Island Batik

Be Kind: Blog Hop

/ quiltinggail / 34 Comments

Joan, from Moose Stash Quilting is hosting this month’s blog hop: Bee Kind

Challenge: September is the time to remember that a little kindness goes a long way. Share your “kind” projects. Your favorite charity project, a free online pattern or anything that shows you spread a little kindness, everywhere you go. The Bee’s are an important part of life as well, and we all need to be kind to them too!

I thought it would be cute to make a quilt with a bee on it. But “NO” was my mind’s response to that thought. I’m allergic to bees (their stings) and I generally don’t like them. Yes, I know they are good for growing things and are necessary, but honestly, I don’t want them anywhere near me. And not close-up in a quilt!

I do a LOT of donation quilts for numerous charities (see below), but I wanted to do something different.

So what to do???

I was thinking about what to do as I was making a ton of tissue holders. I was getting ready for a retreat and making them for every attendee. Tissues are something that we all use and need at one time or another. The holders are quick and easy to make. But making over 20 of them takes time. And yes, I was doing it as a kindness to everyone!

Here’s how to make them:

Step #1: Take a 6″ x 6″ square and an 6″ x 8″ rectangle. Sew them together on the long ends of the 8″ rectangle, wrong sides together, using a 1/4” seam.

Step #2: Turn it right side out and ensure the ends of the 8″ rectangle form a small ‘border’ on each end. (I don’t measure, I just estimate that they are close to the same width).

Step #3: Fold over one of the edges, measuring 1 3/4” up. Overlap the second side, folding down 1 1/2“. Clip into place and sew the ends. (Yes, they will overlap).

Step #4: Sew the ends, using a 1/4” seam.

Step #5: Make boxed corners. Fold as in the picture and sew a line 1/2” from the corner. Trim boxed corners and turn right side out.

I used tissues from Dollarama.

Quilt Stats:

Other Kindnesses

Boundary Bay Quilting Guild accepts donations for baby quilts, comfort quilts and Quilts of Valour. I regularly donate to the baby quilt and comfort quilt committees. I make a lot of quilts and it’s nice to know that they are going someplace where they are loved. Here are a few that I’ve made in the last while:

At Christmas time, the guild collects placemats for meals on wheels. I make these throughout the year, using left-overs from quilts. I simply put some Christmas fabric on the back and the recipient will have a reversible placemat. Sorry, no pictures.

Bee Kind Blog Hoppers

Bee sure to see all the Kindness of other bloggers

Monday Sept 23

Tuesday Sept 24

Wednesday Sept 25

Thursday Sept 26th

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail 

For September, there is no 20% off an order of $50 or more. However, MSQC is having fantastic sales this month and if you use my Affiliate link, I will still receive a small commission.

Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:  

Sunday Summary, September 15

/ quiltinggail / 12 Comments

Do you have Fabracadabra happening in your sewing studio? I do … and it’s often hiding in sight where I can see it!

Monthly Colour Challenge

September’s colour is Brown. 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’s all my blocks to date:

Floral Fusion Blocks

Denise at A Quiltery is doing “Floral Fusion” – a Sew Along with new blocks each Monday. This promises to be beautiful!!! Hurry and get this week’s block while it’s still free! (See HERE).

The pink and purple flowers on the left are all appliquéd on. I used batting as the stabilizer and will trim around all the stitching to give them a trapunto look. The 2 columns on the right have been glued into place and need stitching.

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!

I got lots of sewing done while I was at a retreat, but not a lot while we were dry camping. However, I did count the time I spent cutting out appliqué pieces as sewing time.

  • January – August:  225 / 243 days
  • September: 12 / 15 days
  • 22 missed days since January 1
  • Total: 237/ 259 91 %

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:

  • Appliquéing Floral Fusion blocks
  • A Mini for Quilt Market
  • Working on sashing and borders for Monthly Colour Challenge
  • Twilight blog hop project
  • Work on Prompt #3 for SAHRR ’25

Quilting:

  • “5 fat quarter” quilt is partially quilted.

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 shared my Adventurous Appliqué Quilt this week … it used approximately 10 yards of fabric and a ton of thread! You can read about my process and this fun technique HERE.

  • Fabric Used in the last week:   10 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2024:     151.5 yards  from non-IB: 63.5
  • Fabric Added in the last week: 0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     29.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              117 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.

