Over the last couple of years I have been trying to use up scraps, chunks and small stashes of RSC blocks, making quilts for charity and for my own stash so I have quilts on hand for any new babies in my acquaintance.
I had a pile of 24” square quilts, the size requested by our local hospital so took them to the Maternity ward when I went to the hospital for an ultrasound appointment yesterday.
Hope the babies enjoy them.
Joining up with Angela’s SoScrappy RSC blog
I discovered at the end of last year that one of my former Primary School pupils was pregnant, the baby due mid January. I knew where Mum lived but didn’t have a phone number. About 6 weeks ago I managed to track this down via another contact but found the number was incorrect! By this time I was into my ill health problems again, two stays in hospital etc.
I rang our contact again and finally got the right phone number . I found out all the details I needed from the new Granny Julie I was able to embroider the quilt label.
All wrapped up and ready for me to deliver, once I have found a suitable time when Julie will be there to receive the parcel.
I had fun choosing which quilt to give baby Raya as I have been accumulating quite a stash over the past few years from Covid onwards. Many were made for the local Maternity Unit or Project Linus but unfortunately I haven’t found an opportunity to donate them. However this meant I had a lovely wide choice and decided on the Twinkling Stars quilt which was completed in October 2021.
I am steadily working through collections of blocks, mainly the result of RSC projects.
I had a lot of Wonky Stars in various colours and have been using them up in several little quilts.
Red is this month’s chosen colour so I picked out 13 blocks to make a hospital baby quilt. I chose two cream neutrals from my stash and cut 12 x 4.75” squares. When trimmed my Wonky Stars measured 4.75” square. A narrow neutral border brought the quilt up to the required size of 24” square.
I had a large piece if wavy red striped fabric which I used for the backing and binding.
I machine quilted it and I’m really pleased with the result.
Linking up with Angela’s So Scrappy blog.
It’s Scrap Buster #10 Wonky Quarter Log Cabin #1
I love Pola’s style, using scraps, strips, recycled fabrics to create colourful quilts for charity, friends, family and so on. Pretty much what I do, although not so much recycled and I certainly don’t have the stash that Pola has. I enjoy seeing her hauls from the scrap store and how she deals with them. So efficiently too!
I watched the video and made a pile of quarter log quilt blocks using 2” lemon, bright yellow and vivid lime green squares. I so enjoyed the process. I watched how Pola tried out making a quilt by putting four blocks together in the middle and then going out from that centre.
I had to do a lot of jiggling and measuring but it was such fun!
Here’s my finished quilt, perhaps it should come with a warning to put sunglasses on before you view!
It measures 42” square. I quilted it with a design I saw on Pola’s Quilting. I have never have been brave enough to try before and I took Pola’s tip to go with the flow. I used a yellow thread - literally just had enough to finish the quilting and put the binding on.
Heres a view of the backing, a lovely bright jungle print.
No other quilting was done because I wasn’t very well and ended up in hospital on Friday. Hoping to go home tomorrow as the team has made great strides in sorting out my various problems.
Hope I manage to make a start on those Friendship Stars that I intended to do this week.
Joining up with Angela’s So scrappy RSC blog. Plenty of green in my quilt to qualify for RSC green theme.
I decided to machine quilt this little String Quilt differently from the others in this series.
I used a decorative stitch which I was happy with.
After I made the previous String Quilt I had a length of pale blue binding left which I thought would JUST be enough to bind this quilt. Well, when I sewed it on I was about 1.5” short! So I rummaged around in my scraps and found a strip about that width so I “patched it in” and it worked perfectly.
I have also spent a lot of time on a very bright quilt of Quarter Log Cabins which I machine quilted and now waits for me to trim and bind. I hope to show you the finished quilt next week.
Not sure what to do next but I have lots of 2” and 2.5” strings that need processing so ‘I’m thinking of making some Friendship stars. We’ll see!
Linking with Angela’s So Scrappy RSC blog.
