orange one is almost ready to layer. The goal is six placemats. Then I’ll switch to another leader/ender project with these 2-inch cut squares. I have an idea…

I will try again to put on bindings using my sewing machine to sew down the front side.

We’ll see…

Have a great week everyone!

My Charleston Modern Quilt Guild challenged its members to make a scrappy donation quilt for a local organization that manages foster children–to be due at our September meeting. Meanwhile, Bonnie Hunter shared her 2025 leader/ender free block in July. I loved the block and could not limit using it to a leader/ender project. So, it quickly became a primary project. This is the 6-inch block, and it is easy, fun to make, and uses up LOTS of scrappy strips.

I bound this quilt with this adorable grey backing fabric with its school of swimming fish–which is fitting in our tropical coastal location. So, I used a medium grey thread to quilt, and the pantograph is “Garden Frills Too” as I thought it needed some curves.

I wanted this quilt to be gender neutral, and I think it is. And I wanted to use lots of colors, which I did.

I’m not done with this block, LOL.