A couple of months ago, I received a fantastic set of Christmas templates from Missouri Star Quilt Company. Each of the larger templates has a smaller one in the middle. Here’s a picture of them:
I needed an early Christmas card … and I searched and searched and searched … and I could not find my box of Christmas cards. And, they still have not shown themselves to me! Where or where are they hiding???
Christmas Templates to the rescue! I used Island Batik fabrics and cut out a green Christmas tree and a red bow.
Then I glued the green Christmas tree onto a blank coloured card. I like the simplicity of it! I wrote my Merry Christmas message on the inside and put it in with the parcel.
Favourite Finish
Yvonne, from Quilting Jetgirl hosts a Favourite Finish of the Month Link Party. I always struggle with picking out my favourite each month!!! And this month, it’s no different!! Do I choose the Mystery Quilt done in purples or my Island Batik Dresden Plate challenge? Which would YOU choose?
Don’t Forget:
I am now a Silly Moon affiliate! So what does that mean? When you use my affiliate code Quiltinggail2024 at Silly Moon, you will receive 10% off your order and I will receive a small commission.
We were away on a Mexican cruise and I didn’t take my machine (shocking, I know!!) I thoroughly enjoyed our time!
We did a ‘glass bottom’ boat tour … had to laugh at the name of the boat “Sex Machine Too!” And the glass bottom was a bit of a joke … a 1′ x 3′ piece of algae covered plexiglass in the middle. But the rest of the tour was great!
A Blog Hop Finish
This was my finish for “Gnome for Thanksgiving.” You can read about it HERE.
Stitching Stuff
Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!
Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash numbers. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks!
Even though I was in 2 fabric stores in Mazatlan, I didn’t purchase anything! Nothing said “buy me” and believe me, I looked!!!
Fabric Used in the last week: 0 yards
Fabric Used in 2024: 192 yards from non-IB: 80.5
Fabric Added in the last week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 32 yards
Net Fabric used: 160 yards
To Do
Carol from Quilt Schmilt is hosting “To Do” every week.
To Do from the last report:
Not a lot done while I was away …
Finish Butterfly Haven Blog Hop project √ DONE
Quilt Floral Fusion.NOT DONE
2025 SAHRR Work on Prompt 6. in progress
Monthly Colour Challenge – need to sandwich, quilt and bind. NOT DONE
Work on Island Batik December project. in progress
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √ DONE.
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.√ DONE.
To Do for next week:
Quilt Floral Fusion.
2025 SAHRR Work on Prompt 6.
Monthly Colour Challenge – need to sandwich, quilt and bind.
Monthly Colour Challenge – need to sandwich, quilt and bind.
Work on Island Batik December project.
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder!
There have been a ton of awesome Dresden Plate quilts! Visit the Island Batik blog for an update on the quilts from the last 3 weeks and an opportunity to win some awesome Fat Quarters!
Visit Island Batik blog for a Round-up and an opportunity to win a fat-quarter bundle of fabric!
Don’t Forget
I am now a Silly Moon affiliate! So what does that mean? When you use my affiliate code Quiltinggail2024 at Silly Moon, you will receive 10% off your order and I will receive a small commission.
Joan, from Moose Stash Quilting is hosting this fun blog hop. Here’s what she had to say about this project:
Challenge: To “Gnome” them is to love them! Throw a little Thanksgiving twist into your “Gnomie” project!
I live in Canada and our Thanksgiving was WAY back in the beginning of October!!! So, it was hard for me to get in the Thanksgiving mood for this hop! But Gnomes are fun!
Before I show you what I made, let me show you what a friend of mine made: A Sewing Gnome! It was for a secret gift exchange at a retreat and I was the super lucky one to get it! I love the bobbins, thimble and the spools of thread of accents!
I’ve been enjoying making rope baskets and things. I found some Sewing gnome embroidery designs at Kreative Kiwi (HERE). This one had the sewing machine. I stitched it out and then used my ‘Stained’ Sharpies to colour him in. It’s going to be a coaster for my water bottle in my sewing studio! It’s approximately 5″ round.
GNOME Blog Hoppers
Be sure to visit all the other GNOME blog hoppers to see a plethora of lovely gnomes!
The other day, I was looking around my studio and realized that I have a number of treasures that I adore!! And that I enjoy looking at every day!
These are my oldest treasures. The first is a sewing kit that came with one of my treadle machines. The treadle is about 100 years old, and I’m guessing that this case is around the same vintage. The 2nd picture is my mother’s button box … The 3rd is a calendar from my cousin … we were born in the same year, but he figured I was conceived the previous year, so he kept the ’55 calendar and gave me the ’54 one. It makes me smile!
These are items that we purchased on our travels …
These are a few of the “secret” gifts that I received at various retreats …
In 2015, I went to a retreat where Bonnie Hunter was teaching several classes. I took the Smith Mountain Morning class and I finished this block. Bonnie graciously signed it … and it is a real treasure!