Having finished 2 baby String Blocks quilts at the end of December I discovered I still had a lot of strings leftover so I decided to start a 3rd one. For a little more variety I cut up some chunks from stash and made a flimsy.
That’s now waiting to be basted and machine quilted.
Still a lot of strings so I decided to make some quarter log cabins, using solid bright yellow, pale lemon and a lime green for the starter 2” blocks. I watched a youtube video by Pola quilting which gave me a starting idea for this next quilt which I’m aiming for around 40” square.
Joining up with Angela’s So scrappy blog.
Happy New Year! Very best wishes for a healthy 2024, full of great sewing projects.
I finished two Maternity Unit quilts last night, hand sewing the binding down. Really pleased with them both.
The first one used up more of the RSC Wonky stars. I have very few left, mainly red ones, so I think I will start making more as an RSC project this year. Whilst I was cutting binding for this quilt I also cut some 2” squares, ready for three yellow Wonky Stars kits.
I looked through my stash of novelty fabrics for the alternate blocks and managed to cut two squares from the last of my Winnie the Pooh fabric. I bought this fabric to make a Baby quilt for a friend’s newly born grandson Ben. He is now in his 3rd year at university! Time for that fabric to be completely used up I think!
The second finished quilt was the second String Maternity Unit quilt. When I made the first I used a piece of leftover binding and added to it, using up all that particular blue solid. Enough for this quilt and also I think for another one.
The trimmings from both of these quilts went into my String Basket along with some smaller chunks of scrap fabrics I cut into strings. I also cut the telephone directory papers for the foundations and also the central 1.5” white strips so I’m ready for another sewing session today.
I love making these small quilts, using up so many small scraps and strings as I make them.
Last year I made 16 quilts, many of them small Maternity Unit or Doll quilts. I gifted some straight away but others I have kept in my stash. I know a former pupil of mine is expecting a baby this month and I would love to gift her one of my quilts- I know baby will be a little girl and I have several to choose from! The rest will go to Project Linus.
Joining up with Angela’s SoScrappy RSC blog.
It measures 42”square and is machine quilted. I picked out leftover bindings using the four colours of the blocks. I pretty much matched the colour of the blocks to the same coloured bindings. I’m really pleased with this quilt.
This finish made me feel like making more string blocks, this time a little smaller and using a central white strip in every block. Again I used telephone directory paper for the foundation of the blocks. I trimmed the blocks to 4.5” and arranged them in four making a white diamond in the middle of the group.
I think it it really effective.
I finished making the 36 string blocks for my next baby quilt for the local maternity unit. A real mixture of fabrics. Sometimes there was only one bit of a string scrap for me to use. I’m surprised how well the middle white strings stand out in the blocks.
Here they all are pinned into rows ready to sew later. The fabric next to them is the backing fabric.
The photo isn’t terribly good as the light is fading and I took it in the electric light.
We took my friend Margaret to the local pantomime yesterday evening. It was excellent - Beauty and the Beast. The script was written by a local chap who provides scripts every year for our Amateur Talisman Theatre. There are always jokes included which relate to our town of Kenilworth. We are very fortunate to have two Amateur theatres, the other one being the Priory Theatre. Our family and another family we know came too and a good time was had by all. I gave Margaret the finished cushion covers, wrapped up for her to open on Christmas Day. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they fit the special cushion pads she has and that she likes my colour choices. I have to say they were a real fiddle to finish so I hope they work.
The pattern is called Hidden Rails which I found in a Pola Quilting youtube tutorial.
I wrote and posted the Christmas cards earlier in the week and this morning I wrote and sent a whole list of Jacquie Lawson cards. I’ve decided to cut down on cards this year so actually sent email cards to many of the people I have previously sent real cards to. However that wasn’t straightforward as I managed to loose my work halfway through and had to start all over again! So frustrating. Another thing I cut out this year was my Annual Round Robin, replacing it with a short message instead.
Hoping to fit in a little sewing this coming week as I would like to finish machine quilting and binding the RSC String Quilt and also complete the baby String quilt.
Joining up with Angela’s RSC So Scrappy blog.
