A little finish from leftover blocks

 I haven’t done much sewing this year due to health problems but I wanted to make another baby quilt for my local Maternity Unit. So I found some four patch blocks which have been a box for many years (leftover from some project) and three Sunbonnet Sue blocks. I had a new piece of a pretty apple green fabric with small white dots which I think complimented the colours in the blocks. I used it for making sashing, backing and bindings.

It looks pretty, machine quilted with Perle thread echo hand quilted around  the Sunbonnet Sues.

Measures 24” square, the size required by our hospital.

A close up of some of the blocks.

I also have four other quilts to donate which I hope to deliver when I go to the hospital on Monday for an appointment.

A happy finish for me, at long last.

2022 Round up

 This year has been a rather fragmented one for me: a lot of health issues, a couple of stays in hospital, lots of appointments and the death of my sister so not as much sewing has been done.

I have continued to participate in the monthly RSC project and have added to various block stashes and made quilts from other block stashes I had accumulated. I also made a small wall hanging quilt in the Ukrainian flag colours for a family who came to live with Ukrainian relatives in our town.

I completed 12 quilts this year including 5 which will be donated to the Linus Project and 4 which will be donated to the Maternity Unit at our local hospital.

The Linus Project ones, all around 40” square.

These are the Maternity Unit quilts, all measuring around 24” square.

I am working on a lap sized quilt using most of the RSC Twinkler blocks I had stored away. I’m now hand quilting with Off white Perle threads around the stars in the centre of the blocks. It will be a gift for a young member of the family.

Last year I chose a Word for the Year which was Consider. I found this useful as it did encourage me to consider my answers before I committed myself to a new thing. I realised at the beginning of 2022 that I was starting to run out of steam and tire more quickly so at the beginning of February I thought long and hard about the Visually Impaired Group I had been leading and doing all sorts of jobs for (including treasurer) and decided that I would finish at the end of July when we broke up for the summer holiday. The best decision I made because by the end of June I started all my health problems.

I used my Word Consider in lots of other situations, teaching myself not to immediately say Yes and not to straight away to offer to help with something. In the past I have always done this but now realise that it’s time for me to take on less, not more!

This year the Word I have chosen is Energy. I don’t have much energy these days so it is important that I use it wisely. Also I hope to be able to build up my energy, trying to walk a little and have more energy for meeting up with friends. I am still not allowed to drive so that means they have to visit me or my husband drives me to their houses so more arrangements have to be made ahead of time.

So, I’m hoping for a happier and healthier 2023 and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Joining up with Angela’s So Scrappy blog and the RSC Project.

RSC 2022 Quilt finish

 I have been making Wonky Star blocks most months for two or three years as part of the RSC project.

I’ve already used some blocks in several quilts  but decided to use a whole lot more to make this Project Linus quilt:

It measures 40” square and uses 36 Wonky Stars. I used a piece of leftover fabric for the border and joined leftover pieces of yellow and cream fabrics for the binding.

A couple of years ago when I needed to replenish my stash of backing fabrics I got 3 metres of this lovely autumn leaf fabric which I love:

A close up of some of the blocks:

My niece and two nephews have started the sad task of getting my sister’s house ready for sale and asked if there was anything I would like to keep. One of the items that I wished to have was a little quilt I made for Pat’s birthday in April 2005. It was designed to hang on her kitchen wall where it’s had pride of place ever since. Pat was a wonderful gardener hence the design I chose had that theme. It was from a book of Australian quilts which I’m sure I still have in my Quilting bookcase. Here it is on the wall of my landing, opposite my Sewing Room so every time I go in and out of there I shall think of my lovely big sister.

Light not the best today, well it’s early December, only 4C out there and dark and dreary.

Linking up with Angela’s So scrappy blog.

The embroidered words say “Planters Patch”.

