Sew Day Report

Sew Day turned out better than I expected. I threw a bunch of different projects into my large Chubby Charmers and went to Sew Day. Everything I brought would at least be a start to something.

First, I got out the Old Town instructions and worked out what I needed to do for the border. I am glad I did! I thought there was a Sawtooth border and I was in for hours of pressing and trimming HSTs. Nope. There is no Sawtooth border. It is all squares and I have pretty much made all the pieces. Yay!

After that the real work got started.

Morning Flower Patch & Pencil Roll start
Morning Flower Patch & Pencil Roll start

I decided that for the July Organizer swap, I am going to make a pencil roll. I also decided that I would use the fabric I bought at Family Threads for the pencil roll. In addition, I will use more of that same fat quarter pack for the Morning Flower Patch quilt. Cyndi showed me her version and it caught my eye, so I decided to look up the pattern and make one. I was able to cut the 2.5 inch colored squares for that quilt along with the strips I need for the pencil roll. It took me awhile, but that accomplishment got me off to a great start.

MaryC's medallion
MaryC’s medallion

Mary was working on her Tara Faughnan project and really got a lot done. I took a picture from the last Sew Day, but never posted it. The colors she used are very Southwest feeling.

This will be a quilt for her daughter’s birthday. I really like the strong diagonal motifs.

 

May scrap progress
May scrap progress

After finishing the cutting of the Family Threads fat quarter pack, I started cutting scraps. I know I have done this at the January, February and  March Sew Days, but I still have not finished cutting up my scraps. This time I made really GREAT progress. I took my Desktop Cube and the adjoining zipper bag of scraps and came home with only the Desktop Cube full of scraps! I feel like I accomplished something.

Of course, it was over too soon.

Kathy’s Pillowcase

Kathy's Pillowcase
Kathy’s Pillowcase

I forgot to post about this pillowcase when I posted about the Angel Family pillowcases.

This is a pillowcase I made as a bonus when I found I had enough extra fabric to make one additional pillowcase. I also made it at the Retreat. I used the green Tilde fabric for the cuff as Jess’ favorite color was green.

I made it for my friend as an homage to her daughter, Jess, who died last year very suddenly in an accident. The daughter enjoyed fun and kindness and I thought a ‘Sweet Dreams’ pillow would be just the thing.

Old Town Blocks Together

Old Town Center - complete
Old Town Center – complete

I spent last weekend putting the blocks for Old Town together. I didn’t have the whole weekend, but the center is now complete and I like the way it turned out.

I am not sure I put the blocks together in the order I originally intended, but I never do.

Next step is the borders. I have the HSTs sewn, but not pressed or trimmed.

Adventure Pillowcase

Brown stitch adventure pillowcase
Brown stitch adventure pillowcase

It’s a new month and I am sending my youngest nephew his new pillowcase. This time it is the Brown stitch adventure pillowcase.

I really like that brown stitch fabric. As I have mentioned before, I have it in several colors (or had it!) and have used it in Old Town and lots of other projects.

For brown, I have quite a large piece even after this pillowcase. I am not sure why I bought so much.

My nephew is always very kind and sends me a thank you text, often after 10pm. LOL.

I really am going to have to find some more fabrics and make his brother a few more pillowcases. I know I made him fewer and he is the one nephew that has said he really loves these pillowcases. Of course, I also have the Christmas pillowcase project I mentioned a few months ago.

26 Projects 2025 #4

Finished April 2025 Quilt Projects

None this month- this is depressing! I might put major progress in here going forward or omit this section until I have a quilt finished.

Finished (for me!) April Donation Quilts

Finished Bags and Small Projects for April

 

April Projects Ready for Quilting / In the Quilting Process

  • Nothing at the moment

April Projects In the Finishing Process

  • Nothing now

All the WIPs

WIPs are projects on which I am working. This means that I am past the cutting out of pieces stage,  some sewing has taken place.

  • La Passacaglia – I am working on the border, but need to work more and harder
  • Old Town – several clues finished
  • Chain Link – I started working on this at the 2025 Retreat

Cut Out & Stopped

Still UFOs

I still have UFOs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled, it hasn’t been worked on in awhile or it is waiting its turn to be worked on. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.

I am annoyed that some of these are still UFOs. I have to give myself credit for completing some of them last year.

  1. Handbag Sampler – I found the blocks! I found them in a bin I thought I had thoroughly searched! I also found the fabrics carefully stored together. Hooray!!
  2. Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. After a brief burst of inspiration, I am stalled on this again. As one of my oldest (I am pretty sure) UFOs, I put it on my blog and out into the Twitterverse and Diane suggested that I not consider this as a self portrait. I think that strategy is a great idea. I am now trying to think of a new persona for her.
  3. Serendipity Lady – I am still planning to take this piece to be framed. It might need a bit of quilting first.
  4. Fabric of the Year 2020
  5. Fabric of the Year 2021 – I may combine 2020 and 2021 into a COVID edition.
  6. Fabric of the Year 2022 – yes, I added this one to the list, but this is the last one I plan to do.