  1. Appliquéing Floral Fusion blocks. in progress
  2. Make Rope bowl √   DONE
  3. Working on sashing and borders for Monthly Colour Challenge. not done
  4. Twilight Blog Hop project in progress
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE. 
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

I won’t be home a lot in the next couple of weeks, so my list is limited, and likely beyond reasonable expectations.

  1. Appliquéing Floral Fusion blocks
  2. 2025 SAHRR get prompt 3 done
  3. Work on sashing and borders for Monthly Colour Challenge
  4. Twilight blog hop project
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Adventurous Appliqué Blog Hop

The last week of this fantastic Blog Hop promises to be wonderful!

Week 3:

September 16:

Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt.

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations.

September 17:

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts.

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood.

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights.

September 18:

Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels.

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

September 19:

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine.

September 20:

Visit Island Batik Blog for an opportunity to win some awesome fabric and see a recap of this week’s blog hop quilts!n some awesome fabric and see a recap of this week’s blog hop quilts!

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail 

PLEASE NOTE: Missouri Star is having a ton of promotions in September to celebrate their birthday! You will NOT receive 20% off these. Although, I may still receive a small commission! Thank you for your support!

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:  

Island Batik: Adventurous Appliqué Blog Hop

/ quiltinggail / 28 Comments

For this challenge, we were encouraged to use an edge-painting technique that was used for a quilt called Full Bloom. A great youtube tutorial was the inspiration. (Click HERE). The basic premise is to appliqué the pieces using the edge painting technique.

This is the fantastic fabric I received, along with 5 spools of 40 weight Aurifil thread. The collection is called Poetic Bouquet, designed by Kathy Engle for Heidi Pridemore of The Whimsical Workshop.

I decided to use the Garden Party quilt pattern by Laura Heine. You can get the pattern HERE. I wanted a pattern that had some fairly large pieces and this fit pattern with flowers and butterflies fit my purpose!

I traced out the pattern onto six 22″ background squares of Frosting – an Island Batik neutral that is available year round. The individual pattern pieces were cut out using 19 of the 20 fabrics in the collection. (The 20th fabric was used for the binding.). The design board was handy for pinning each of the fabrics on the main squares. I was able to ensure that the purple petals and the light petals were in different positions.

Then I started to glue each piece into place, using Acorn Seam Align glue. (You can get the glue HERE). I had this glue in a “Precision Piecing” kit that has been sitting in a drawer for a LONG time. I had never used the kit because I don’t see the point in gluing each and every seam that I sew. ANYHOW, I decided to try it for gluing the pieces onto the background. It worked like a charm!!!! Especially with the Oliso Iron, to press it into place.

When the 6 squares had the individual pieces ironed on them, it was time to audition the layout. The first was an attempt at alternating the butterflies. The 2nd had all the squares in the same orientation and the 3rd had the 3/4 flowers. The 3rd layout won!

I decided that I would appliqué each square on it’s own. Since it would be easier to manipulate a 22″ square than a whole quilt. I chose to use Hobbs Batting Heirloom Cotton with scrim as I knew that it would appliqué nicely on my machine and not get caught up in the feed dogs. (Yes, it required frequent cleaning, but it worked). I was able to cut several layers of the batting easily with the Missouri Star Amelia Scissors as the rotary cutter would not cut through the layers. A test sample was made to make sure I was on the right path.

I was using the 40 weight Aurifil Thread I had received in my July box and quickly realized that I shouldn’t (or didn’t need to) use the 40 weight in the bobbin or I would run out of thread for the top. I used a lot of various Aurifil Thread 50 weight bobbins in colours close to what I was using on the top. Here is what the stitches looked like on the back of the batting. I used a few different Appliqué stitches on my Janome M7 to thread paint the sides of the pieces. #18 was used the most, #17 was used occasionally and a simple zig zag was used once in a while (on the stems and leaf centres).

Here are some close-ups of the stitching from the front.

Once each of the squares was appliquéd, they were sashed together with Island Batik‘s solid grey and a backing applied. The background was free-motion quilted around each of the appliqué pieces. The sashing and borders were quilted using the same appliqué stitch that was used for the edge stitching.

Quilt Stats:

  • Size: 48″ x 70″
  • Fabric: Island Batik: Poetic Bouquet, Solid Black (butterfly centres), Amber (flower centres, from Opulent Orange), Frosting (Background) and Solid Grey (sashing and borders).
  • Hobbs Batting Heirloom with scrim binder: 80/20
  • Aurifil Thread: 40 weight
    • 2745: Midnight
    • 2545: Medium Purple
    • 5005: Bright Turquoise
    • 1128: Light Blue Violet
    • 2515: Light Orchid
    • 4661: Mint Julep (Variegated)
  • Aurifil Thread: 50 weight
    • 2140: Orange Mustard 
    • 2600: Dove Grey
    • 2692: Black
  • Quilting: Aurifil Thread 50 weight: #2600, Dove Grey (a cone that I received from Missouri Star Quilt Co.)
  • Schmetz Needles: Microtex 70/10 and Microtex 80/12

Make sure you visit Megan Best‘s blog! She has the same collection as me!!! And, I also heard that she used some of the same appliqué stitches as me!! I can’t wait to see her quilt!!

Where can you find Poetic Bouquet?

There are several stores throughout the USA that sell Poetic Bouquet, here are a few:

Thank you

The following, Island Batik and Industry partners, made this project possible. They supplied the products for free as my role as an Island Batik Ambassador! Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, Schmetz Needles, Oliso Iron.

Adventurous Appliqué Blog Hop

Week 1: Visit Island Batik’s blog for a recap of Week 1: HERE.

Week 2:

September 9:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs.

Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

September 10:

Gail Sheppard: Quilting Gail you are here!

Megan Best ~ BestQuilter

September 11:

Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting.

September 12:

Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs.

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You.

September 13:

Visit Island Batik Blog for an opportunity to win some awesome fabric and see a recap of this week’s blog hop quilts!

Week 3:

September 16:

Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt.

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations.

September 17:

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts.

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood.

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights.

September 18:

Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels.

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

September 19:

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine.

September 20:

Visit Island Batik Blog for an opportunity to win some awesome fabric and see a recap of this week’s blog hop quilts!

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail 

PLEASE NOTE: Missouri Star is having a ton of promotions in September to celebrate their birthday! You will NOT receive 20% off these. Although, I may still receive a small commission!

Thank you for your support!

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:  

Silly Moon Rulers

/ quiltinggail / 16 Comments

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.

So, you might be wondering WHY I’m a Silly Moon affiliate? Well, I was asked and said, “yes.” But also, I absolutely LOVE ❤️ the rulers.

Here’s a little about the beginning of my Silly Moon journey:

The first Silly Moon ruler I bought was “Turkey.” A friend of mine was helping vend at a quilt show and convinced me to buy it (Thanks, Judy D!). It was something that sat and sat. Finally, one day, I decided that I would use it on this donation quilt. You can read about it HERE.

My next venture with Silly Moon was with a “Cupid” ruler. I did all over hearts. I backtracked on a heart, then did another one from that point … it’s fun and simple and fast! The quilt on the left used all 4 sizes, the one on the right used mostly one size.

I believe it was during the Covid days that our guild had Kellie (owner of Silly Moon) do a workshop using 2 rulers, “Charming” and “Edgie 6“. We were instructed to make a small table mat using 5” squares. Well, for those of you that know, me, you know that I often don’t follow the exact instructions and I obviously made the following quilt bigger than a small table mat. In the centre, I followed the instructions in the class and used the appropriate rulers. Practicing the different motifs on different blocks. Then, I used a mixture of the Charming and Cupid rulers when finishing the quilt. You can read about it on THIS POST. I found the class was excellent and the rulers were easy to handle. You can access the on-line class HERE.

I’ve been buying Silly Moon rulers ever since. Rare is the quilt that doesn’t have some ruler quilting on it!! I think “Rocket” is the most used ruler I have. It is fantastic for stitch in the ditch, or a 1/4” echo and a zillion other uses.

At one point, I bought the “Twinkle” rulers. I made this Christmas wreath for an Island Batik challenge in July 2021. I used the Twinkle ruler in the centre and the 4 corners. You can read about it HERE.

“Rocket” was used to do a 1/4” outline on all the stars. You can see a close-up of it HERE.

The “Beanie” rulers are VERY versatile! They can do circles, arches and tons of things. I used them to do a Baptist Fan on this quilt. You can read about it HERE.

Visit Silly Moon to shop for the rulers and also visit their YouTube channel to see videos!

I have other Silly Moon rulers, but these were quilts that were quilted when I began my Silly Moon journey!

Don’t Forget!

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail 

PLEASE NOTE: Missouri Star is having a ton of promotions in September to celebrate their birthday! You will NOT receive 20% off these. Although, I may still receive a small commission!

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:  

Sunday Summary: August 18

/ quiltinggail / 4 Comments

Is this you? It certainly describes me!

A Give Away!

As a Missouri Star Quilt Company Affiliate, I was given the opportunity to receive some Christmas Templates.

And the BEST part: Is that YOU have an opportunity to win a set as well. You have to follow both Missouri Star and myself on Instagram (@quiltinggail and @missouriquiltco). Find my IG post that talks about the templates and leave a comment. I will choose a winner on August 25!

A Finish!

This has been waiting to be finished for quite a while! This quilt was made with the left-overs from the Lone Star Quilt I made with Island Batik‘s Pin Dot Floral (a signature collection for Megan Best). You can read about that quilt on THIS POST! I didn’t want to do a straight piece in the back, so I used a bunch of the left-overs and made the strip piece in the middle. The quilt was quick and easy to quilt – just a simple stipple.

A Squirrel hit me!

Something new to tempt me!! And it promises to be oh, so pretty!

Denise at A Quiltery is starting “Floral Fusion” a Sew Along with new blocks each Monday. Hurry and get this week’s block while it’s still free! (See HERE).

Here’s my first block … isn’t it pretty? It was pretty quick to cut out and fuse onto the background fabrics!

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 – July:  194 / 212 days
  • August: 18 / 18 days
  • Total: 212/ 238 89 %

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:

  • Island Batik October project. This is a byAnnie bag called “Payday.” I’m making both the Large and Small bags.
  • Fall ’24 mystery quilt. Some progress made
  • 2025 SAHRR. I’ve started …
  • Monthly Colour Challenge: Layout (Jen has posted the sashing and border blocks for this challenge. You can access it HERE.). I’ll be doing this as a leader and ender.
  • Twilight Blog Hop – for Create with Claudia – in progress
  • Floral Fusion: work on Block 2 on Monday!

Quilting:

  • “Stash Yardage” I took 2 pieces of stash and sandwiched them.
  • “5 fat quarter” quilt is sandwiched … need to decide how to quilt it!

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!

The Lone Star- left-overs was finished. It used 5.5 yards of fabric. No shopping this week!

  • Fabric Used in the last week:   5.5 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2024:     146 yards  from non-IB: 57
  • Fabric Added in the last week: 0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     29.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              101.5 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.

  1. Work on Island Batik October project. in progress
  2. Finish the Fall Mystery Quilt flimsy and writing directions. in progress flimsy almost done!
  3. 2025 SAHRR. get centre block done. √   DONE. 
  4. Monthly Colour Challenge: Layout (Jen has posted the sashing and border blocks for this challenge. You can access it HERE.). I’ll be doing this as a leader and ender. in progress
  5. Twilight Blog Hop — square up the blocks and web the quilt in progress Blocks are squared … need to figure out the layout and then web them
  6. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! Not Successful. I started the Floral Fusion
  7. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Work on Island Batik October project. Try to finish the Large one.
  2. Finish the Fall Mystery Quilt flimsy and finish writing directions
  3. 2025 SAHRR. get prompt 1 done
  4. Monthly Colour Challenge: Layout (Jen has posted the sashing and border blocks for this challenge. You can access it HERE.). I’ll be doing this as a leader and ender.
  5. Twilight Blog Hop — web the quilt
  6. Make a decision on the Be Kind blog hop.
  7. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  8. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Here’s the links to the “It’s a Jungle” blog hop! Starting Monday!

Monday August 19

Tuesday August 20

Wednesday August 21

Thursday August 22

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

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:  

Dollar Store and School Supply shopping

/ quiltinggail / 16 Comments

It’s August and some kids are back to school and others will be heading back in September.  At any rate, the stores have all their “back to school” sales on.  Do you take advantage of these sales for your sewing room?

I do.  Here are some of the products I use in my sewing room and some are suggestions from other bloggers and quilters.

