Awesome April

I was surprised as I am writing this Post, that I never used the Awesome April title  before during my almost ten years of blogging. Maybe because I never had such a busy April involving both quilting and personal activities, such as, Hubby and I celebrating our 52nd Wedding Anniversary, Hubby’s hernia operation with subsequent doctor visits, a dexa scan for last year’s back issues (good news is his monthly injections for his osteoporosis is working), a wedding shower for a Grandniece who received my Folklore Prairie Rambling Rows & Bars Quilt, just one visit to the GP House, band gigs, etc. My other title choice would have been “Why the Tip of My Right Thumb Hurts” which I am happy to explain with the three Finally Finishes (two UFOs and on DrEAMi), one Flimsy, 30+ Simple Smitten blocks,, etc.

My main focus for the month is always the project for Country Threads 2026 Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and my Glitter quilt is the one I listed for April.

This is a Jen Kingwell pattern (insert my trembling here) which I started almost five years ago with my good quilt friend, Carol. The. Glitter quilt was featured in the Quilt Lovely book published in 2015. I already have made a Flutterby Quilt in  2016/17 from this book and after relooking at it I am thinking there are other quilts I  would like to make but only the ones with simple patches. There were 96 blocks for Glitter but I only made 40 because I was getting tired of sewing together the EPP patches. Plus, since I was using Jen Kingwell fabrics, I needed them for my Wensleydale Quilt finished in 2024. 

I made plans to make a wallhanging with the forty Glitter blocks with sashing and cornerstones which would have measured approximately 36”x72” to hang on one of the bedroom doors and it sat on the shelf for over a year. Once I knew this was my project to finish in April, I made a layout change because I didn’t want the wallhanging to be so large since I had another wall in the house in mind for it. I decided to skip the sashing and corners to make it only 21”x56” wallhanging.

I have to give a shout-out to my dear Downunder torMentor, Susan,  PatchworknPlay, who I knew made a Glitter quilt years ago and she spent several hours looking for a pic to send me for inspiration. There was no way I could duplicate what she did with her beautiful quilting.

Once  the blocks were trimmed, laid out and sewn together, I  finally liked the blocks and maybe wished I had made more. For the backing, I used the Crazy Mom’s Radiator print which I originally planned to use for the sashing. I machine quilted with straight lines along the block edges using CT Essential Thread in Parchment. The binding was a black tone on tone stripe found in the binding drawer.

I love seeing this quilt when I walk from the kitchen to the front hallway; it reminds me of a stain glass window. It was a perfect size for this wall and I need to remember this measurement so I can make future wallhangings for this space. BTW, Carol finished her Glitter quilt and also made a small wallhanging.

Since I finished Glitter by the end of the first week, I decided I would finish another project from my UFO machine quilting list and it was the Primrose Inn Bundle Buster flimsy made last year. 

A quick recap here is that the fabric is Blackbird Designs Old Primrose Inn fabric line and was sitting in my stash for well over five years. I had a Designer Packet from Fat Quarter Shop of twelve fat quarters along with a charm pack and yardage and the perfect pattern to  use  was Quilting Jet Girl Bundle Buster.  I made ten quilts with this pattern using both modern and traditional fabrics and is easy to modify. Last year, I made four Bundle Buster quilts but two of them were made incorrectly. I had assumed I knew the pattern well but realized after I made two of them, I left out a strip from each block. So, I made two more correctly and both have been in a flimsy state since last August. Old Primrose Inn was one of them and measures 72”x90” because I wanted to use up as much of the fabrics as possible and I was not looking forward to finishing it. But, I persisted, sewed the large backing from yardage found in the backing vault, cut the batting twice (first one was cut the wrong size) and spent hours pin basting it. I’m happy to say the machine quilting horizontal wavey lines,spaced 2” apart,  with Star Thread in Mother Goose went well. It took way less time than preparing Old Primrose Inn for machine quilting. I had the foresight when I purchased yardage of the fabric to include some for the binding which I needed 5/8 yard of the teal mini check. I learned that when you decide to make a large quilt it should include how you want to bind the quilt, by hand or by machine. I sewed the binding down by hand and maybe the final straw as to why the tip of my right thumb hurts. This quilt was the last of the three finishes so I need to show the other makes which came in between the first and last Finally Finishes.