RSC Flimsy completed

 I saw an idea on Cathy’s Sane Crazy Crumby Quilting blog several years ago, Friendship star blocks which she called Twinklers. I’ve been making them ever since as part of the RSC Challenge and have made 2 quilts from them before, one in 2017 and another in 2021. A week or so ago I decided I would like to make a quilt for Etta,  one of the younger members of our family and hopefully in time for Christmas.

I knew I had a bag of Twinklers so got them out and decided to make 3 more purple blocks. Quick to make from my box of 2.5” squares and a bag of already cut out muslin centre squares and even smaller squares for the star points. I discovered I had 76 blocks and could use 72 of them in an 8  x 9 setting.

I finished sewing the rows together yesterday and now need to make a pieced backing and get it basted.

Lighting is not the best as we have a very grey morning today. 

A little close up of a section of the blocks:

I wrote my Christmas 2022 Letter on Friday so now I can photocopy it lots of times to add in with the annual Christmas Card to friends and family. I always find writing Christmas cards rather daunting - it seems to take me longer and longer each year but I really should start to write them this afternoon, unless I get sidetracked making the backing for my Twinkler Stars flimsy!

Linking up with Angela’s So Scrappy blog.

18th birthday gift

 One of my Great nieces, Lily, celebrated her 18th birthday last Saturday. She had a party for her friends but tomorrow there is an Afternoon tea party at her house for the family. I’ve just realised that since I lost my dear big sister Pat (Lily’s grandmother) two months ago I am the eldest member of the family. A sobering thought. 

We will be giving Lily money as a gift so she can put it towards a gift of her choice but I also decided to make a pretty cushion. All finished and ready to be wrapped up.

Everything came from stash including the cushion pad which I had previously made from spare stuffing. A few years ago I had a phase of making cushions for gifts and bought the pads from a local shop. However I felt they were always stuffed too much and used to open up one of the seams and take out a few handfuls of stuffing. Every now and then I made these into my homemade cushion pads. It appealed to my frugal nature!

I tried  a new (to me) way to make an envelope back for the cushion. I had always made the envelope opening lie horizontally across the cushion but a few days ago I watched  the daily Pat Sloan YouTube video where she made a cushion and made the opening go vertically. I tried this method and I like it. I don’t think the cushion will gape like my others tended to do. I’d be interested to know which method you use - horizontal or vertical? That is the question!

Oh my stars!

 Lots of star blocks this week. 

Firstly some Wonky Stars:

Then a few more Twinkler blocks:

I counted my Twinkler blocks and I now have 72. Need a lot more brown and purple ones to even up the colours.

I finished ofF the 24 padded heart Christmas decorations my Granddaughter and I made:

Linking up with Angela’s SoScrappy blog for the 2022 RSC Project.

October RSC Round up

 I made a few more Twinkler Stars this week. I have a box of ones left over from the last RSC quilt I made with these fabulous blocks and would like to add to those as I have an idea to make a quilt for a young relation. I sorted through my box of 2.5” squares and found piles of colours to use. 

Here are the blocks I made:

I will continue to make a few more of these next week.

I also finished quilting and binding the Maternity Ward Wonky Stars quilt I started quite recently:

It measures 24” square and looks so cheerful. When I showed it to my husband he immediately said he loved it!

This was made from my stash of  RSC Wonky Stars blocks. 

The backing I used goes so well with the reds and yellows in the stars and is a piece of fabric I bought years ago. I think it was 3 yards - I don’t usually buy any larger when I purchase larger pieces of fabric. I have used this delicious Strawberry fabric in several quilts or in backing several baby quilts. A real favourite of mine and I’ll be sad when it’s all used up. Still a bit left!

The rest of my sewing time was taken with making lavender bags and stuffed fabric hearts in Christmas fabric for Christmas  tree ornaments with my lovely granddaughter. We’ve made a lot. We also intend to make some Christmas gift bags for her to sell for her Girl Guides stall, to help with funds for a special camping trip happening next Easter. Great excuse to spend time together and talk about every thunder the sun. 🤗

Linking up with Angela’s So Scrappy RSC blog.