Summer Finishes!

 Hi there!  

It's been a month since my last update and I'm happy to say I've gotten several projects moved to or very close to the finish line!  Even though we are taking care of my mother now full time I have managed to carve out sewing time just about every day.  It's important to us to keep our routine as close to normal as possible while providing for her care.  I can often get some sewing done in the afternoon.  All it takes to make progress is a few minutes a day.  It adds up more than you might think so if you're struggling to find time to quilt, sew or craft I encourage you to try to get in 5, 10 or 15 minutes a day.  You'll see progress and it will make you feel better, too!

The baby quilt I showed last time has been hand delivered to the messenger.  We met up with my cousin and his wife and had a delightful catch up over lunch.  They will gift the quilt to their friend.  I'm sure I'll get a picture or two when that happens.  

I have another quilt going off to a new home!  I'm excited that this one which I made years ago will now be enjoyed by a little one.  I shared it during my livestream but I'll share it here too.  The large squares are cut 6.5", the smaller corner squares are cut 3.5", the rectangles are cut 2" x 3.5" (8 per block).  I did a color wash arranging the blocks from light to dark.  I still have SO MUCH FABRIC left from collecting for I Spy quilts; it would be fun to make another one some day soon in a different pattern.  I'll have to add it to my list so I don't forget.  

I decided to get the flannel quilt done next.  It just needed a couple more borders before being quilted and bound.  I got that done and I'm so very happy with it!  I tested it for size on the queen size bed it's meant for.  Added enough strips around for a good drape.  

I quilted it with a gorgeous feather design by Bethanne Nemesh called Acadia.  The backing fabric (not shown) is a quilting cotton extra wide backing in a warm toasty brown tone on tone floral I bought at the One Stop Shop Hop I just attended.   I decided I'd rather have a single piece of fabric for the back than to do a whole bunch of piecing for it.  This is finish #14 for 2026, started in 2015 so it's about time it got done! It feels good to  get an idea out of my head and into a quilt.  Now it needs a name!  Any ideas?? I'm terrible at thinking of names for things so if you can suggest something I'd love to hear it.  The name from the pattern designer is Soul Searching and that does not fit my version of it.  The pattern is in a book called Material Quilts by Kathy Doughhty.  It's made entirely of 2.5" cut strips, that's the only hint I can give you. 

Next up I worked on my string quilt.  I only needed a few more blocks to complete the top.  These are 16" finished blocks made with mostly 30's fabrics.  I have a tutorial on how I made these blocks here (along with a funny OOPS moment and how I corrected it 😂).  It did a pretty good job using up all the strings I'd accumulated in that drawer!  I made 30 blocks for setting 5 across and 6 rows down.  Along the way I took a couple of pictures of what it would like set 5 x 5 and 4 x 5.  I often wonder what quilts would look like with different number of blocks so this time I remembered to take pictures along the way!  

   

25 blocks

20 blocks

With a border

I tried adding a border to it too but, I didn't like it so I took it off.  ( I asked for opinions during my live stream which you can check out on my YouTube channel Everyday Sewist August Livestream).  It's been quilted so next time I'll show you the completed quilt when I finish the binding. It looks really good so you'll have to come back and see. 😁  I started this one in March 2026.

Even more quilting happened on the longarm!  Quilt #3 this past month is my leader/ender project started in October 2024 called Offset.  I decided enough was enough on this one.  I could have made it a bit bigger but I really wanted to move on to other projects so I assembled the columns over the course of 4 days.  I sewed in batches of about 10 columns to keep it from getting unwieldy.  I ended up with 32 columns for a width of 64" and length of 84" (28 units per column).  I'd call that a generous couch size, maybe even a twin size.  Here is the finished top before quilting.  It's quilted but I still need to make the binding and attach it.  Super important:  I stay-stitched around the edge of the top before quilting to keep those seams from popping open and to keep the pieces pressed in the direction I wanted.  

