Design Wall Fun

With “Under the Maple Tree” off the design wall, new projects are emerging–including this month’s Tara Faughnan Blocks3 block: “Garnish.” It’s “the curve month,” and the block is a “pickle” quilt block variant. As usual, Tara has given us many sizes with which to play if we want to do perfection sewing, but she has also walked us through making improv blocks.

Me, I’m using the templates she has provided. And I started with the 6-inch version to trial the block, which I added to my collection of quilt blocks made with solid fabrics on the design wall:

I went then to the 4-inch templates next and will stay there–maybe until I mostly use up this month’s fabrics.

This month’s palette is really pretty, so I’m enjoying sewing with it. Having a palette selection of fabrics sent to you makes sewing decisions easy and immediately interesting. It is a treat.

Thanks to Tara’s many lessons over the years, I’m quite good with curves these days. These 4-inch blocks joined in a four-patch will each finish at 8 inches, so I’m thinking something that is 32 by 32–maybe a table topper that I can hand sew to quilt it. Of course, I’ll probaby move around blocks before sewing them all together.

These little X-Plus blocks inspired by a Bonnie Hunter project may work out to be another donation quilt. Who knows? I don’t. The components are all from the 3.5-inch bins of squares and my stash strip bins (which I’ve organized by color now as they have gone down in size these past years). I’m not planning to make all the centers “fussy cut.” Some will just be light or dark.

Note: the mini “folded corners” ruler is a real plus for making these flying geese blocks easier and quicker to make. I love the regular size of this ruler too. Maybe something with all flying geese is in my future…

Have a great week everyone! And enjoy your Sunday.

A Cold Spell

We’ve had temps dropping into the freezing area these past two nights, so it’s been time for me to seriously undertake the outside late fall cleanup chores. The red roses have survived the cold though, so I have not had the heart to cut them back.

Here’s what rosemary does in this climate: it makes bushes. Right now it is blooming, and the bees and hummingbirds have found it. But I think I’ll cut it back some after a hard freeze.

Still no rain though. But the walking has been delightful in these clear, sunny, cold days. Of course, if I were in Maine, I wouldn’t think this weather “cold” yet. I’d just put on socks and add a sweater layer. The wind here, though, was quite biting and strong for at least one day. And the trash cans, put outside the night before the weekly trash can pickup, had their tops opened with the night wind. We are all still picking up bits of trash that littered our front lawns.

I finished the quilt top for “Under the Maple Tree,” a Rachel LaBour’s Stitched in Color blog sewalong. The perfect backing fabric finally got here–delayed due, perhaps, to the slowdown at the airports during the shutdown. It’s a Tilda fabric. Yesterday I found a fabric for the binding locally as I couldn’t find something I liked in my stash. This quilt was a lot of work, fun though that was, so I wanted the backing and binding to really “go” with this top. The leaf blocks are all from my scrap stash.

These blocks are sewn on point, and those little cute gold side pieces were a bear to get “just right.” I worried and worried during the final trimming, but it all came out well. (Thanks Rachel LaBour.)

This little no-name donation baby quilt–made as a leader/ender with my 2-inch square bin and half-square triangles cut from scraps–is done. The pattern is from Bonnie Hunter’s free selection on her blog. It’s “Patches and Pinwheels.”

The on-point squares that form caught me by surprise. I didn’t see them coming. But I love how this secondary pattern makes this quilt so much more interesting. I’m still using those 2-inch squares to make four-patch blocks as leader/enders. So there may be another donation quilt from at least the “patches” part of this quilt down the road.

Next: a design wall update.

Good Morning!

How did it get to be November already?

We had a lively Halloween here in my small subdivision, which is filled with small children who delight me with their laughter most days as they play outside. It is so fun to see them growing up–but they are growing up so fast. In no time at all, it seems, these children leave their strollers and are pedaling small tricycles.

It’s time now to do the fall outdoor clean-up chores, but the roses are still blooming, so it’s hard to get the motivation to cut back those bushes for the winter cold that is coming.

I can still have my noon dinner on the porch most days, but often need a sweater. Yesterday I had baked cod and for a real treat, some delicious Carolina “gold” rice. I had some crunchy fresh salad veggies, so I cut those up as an addition and dressed them with some leftover homemade mayonnaise.

