Sunflower Farm

I love making Elizabeth Hartman's patterns as baby gifts - this is Farm Fab - and sewing these animals and sunflowers was incredibly fun. I worked on them on retreat with friends and got to pin each finished animal on the design wall as they were completed.

The chicken was my favorite - such personality! - that I added another chicken to the back of the quilt.

Each year, Raleigh plants fields of sunflowers in Dix Park and come July, they are in full bloom and ready for visits. I like to take a quilt there each year and thought this one was perfect given there were sunflowers in the quilt! (See my sunflower quilt photos: Echo from 2023, Linked in 2019, and my granny square blanket last summer.)

The sunflowers were definitely taller this year than they have been in the past. We were there at 7pm and temperatures were in the upper 90s. (Note to self not to do that next time.)

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Bee Quilt - The Jetsons! (update 2)

Top Row: @sarahgoerquilts, @ellynz, @eacox24, and @scarf.mama

Bottom Row:  @bysarahruiz, @elizabethkray, @feltlikesweets, and @jenngeorgeburt

The Jetson's was my prompt for my year 2 @unscriptedquiltsbee bee mates. Using a color palette from the series, I asked bee members to be inspired by shapes and make a simple block surrounded that shape with background fabric. (Think square-in-a-square but instead with an irregular shape.) Everyone was sent a FQ of Painter's Palette Lapis.

As you can see, they hit it out of the park - the different blocks are just so much fun!

Although I'm not sure of my final layout, I do enjoy spreading them all over the floor to test out different ideas while I wait for the last two sets of blocks arrive.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Moon Joy

I, like many others, was excited about the Artemis II moon flyby on April 6  (photo sourced from Nasa.) When Kristy from Quiet Play offered a free Moon Joy FPP pattern, I jumped right on it, copying her rainbow color placement.

The flange binding was an experiment in practicing the technique so I could consider doing it for a larger quilt. The cross-hatch walking foot quilting is one of my favorite ways to finish a quilt. The mini finished at 17"square.

On this date 57 years ago, the very first astronauts landed on the moon. I am old enough to remember when this happened. Although my mini quilt has been done for awhile, posting on this anniversary seemed appropriate.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Building a Village house block

Audrey @cottonandbourbon shared earlier this week that she wanted to submit a group entry for QuiltCon and welcomed 100 folks to send her a block. She designed this FPP house block and wants blocks in all different colors for her Building a Village quilt.

I don't often use purple so took this one on as a challenge and really like the way it turned out. It was a fun block to assemble. I really love the  idea of collaboration in the quilting community so this project caught my eye right away. 

Audrey will make her quilt with the first 100 blocks that arrive to her, so if you're interested, do join in. See Audrey's IG profile for more information.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Large Square Crochet Project Update

My vision for my blanket project is to make 4 large granny squares using the cream and the gold yarn. I purchased 6 skeins of each color and will use 3 on each block. My first block (above) is using 1 cream and 2 gold. I have paused making this one any bigger until I get my second one done. As you can see in the photo, there is more gold to be added but I also want to make sure I have enough to give the piece a nice finished edge. It currently measures 24" square.        

The second square is coming right along. I think this one will be one gold and 2 cream but I haven't committed to this. It currently measures 9.5" square.

I am really enjoying my third crochet project, especially how portable the project is and how I can easily added just a few stitches when I can a moment. 

I am not in a rush to finish and am looking forward to seeing how this comes together.

(Previous update: May) 

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Bee Quilt - The Jetsons!

Saturday morning cartoons were a big deal when I was a kid and one of my favorites was the Jetsons. The show was released in 1962 and there were 3 seasons of flying cars, robots, and easily prepped meals. The show was set in 2062 so we've not long to wait for those flying cars!

Why am I talking about the Jetsons?

They are my prompt for my year 2 @unscriptedquiltsbee bee mates. Using a color palette from the series, I asked them to be inspired by shapes and make a simple block surrounded that shape with background fabric. Think square-in-a-square but instead with an irregular shape. Everyone was sent a FQ of Painter's Palette Lapis.

My month is June and happy mail has already started to arrive from my bee mates.

Top Row:  @ellynz and @jenngeorgeburt

Bottom Row: @eacox24  and @scarf.mama 

Aren't these fun?

I don't really know the final design for this project but it is fun to lay them on the design floor and play around.

