Summer Sewing

Hi there!

I have quite the list of projects to work on this summer.  Ha! Who am I kidding?  I ALWAYS have a ton of projects I'm working on.  

So, first of all, I finished Succulent Garden and took her on a drive half way across the country (1100+ miles) on our vacation.   I finished the binding before we returned home, used it on every hotel bed (so much better) and took lots of pictures in the wild.  Here is one of my favorites:  

It was so windy!  Isn't that hysterical?  Ok, here's a picture where you can see more of it.  

And, in one of the hotels we stayed at: isn't it lovely?

I made it queen size but it actually fits a king size bed as well!  I was really happy to find that out!  

We had a great trip highlighted by seeing Mountain Goats and the Continental Divide.  Both were on my list.  The knife edge of the Continental Divide is amazing to see.  We went through several passes as well and spent a fair amount of time over 10,000 feet elevation.  I'm glad to say I adapted quite well to the elevation, no headaches or sickness.  

I'm still waiting for my next episode to be ready for my YouTube channel due to technical difficulties so here are a couple of snippets of what I'm working on/ my summer sewing list:  

I've been having sew much fun making wonky star blocks!  I wasn't going to start a new project but these little stars are addicting and I just keep making them.  They use up lots of small, odd pieces in my scrap bin.  (I'm not cutting them as described in the pattern).  These interest me more than any of my other WIP's at the moment.  Go with the flow, right?

I wanted to lay out and start assembling this baby quilt and I did!  I have had the pieces cut for a couple of months now.  I finally got them put up on the design wall.  This quilt is for a baby boy of Ukrainian heritage so I made stripes using 60 degree triangles to replicate the blue/yellow stripe in their flag.  What a great project to work on the 4th of July.  On our nation's founding date I am wishing for the end of the war in Ukraine and for them to keep their independence.  I stand with Ukraine!

 

I have a couple of quilt repairs to do this summer-one quilt not so old but the backing fabric is shattering!  😳😱. I couldn't believe it.  This quilt is less than 10 years old but the backing fabric has holes in it.  One of my viewers suggested backing it with a new fabric right on top of the previous one, requilting it and adding a new binding.  I hadn't thought of that but that's what I'm going to do!  

The color of the month is AQUA so my odd blocks I make every month as leader enders will use aqua scraps as much as possible.  Some of the blocks I'm making are Hollow 9 patches, Double Star blocks, Box Kite blocks, Offset, and Terry Rowland colorwash blocks. My mom is coming back mid month to spend a couple of months with us so I may not get to all of these but this is what's on my list for July/August.  

Happy Sewing,

Stephanie

Another June Update!

 I recorded a new episode today for my YouTube channel @EverydaySewist.  It takes a week or so to get it edited and published.  I don't do that part.  I do the fun part-sharing my quilting projects!  So, you can find me there as well.   Since today/tomorrow is the Solstice I shared my Solstice Sampler in the upcoming video.  I really like that quilt.  You'll have to wait and see.

I've made progress on several projects.  My goal is to whittle down my WIP's so that I'm only working on a couple at a time instead of a dozen.  Seems my brain can't handle working on so many different things any more.  So, as I typically do, I have a project to bind-Yay!- Succulent Garden has been quilted!  Here's a sneak peak of the quilt after quilting.  The design is called Chevron Tumbler.  It's straight lines which I thought would be interesting and unexpected given my other thought was to quilt feathers.  I love feathers but I wanted something different here.  Hand stitching the binding will be my hand project for a little bit until it's done.  Succulent Garden is pattern by Heather Givans at Crimson Tate.  I love so many versions of this quilt I'm glad I finally have one under my belt.   I would happily make another and another....

I finished the top for Witches Feet and I think it's so fun; it makes me smile!  Ideally I'll make a couple more tops and then quilt them all at the same time.  I have a couple of people I'd love to gift one to if I get several of them done.  They are fun and easy to sew so, maybe, it will happen.  The backside of my longarm makes a good table to lay things out!  Here's the completed top.  