  • A flannel back tablecloth is great for a design wall … especially if I’m going sewing somewhere besides in my home.
  • Hair clips are great for clipping labels onto fabric
  • Spray bottle for water (I always use a dry iron … and I spray the fabric if I want steam)
  • Shelf liner
    • will hold your sewing machine foot in place
    • add it to the back of pincushions to prevent them from slipping around
    • in a pinch, you can use a couple of pieces (3″x 3″) to place under your hands when you free motion quilt
    • Put a small square between your small rulers and your fabric – it’ll prevent the ruler from shifting
  • Hair ties – place them around the thread and the bobbin and you know which bobbin goes with which thread … plus it keeps the thread from unwinding

These are the small hair ties … they are cloth covered elastics. You can see in the picture how small they are. When my thread and bobbins are in the drawer, it’s super easy to figure out which bobbin goes with which spool of thread. Plus there isn’t miles of thread all over!

Notebook with grid lines … for planning that next quilt and Pencil crayons to colour your quilt

Mechanical pencils for fine lines (on the back of HST) or to mark the centre of a block

Elmer’s School Glue … I use this a LOT … dilute it 4 parts water to 1 part glue and it’s perfect for gluing down binding or whatever needs to stay in place.

Binder clips – they are perfect to supplement your smaller clips … great when you have a large number of pieces or ???

Flag post-its, or just plain post-it notes are perfect for short-term labels.

Disappearing Elmer’s Glue Stick. These have MANY uses. I often use it to pre-baste my binding. Then when I get to the sewing machine, binding is done in a flash.

Coloured Sharpies … OK … confession here … these are great for colouring that white thread that is showing, or for outlining shapes (as per Helen Godden).

Painters tape. I use it to label things and to quickly mark my sewing lines when quilting.

These “Stained” Sharpie markers are fantastic for quilt labels, or anything you want to permanently mark.

I was Featured

Jennifer, from Inquiring Quilter, Susan from Quilt Fabrication, Andree from Quilting & Learning and Denise from A Quiltery all featured my Turkey that I shared last week.

Oh Dear … Something New to Start

Denise at A Quiltery is starting “Floral Fusion” a Sew Along with new blocks each Monday. This promises to be beautiful!!! Hurry and get this week’s block while it’s still free! (See HERE).

Here’s the start of my Block 1. I’m using Island Batik fabrics. The background is from a stash-builder roll and the flower and future leaves are from my scraps. This should decrease my scraps … a little!

Don’t Forget!

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:  

Island Batik: Marvelous Mini Challenge

/ quiltinggail / 21 Comments

In the spring, we had company and they commented on my ‘heart’ quilt on the piano. It was April and well past Valentines … call me lazy, but I hadn’t changed it.

I mentioned that I needed to make a mini quilt for a future Island Batik project. Tessa, age 13, suggested that I make one for Thanksgiving. Jokingly, I asked if she wanted to design one for me. She eagerly said, “Yes!” I gave her some graft paper and she went to work drawing up this cute turkey!! Isn’t he sweet? And, although I didn’t time her, she had the drawing done in less than 30 minutes!! Talk about a talented young lady!

Then, we visited my boxes of Island Batik Stash and these are the fabrics she picked!

Here is a list of the fabrics that were labelled:

  • Spots – Green Hunter
  • Dot Orange Cheddar
  • Dots – Brown – from Harvest Night
  • Circle Orange from Celtic Fields
  • Celtic Fields Mini Knot Red
  • Acorn Wheat – from Napa Valley
  • Cheerios – Walnut from Harvest Night
  • Dijon
  • Dark Grey is the border
  • Hexagon – Orange is the binding

The next step was to enlarge the picture, so that I could accurately cut out the pieces. (Note: The enlarged picture has numbers to help me keep the fabrics in order!)

Once all the applique was done, as well as the quilting, I measured the outside to make sure I had enough fabric for the binding. OOPS!!! It measured 24″ x 26.” The maximum size for this mini quilt was to be 24″ x 24″. It was 2″ too long!! I immediately saw where I went wrong. See that strip of mottled orange under the turkey? I had forgotten that it was there. At this point, I had 3 choices:

  • The first was to take off the stitching at the top and shorten it. YUCK. I hated the idea of doing that!
  • The second was to make the whole border 1″ wide instead of 2.” No … I think that would unbalance it.
  • The third was to make another mini quilt and give one of them to Tessa. My sister had suggested that I do this – to thank Tessa for designing it and picking out the fabrics!! This felt like the right decision! However, I didn’t have any more of the background fabric she choose. But, I did have something similar. So, away I went!

And here it is on the piano!