Right after I finished Glitter, I received an email from Sandra, mmmquilts, about her Lyra QAL. I look forward to participating in her annual QALs honoring her late father, the Famous Canadian and knowing me as the Rebel in her QALs sent me the pattern to “test” it. I will write more about my flimsy which I have named Gammma Galaxy on my June 15th Parade post and there will be a confession and thoughts on participating in all of Sandra’s QALs and more. I also would like to mention I will be providing “proof” soon that I can absolutely follow a pattern without making any changes.

While my studio was in an uproar twice in finding fabrics which would be perfect for the two (now three) patterns for the Lyra quilt, I came across the leftover fabrics from my Frisky Quilt and now have a DrEAMi quilt which I’ve named Frisky Business. The Frisky Quilt finished last August was made from a fat eighth bundle of Zen Chic Frisky fabric which I did not use any of the light fabrics. Also leftover from this quilt were approximately 2” wide strips of the dark prints used.

Looking through my pattern files, I found Emily Dennis, Quilty Love, Cake Dash pattern which was perfect for the leftovers.  I also had a layer cake of Frisky and used only the dark prints for the plain blocks offsetting the Cake Dash blocks. This was a fast and easy make but is a little bit more on the light side as I would have liked but I do love this fabric line.

Like the Frisky quilt before, I was unsure as to how to machine quilt Frisky Business. Once I got over my trepidation in machine quilting horizontal straight lines over the vertical rail blocks, it was a breeze with the 1” inch lines spaced apart with the same CT Essential Thread in Marigold. I used the same gold homespun fabric for the backing as with the Frisky Quilt. I didn’t have enough of the fabric used for the Frisky binding and used instead Zen Chic Spotted Zebra print in Orange Cheeky.

Both Frisky and Frisky Business measures 56”x72” and make quite a cute pair to hang over the high back chairs in the living room. Would you believe I still have enough leftover fabrics to make a wall hanging for a certain wall in the hallway. I have to say it again, I really love the Frisky fabric line, especially the large focus print.

Along with hand sewing the binding down on the three quilts mentioned above, I hand pieced 30+ Simple Smitten blocks and have started sewing them together to make another Smitten Quilt.

And if the Simple Smitten blocks weren’t enough hand stitching, I also have more hexie blocks and slow stitching an Asian cheater print during my GP House and doctor visits. All of the projects mentioned here and above are the reasons why the tip of my right thumb hurts but it’s a good hurt, right?

And now to finally end this rather long Post on a funny note, if you remember my making of Spider Balls in 2023, I came up with an idea of making Big Balls with the leftover trims from batting and fabrics. They’re the size of an orange or baseball and definitely not pet friendly. I am using one for a pin cushion  and the rest are looking cute in a black metal basket. I might come up with a better name for these but rather like telling Hubby that I have big balls. Also, I do have the supply to make more of these and can do it while I’m watching TV—like I need another project to keep my hands and right thumb busy. We’re leaving for the GP House tomorrow which is why my April Post is a few days early. Really, I can’t write another thing for April.

Mad Mad March

Back in the middle of March, I was prepared to name this Post March Badness because I was distracted and avoiding what I needed to sew in order to have some Finally Finished quilts. Fortunately, I finally came to my sewsenses and finished these five quilts during this past six days while having a Cold. Nothing like waiting to the last week of the month and am thankful March has 31 days. All five of these quilts were flimsies made either almost twelve to eighteen months ago, this past January or this month. Can you guess which one was the oldest?

Before I provide the details on the above quilts, I like to briefly mention the numerous distractions which may have been prompted by my telling the Hubby that I get stressed whenever a computer is involved right before we were purchasing new tax software and a printer in order to file our taxes. Downloading new software on our ancient CPU is always stressful since it seems to take forever and the only time we use this computer is for taxes. Afterwards, things seem to mushroom with having to change passwords, updating subscriptions and accounts, a credit card being compromised, etc., Happily, the pressure and stress of tax filing which always dampens the quilting spirit is over since the taxes were filed in mid March. Another distraction but most important was the celebration of  the darling Granddaughter’s 9th birthday which involved hosting her birthday party at the trampoline park. Also, there was much time spent with  Hubby as his Emotional  Support Wife by accompanying him on four band gigs and numerous doctor and dental visits which I’ll provide more details later in this Post. Of course, there was some mischief making which you will see the big one later.

