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 one 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.

Friday Feedsack Quilt Finishes

With just a few hours left to Friday, I am posting my latest finishes of scrappy feedsack quilt projects which I just sewed the last stitches on some of them this morning so I could included Friday in the Post title. I started these in 2021 which seem to me was last year and much to my surprise was something I started two years ago. If you have read any of my previous posts, I do have a special fondness or am I a fanatic for feedsack fabrics. I think I may have made at least ten quilts with feedsack fabrics and can’t bear parting with even the tiniest of scraps, strips or bits so I’m always looking for projects to use them up.

I was happy to finally finish this table topper above which was a project I did whenever we were at the GP House. These were strips leftover from previous quilts and some them are vintage feedsack fabrics given to me by my dear quilt peeps and some are more recent reproductions that I’d purchased.

I started sewing strips diagonally onto 8”squares of newsprint from old prospectus back in 2021. Once thirty-six blocks were sewn, I then put them in groups of four for a barn raising layout to make nine blocks. Once the blocks were sewn together, for some reason, I didn’t like the way it looked and took it apart after seen a similar quilt but with sashing in between the blocks and thought I wanted to do the same. But after the blocks were separated, they languished in the studio for a year until I decided what fabric I wanted to use for the sashing. I added these blocks to my 2022/23 Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and this was one of the projects I could have worked on in November. I already had decided on a different project but decided to work on the feedsack quilt because it was an easier finish and I’m trying to catch up. I decided that I didn’t want sashing after all so I had to sew the blocks back together again and I’m pretty sure I didn’t sew it back in the same layout as the first one.

I mentioned in my previous posts that Juki Junebug is not sewing well and I had a bit of a problem when I machine quilted just simple grid lines with black thread the first time. Part of the problem could have been my fault since I used a #40 heavier weight thread in black on the top and #50 on the bottom which I have done previously. For some reason it caused beaucoup puckering especially since I didn’t have the tension set properly. So like having to sew the blocks together twice, I had remove the quilting to do the machine quilting again which the second time was a success since I used the heavier weight thread for both the top and bottom. You can see the quilt lays flatter in the photo above and does not have the peaks and valleys as the first time which I did not take a photo. I was considering hand quilting it but am glad I did not because it would not have been easy on the fingers with the dense weave of some of the fabrics as as well as the seams and the cotton batting.

This quilt measures 46” square and the binding is a black and white check which I love to use with feedsack fabrics. I also love the backing fabric which is perfect for this quilt and I have to share the story as how it was acquired.

Whenever I am at Walmart, I like to check out their fabric department to see if I can score any fabric deals and like I have done before I hit the jackpot with this print. Previously I found a bolt of a black and white splatter print which resulted in me having to climb up in order to get it down from the top shelf. This time, I found a bolt of this U.S. map print laying on the bottom shelf still wrapped in plastic. As I approached it, I checked to make sure this wasn’t a trap by looking up at the ceiling to make sure there wasn’t going to be a cage going to come down on me. I was so excited since I knew this print would be perfect for my feedsack projects and happily found a sales associate to write up this purchase. She insisted on unwrapping the bolt and measuring the fabric because sometimes the quantity is incorrect and it was. Instead of 8 yards there was only 7.5 yards but still enough and it saved me $4. Besides using this for my latest feedsack quilt, I also used it for my feedsack placemats which you will see below.

These place mats were also started two years ago and worked on when traveling to and from and staying at the GP House. Unlike the blocks made for the feedsack quilt, these placemats were made from scraps hand sewn onto to squares or rectangles of batting. This is a wonderful slow stitching project which I came up with for road projects and wrote about it This Post.

Once the placemats were sewn, I then hand quilted with straight lines 1/2” apart with either black perle cotton or black crochet thread which is detailed in the above mentioned Post. 

Once the placemats were quilted and space left for the tacking row,  the backing of the wonderful U.S. map print was added. Like the feedsack quilt, the binding was the black and white check print. I made seven placemats but only finished five for this post because I was thinking I could take a photo of a table setting with the five finished placemats but it has been so dreary for the past few days to take photos in the screen room.

These placemats measures around 12”x18” and if I had thought of it sooner I would have adjusted the size so it could fit more properly in this lovely black wire tray I just purchased this week from Amazon (not an affiliate link). I was thinking that in the future when I made more of these placemats that this would be a lovely Hostess gift which could be filled with food items or dishes. (Or for my blog buddies, I could see one of their cats sleeping in this.) This could happen if I can find another source for these wire baskets since it seems I purchased the last one available from Amazon.

As mentioned earlier in this post, I just can’t throw away even the tiniest scraps of feedsack fabric—aren’t these little balls or as I call them Quilter Marbles (because you have to be sort of crazy to make them) cute? I need to find a cute wire basket to put them in.