I've made a bunch more Box Kite blocks.  These are from a block pattern in Quiltmaker magazine in 2014.   I think I forgot to share a picture of those last time.  I made the original batch of blocks back in 2015.  It has sat for a LONG time!  They are worth finishing! I had been thinking of starting Bonnie Hunter's leader/ender challenge from last July (running through end of June this year) when I realized I had started other projects of hers so why not finish one of those.  YES! Let's do it!  I kitted up a few blocks and I was on my way.  I want to make 120 blocks (6" finished) for a nice lap size throw in bright cheery colors.  This will be my primary project for a while.  When I get it done it will finish off a long time UFO.  So much better than starting something else!  However, I did make a couple more house blocks and star blocks for Neighborhood Nights.  Those are fun!! (See last post).

I finished my first batch of 12 log cabin blocks at my Sew Day this month.  I decided I want to make it a 20 block quilt instead of 12.  It will be put aside until one of these other projects are done.  Here is what 12 blocks look like.  Even though I wanted random placement of light and dark some of them ended up being a bit more traditional.  I really like the hint of a diagonal so the next few blocks I will be more deliberate in placing colors half light half dark.  The random ones will add interest.  I don't want the colors perfectly placed but "perfectly imperfect" as Jane said!😊   

I have not made any more string blocks or Hollow 9 patch blocks lately. I did make another 2 columns of Offset so now I'm up to 27 columns that finish at 2".  Maybe I'll make it twin size,,,another couple of columns would do it. And, it would allow me to move on to something else.  

So, that's what I've been up to lately.  Got a ton of stuff yet to do today so I'll close here.  

Happy sewing,

Stephanie

A June Finish!

Yes!  I finally finished my Disappearing Hour Glass!  I started it January 22, 2026 and finished the binding yesterday June 12, 2026.  Funny story, I was doing longarm quilting for a friend of mine who passed away last year.  Two of us are finishing all her WIP's for her family to have her quilts.  After quilting hers, it was so gorgeous I knew I needed to make one just like it.  I didn't know the name of the pattern so I drew diagrams and tried to figure it out.  It seemed too difficult.  Then I asked the friend who brought me the top if she knew the name of it.  She figured it out and then I found out how easy it really was!   Two layer cake squares, make an hourglass, cut it up, rearrange and sew back together!  Wow!  (I followed the  pattern and tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Co.).  Now I have one of my own.  It's 88" x 100" with borders.  I posted a tutorial of my own on how to make the blocks on my YouTube Channel @everydaysewist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0ovHq2CjU. 

The backing is a Kaffe print called Fronds in black and white.  I finished it with an extra wide binding cut from 3.5" strips.  I haven't made a wide binding in a long time and I love it!  Best of all this quilt will remind me of my friend as I use it.  She was and is still an inspiration.  Cancer sucks.  

I have given myself a new Challenge called Make It Happen Monday.  I have a list of smallish projects I want to make but I never seem to make the time or take the time to make them because I'm always working on big projects.  Well, on Mondays I'm going to allot a half hour or so to get started or make one of those smaller projects.  This week I did really well!  Not only did I make one of the Bowl Covers I wanted to do but I worked on 3 other projects as well throughout the week.  Here are 4 of the bowl covers.  They keep the dust out of your bowls when you aren't using them or keep curious pets from sticking their nose in.  I think they will be used a lot during the summer picnic/outdoor eating season.  They are reversible so all the edges are finished and pretty!  (Tutorial by Nikki @pincutsew).  Each one takes about half hour. 

I purchased this pattern recently called Neighborhood Nights.  I made a sample block to try it out.  I really like it!  Once I get another project or two done maybe I'll let myself work on this one.  

>I have so many things I want to work on.  I've made a few more Box Kite blocks.  I'm up to 65/120.  When I restarted on June 5 I had 49 made.  I'm making at least one a day as my Block a Day.   

>I made progress on Witches' Feet during my monthly Sew Day.

>And I finished the first twelve blocks of the log cabin quilt.  Now I want to make it a bit larger so I will make 20 blocks total.  Back to the cutting mat!  I wasn't trying or wanting to make normal log cabin blocks but now that I have arranged in furrows I kinda like it this way so the remaining blocks will be a bit more traditional color placement.  I like that it won't be perfect.  

>I also have the top completed for Succulent Garden.  Hopefully I will get it on the longarm this week. (Fingers crossed.)

I had a really good week and made a lot of progress on my projects!  Our challenge this month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is to work with (or not forget about using) pastels.  I think some more will work their way into the log cabin blocks.  

Happy Sewing, 

Stephanie