My usual focus for the month is to finally finish my UFO listed on my 2026 Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and #6 was pulled. I was not in the mood to work on this project which I will explain later and chose to work on my #6 in my Machine Quilting list. It’s a good thing I’d compiled several lists since the decision to quilt my Heather Ross Hexie quilt was rather serendipitous because I always celebrate the darling Granddaughter’s birthday with a new quilt.

I was inspired to make this quilt almost two years ago when my Downunder torMentor, Susan of PatchworknPlay posted her quilt https://patchworknplay.blogspot.com/2024/04/a-travelling-quilt.html?m=1.

I love. It when I am inspired to make a quilt especially when I have the same fabric sitting in my stash for way too long and I also can use my die-cutter to make the patches. I had cut the patches in 2024 but did not sew the flimsy until almost a year ago. As mentioned previously, I’m glad I put this flimsy on my machine quilting list and it was #6 because it was perfect for the darling Granddaughter’s 9th Birthday quilt.

Machine quilting with a CT Essential Thread in medium brown went surprisingly well with straight lines along the hexie center and edges and did not realize this would create a diamond crosshatch which complemented this quilt. I was planning on using the brown check for the binding but did not have any yardage left, so I thought, and used the multi-color diamond print which worked well. I ended up finding the brown check yardage in the backing vault yesterday, but oh well, I’m happy with this quilt. I’m sure the darling Granddaughter won’t mind when I hang this quilt up in her bedroom at the GP House.

Last month, I made this flimsy (right) with the leftover blocks from my Ricochet Quilt and thought it would be fine as a small lap quilt. On March 1st while I was disappointed with the CT UFO number 6, I decided I add borders to this quilt, since I had the fabric, rather than working on my UFO Project. I temporarily named it Macaroni and Cheese but have now changed it to Jack Cheese.

Since my new bolt of Pellon Cotton/Soy batting arrived, I decided it would be a nice finish since it was tied to my Ricochet Quilt which was #4 on the CT UFO list last month and maybe feeling guilty for not working on the #6. I machine quilted with straight and wavey vertical lines spaced 1.5” apart in the same CT blue thread as the Richochet quilt. As mentioned in the Richochet Post, I had yardage of two blue plaid prints which I had offer to my quilt peep who declined them and I am still thankful I was able to use them in my Ricochet and Jack Cheese quilts. I thought it was worth mentioning how well I matched the plaid lines on the backing. Jack Cheese measure 60’x72” and now sitting well in the Family Room where Ricochet is also residing.

I made the Washi Tape Salute flimsy in the middle of March right after filing the tax returns and was another distraction and avoidance since this wasn’t in my plans to make this.

I die-cut 5” squares from each of the fabrics in Rashida Coleman Hale Washi Tape and Salutation fabric lines. I was planning on making a version of Villa Rosa’s Clover pattern but decided to make a square quilt with 4” and 8” four patches and 4-1/2” which meant trimming the already die-cut 5” squares. Don’t worry, I’m not over the Clover pattern. Initially the yellow squares were going to be scattered throughout with the blues and pinks but decided to layout them together around the 8” four patch center as a focal point.

Washi Tape Salute was machine quilted with #2105 Yellow Aurifil thread with diagonal and crosshatch lines. I used a Ruby Star print for the backing and the binding was the only print not from any Ruby Star fabric line but a gold check print from Connecting Threads. Washi Tape Salute measures 32” square which is a nice size for a quick make and finish.

Would you believe this was my oldest flimsy from this group of five and was made eighteen months ago from leftover strips from the Farmhouse Baby Boomer Blankie. I’m pretty sure I was inspired by a pattern I saw on Pinterest, This was made shortly after the blankie was made and should have been a quick finally finish since the binding and backing was ready but for some reason I must have been distracted. The straight and wavey line quilting using a CT Essential Thread in Apple Green took less than an hour and hand sewing the binding took longer. This table runner measures 22”x40”.