We have had a very busy week as we had a new central heating boiler and a new water tank fitted. It was a big two days job which was done very professionally. One gas engineer worked solidly both days, a second engineer came for part of the first day and an electrician too. However it was a pleasure to have them. Most of the work was done by the first guy. He told us he had two little sons, a baby 6 weeks old and a two and a half years old toddler. I was so impressed with the great job he did, clearing up and walking us through the new system that I decided to offer him two of my finished quilts( both of them in the pile of quilts for the Linus Project) for his little ones and he was really delighted. That made my day.
These are the two quilts I gifted:
Like many other quilters I just love making these quilts but give them away and I get such a lot of pleasure when they are well received like these were.
I also managed to do a lot of sewing, shutting myself away in my sewing room well away from all the hustle of engineers. I have done almost all of the machine quilting on my RSC String blocks quilt and hope to finish this next week.
I also re-watched a few tutorials by Pola Quilting. More string blocks using a narrow white centre strip. I have used this idea a lot and as I have lots of white scraps and a basket of strings I decided to make enough for a quilt to donate to the local Maternity Unit. They have to be 24” square so 36 x 4.5” square should be perfect. I chain pieced them and trimmed them and laid them out. That was when I discovered I couldn’t count as I had only made 33 blocks. However tomorrow I’ll make the extra three.
Linking up with Angela’s SoScrappy blog.
A busy sewing week:
Other photos:
I also sewed together the rows of my RSC Strippy Quilt. It looks great and is now ready for a good press so it can be basted and machine quilted.
I started to make two cushion covers for a friend who now had special seat pads in the two armchairs in her lounge. Their plastic covering didn’t appeal to her so she asked if I could make some nicer covers.
I follow Pola’s Quilting Youtube and saw a great block pattern which I loved. Pola uses lots of scrap fabrics including recyled shirts so I used an old shirt of my husband’s and bright leftover Jelly Roll strips.
One block made
And seven others being constructed.
Hoping to get these finished this week.
Joining with Angela’s So Scrappy blog.
I’ve had a busy week sewing, finishing one quilt, machine quilting another and then gathered together the RSC String blocks I have been making over the past couple of years.
I had a good number of String blocks in various colours but the majority were blue, green, pink and yellow so I decided to make a quilt from those four colours.
Here it is set out on my “design “ floor.
I make them using telephone directory pages as foundations so my next task is to remove all the papers from the blocks. An easy job to do whilst I watch TV.
Another evening I sewed on the binding to my Penguin Parade quilt. I am happy with the result.
It finished at 36” x 40”. Some close ups:
I basted and machine quilted this quilt - Field Day from the book Seamingly Scraps.
I sewed in all the ends from the quilted lines of machine stitching using a Self-threading needle. I recently heard these mentioned on a Youtube video. What an amazing invention! So easy to use- I wish I had heard of them years ago!
Joining up with Angela’s SoScrappy blog.
I did a lot of sewing this week but also a lot of unpicking due to not reading the pattern carefully.
A couple of years ago I saw a lovely quilt on Sylvia’s Treadlestitches blog. It was from a book called Seamingly Scraps. I thought the pattern would be a great way to use some of my larger pieces of novelty fabrics and managed to get a cheap second hand copy online. I used a piece of little dinosaur fabric which has a lovely blue background and is a great focus print. On one level the pattern is very clear, how the multi coloured 2.5” scraps fit together to make the diagonal “pathway” which weaves through the quilt top. I had a super time chain piecing them but when I came to lay out the blocks I found that the little four patches didn’t work because the majority of my squares were cut from directional fabrics.I couldn’t abide all those elephants, cats etc going sideways or standing on their heads so practically took all the finished blocks to pieces and started again, matching each block to the pattern! What a waste of time and energy!
Anyway, it’s now a top and this afternoon I basted it so next week I can machine quilt it. Not sure how I will do that yet.
Not good lighting because it was getting dark.
I also machine quilted the Penguin Parade quilt and have started to echo quilt the stars on it.
