Sunday Summary: June 15

June 15, 2025June 17, 2025 / quiltinggail / 12 Comments

It is. If you take any pattern and change the colours, it’ll be a totally different look. I’ve been known to add more blocks or rows for a larger quilt, or take away blocks or columns for a smaller quilt. However, whenever I do this, I always credit the original designer because the basis of the quilt is their idea, not mine.

An Island Batik Challenge completed

I made two Funky Friend squirrels. You can read about their adventures HERE.

Another Left-over Finish

see THIS POST for details on these placemats:

This used fabric from Island Batik‘s (Lumin Fabrics) Tinsel Treasures and Midnight Blue (a foundation that is available all the time. There is Hobbs Batting fusible inside, Aurifil Thread #2600 (Dove Grey) and Schmetz Needles were used. The project was pressed with my Oliso Iron m3Pro.

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!

January – April 150 / 151 days
June: 12 / 15 days
Total: 162 / 166 97 %

Design Wall Mondays

Judy, at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, hosts a linky party for “What’s on your Design Wall” every week.

Piecing projects:

I’m using a 2 ¹/₂” stack of Island Batik’s “Splish Splash.” It’s a recently release collection. I love the seahorses, fish, bubbles … well, I just love the whole line of these fabrics. I’m using a pattern from The Fat Quarter Shop called “Jelly Roll Twist” and you can get the free pattern HERE. And, as I said earlier, “A Pattern is only a suggestion.” I’ll be making it a little bigger … it’ll be 7 blocks by 7 blocks.

Quilting projects:

MMM’s Glowing Hearts
Swan. needs sandwiching
Canuck Quilter Colour Value Mystery

Sunday Stash

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 did buy 2.5 yards of fabric at “The Chicken Coop” in Mundare, Alberta and 1 yard at Emmaline Bags in Spruce Grove, Alberta.

The placemats used 1 yard and the squirrels used 2.5 yards

Fabric used in the last week: 3.5 yards
Fabric Used in 2025: 123 yards. {30.5 yards of non Island Batik fabric}
Fabric Added in the last week: 3.5 yards
Fabric Added this year: 17 yards
Net Fabric used: 106 yards

To Do

Carol from Quilt Schmilt is hosting “To Do” every week.

To Do from the last week:

Canuck Quilter Colour Value Mystery. Sandwich it! XX NOT DONE XX
Sandwich Swan XX NOT DONE XX
Plan something for “Green” Rainbow Scrap Challenge. XX NOT DONE XX
Get MMM’s Glowing Heart’s quilt to flimsy stage √ DONE
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √ DONE.
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √ DONE.

To Do for this week:

Canuck Quilter Colour Value Mystery. Sandwich it and Quilt it!
Make the backing and Sandwich Swan
Plan something for “ORANGE” Rainbow Scrap Challenge. XX NOT DONE XX
Quilt MMM’s Glowing Heart
Work on Island Batik’s August challenge
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder!
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Free Sew Along

I have done several of Denise’s Sew Alongs and they are always AWESOME!!! I’m going to be doing this one!! Are you going to join me???? I promise, it’s a beauty!!

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.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!
Gail

Linking to:

So Scrappy @ Scrap Happy
Frédérique @ Quilting Patchwork Applique
Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
15 Minutes to Stitch @ Life in Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Musing @ Songbird Designs
Sew and Tell @ Melva Loves Scraps
Craftastic Monday @ Sew Can Do
To Do Tuesday @ Quilt Schmitt

Using Left-overs and TGIFF

June 12, 2025June 12, 2025 / quiltinggail / 12 Comments

I love using Left-over pieces and blocks from quilts. And the sooner they can be used, the better. When I made one of the quilts using Tinsel Treasures for my May Island Batik challenge, I had a design change that left me with lots of the longer Irish Chain pieces.

Where all the white sashing is, I originally had pieces from Tinsel Treasures. But, oh my! It was WAY too busy and did not look good at all! I swapped them out and used Island Batik’s solid white instead. It was much better, giving the eye places to rest!

I put all of the longer pieces together and joined in lots of the smaller blocks to make these 2 place mats. I had the extra smaller blocks because I had miscounted. Yup, I do that often!

These placemats will be donated to the guild for Meals on Wheels at Christmas time.

They were pieced and quilted with Aurifil Thread #2600 (Dove Grey). I used Hobbs fusible batting in the middle.

TGIFF

Here’s the link for you to add your Finished project for this week!

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.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!
Gail

Funky Friends Factory

June 10, 2025 / quiltinggail / 21 Comments

June is a fun month!! Pauline McArthur from Funky Friends Factory has partnered with Island Batik and each ambassador is to make a Funky Friend. We could choose from a LOT of Funky Friend patterns. I have made several Funky Friends in the past. This year, I chose to make Sue the Squirrel. Squirrels are famous in the quilting world … all the distractions of new projects are called ‘squirrels,’ This BLOG POST talks more about squirrels. I figured I needed a ‘real’ squirrel in my sewing area!

Sue the Squirrel is an Instant Download and you could start making yours today! See HERE.

Funky Friends patterns come with very clear directions. Sue the Squirrel also has a photo tutorial to help if you find the directions confusing! The link is in the pattern.

After I received the pattern from Funky Friends. I pressed my fabric with my Oliso M3Pro Iron (which I LOVE). and then started cutting. I decided to make 2 squirrels, a brown and a purple one.

Island Batik Fabrics Used:
- Purple Squirrel:
  - Lavender (part of the Playful Purples – always available)
  - unknown purple from my scraps
- Brown Squirrel:
  - Earthly Stories – (2) 10″ squares from a 10″ stack (a collection released this year).
  - Weave – Brownie (a blender – always available)

It is super important to mark all of the edges, so when the directions say, “Sew from F to G,” you don’t have to go back to the original pattern to figure out where F and G are. I use a Frixion pen and make sure that I mark only within the seam allowance. Normally I highly dislike Frixion pens because they can leave small white lines on the fabric. However, they are perfect to use in the seam allowance!

With a Schmetz Needle and Aurifil Thread in my machine, I started sewing. Here are some progress pictures: (the ears // arms // and the face with safety eyes already inserted)

Once they were made and stuffed, Sue (purple) and Sam (brown) agreed to a photo shoot. The first one is in the sewing room with their Simply Stuffing from Hobbs Batting. It’s wonderful and they said they really liked it! They wanted to go outside. They were really good until they decided to hide in the maple tree.

Then we went into the backyard and they posed really nicely with Daphne (our grand dog). Then they scampered away and were climbing the tree. Daphne told them “Get down!”

That was enough of their misbehaving! ** Until ** we went on a trip and they snuck into the truck! They were good travellers! But they really liked the window seats best!

Sue and Sam were really good at my sister’s and enjoyed Brûlée (a real cutie!), until they started to climb around!

We went shopping at Emmaline Bags in Spruce Grove and Sam and Sue very politely asked if they could sit in the Adirondack chairs in their Canadian display. The chairs were a perfect fit, but they were not for sale. Sam was a bit grumpy that he couldn’t take a chair home, but Sue told him that he would be better off sitting on the couch than sitting in a wooden chair!

As we headed home, they asked if they could have their picture taken at the Jasper sign. As soon as the picture was taken, they scampered off and ran up the trail towards the town. I did manage to catch up and caught a few pictures of the 2 of them …

Sam sat on a rock, enjoying the scenery while Sue sat on the bench.

And their final portrait …

Here’s a peek at my previous Funky Friend projects: Randy the Rhino, Alice Alpaca, Ella Elephant, Gregory Gorilla, and Taylor the Tiger.

Thank you!

Thank you to the generosity of Island Batik (Lumin Fabrics) and Industry partners! They have supplied the products for free as my role as an Island Batik Ambassador! Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, Schmetz Needles, Oliso Iron, and Funky Friends.

Island Batik Ambassadors

Visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors to see the Funky Friends they made this month:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio
Tina Dillard – Quilting Affection Designs

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany
Kimberly Flannagan – Kimberly Quilts
Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Susan Michaels – Dragonfly Fiberart Patterns
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique

Gail Sheppard – you are HERE!!!
Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color
Solomae Stoycoff – Cuddle Cat Quiltworks Blog
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

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.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!
Gail

Sunday Summary: June 1

June 1, 2025 / quiltinggail / 9 Comments

Can we start our Christmas Wish List in June?

A Left-over Finish

When I made the Irish chain blog hop quilts, see HERE . I had some left-over squares. I finished this little zipper pouch … I had some more left-overs, but haven’t finished that project yet. Here’s a picture of the front and back of the zipper pouch.

This used fabric from Island Batik‘s (Lumin Fabrics) Tinsel Treasures and Midnight Blue (a foundation that is available all the time. There is Hobbs Batting 80/20 inside, Aurifil Thread #2600 (Dove Grey) and Schmetz Needles were used. The project was pressed with my Oliso Iron m3Pro.

Stitching Stuff

January – April 150 / 151 days
June: 1 / 1 days
Total: 151 / 152 99 %