I’ve spent the summer cutting starchy carbs as I’m trying to drop a few more pounds, but all the summer fruit got in the way of that goal. I can, apparently, eat good fats or fruit, but not both outside of about an 80-20 ration for one or the other. LOL. Still I have dropped a few pounds, and the rice didn’t show up on my scale this morning, but eating only a half of an apple illustrates this truth.

I am ALMOST done with the blocks for the leaf quilt sewalong with Rachel LaBour of the “Stitched in Color” blog. Maybe today I will be able to start sewing that quilt top together.

There may be more moving of blocks around. But I’m really loving this quilt. I ordered a Tilda fabric for the backing that will work with these fall leaves, and it will come Saturday. As for binding… Maybe the gold fabric? I don’t know… Yet.

This little quilt is done. It was to be a donation quilt, but I’m holding it for either a family baby or a neighborhood baby. (My neighbor’s baby is due any minute now, and I’ll gift the finished pink quilt when she arrives and will share pictures here on the blog.) All the fun neutral fabrics are so fun.

The backing is a cheddar color from my stash, and the pantograph is “Bayside,” which lays down lovely texture without dense quilting. (When in doubt, pull “Bayside” out.) I used a pale peachy orange from Signature cotton threads, which does not draw attention on the front.

The other little donation quilt is getting its binding sewn down, so a final picture for the blog and my archive will happen soon.

Meanwhile, we have our November block for Tara Faughnan’s Blocks3 six months sewalong. It’s “Garnish,” a curvy orange-peel improv block, though I may make mine via precision cutting. I have a batch of block parts cut in all the colors, so will carve out some play time to try out various combinations.

Here’s Tara’s sample of one idea.

This month’s palette (13 colors) is so pretty too. It’s “dustier” than I would normally choose these days, but rich and very “Tara Faughnan.” I love it.

Of course, as usual, Tara has given us MANY ways to manipulate this block and the colors involved.

Quilty “play” is…everything. So fun!

Well, That Was Fun!

I’ve been playing with Tara Faughnan’s Blocks3 month 1 block for 5 or 6 days.

Here are my “Crosswalk” versions–made with Tara’s palette for this month.

As usual, Tara gives us MANY different ways to think about shape, proportions, and color use.

Note that I hand quilted some of the blocks I put on stretched canvas–a practice I learned last year in the Blocks2 class. And a little water sprayed on the far right canvas in the first picture below will erase the clamp marks.

And–note that the block on the right is an alternate setting method that has also ONE background color :

Two blocks went into the developing improv quilt on the design wall:

(The blocks on the bottom are for a different project.)

I think I’m done for this month now. But boy was this block fun!

Now, the leaves are calling for Rachel LaBour’s “Under the Maple Tree” sewalong. As is the small quilt that needs to go on the longarm.

Quilty Update: Late October 2025

BUT FIRST!!!

I saw my first Tea Olive shrub in bloom. It’s an orange one. They also come in white. This plant comes to us from Asia.

The fragrance is just heavenly–like apricots. I just stood in front of it and…smelled. The official name is Osmanthus fragrans…with further identifications based on family species.

I’ve been obsessed with Rachel LaBour’s “Under the Maple Tree” sewalong. I’ve made a lot of progress, too.

That picture could be…brighter. I took it last night. Now I’m down to making more leaves, moving around blocks, and sewing everything together. In other words, there is a long way to go–25 or so leaves, for one thing. Boy is this one chewing up scraps. I love this 8-inch leaf block. It is so fun to make.

This as yet nameless little neutral “Stacks” quilt–a Tara Faughnan pattern from season 2 of The Color Collective years–is off the longarm, trimmed, bound, and has its binding installed. So I have night sewing once more. It’s so cute.

I’m running out of October days to also play with Tara Faughnan’s October Blocks 3 block, “Crosswalk.” Here’s where I am now. There is also a block “in progress” at my sewing machine.

The block on the right is going into that improv quilt growing on the design wall. It will be such a nice fit with those blocks.