Various & Sundry 2025 #4

Admin

The Minikins page has been updated with some of the recent non-Minikins finishes.

Projects, Classes, Patterns, Techniques & Tutorials

Lynette told me about Torie and Ren, a designer of pouches.

Cyndi and I have been talking about having a small Sew-a-Long to make the Arabesque Scissors pattern, Smart Sofa Station. After mentioning this to another friend, I was reminded of the Mini Maker Station by Lilyella. The Smart Sofa Station is a complex pattern (our friend says too complex), but we compared the two and the Smart Sofa Station just looks better. The ‘swag’ motif on the front makes it look well designed. Cyndi commented that she didn’t need something as large as the Mini Maker Station.  I have the SSS pattern and do want to make it. I just haven’t carved out the time to even choose the fabrics yet.

This discussion reminded me of the Lilyella website. I don’t see many updates or new patterns since the last time I looked. I have made a few projects from the site and have been happy with the results. I made the Mini Maker Case and the Undercover Maker Mat. Julie made me a Hold Tite Folio and I have the magnets to make a few, so I need to get on that. Nicole, of Lillyella, is no longer updating her blog (no big surprise), but her last post is a great interview with Chris of Modern American Vintage. Since then she has disappeared off social media. Sad for us, but I hope she is doing well.

Tools, Books, Fabric, Notions, Services & Supplies

I was disappointed in my attempt to try the Sewfisticated foam I found out about from the Bag of the Month Club March bag, the Pandora Charisma. I talked about last time. Sadly there was no way to check out as a guest and I was unable to create an account. I abandoned my cart and will use some alternatives. Fortunately, the pattern provides a list of alternatives in the footnotes, which is much appreciated.

Media & Articles

The Sew Sweetness live show was delayed a bit due to technical difficulties. i watched the replay one Sunday afternoon in between audiobooks. The Bag Lab portion was about measuring for a gusset when you want to make a flat pouch three dimensional.

 

April 2025 Donation Blocks

I  made some effort to make some blocks this month, but spent most of my charity time on the Grey Improv donation quilt.  I also started working on the sashing blocks for the quilt I saw at the Sonoma County Fair. I have about 3 half 16 patches done.

Two blocks is a little sad, though.

 

Interesting Zipper Technique

Dogwood zipper technique
Dogwood zipper technique

One thing I wanted to talk about was the zipper technique that Sara uses for the Dogwood pouches.

One caveat: I am not a zipper expert, though I have added a lot of zippers to various bags. I don’t know if this is a common technique or if Sara devised it.

The basic idea is to measure from the end of the zipper twice in equal intervals and mark the two lines. The pattern was very clear that you needed a certain sized zipper – or to trim your zipper to a certain size. Then you fold the zipper 90 degrees and sew as the photo shows. I don’t know if the interval matters and I don’t know if the size of the zipper matters. This is the first time I have seen this technique. I might ask in the Sew Sweetness group, but we’ll see.  I’d love to be able to incorporate it into other types of pouches.

Hindsight Dogwood zipper detail
Hindsight Dogwood zipper detail

The thing I like about it is that it makes for a very neat finish once the bag is done. In the photo, you can see that the end of the zipper is encased in the seam. Not only does this look good, but it reduces bulk in the seam.

Old Town on the Wall

Old Town - April 2025
Old Town – April 2025

Since all the blocks and sashing are finished, I put them up on my large design wall. They barely fit!! You can see some blocks for my next donation quilt hanging on the right side of the design wall.

I keep moving blocks around, but I am about to start sewing the blocks and the sashing together. The different values of the pinks and blues make various parts of the quilt stand out. I also think the different fabrics move the eye around the piece.

More Dogwood Pouches

Dogwood Pouches F & J
Dogwood Pouches F & J

I finished the latest two Dogwood pouches the other evening. I really like the way they came out.

I was much more careful this time about fussy cutting, so the butterflies are whole. I did a good job on the Hindsight Dogwoods, but the print was much larger, so it was harder to select a part of the print.

Dogwood Pouches F & J - open
Dogwood Pouches F & J – open

The lining is the same as the Butterfly Superbloom, which makes these part of a set.

I like the way the zipper is handled in this pouch. I might have to talk about that in the future.

These are the same sizes I made before. I wanted to make them again to cement the process in my mind. My printer is also acting like a jerk, so printing is iffy at best.