I've completed a couple more Make It Happen Monday projects.  I haven't done one a week but close to that.  It's been great way to get to some smaller projects and make sample blocks (which may end up in my orphan quilt.) Make it Happen Monday

I did not work on the quilt with the shattered backing yet.  I think it's going to get a new backing tied instead of adding more quilting to it.  Maybe next time I'll have it done.  

I've made a couple more each of Hollow 9 patches and Box Kite since finishing up Offset.  I've pulled out my yellow scraps and smaller pieces of yellow for those.  Box Kite is looking like a cute kids quilt as I've pulled out some novelty prints to use.  I think that will be quite fun!  I hope to keep adding a few more of each during the rest of the month.  I have nothing cut and ready to sew right now so I'll have to have a cutting session to keep things rolling along.  

For the rest of this month I have lots of hand work to do:  binding to stitch down, a Sashiko project I enjoy working on, I'd like to start another Kawandi project plus I'd like to get the repairs done on one of the quilts needing that done.  I have two more quilt tops plus a couple of tablerunners to get on the longarm and I'd like to keep stitching up something with my yellow scraps.  Even though August is a long month I doubt I'll get to all of it but I'll try.  

Thanks for being here!  

Happy sewing, 

Stephanie

May 2026- Memorial Day Weekend, Project Update

 I'm excited about a couple of new starts and my progress on a couple of other projects.  I had very little sewing time in April/early May with my Mom here so I'm making up for it now.  My Mom has gone back to live with my brother for a while.  I'll sew as much as I can until she comes back here.  I've found that even though she is easy to care for it definitely changes my routine and takes a lot of time.  I'm sure a lot of you are nodding your head.  Here's my update from the beginning of the month and some of the things I'll be working on in June.  

1. I finished binding Lupine & Laughter.  It looks just like the last photo I took in my previous post and it's my display quilt on my upcoming YouTube video.  I LOVE IT!  I added two extra borders to Bonnie's layout so it finishes at 96 x 96 and contains 2381 pieces.  

2.  I've made more string blocks.  I'm up to 20, enough for a twin size quilt measuring 64 x 80 without borders.  I might stop there temporarily, make the twin quilt, and then come back to making more later.  They are 16" finished.  I don't have a current picture of them all on the design wall but they are making a nice size pile in the pizza box.  

3.  My Disappearing Hour Glass quilt top is done.   I ordered fabric for the backing because I didn't want a pieced backing for this one.  I thought about several options but none of them appealed to me.  There were 2 bolts that had enough for a backing but the rest of them would mean extra piecing.  I wanted something more dramatic for this top.  It's a long story.  

4.  Succulent Garden has been waiting it's turn to get back on the design wall....

5.  Making Bowl Covers, also not yet.  Maybe this weekend?? Now that's a great goal! 

6.  Now for NEW STARTS!  I started 3 new projects, two of them are for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge which I'm linking to.  I realized I wanted to have another couple of ways to cut and use my scraps.  I've been inspired by all the quilters posting their projects so if it was you I have copied THANK YOU!  Please tell me in the comments if it was you because I lost track of who/where I saw it.  

First, I started making Nine Patches in color order.  The squares are cut 2.5".  The nine patches always have a white square in the center.  I'm not sure if I will use them all in one quilt or if I might get enough of one color range to make a quilt in just blues/greens as my friend did.  Here are my 28 blocks.  So far, I've made at least one in almost all the colors.  There is one orange block in there but I started with January's color of blue, then moved on to green and red and pink.  Then I had to make a couple of purple and yellow also.   If they all go in one quilt set straight I'll need 99 blocks for a throw size. 