And the other finished “Crosswalk” block is now installed on a 10-inch stretched canvas:

There are so, so, so many ways to manipulate this block idea and so many colors with which to play in this month’s palettes. My two finished blocks are made from the brighter fabrics; the in-process block uses some of the duller/softer colors.

Today is a beautiful fall day. I’ll walk, and I’ll be able to have my noon dinner on my porch.

Life is good.

Rainy Days Sewing

Who was the person whining about no rain and a drought in recent months?

Yep, that was me.

My prayers have now been answered as we have gotten 12 inches of rain in my little rain gauge from Wednesday to Sunday night.

So, I….sewed.

I had a happy little retreat right here in my house.

The pink gift quilt for my backdoor neighbors’ baby girl is getting its binding sewn down. Said baby girl is due around Thanksgiving and is a first child. Our neighborhood is now full of young children and lots of new babies and young children–all of which I find delightful.

I’ve named this quilt “Girls in Trees” due to the Heather Ross print on the back with which I’ve fallen in love.

The low-volume donation “Stacks’ quilt top from Tara Faughnan’s first “The Color Collective” year (2019) is on the longarm and is waiting for me. I found a bright orange fabric in my stash for this quilt and the rusty orange fabric in some of the triangles on the front will be the binding–and it is made and ready.

The donation quilt made from a Bonnie Hunter free pattern called “Patches and Pinwheels” is done. Boy did it use up a lot of my 2-inch blocks in that bin of blocks which get cut as I finish a quilt project. I’m organizing a backing from my stash: those backing pieces are cut but not yet sewn together.

The six new placemats–also made from that 2-inch bin of blocks–are done. I hand quilted the bindings. BUT, our Patchwork Gals president Patti Gramling and quilter Rick Sanchez have released the video they made of how to sew down binding on a quilt. Patti’s work is the best I’ve ever seen with this method. Here’s the Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3UoCPmPuV4

These gift placemats all have the same backing, which works really well with them and uses up more of that very big pattern.

Here’s my first attempt at Tara Faughnan’s Blocks3 online class–using her palette for this month’s “Crosswalk” block. It will go into the in-process improv quilt on the design wall. Next I’ll make a version with narrower pieces as these seem a little fat to me. The object here is to play with color and with the fabric sizes in terms of pattern width, height, and so forth. Play is…everthing…in this online course.

BUT, BUT, BUT–I have been totally obsessed with working on Rachel LaBour’s Sewalong using her newly developed “Under the Maple Tree” pattern. I cleared the area on the left of the design wall, and this is happening.

Along the way I realized which rulers I could use (or in one case NOT use) while making these blocks–and that was fun too. Well, sort of… I have had to make a zillion half-square triangles for the leaves and for those tiny gold triangles in that “Breeze” block on the border. Part of the bigger gold “Sunlight” block is a Cat’s Cradle block–so using that ruler makes quick work of those units.

Here’s a picture of Rachel’s first quilt. She is now working on a second one using very different colors. My quilt uses her background fabric (Tilda’s Soft Teal) and the gold accent fabric (Free Spirit’s “Spark Gold” by Denyse Schmidt) as I loved them at first sight.

Today will be a short sewing day due to other commitments.

Bah! Humbug!

LOL, I’ll survive. It’s good to interrupt…obsessions.

The Design Wall Projects, Early October 2025

But first, I took this picture of a live oak’s trunks the other day. These twisted and interlocking trunk parts call to children to climb up, climb up…

These branches call to me as well, but I know better at my age. Still, they invoke lots of memories.

Here’s the design wall a few days ago.

This “Stacks” quilt version with low volume fabrics at the center is sewn and ready to go on the longarm now–and I organized a backing and made binding for it. First though, I have to quilt the pink baby quilt that is loaded on the longarm. “Stacks” is a Tara Faughnan design from the first year of The Color Collective (2019).

This version is not as dramatic as the one made with solids I just finished. but all the patterns will, hopefully, intrigue a child. This one will be a donation quilt, and I think the binding will stop all the eye motion.

“Patches and Pinwheels”–a free quilt on Bonnie Hunter’s blog–is growing. It will be a donation baby quilt and will finish at 42 inches square. I am using up scrap strips for the pinwheels and the 2-inch square blocks in that bin.