I could say that I’m happy to be now finally caught up with my projects for Country Threads Dirty Dozen Challenge but I may be able to squeeze in the quilt I originally wanted to finish by the end of February because my new Janome 1600P is in the house. She has been unboxed and set up in my studio but I have not done a test drive yet. I have named her Jinny Janome and will definitely have something to post about her.  I plan on machine quilting with her this weekend. Meanwhile, Juki Junebug may be feeling a little put out but I plan on having her serviced again with a different repair shop before she is moved to the GP House. I am feeling a little guilty about moving her there but I will be able to work on bigger projects once she is there.

Slow Stitching, Scraps and Small Quilts

I had mentioned in my previous posts of being inspired by the many posts from other quilters who shared their Kawandi, Kantha,  Boro, Sashiko, etc. quilts and since then have learned of Chiku Chiku stitching. You can find wonderful examples of these techniques on Pinterest. All of this to me translates to big stitching which I’ve been happily doing for the past months in between visits to the Grandparent house and during downtime (watching TV) when I am home. I thought I would share the projects I have been working on or have completed.

Although I liked the techniques behind the Kawandi, Kantha and Sashiko patchwork quilts, I thought I would work on the patchwork blocks, which were scraps I hand sewn to batting squares while traveling to Yellowstone in September of 2017 which you can read about it in this Post.

My original plan for these blocks were to either make coasters or pincushions and since there were around nineteen squares sewn, I thought I didn’t have a need to make that many of them.

After I trimmed them, there were at least twelve of them which were 6” square and thought I could make two rectangular quilts or placemats.

Before the backing was added, I did big stitch hand quilting with #10 white crochet thread.  I got this idea from BanjoFlannel Method of Patchwork Sashiko.  The rows were spaced 1/2” apart and after I quilted four rows, I skipped a row. After I was done big stitching, I then added the backing and machine quilted the binding. You can see in the photo above, the 1” spacing between the four rows.

The reason for skipping a row was that once the backing was added, I then quilted this row, which there were three, and I consider them to be the “tacking” row” since their purpose to hold the backing. This is something I learned from making several quilts with the  Quilt As You Go method, and that is, since the top and batting are quilted together and once the backing is added you only need to quilt it at certain intervals to keep the layers together.  I liked how these turned out and after all of the big stitching I did I don’t want to use them for placemat since I can’t bear to see them getting stained.

I’m really liking the big stitch hand quilting and used it for this small wall hanging which had been a flimsie for over ten years.  I did do some machine quilting in the ditch before hand quilting the three layers.  I will say big stitch quilting is much easier when only the top and batting is involved. This small quilt is what call my Patchbox Quilts which I someday need to write a Post about my idea behind these small quilts.

It’s funny that I went into 2021 subconsciously wanting to start making small quilts which is what I’ve been doing when I’m at the Grandparent House which is much easier to make than a large quilt. The quilts on the bottom of each row are ones made from patchwork blocks with batting and ready for big stitching and the others are machine piece and waiting to be machine quilted with some big stitching accents

Here’s another one I’ve been working on where I machine pieced scraps onto a piece of batting and did various stitches with #8 Perle Cotton which I love.  I left some areas unquilted and once I add the backing, I’ll add the “tacking” stitches. What I like about these projects is that I have several of them going on at once and I can switch between them when I get tired of working on one of them.

I now have assembled a project box containing patchwork blocks, batting squares and scraps which is ready to take when traveling between the two homes. The tools and notions are kept in a separate pouch. This is really a nice, portable project and a great way to use up the scraps that just keep on multiplying.

And here’s another small quilt just finally finished which is my #2 of Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge.  The top was finished in 2017, coincidentally the same time when the beforementioned Patchwork Blocks were first sewn.  This quilt measures 25” x 33” and is a combination of wool circles and squares made from Thimbleberries fabric.  This idea for this quilt was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest from orangesink blogspot and this is the second one I made based on this pattern.  When the Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge started last year in July, this is the one I really wanted to finish sooner than later since I  have a spot for it at the Grandparent House.

We’re leaving for the Grandparent House tomorrow for a four-day visit and upon my return, I’ll be setting aside my Slow Stitching projects for some serious sewing— Sandra of mmm quilts’ Follow Your Own Path QAL which according to me is the sixth QAL of hers which I have participated. More importantly, this is the fifth year I will be celebrating a Famous Canadian’s birthday and I’m thinking a special commemorative T-shirt needs to be designed. My fabrics have been chosen and surprisingly I have not yet started nor plan on doing any deviations.

Today would be a great day for stitching but sadly doing the Taxes are yelling at me.