The first is a pin from a friend … There are NO Mistakes in Art!!! So True!! And the 2nd are 2 birds from Laura, a friend that was working on a Sue Spargo quilt, and didn’t know what to do with them all!!! I feel honoured to have 2 of them in my studio! The nurse’s cap is from a reunion in 2006! A small replica of what we had to wear! After graduation, I never wore my cap again! And the Winnie the Pooh lunch kit was a university graduation gift from my sister (I was 50!). It lives in a travelling tote and is used frequently!
The little zipper bag was bought at Victoria Falls in Africa and my daughter brought the fabric coloured magnetic letters when she returned from Cambodia.
Gifts from my cousins … they both quilt, but one also paints …
Treasured hand made cards …
This Stained Glass window hanging was made by a dear friend … she was my roomie in nursing school … we were in each other’s wedding parties …
I used a strip set from Island Batik called “Playful Purples” and Island Batik solid white for the background. If you want to use the same fabric, both the strip set and the solid white is available at Creekside Quilts HERE.
Here’s a picture of finish top. The binding is the left-over strips from the strip pack. I cut them into 12-18″ sections and joined them together.
And a close up picture of the quilting:
Quilt Stats:
Size: 63″ x 75″
Fabric: Island Batik Strip pack of Playful Purples and Solid White
Here’s an opportunity for YOU to show us your quilt top (it doesn’t have to be finished). This link will be open until the end of November. You can also post a picture on Instagram and use #jellyrollmystery2024. OR you can email me a picture and I’ll post it on a future blog.
The challenge was to make a quilt with Dresden Plates … you can read all the details HERE.
Stitching Stuff
Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!
Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash numbers. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks!
I bought 2.5 yards of solid red fabric to coordinate with a Christmas fabric that I have.
Fabric Used in the last week: 8 yards
Fabric Used in 2024: 192 yards from non-IB: 80.5
Fabric Added in the last week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 32 yards
Net Fabric used: 160 yards
To Do
Carol from Quilt Schmilt is hosting “To Do” every week.
To Do from the last report:
A little bit of this and a little bit of that was done, but nothing finished from the list this week.
Get Jelly Roll Mystery next clue & blog post ready! √ DONE
Make project for the Butterfly Haven Blog Hop in December. in progress
Quilt Floral Fusion.NOT DONE
Quilt Jelly Roll Mystery Quilt. √ DONE
2025 SAHRR Work on Prompt 6. in progress
Monthly Colour Challenge – need to sandwich, quilt and bind. NOT DONE
Work on Island Batik December project. in progress
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √ DONE.
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.√ DONE.
To Do for next week:
Finish Butterfly Haven Blog Hop project
Quilt Floral Fusion.
2025 SAHRR Work on Prompt 6.
Monthly Colour Challenge – need to sandwich, quilt and bind.
Work on Island Batik December project.
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder!
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.
Jelly Roll Mystery Quilt
The Mystery Quilt is finished. Some are asking for directions on how to sew the quilt “on Point.” I don’t have time to write them up at the moment, but here’s a YouTube video that may help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEFekuJIP5k
Visit Island Batik blog for a Round-up and an opportunity to win a fat-quarter bundle of fabric!
Don’t Forget
I am now a Silly Moon affiliate! So what does that mean? When you use my affiliate code Quiltinggail2024 at Silly Moon, you will receive 10% off your order and I will receive a small commission.
Here’s what Island Batik had to say about this challenge: “Welcome to the much-anticipated Dresden Plate Blog Hop! The Dresden Plate, a quintessential block in quilting, is known for its captivating radial design featuring pie-shaped wedges arranged in a circular pattern, resembling a delicate flower. As you embark on this quilting adventure, you’ll be exploring this timeless pattern, infusing it with your unique style and vision. Your challenge is to make a quilt, lap-sized or larger, using the assigned Summer ‘24 fabric collection that will showcase your individuality. May your needles be nimble, your creativity boundless, and your Dresden Plate quilts truly shine!“
We are to use the fabric collection that came in our surprise bundles that arrived in June/July.
My surprise bundle contained an awesome collection “Flutter Fields” designed by Jerry Khiev. Aren’t they just gorgeous? They are paired with Buttermilk and Midnight Blue.
I originally decided that I would make one large Dresden Plate. I started out by putting the fabrics in an order that was pleasing to me … and I made sure to label each piece so that I wouldn’t get confused! I left out the 2 lighter fabrics as I knew they would blend too much with the background fabric.
Here are a few pictures of blades in progress.
My one large Dresden Plate didn’t work out very well! You can’t tell really well from the picture, but the centre did not lie well. If you look closely at the upper right part of the centre circle, you can see that it isn’t a nice circle – it sort-of goes straight.
I tried to fix it by doing a few things: Take out one or 2 blades … unstitch a few blades that formed the ‘straight’ part of the circle and re-sew … sigh … it didn’t work.
On to plan B …
A few years ago, our guild had a zoom presentation by Candace Copp Grisham. Shortly after the presentation, I was at a guild retreat and “Dresden” fever was evident. Almost everyone at the retreat was making a Dresden plate! I ended up buying the book and played around with some of the ideas.