The improv quilt is growing too–but more slowly as I am having fun going through my ruler collection and playing with making blocks using the solid scraps. The circles on the top left and the “Lil’ Twister” strip at the bottom were fun to make. AND, I just found in my rulers a mini “Lil’ Twister” ruler that makes small twisters from 3.5-inch squares. Hmmmm…

Bonnie Hunter designed this block below and was it on her blog some weeks back as a leader/ender. It was published in her column in Quiltmaker magazine some years back. I don’t have the right name or year as I can’t find it. Sometimes she goes back and makes quilts from the blocks she has designed for that column. But Bonnie has once again shelved her blocks and has since moved on to other projects.

I made a few–they can make up fast using fabric strips and an already cut 3.5 inch block AND the rulers that cut half-square triangles with light and dark strips layered AND the Simple Folded Corner ruler for the flying geese block. Maybe I will continue, but I have some other projects that are drawing me more. Maybe a leader/ender? It is a cute block…and one can make light and dark variations.

Now to go work on the longarm for a bit this morning. I’ll soon need a binding project again, and a quilt top is waiting in the wings.

Have a great upcoming week everyone.

A Night Away

I’m at my older son’s house this morning, having spent the night here with my granddaughter and the two family doggies while the family traveled to visit my oldest grandson in college.

I gave my DIL this little pieced quilt last year during the Blocks 2 (Tara Faughnan) class–six months of playing with fun quilting ideas. Sometimes we forget how pretty the things we make are. I had such fun hand quilting this one, too. Plus, it was nostalgic as Blocks 3 just started this month.

The idea for this particular Blocks2 month involved the hourglass block, and I fell in love with the split rectangle version of it–and went on to make a whole big quilt using that block.

Almost every time I come here to visit, this piece is somewhere in the living area creating a spot of color and pattern that beckons one to come, look closer. How fun is that?

Here’s the big quilt I made–it’s a good lap size. One’s eye forms diamond images big and small everywhere if you slow down and just look at it. Eyes can make the most amazing patterns, which is a whole other subject.

I brought my current batch of six placemats made from 2-inch scrap blocks from that bin in order to sew down the binding while I listen to my current book. I’ve been listening to Freida McFadden‘s mysteries, and they can really wind you up as they always involve a young woman who is about to go into the house that we all know is haunted. But McFadden ratchets up that storyline with lots of plot twists–and all ends prettily happily. LOL, so far.

Each of these six placemats uses the same color family: blue, red, etc. They are meant to be a birthday gift for my special neighbor, who loves my quilty work and has loved the other placemats I made. She now knows this six will be hers as I can never keep such a secret when the intended recipient is petting something I’m making, like the ones she saw I was hand binding on my couch.

The backing is a piece from my stash where there was enough to use for all six placemats. It could make the placemat reversible, for sure.

I packed up for the night in a bag I made way back in Maine–using scrappy fabric slabs crafted to make the bag really fun to see.

I love this bag and don’t get to use it all that often these days. It has a big sturdy zipper and two zippered pockets on the inside. It’s perfect for an overnight or two.

We are hoping to get some rain these next few days. Hope is the thing with feathers…

A Find: The “Quilty Love” Blog and Patterns

A recent Aurifil post showing the work of its current quilt “makers” included a quilt that Maude MacDonald made with a pattern from quilter Emily Dennis.

I went to Emily Dennis’ web site and blog and fell in love with her quilts. I signed up to follow the blog and got a free pattern of crosses that I will use as a leader/ender project with my solid scraps. (And there will be more solid scraps as Tara Faughnan’s Blocks3 has now started. Our first block is “Crosswalk.”)

Screenshot

I loved Emily’s quilts immediately. They are modern and clever. They drew me right in. There are lots of hearts and stars in her quilts–two images that make my heart sing.

I bought her “Patchwork Hearts II” pattern and will anticipate making at least a baby quilt from it. She made her pattern with a light heart, but I liked the version Maude MacDonald made with a dark orangy solid red heart and lots of fun print fabrics–the Juicy Collection from Ruby Star Society.

Here’s a link to Emily Dennis’s web site and blog: quiltylove.com

Quilty Love Home

Enjoy!!

“Crayon Colors” Quilt is Done

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?