Grow Bag

You've likely seen blocks from the Back to Nature QAL. This little sprout block was designed by Jo from The Crafty Nomad . There are 9 blocks in total, all FPP, and all available for free. Instead of making a 9 block mini quilt, I decided to just make my favorite blocks and then use each one in a project.

Doesn't it make a sweet bag? I plan to gift this to my sister who works in a garden center and teaches about plants in a senior center. The bag pattern is (my favorite) is the open wide pouch by Noodlehead. I had a fun playful green print large scrap for the inside. The bag bottom and reverse side of bag are in navy - her favorite color.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Rediscovered Blocks!

Way back in January 2023, I put the finishing touches on the final blocks in the Modern HST BOM. I made the blocks smaller then the pattern called for and created some FPP patterns for the smaller half-square triangle (HST) and half-square rectangle (HRT) blocks.

Then I put those blocks aside for over a year. A few days ago, in searching for something else, I found them! (Isn't it always that way?) Honestly I had completely forgotten about the project and now I wonder how many completely forgotten projects I have buried away.

These blocks were always destined to be a incubator quilt. My LQS collects 36" square quilts for donation to a local hospital. These quilts are draped over the incubators for those babies in the Nicu and then go with them when they are ready to go home.

Instead of making more blocks to get the quilt top to the right size, empty squares plus a border were added. I am pleased with how it has turned out. 

I've got enough of the print fabric for the binding so next step is to figure out a backing and then do some FMQ. 

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Seattle BOM May June blocks

Spent time this weekend getting caught up on my blocks for the Seattle MQG's free BOM. (And, no this isn't my guild but they have graciously made it free to anyone!). This is perfect for using some coordinated large scraps.

The May and June blocks were the strips and the drunkards path at the bottom of the photo. I may have reversed the colors in the stripe blocks but I will make it work in the final quilt! The pattern calls for using 5 colors but I'm going scrappier.

My guild collects quilts in support of kids in the foster care system. This quilt and my HST charm square quilt are two of the quilts I'm working on to donate.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Seattle Wedding Quilt to the SPA

In early May, my family spent a week at the beach and I used some afternoon sew time to assemble the blocks for the Brushstrokes pattern by Shiners View. This is a very well written pattern and a forgiving pattern - the blocks are trimmed after sewing and there really isn't a wrong way to do things. 

I wanted the quilt to be slightly bigger than the pattern called for so I made an additional row and column so the quilt top will finish at 63" x 70". Fabrics are all Painters Palette solids in Aruba, Marine, Gulfstream plus a dark gray I had in my stash.

This will be a gift so I'm excited to see what it looks like all quilted!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Charm Square Stash HST Quilt top

Many months ago, I collected all my random charm squares and decided to make a HST quilt to be donated to my guilds community work. Since I was in no hurry, it took a bit of time to sew and then trim the over 200 HST. It was fun to lay them out - such a big range of colors and styles of prints.

For quilts with lots of blocks, I will sew things together in quadrants, first in rows with everything webbed together.

At this point, I've got all 4 quadrants webbed together and can start sewing rows to rows.

The dimensions of the quilt will be 52" x 60". I've a few more charm squares and am thinking about making it a bit bigger, likely by just adding rows and columns in a way that would not make it symmetrical. First I need to make sure there is enough variety in what hasn't yet been sewn to make it work.

This is one of three charity quilts I'm working on!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

London Quilt - Gifted!

I had an enjoyable time Saturday celebrating the wedding of my nephew and his new bride. His mom (my sister) suggested a color palette of red, white and blue and suggested an overall theme of London as the couple had gotten engaged in London on the Millennium Bridge and planned to return on their honeymoon.

The quilt design is inspired by numerous Instagram photos of similar quilts and the desire to play with quarter circles and orange peels!

The quilt was LAQ by @lovebugdoodles. Thread color matched the light blue and the pantograph chosen is Squared Rounded.

I was thrilled to find this panel of London for the back to celebrate their connection to that city. The colors matched perfectly!

To help with the overall presentation, I made a bag for the quilt using a remnant that I had leftover from making my daughter a prom-like dress for dress-up play. I've had this remnant for over 10 years and almost threw it away more than - glad I never did! 

I saw a video of the newlyweds unwrapping the quilt and they seemed to really like it!

Have a wonderful day! Patty