Late this afternoon I decided to investigate my RSC String quilt blocks and see what I could make from them. I’ve laid them out and almost managed to make a quilt which should measure 40” square. Just need to make 4 more pink String Blocks. Another job next week when I hope to get this RSC project on the way to being finished.
In the end, a productive week.
Joining in with Angela’s SoScrappy RSC blog.
I’ve been working on my Penguin Parade top this week and this is as far as I have got:
It measures 31.5” wide and 36” long. I’m going to add a narrow yellow border to each side and then another turquoise polka dot strip all around. That will finish at a reasonable size for a Project Linus quilt.
I now only have small leftovers of batting in my stash so I will have to buy some new batting this week so I can baste it.
I also finished the star Maternity Unit quilt:
And used a piece of fabric I have had in my stash for several years:
My sister Pat bought me a couple of metres of this many years ago when we went to the huge Festival of Quilts together in Birmingham. Happy memories for me, Pat loved picking this out for me and I have enjoyed remembering the happy times we had together studying the quilts.
Linking up with Angela’s SoScrappy blog. I think my Penguin Parade top qualifies as the Wonky Stars are part of my RSC blocks stash.
I have continued with the leftover Star block baby quilt this week. It is now machine quilted and I did my usual echo quilting with Perl thread around the star itself. I have also made the binding so the quilt is ready to be trimmed and the binding sewn on. Perhaps tomorrow?
For many years I have had this funky piece of fabric in my stash.
It’s a Michael Miller fabric called Penguin Parade. I have no idea how I acquired it but during a recent tidy up it came to light so I decided to turn it into a small quilt for donation. I collected together Wonky star blocks, scraps and other fabrics and started to make two strips of 2” pairs of blue and yellow fabric to go above and underneath the penguins. How this strippy quilt grows is at present a mystery. Hope to have more to show next week.
When I was making my Piccadilly Quilt I found I had made 10 Star blocks instead of the 9 the pattern required. Whenever possible I am trying to use up scraps and leftovers as they occur so I decided to turn the extra block into the centre of a small Medallion Quilt for the local Maternity Unit. I also incorporated some of the leftover HSTs as a border. I have finished the machine quilting and made the binding but I want to echo quilt around the Star with Perle thread so I will work on this during the coming week.
I just managed to finish my third Dolly Quilt to post it to our little great niece Maggie in time for her 4th birthday last Friday.
And the reverse, a lemon coloured small gingham fabric.
I was happy with how all three quilts turned out but this is definitely my favourite. Very fresh looking with the greens and yellows.
I have finished a second Dolly Quilt for our great niece Seren’s 3rd birthday. Same design as the first Dolly Quilt but in different colours and fabrics.
The name Seren means Star in Welsh so I thought the pale pink shooting stars fabrics for sashing and borders was ideal.
It’s a dull grey day here so the colours look drab in this photograph.
I used the same dusky pink with tiny white stars fabric for both the backing and binding.
I also finished another quilt which has taken me months to do, mainly because I haven’t been in the best of health for well over a year and haven’t had much sewing mojo.
It’s a Jo Kramer quilt, which she showed on her blog and also made some videos for Youtube. I used the same colour combination as Jo did, greens and blues. I didn’t add the extra border that Jo did as the quilt would then have been too large for me to baste. The pattern is called Piccadilly Circus.
It finished at 42” square, the baby quilt size I prefer.
My best friend’s granddaughter Grace will be 4 years old on Monday. I managed to finish a Dolly Quilt for her and put in in the post along with a book called Drama Llama.
The little quilt measures 24” square. The appliqué motifs are hand blanket stitched and the quilt is machine quilted. I did hand quilt around each motif using off white Perle thread which makes the figures pop out from the background.
I understand from Grace’s Grandma that she loves wrapping up her dolls and soft toys so I hope she approves of this quilt.
I’m now busy making the blocks for two more Dolly quilts, both little girls’ birthdays coming up in the next two weeks!
And a photo of the backing:
