What I’ve Been Working On

I’m making a little progress considering I haven’t had much sewing time. I had the guild workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that threw a kink in things even though I enjoyed it! I worked at night on appliquéing the centers. I used to do a lot of needle-turn applique, but I haven’t done any lately. 

Let’s just say it was awkward! My middle finger is still giving me a lot of grief, but I used a thimble and tried to do more pushing with the thimble instead of pulling with my fingers and thumb. I really wish I could capture the colors in these blocks—they’re really pretty. 

Other than that, I got a few customer quilts finished. I did this one last week, but I think I forgot to post a picture. I did the quilting and the binding. Super cute panel!

I also finished two jelly roll races. 

They are both Kaffe fabrics and are the same size, so sort of twins, just not identical in color. 

I quilted two more, but I don’t have the binding on yet; I hope to get it finished today and tomorrow. 

Scrappy Saturday

I’m still working on my reds. It’s interesting that I don’t have as many red scraps, and red is my favorite color. I’m not cutting up yardage; just trying to use smaller chunks and strips. I have plenty of fat quarters, but I don’t plan to cut them as there are many Villa Rosa patterns for fat quarters. So, I’m just using the odds and ends for now. It’s not like I’ll ever use them all!

Anyway, I got a couple of the big stars pieced.

This one was a dark red—almost a maroon:

It’s not my favorite, but variety is good. I really like the brighter reds. 

I feel like I haven’t gotten many reds done, and the month is almost over. I am hoping to get some more of these done this weekend:

I have the strips cut—I just need to sit down and get it done.

Someone sent me a great video. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Hx6VRX9sfk0.  

This guy operates his sewing machine by pedaling a bicycle. I was trying to mentally calculate how many calories I could burn this way. LOL. He actually has a website to sell the things he makes. Check it out if you have a minute. It’s very short. 

Free Pattern Friday

I found another free pattern that I think would be nice for a layer cake. This one is called Boardwalk, and it looks fast and easy! 

You can find the pattern link here. 

The finished size is 64” x 78”, which is a great size, especially for a donation quilt. 

The rectangles are cut 4-1/2” x 9-1/2”, but I was thinking a layer cake would work and just cut them in half. The rectangles would be 5” x 10”, and the background would have to be cut 5” x 5”. 

I have a couple of Kaffe Fassett layer cakes that I haven’t wanted to cut into small pieces that would work great for this. I’ll make a post if I get a chance to try it! 

Guild Workshop

We had a great workshop Tuesday and Wednesday sponsored by our quilt guild. Barbara Black is a quilter from Huntsville, Alabama who travels nationwide (and on cruises) to teach various workshops. We did the Western Sun workshop which is based on an antique quilt that is patterned in this book.

Barbara has made two versions; a king size

and a smaller, contemporary class sample.

I like the bright colors, but I had a pretty large fat quarter collection of Rene Nanneman fabrics I wanted to use. 

The blocks are super time consuming. It took the whole first day to get this far:

Some of us got our circles appliquéd on, and some (like me) didn’t. Mine is the top block on the second picture. 

The second day, we made more blocks and worked on the flying geese sashing. I didn’t get any pictures of the sashings. I hope to get pictures as people make progress on their quilts. I plan to hand applique the centers on my blocks, and I’m currently working on that at home. I’ll post pictures as soon as I get some done.

SAHRR Final Round

I got my final round done, AND I got my 2026 Stay at Home Round Robin quilted! 

The binding isn’t done yet, but it will be soon. I’m planning to bind it in the same fabric I used in the final border. I should have taken a picture of the back, but I forgot. I used a multi-colored swirl with a white background. 

It’s a fairly large quilt: 92” x 102”. It will easily cover a queen bed, and probably a king if the mattress isn’t really thick. It can be turned longways or sideways, so it should work for either size.

Here’s a closer view of the border: 

All those pickets about did me in. LOL. I’m happy with the way it turned out. I quilted it with a thread color called light turquoise. 

The final analysis: I really enjoyed this quilt-along. The prompts were interesting enough to spark ideas, without being rigid or restrictive. The time between clues was enough to stay caught up. Best of all, I ended up with a usable quilt instead of another UFO! So, thanks to all who hosted; I am linking up here today. 

Shiner Quilt Show Part 2

I realized yesterday I didn’t ever say specifically where Shiner is located. It’s a small town (population a little over 2000) about 50 miles north of me. 

It is the home of the Spoetzel brewery which is known for Shiner beer. If you are a beer drinker, I recommend you try it. Anyway, here are some more pictures from the quilt show.

This quilt was done by the lady I go on cruises and quilt retreats with. I quilted it. Her husband is an avid fisherman.

I really liked the purple and yellow combination in this one, and all of her points were so well-matched. It’s a simple design that was executed very well. Just a really pretty quilt!

It wasn’t a judged show, so the awards were all “Viewers Choice”. I can’t remember what I voted for in the small categories, but I voted for this one for large machine quilted: 

It is similar to the Barn Star quilt I have been working on. For the large hand quilted category, I voted for this one:

It was done by another friend named Donna, and she texted me Saturday afternoon to let me know she had won third place. How wonderful! It’s a beautiful quilt.

Today I have a three day class with Barbara Black called Western Sun. 

The blocks are paper pieced which I’m not fast at, so we’ll see how much progress I can make! 

Shiner Quilt Show

I went to the Shiner quilt show on Saturday. Betty went with me, and it was nice to get out of town after such a busy week. We also stopped at The Square Quilter shop in Shiner, and then we stopped in Yoakum on the way back and ate fajitas at Mi Pueblo.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures of the show. It was at the Knights of Columbus Hall, and the lighting was not very conducive to picture taking. I edited the pictures as best as I could to “brighten” them up some, but I apologize for the quality. 

Oh, this was interesting:

They have a quilt car. Apparently the guild members pieced the blocks to make the car cover a couple of years ago. It fits a large SUV. Funny!

Here are some of the quilts.

I’ll show some more tomorrow. If I’m still alive. When I was cleaning up the family room yesterday afternoon, I found this under one of the dog beds. 

I’m wondering if the dogs are planning to do away with me. I hope they remember I am the one who dispenses the food and treats!