 Here is the quilt a friend of mine made which I quilted for her:  This is a possible layout with 30 blocks.  And, look at that gorgeous border!  I'm not sure I will get to making the border as she did but I love it.  It really makes the quilt pop doesn't it: 

I also started making 16" Double Star blocks.  I'm really excited about these blocks because they are so scrappy.  I love the variety of background and prints.  Since my orange scrap bag also has yellow in it I ended up making one of each.  These were a test to see if I liked making them and I do.  However, since I was aiming for so much variety I ended up having quite a few leftover pieces.  I might need to make 2 at a time to use up all the pieces I cut.  I'm also thinking of using the extras in an ocean waves block.

And just last night I started a log cabin project.  I wanted to make a test block to check my measurements and write them down so I used old fabrics from my 2.5" strip drawer.  It turns out I really like it!  I made the first one with a green center then changed my mind, took out the green and replaced it with solid brown (Northcott Colorworks in Chocolate).  I thought my brown phase was over but I am excited to have a place for these older fabrics and I think it will look cozy come fall.  Here is my  inspiration quilt, circa 2004, a Thimbleberries pattern.  I've wanted to duplicate this one for a long time. 

I like the larger center which I cut at 3.5" with all the strips cut at 2.5" width.  Lengths are:  3.5", 5.5", 7.5", 9.5", 11.5", 13.5", 15.5", 17.5" and last one at 19.5".  Cut one each of 3.5 and 19.5, two each of the rest.  

Here's what my design wall looks like now: 

And that's what I've been working on the past few weeks!  I think June will be a fun month in the sewing room. 

If you want to see more about my projects I have a YouTube channel @everydaysewist.  I'm just starting to put a couple of tutorials out which I'm very excited about in addition to monthly episodes about my projects.  Everyday Sewist on YouTube

Linking up with:

Angela at Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Happy sewing!

Stephanie

May 2026

Week One:  

Well, how is it May already?!  I really wanted to post more frequently but that hasn't happened...yet.  I'm an optimist so we'll see.  I've been a bit overwhelmed with life lately, not as much time sewing as I'm accustomed to.  

Here are the projects on my May list, only one new project I hope to try, the rest are carry overs from April and earlier.  

1.  Lupine and Laughter, Bonnie Hunter mystery from Nov 2025:  stitch binding down on back. 

2.  16" string blocks with a 30's fabrics.  13 of 30 blocks made.  It doesn't matter how long this takes.  The goal is to use up as much of my 30's stash as possible (it's in one drawer).  Is it possible to empty the drawer??  If 30 blocks doesn't make a big dent I could keep going and make a second twin size quilt.  

3.  Also shown in the photo above is are my Offset columns, an idea I got from Cheryl Arkison.  The colors are rectangles cut 1.5" x 2.5". The lights are 2.5" squares.  I need hundreds of units to make about 45 columns for a queen size quilt.   It's my leader/ender project.  The other projects in this photo are a flannel quilt I'll get back to soon (the top is done except for borders) and blocks for lupine and laughter (now almost finished-see above.)

4.  Disappearing Hour Glass:  needs borders, quilting and binding.  I think I can get that done this month.  

5.  Succulent Garden:  started at retreat in April this year I have almost all the blocks done then I will add filler pieces and then assemble.  I may want to make a couple of extra blocks to replace the darker ones.  I'm not sure how much I'll get to work on it this month, we'll see.  It looks so dark in this photo but it's really not.  

6.  Bowl Covers.  I'd like to try the tutorial from Nikki at Pin, Cut, Sew to make a couple of bowl covers for a quick easy project.  They are reversible.  

Those are the projects on my list this month.  I also want to make a couple of videos for my YouTube Channel:  Everyday Sewist.  Come visit me there!  We might be traveling a bit too.  Good thing it's a long month.  I will dig into my ORANGE stash and scraps and see what I can come up with.  I don't have a plan for a block to make every month so I'm cutting up scraps for Offset (above) and for a future Potato Chip quilt (2.5" x 4.5" rectangles).  I could make some more blocks for my Colorwash quilt (a Terry Rowland tutorial) or make some more tiny houses.  I sure like seeing what everyone is making each month over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!   

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Stephanie