A BEACHY WONDER

It was a kinda bright day at the beach,

but this baby quilt made with

Kate and Birdie ‘WONDER’ 

Had to be photographed at the BEACH!

The thing is the colors were totally lost

Whe I tried to lay the top on the sandy beach.

Sew this is what I did.

This is a public beach boardwalk entrance.

A shadier close up

A private park along the Intercostal Waterway.

And yep...I am a true trespasser! 

Bit I want the pictures I want 

I WONDER if you would bail me out if I am 

ever arrested for BEACHY trespassing?  

OH WHAT A RELIEF IT IS!

March 13, 2021

2nd Moderna Corona Virus Vaccination

Walgreens

Pembroke, NC

NOW...give us our world back!

CHARITY SEWING 2021

I kicked off 2021 by sewing lots of quilts tops from my stash.

2020 gave me lots of time to rethink where and how

I will spend my volunteer time in 2021!

The Stitching Sisters is a local Columbus OH group that

I have been involved with, on and off, for many, many years.

My best friend who fought breast cancer in 2020 (now in remission)

received one of their quilts.  I decided it was time for me to

get back and give back to them.

You can read about the Stitching Sister's efforts here.

I had lots of stash for the quilts I decided to cut out in 2020

You know, lots of hunkering down time doesn't hurt so bad if you are 

paying it forward. In January alone, I made 9 quilt tops.

I have many of the BIG BLOCK quilt patterns used by the Stitching Sisters

and stacks of beautiful fabrics.

Charity Quilt #1- Jelly Roll Twist by Fat Quarter Shop

This one also my January Sewcial Distance Quilt

that I made apart/together with Kim Hensley.

I pulled ALL scraps to make this one.

2 1/2" Strips and Solid 5" squares

Very happy with the look of this!

Scraps are very hard for me to use....I have an

organized mind that doesn't like chaos.

Charity Quilt #2 - Between Friends (Stitching Sisters Pattern)

Blue, Yellow and Green FQs from my stash

Sewed together very fast.

Border is a bit smaller than the pattern called for

but its what I had in my stash. 

 

Charity Quilt #3 was going to be the free MODA LOVE pattern

I pulled a Zen Chic, Barcelona Layer Cake and 

 KONA shades of blue 10" squares.

I didn’t like the way it was coming together! Probably too many shades of blue. 

Sew I just threw the pattern aside and finished it like this!

Charity Quilt #4 is a Stitching Sister pattern

called Cheaper by the Dozen.

I had some great novelty prints to use for this one!

I worked the left over block pieces into the border.

I think its a fun way to kick up border interest.

I find borders too traditional and honestly, quite boring.

 I know to measure thru the centers to get great border fits and eliminate wavy borders.

 I am amazed how many people DON'T do that!

Charity Quilt #5 a Stitching Sister Pattern

'In a Flash' with Lotta Jansdotter and C & S prints.

I added the 2 1/2" gray border but it needed more.  I tried a white border...didn' like it.

So I went to Hobby Lobby and found an ombre print which made the border kinda fun

Charity Quilt #6 is another Sitching Sisters Pattern

'BIG and BOLD' with some BIG and BOLD Kaffee Fasset flowers.

Hubby calls this top a psychedelic flower garden! 

Waaay to busy for me bit it will brighten someone days. 

Chairty Quilt #7 is  'Fast and Furious' is a Stitching Sisters Pattern.

These FQ were a prize I won in 2016 !

A happy and bright design that pops with the bits of black!

Charity Quilt #8 'Seashells' is a Villa Rosa Designs

I decided to do a Black, White and Red version.

I added a vertical strip in black to make this wider.  

Love me some Black, White and Red together!

Charity Quilt # 9 is ''Tucson Sun' a Stitching Sisters Pattern

with some great pink prints.

This has a double border and as much as I detest borders...

I put them on!

One big ole stack of yummy quilt tops.

Ready for the next steps.

I hope the Stitching Sisters Sewing Center reopens when I return to Ohio, this spring.

I will visit and select fabrics for the backs and bindings to go with these quilt tops.

Then on to the long arm quilting volunteers to work their magic!

Then on to the patients.

Do you have a favorite charity?

How do you help them?

FEBRUARY 4 PATCH SLICES

Another Sewcial Distance Quilt top project is done!

This time 3 of us are sewing apart/together!

I am wintering at Ocean Isle Beach, NC

Kim is located in Pickerington, OH

Shirley is located in Evansville, IN

I love me some Kate and Birdie fabrics.

I had this 'Wonder' line and some background in my stash. 

I am making a baby quilt.

Kim is busting her Bonnie & Camille stash.

She pulled 3 charm packs of  ‘Little Snippets’ line for a lap size quilt. 

And my friend Shirley decided to join the fun. 

She cut 5” squares from her stash to make a Queen Size top. 

First step is to sew all the charms into 4 patch blocks.

A nice stack of 2 patches, then into 4 patches

 was quick and easy chain piecing!

Pressing station for my mobile sewing area.

Next step was to ‘Slice’ the 4 patch blocks 

across the center diagonally.

Then I cut the 3” wide background strips at 16” lengths. 

I suggest cutting each sashing strip individually

vs the pattern saying sew 2 triangles to each WOF strip.

I wanted to press the center crease into the strips for lining up the triangles 

to sew one triangle to each side of the strip.

***Missouri Star pattern has thinner strips for this part of the Lattice pattern.

THIS RIGHT HERE is important to make sure the strips fit the block

and not to short. DO NOT switch back and forth!  Right, Kim?

I pulled 2  triangle units for each block making sure they looked nice together.

But I didn't dally to long on matching them up.

Then the chain piecing and pressing began.

4 Patch Slice Block finished with the background sashing in it. 

My pattern suggested trimming blocks to 10 1/2” squares

I did, but might not have to...

Missouri Star pattern does NOT square up the blocks.

And then the blocks were completed.

I made the binding using up any left over 3" strips

 (trimmed to 2 1/2" Binding strips)

Waste not, Want not!

 

There are many ways to layout the blocks for a final quilt top.

Regardless of the pattern. Missouri Star only show the Lattice layout.

Diamond layout

Chevron Layout

Lattice Layout

 

Here are the finished tops.

I selected a diamond layout and added one border.

It finished at 47” x 57”

Kim used 3 charm packs, added 2 borders 

using the Missouri Star Lattice pattern

Finished at 60” x 70”

Shirley used the Missouri Star Lattice pattern with 2 borders 

and made a queen size top!

All in all it’s a quick and easy pattern.

A great way to use up charms, layer cakes, scraps 

or stash yardage!

You can find The 4-Patch Slice pattern that I used

from Inspiring Creations, right here. 

Missouri Star skinny strips lattice pattern video/tutorial is here .

Have fun. Both are fast and easy!