When I make pouches I always think about how I would use them. Pouch F is the larger one and would be great for chargers and other small electronics. I have several pouches in my work bag so I can keep things organized and think I would use this pouch for cords and chargers.

Pouch J is the small pouch and would be great for hand sanitizer and lip balm. I didn’t make these with vinyl on the inside so I have to think about keeping them clean. However, the pouches are washable, so that is a bonus.

 

I wash the pouch and bags I make in a lingerie bag to keep the handles and other pieces from getting into the workings of the washer. I have already washed all the fabric in hot water, so any temperature is ok. I recommend cold, but you can also wash them in hot.

Needlepoint Continues

Needlepoint Flowers - April 2025
Needlepoint Flowers – April 2025

I am surprised I haven’t talked about this project since last November! I have been working on it steadily and have made good progress. I usually just work on it in the evenings after dinner. I meant to use it as a project for when I didn’t have a quilt project on which to work. What has really happened is I haven’t been working on La Passicaglia. I really need to work on that project, but for now, I am enjoying the needlepoint.

At this time I need to roll the canvas up so I can access more of the bottom, but what happens is I find small holes – one stitch or so – that I didn’t stitch. It turns out that I have to wait until an area is filled sometimes before I can finish, because I can’t see the color. I have to look carefully at the rows and make sure there are no holes. When there are, I fill them, then try and use that strand of color before moving to the next color and filling in more holes. There really aren’t that many. It is an interesting process, though. Very different from quiltmaking.

New Donation Quilt Idea

Last year I went to the Sonoma County Fair with friends from Austria. They

2.5 inch square sashing quilt
2.5 inch square sashing quilt

have something similar in Austria, but it isn’t exactly the same. Of course, I visited the quilts and found one that I am going to try as a new design for a donation top.

I don’t know what to call this design and don’t know if it is actual pattern or not.

2.5 inch square sashing quilt - detail
2.5 inch square sashing quilt – detail

The piecing is in the sashing and the blocks are plain. The maker of this quilt, Elysha Ozanian, did a great job making the sashing really stand out. I drew out the quilt and found that instead of making the normal guild donation block, I could make half of one and that would be the pieced part of the quilt. I tried to make a block out of the plain block and the pieced sashing, but it didn’t work, so I will just build the quilt using individual units of the small plain block, the large plain block and the pieced portion using chunking.

The units comprising one plain block, 4 small plain blocks and the pieced sections are over 14 inches. I am not quite sure how big I will make my version. Maybe 4 plain blocks wide with the sashing units on the outside? I’ll have to see.

This might be another option for the guild to make as a donation quilt design.

Grey Improv Finished

Grey Improv Donation top finished
Grey Improv Donation top finished

I have finally finished the Grey Improv donation top and back. It has taken awhile, though much of the time was it hanging on the design wall going nowhere.

I did a good job working through my odd sized grey scraps, which is the whole point of the exercise. I am even more convinced that improv works much better in a monochromatic palette. I think that a complementary color scheme would work as well. I haven’t tried that I think the quilt would end up being bed sized.

Grey Improv back
Grey Improv back

This quilt is about 45 in. x 45 in., which is on the large size for a baby quilt, but definitely kid sized. Also, in this color scheme I could imagine it working well for a boy.

I used the leftovers from two quilts for the back: the Hugs and a Kiss quilt and the Half Hexie Star. Good use of some good fabrics.

Elephant Pet Bed and Changes

Green elephant pet bed
Green elephant pet bed

The guild is changing the way they make pet beds. The pet beds filled with schnibbles have been hard to wash and some shelters and animal rescue sites refuse to take them. I can understand the problem with washing. I, however, produce a lot of schnibbles and want to put them to good use. Erin and Michelle found another project where schnibbles are packed into a cube and used as seating for children. I can now fill up a bag with schnibbles and the team will fill the cube, called cubies (pronounced cube-eez). Cyndi offered to get me one when she heads down to the shop that hosts the group who coordinates them.

We will still make pet beds, but will fill them with more batting and leftover polyfil batting and less schnibbles.

 

Starting Chain Link

Chain Link block
Chain Link block

I should have called this FINALLY Starting Chain Link. I didn’t like the way the pattern was written and that was a “launch blocker”, as we say at work. I finally sat down on the last day of the Retreat and figured out how to make this pattern work for me.

This project seems to be fraught with problems. Besides the challenges of the pattern, I cannot find the white fabric I chose to use.As you can see, I have already cut some up and sewed it into sections of blocks.

It MUST be around somewhere, but it wasn’t where I thought it was. I hope I didn’t use it for a donation quilt. We’ll have to see if this becomes a ‘design challenge.’