When the Farmhouse Baby Boomer Blankie was first finished, my plan was to give it to one of Hubby’s sister who lives on a farm but glad I didn’t. I had an epiphany when I was binding the table runner that the GP House has farmhouse decor and the two would be perfect there. I then decided that the table runner is now a chair runner and will look quite pretty on my high back chair.

I decided to end March with a high five finish with the Alphabet Four Patch flimsy made in January when I was having a moment with my some of my quilts made with my stash of Children prints. The fabrics were from a fat quarter. Bundle of Windham’s A is for… and may have been purchased when Craftsy sold fabrics. Alphabet Four Patch measures 32” square and made with 16”, 8” and 4” four patches. Straight line Crosshatch machine quilting with a CT Essential Thread in pale peach or Fawn was quick and easy. Again, I am loving 32” square quilts.

I thought this would be a good place to mention the big mischief making involving more time than the finishing of the five flimsies which is a project I’m calling Simple Smitten. Hubby and I watch TV together in the evening after dinner which is a good time for knitting and hand sewing. I was tired of knitting and wanted a new hand sewing project and thought of resuming EPPing with the leftovers from my Smitten Quilt finished over eight years ago. My intention was to made a small wall quilt with the lone block leftover but somehow it has morphed into making 30 blocks now, the same size as the Smitten Quilt. I calling it Simple Smitten since most of the blocks would be made using large diamonds and hexies paper pieces. By making it much larger, it meant days of hunting fabrics from the original quilt, finding new fabrics and of course die-cutting way more than needed. I did this during the first weeks of March and still not focused on finishing anything. This project should keep me busy for awhile and I already had some late night sewing with the six blocks made. During the scavenging and rummaging through the scrap bins, I found the once lost National Park fabrics which I don’t know why it was there. I once blamed Demando for taking it but now think maybe he put it back. I’m just joking but it’s a possibility.

And here is a pic of the #6 UFO project which I was not in a mood to finally finish it which involves sewing a few filler patches highlighted in yellow and adding a border. These blocks were made from an almost twenty year old BOM, Peace and Plenty by Fat Quarter Shop and features blocks from Moda Fabrics designers. Good Quilt Peep Carol and I have named this quilt as the Block of the Month from Hell. I have good reasons for not wanting to finish this, mainly because of the size, twin size even after excluding the three blocks never made, where would I hang it since there is no way I would lay this on a bed and if I want to devote the time to finish it. I’m starting to get picky, believe it or not. I still like the blocks but not sewn together and my plan now is to separate the blocks by colorway, appliqued or pieced, and maybe making several wall hangings, large and small. 

Speaking of knitting and being tired of it after knitting the two shawls on the left, and putting the Simple Smitten project together, I am knitting the Sophie Scarf which is a very popular pattern. Sadly, I am finding time to knit this because my dear Hubby is having a bad month with dental and health issues. We had several visits to the dentist because his new crown is creating problems which we first thought was caused by a head cold but now may lead to a root canal. Last year, he had two Kyphoplasty surgery to repair fractures in his spine and now, almost the same time as last year, he has to have hernia surgery next week. The Sophie Scarf so far has been knitted mostly during the dental and doctor visits and there is a strong possibility that it will be finished by next week. Hubby is a real trooper and still plans on doing a band gig this week.

Just for laughs I thought I included an edited photo of the Darling Granddaughter surprised at having received another quilt from Grandmin. I tell her she can never have too many quilts as I tell myself you can never make too many quilts, right?

Sorry for this long Post, but it has been a mad, mad March. Before we leave for the GP House this week, I have a big mess to clean up in the Studio. Also, I’m really hoping Mary pulls a good number for April’s Dirty Dozen UFO challenge.

Wishing you a blessed Easter Holiday!