My year 1 quilt was called Play Time! and hung at QuiltCon!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Pencil Pouch Gift

A new pencil pouch gift for a friend (using Noodlehead's tutorial) was a fun make. I used a green zipper and heart zipper pull that I picked up at QuiltCon. The fabric is from our guild's scrap swap that I knew she would like.

I used a single layer of fusible fleece with minimal straight line quilting. SF101 was added to the lining.

This is so much fun to make - I'm ready to tackle another!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Bag for a Family Friend

Someone special is turning 9. Since she is a big fan of the Harry Potter novels, I found some appropriate fabric and made her a bag using Firefly Tote by Noodlehead pattern. I modified the pockets and went with a slip pocket on each side.

The quilting and topstitching were done with gold thread. 

This is the 4th time I've used this pattern and am ready to make another one for me!

Notes on interfacing used:

• Outside: ByAnnie foam
• Pocket and lining fabric: SF101
• Band : SF101 and 1 layer of fusible fleece

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Scrap Play

Back in 2024, I played along and made blocks as part of the Seattle MQG's free BOM all from large scraps. Once the quilt top was assembled, it sat around for awhile until I pieced the backing. I found a mini quilt top and used that as the base and surrounded it with colorful batik fabric.

I did an all over FMQ meander. It took me awhile to get the right rhythm - I hadn't done any large scale FMQ in quite awhile. That mini on the back certainly adds interest but it did make my FMQ experience a bit of a bumpy ride! The quilt measures about 56" x 56".

I make a quilt every year to donate to my guild's (Triangle MQG) community giving - our quilts support kids in the foster care system. Scrap Play will my donation for 2026. 

My quilt for 2025 was called Squared Up and is a free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop.

My quilt for 2024 was a scrappy HST, no pattern, just my own scraps and lots of HSTs.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Singularity Round Two

And it continues to grow!

I am a member of Triangle MQG and we are doing our very first guild QAL using the Singularity quilt from the MQG. I am a bit ahead of schedule and now have a block which is 24 1/2 " square.

Here is what it looked like after the first round -

The pattern is called Singularity and is free to all MQG members. 

Sewing HST is a good thing to tackle when you just need something mindless to sew. I am fairly certain there are a few errors in the first round but I am calling them design choices!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Let's Pretend It is Square

This is a quick photo - clearly! - of my work in progress of a large granny square. It will block into a square - it is not that wonky! 

I am making a blanket comprised of 4 large squares. My intent is to use three 100-gram balls on each square and this photo captures where things stand after two 100-gram balls. It is about 20" square.

This will be my 3rd crochet project. I really enjoy how portable the project is as well as how easy it is to pull back a few stitches to fix an error without destroying the whole project!

I am not in a rush to finish and am looking forward to seeing how this comes together.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Dream

Meet Dream. A UFO from 2022! 

I started this quilt in response to a guild challenge to work in a monochromatic color palette with the option of adding one other accent color. Using just scraps, I made the quilt top, did much of the quilting and then it sat, and sat, and sat for 3 1/2 years!

But now it is done! I adding some big stitch quilting which I think adds a lot to the piece although it is hard to photograph.

The quilt is faced and finishes 18.5" wide by 14.5" tall.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Bee Blocks - April and May

The 2026 season of the @unscriptedquiltsbee began in March and has gotten off to a great start!

For April, @feltlikesweets sent each of us a unique section of a black and white photo and asked that we recreate using a color palette derived by 5 columns in the Kona color chart. 

I can't share the photo with you or any bee members yet but it will be fun to see this come together. I am curious on what you think that photo (at the top of this post) represents!

For May, @ellyn asked for large arrows in a basic primary color. This was a lot of fun to create and is 18.5" square.

My month is June and I've just mailed out a FQ to each bee member so it is ready to go once I share the prompt.

You can see my previous blocks here and the quilt I made last year.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Singularity Center Block

I am a member of Triangle MQG and we are doing our very first guild QAL using the Singularity quilt from the MQG. The quilt is made up of HST and the center part - shown above - uses HSTs that finish at an inch!

I didn't actually read the pattern (which is available free to MQG members) to assemble the center but instead used my friends finished center to lay out the pieces. It is very possible I've messed something up but if you see something, don't tell me! 

There are 4 rounds of sewing in the quilt but I will likely make a smaller quilt and do only 3 rounds.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

The Farm!

Aren't these just adorable?

This is Elizabeth Hartman's Farm Fab pattern and these animals are just fabulous!