There is a LOT of inspiration on Candace’s website HERE. Also, a friend had made a wall hanging with Dresden plates and a vase … between the website and my friends quilt, my inspiration was newly born!
Here is a close-up of some of the Dresden plates, using different techniques:
The process of putting the plates together:
Using my Oliso iron to press open the seams
Showing the ‘wrong’ side of the curved Dresden
The original layout (I initially was going to use the Midnight Blue for the vase, but decided on using one of the green fabrics with gold stars on it.
One of the centre circles
My batting of choice for this quilt: Hobbs Heirloom Premium Wool Batting
The background was pieced, then the vase and flowers were placed on the background. I did this on the spare bed so that I could use glue (Acorn Precision Piecing Seam Align Glue) and press all the pieces into place. Yes, the spare bed makes a fantastic ironing surface for large projects!
Silly Moon Rulers: Rocket for all the straight lines, Charming and Kite (for the wavy line)
Make sure you visit Mania Hatziioannidi @ Mania for quilts as she is using the same fabric collection! She’s quite the artist, so I’m 100% positive that her quilt will be totally awesome!
Where can you buy Flutter Fields?
There are several stores throughout the USA that sell Flutter Fields:
Visit Island Batik blog for a Round-up and an opportunity to win a fat-quarter bundle of fabric!
Don’t Forget:
I am now a Silly Moon affiliate! So what does that mean? When you use my affiliate code Quiltinggail2024 at Silly Moon, you will receive 10% off your order and I will receive a small commission.
I used a strip set from Island Batik called “Playful Purples” and Island Batik solid white for the background. If you want to use the same fabric, both the strip set and the solid white is available at Creekside Quilts HERE.
Clue #5
This is the final clue. I was going to have you sew portions of this together first, but a couple of people said, “no, let the participants organize the fabrics how they want.” So, that’s what I’ve done!
Edit: Cut 2 more 5″ squares. Cut them in half diagonally. These 4 HST will be your corner blocks.
Here’s a picture of my top … I’ve started quilting it … if you look hard, you can see the straight lines through the coloured blocks and on the top left, the curved lines in the white block. I’m hoping that next week I will have the quilt quilted and bound. Once it’s finished, I’ll have a link party where you can add your quilt to show everyone.
Edit from Clue #4: You will need 124 sections for the quilt. If you can’t get 8 from each strata, you can make a shorter quilt … but it needs to be shorter in groups of 12. For example 112 will work.
I’m trying, I’m really trying to NOT buy any fabric!!! I definitely shop my stash first!!!
Monthly Colour Challenge
November’s colour is Teal. Visit Jen at Patterns by Jen to get your free pattern for this month. It’s free for the month and after that you’ll need to pay a small fee for it.
I’m using Island Batik fabrics for my blocks.
Here are my blocks to date:
A Small Finish!
I finished this little mini awhile ago and sent it to Steph at Hobbs Batting and it hung in their booth at Quilt Market in Houston.
This was made with a new fabric line that will be available in 2025. It is called Petal Poetry. This mini is 12″ square, Hobbs Tuscany Wool batting is in the middle and Aurifil Thread was used for the quilting.
Stitching Stuff
Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!
Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash numbers. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks!
I bought 2.5 yards of solid red fabric to coordinate with a Christmas fabric that I have.
Fabric Used in the last week: 0.5 yards
Fabric Used in 2024: 184 yards from non-IB: 77
Fabric Added in the last week: 2.5 yards
Fabric Added this year: 32 yards
Net Fabric used: 152 yards
To Do
Carol from Quilt Schmilt is hosting “To Do” every week.
To Do from the last report:
A little bit of this and a little bit of that was done, but nothing finished from the list this week.
Get Jelly Roll Mystery next clue & blog post ready! in progress
Quilt Floral FusionNOT DONE
2025 SAHRR Work on Prompt 6 in progress
Monthly Colour Challenge – need to sandwich, quilt and bind NOT DONE
Work on Island Batik November project (Dresden Plate) √ DONE
Jelly Roll Mystery next clue & blog post ready! in progress
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √ DONE.
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.√ DONE.
To Do for next week:
Get Jelly Roll Mystery next clue & blog post ready!
Make project for the Butterfly Haven Blog Hop in December
Quilt Floral Fusion
Quilt Jelly Roll Mystery Quilt
2025 SAHRR Work on Prompt 6
Monthly Colour Challenge – need to sandwich, quilt and bind
Work on Island Batik December project
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder!
As I made up this list, I realized that I absolutely adore each of the fabric collections that will be showcased in this blog hop!! You’ll have a LOT of awsome eye candy if you follow this blog hop!
Visit Island Batik blog for a Round-up and an opportunity to win a fat-quarter bundle of fabric!
Don’t Forget
I am now a Silly Moon affiliate! So what does that mean? When you use my affiliate code Quiltinggail2024 at Silly Moon, you will receive 10% off your order and I will receive a small commission.
Quilting Gail 