February Frenzy

 

I surprised myself with my February Finish for the Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge. Number 4 was pulled and my project on my list was to make a quilt using almost seven year old scraps. It would be doable if February wasn’t filled with appointments for lab, annual physical exams with both my regular doctor and endocrinologist, a much needed haircut, two trips to the GP House and Hubby having five gigs (love hearing his rendition of Dreamlover) but worse of all my bridge from my very recent dental implant fell out. Of course, this happened right before our first GP visit and upon our return meant another visit which involved four Novocain shots and removing some gum tissues which had rapidly grown over the screws. The pain was excruciating when the bridge was reinserted and it took over two weeks for the pain and swelling to go away—thank you ice packs. Anyhoot, I was resigned to thinking that I was lucky if I had a flimsy finish since my #4 wasn’t a fast project.

My Spunky Americana Quilt was made almost seven years ago which seems like only yesterday to me and it was a fun make. This quilt measured 54”x72” and has been gracing the family room quilt rack since then.

As with most of my quilt projects, there were lots of patches and scraps left and I kept them in a bin where it reminded me that I needed to make something. Since the Funky Americana quilt was all 6” and 3” HSTs and I didn’’t want to sew any connecting corners, a simple Broken Dish block would be a fast and simple make. I was sort of right. First, I had to die cut more HSTs using additional fabrics which went well with the scraps and then over 150 6” and 66 3” HSTs were sewn. After that,  fifty-three 12” Broken Dish blocks were sewn in various fabric and patch combinations. You will see them later in the close up pics. 

Thankfully, I had a great audiobook to listened during this tedious sewing. Sadly though, there was no way I was going to make a quilt that large in order to use up all of the blocks. Before we left for the second GP visit, I decided that only forty-two blocks would be used after any blocks containing the cheddar/orange were eliminated and this would make a 72”x84” quilt.

I know I just mentioned in recent Posts that I planned on only making smaller quilts but I’ve amended it to if the large quilt would be used and not sitting on a shelf, then sew for it and Hello new couch quilt! Upon our return from the GP House this past Tuesday, the blocks were up on the design wall and the flimsy was finished on Wednesday. It was then I realized that with three days left in February, I could have a Finally Finish rather than just a flimsy.

I have to mention this was made possible by earlier pulling out from a seldom-visited bin, a seven yard piece of a brush Navy plaid which I offered to Quilt Peep Mary who politely passed on it and I am now very thankful she did. I machine quilted using a CT Essential Thread in variegated blues on top and a medium dark blue for the bottom, straight lines every 6” and wavy lines every 3” which created an interesting grid. The binding is a dark blue Aged Muslin which went well with both the top and back of the quilt. I’ve been hand sewing the binding with my last few quilts but this time since the plan is to use this quilt a lot, it was machine sewn this time.

My Quilt Fairy Godmother was definitely present when I was pin basting this quilt every 3”and much to my horror after I moved the quilt sandwich to pin baste the final edge, disaster involving very loud screaming was avoided. Usually, I am very careful to center my batting but not this time. It took me around three hours to pin baste and I would have been so unhappy if I had to remove it because of this mistake. I have to mention that I used Pellon Cotton/ Soy Batting again and I just love it. I machine quilted horizontally first which the pins were all removed which made it slow but then the vertical machine quilting went fast and I understand why some of us spray baste. My fingers were so sore from opening and closing almost 1000 pins.

Here’s a side by side of the two quilts and I think Spunky Americana  looks more bluer and the reds in the second one look more dominant. I’ve named this quilt Ricochet since looking at it my eyes bounced all over the quilt.

There were sixteen blocks leftover and I was determined not to let them sit for another seven years, so I quickly made a lap size quilt measuring 48”x60”. I’ve temporarily named this quilt Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Hopefully, once my new roll of soy batting arrives, I can finish it since I already have the backing. As for the leftover block and still beaucoup scraps, I’m planning on making placemats.

Yesterday it was sunny and in the sixties, so it would have been nice to take an outside glam shot but it was finished too late to take advantage of the light. So this morning with much cooler weather and snowflakes in the air, I settled for an inside pic with Ricochet on the family room couch where it will reside. I am so looking forward to snuggling with it while watching TV or a movie. The way the weather has been I’m pretty sure I’ll have several days to do this. Also, I am looking forward to a new number to be drawn for the UFO Challenge and whatever number it is, it’s going to be just a flimsy needing to be machine quilted.

Linking up with:My Quilt Infatuation/NTT