I assembled the quilt top - still need to add borders - at a quilt retreat with 8 friends. I made the chicken ahead of time and the rest of the animals took me a day and a half. The ears gave me trouble on each animal simply because I was too busy enjoying fellow retreaters company and not paying attention to make the ears symmetrical!

There were giant design walls so the animals were posted as they were completed which made me smile.

The quilt is for a new baby due in July so I've got time to add the borders and maybe piece another chicken onto the backing!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friend Retreat

I just returned from a long weekend quilt retreat. We were in this beautiful retreat center that had a nice sewing area with large design walls, a gourmet kitchen, and plenty of room for everyone! We ate great meals - these ladies can cook! I contributed a loaf of homemade bread and then lots of snacks.

Once that quilt top was assembled, it was time for a glass of wine and tackling little HST. Several of us started working on our guild QAL and it was fun to encourage each other along through the trimming of about 100 1.5" HSTs.

This was my third year of retreating with this group and we've already booked the retreat center for April 2027!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

The Chicken!

My nephew and his wife are having their second child in early summer so I've gotten started on a quilt. The pattern I'm using is Farm Fab by Elizabeth Hartman.

Isn't this chicken so cute?!!!

I'm off to a mini-retreat with friends and I've got all the other animals kitted up and ready to go. I can't wait to see this quilt come together.

I like this chicken so much that another may make an appearance on the quilt back.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Pantone Challenge Cloud Dancer - Bauhaus Style

Cloud Dancer - aka white! - was the surprise Pantone color of the year. Not yet sure where I was headed, I started sewing together scraps of white or light cream fabric. Each could pass for white on their own but when you put them together, you really see the differences!

I quilted the piece with diagonal walking foot stitches and then the fun began. My plan was to play with fusible bias tape. I adhered it to a bunch of shapes in a Bauhaus color palette of primary colors. And then I played. I would lay things out, attach one piece and then lay things out slightly different. I took a series of photos along the way to give me a general idea of where things were headed but made tweaks every iteration. 

I am thrilled with the final quilt top which finished at 18" x 28". The iterative nature of the process was fun as was working with the bias tape. (One tip with working with the tape was to use my zipper foot when sewing it down because it provided better visibility.)

This is the 4th year that I've entered the challenge and the first time I had an actual quilt complete and not just the quilt top! These were the other three:

• Orange Overload  -Mocha Mousse 2025
• Peachy Kean2024 entry for Peach Fuzz was (Was in Mack Modern Magazine
• Echo - Viva Magenta 2023 hung in QuiltCon and was in QuiltCon magazine. 

Read more about the challenge - linkup opens on April 20.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

My Crochet Sweater!

I made a sweater for summer!

My youngest has made a few of these sweaters so I followed their instructions and started with a hexagon - which they actually started for me! - and kept going until it was the right size. Once the sleeves and shoulder area was sized right, I did some extra rows to get it wide and long enough.

There were a couple of resets and frogging along the way as I was learning as I went and kept rethinking things - like how long the sleeves needed to be.

To join, I used a slip stitch on the right side of the sweater. Then, once assembled, I did 4 rows of slip stitch to finish the edging. The photo on the left shows the raised back seam and the edging; the photo on the right is closeup of the edging.

I used about 4 1/2 100g balls in cream from Purl Soho. This was the same yarn I used for my granny square blanket.

Snapped a quick photo to show the size. I've got an upcoming event with an outfit it will go well with - better than my NPR tee!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Bee Blocks - January, February, March

February marked the end of my first bee year for the @unscriptedquiltsbee. I have really enjoyed the monthly challenges from fellow bee mates. Rounding out the season, @elizabethkray asked for Plus blocks using a palette of bright colors. It was fun to interpret this prompt in different ways for my blocks. @bysarahruiz asked for classic snake blocks with a pieced background. (My photo doesn't really capture the fabric colors correctly but the curve snake is a teal color.)

Here are all the blocks for my first year in the bee:

March kicked off the beginning of the new bee year. It was very fun to make these spring colored blocks. @emilylangquilts asked for stripes in spring orange, yellow, pink with small bits of blue and/or green. 

My goal has been to get the blocks done in the month they are assigned. I've managed to do this so far, although I finished the February blocks on the last day of the month!

I've got June again this year. I've not yet decided on my prompt but still have time to do so. (For 2025, my prompt was balance - here are the blocks I collected and my quilt!)

Have a wonderful day! Patty