Quilt Stats:

  • Size: Quilt #1: 24″ x 26″ Quilt #2: 24″ x 24″
  • Fabric: Island Batik: (as above)
  • Hobbs Batting Heirloom: 80/20
  • Aurifil Thread:
    • Piecing: 2600: Dove Grey
    • Quilting: Zig Zag applique #4644 (Smoke Blue)
    • Quilting: Stipple #1: #2325. (Linen)
    • Quilting: Stipple #2: 2840 (Loden Green)

Thank you

The following, Island Batik and Industry partners, made this project possible. They supplied the products for free as my role as an Island Batik Ambassador! Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, Schmetz Needles, Oliso Iron.

Island Batik Ambassadors

Visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors to see what their Mini Quilts are:

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail

Linking to:  

Sunday Summary: August 4

/ quiltinggail / 16 Comments

Sew very TRUE!!!

Monthly Colour Challenge

August’s colour is Purple!!! Here is my August block. 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’s all my blocks to date:

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!

  • Jan – June:  172 / 188 days
  • July: 26 / 28 days
  • Total: 198/ 237 83 %

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:

  • Island Batik October project. This is a byAnnie bag called “Payday.”
  • Fall ’24 mystery quilt. Some progress made
  • 2025 SAHRR. I haven’t started, but we have a plan and I’m hoping to get it done early!
  • Monthly Colour Challenge: Layout (Jen has posted the sashing and border blocks for this challenge. You can access it HERE.). I’ll be doing this as a leader and ender.
  • Twilight Blog Hop – for Create with Claudia

Quilting:

  • “Stash Yardage” I took 2 pieces of stash and sandwiched them.

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!

No finishes, no shopping

  • Fabric Used in the last week:   0 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2024:     136.5 yards  from non-IB: 56
  • Fabric Added in the last week: 0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     29.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              92 yards

To Do

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

To Do from the last report:

I’m amazed!!! I guess by keeping my list short, I was able to get things done!

  1. Finish “It’s a Jungle” √   DONE
  2. Work on Island Batik October project in progress
  3. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE
  4. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Work on Island Batik October project
  2. Work on Fall Mystery Quilt and writing directions
  3. 2025 SAHRR. get centre block done
  4. Monthly Colour Challenge: Layout (Jen has posted the sashing and border blocks for this challenge. You can access it HERE.). I’ll be doing this as a leader and ender.
  5. https://quiltinggail.com/- get blocks made and webbed
  6. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  7. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:  

Sunday Summary: July 28

/ quiltinggail / 16 Comments

I totally agree!!! But I also know that you can’t quilt without the collected fabrics!

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!

I was away for 2 days this week. I cannot sew while we’re driving, so that limits my days this month!

  • Jan – June:  165 / 181 days
  • July: 26 / 28 days
  • Total: 191/ 230 83 %

A Finish

I finished my “Something Smells Fishy” quilt and posted it earlier this week! You can read about it HERE. Yes, Island Batik fabric, Hobbs Batting and Aurifil Thread. The pattern is adapted from a free pattern from Arts East Quilt Company.

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:

  • Island Batik October project. This is a byAnnie bag called “Payday.”
  • Fall ’24 mystery quilt. This is in the beginning stages
  • 2025 SAHRR. I haven’t started, but we have a plan and I’m hoping to get it done early!
  • Monthly Colour Challenge: Layout (Jen has posted the sashing and border blocks for this challenge. You can access it HERE.). I’ll be doing this as a leader and ender.

Quilting:

  • “It’s a Jungle” blog hop project

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!

There She Blows used 4 yards of fabric. (see picture above)

No shopping this week!

  • Fabric Used in the last week:   4 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2024:     136.5 yards  from non-IB: 56
  • Fabric Added in the last week: 0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     29.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              92 yards

To Do

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

To Do from the last report:

OK … trying to keep my To Do list short, but there are so many things happening in my studio …

  1. Finish “Something Smells Fishy”. √   DONE. posted HERE.
  2. Finish Island Batik September project. √   DONE
  3. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE
  4. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Finish “It’s a Jungle”
  2. Work on Island Batik October project
  3. Work on Fall ’24 mystery quilt.
  4. Make Centre block for 2025 SAHRR.
  5. Work on Monthly Colour Challenge: Layout
  6. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  7. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:  

Something Smells Fishy Blog Hop:

/ quiltinggail / 38 Comments

Carol from Just let Me Quilt is the host of this blog hop. Here’s what she had to say:

Challenge: This one is easy! Make something with a fish in the fabric or in the quilt design (applique or pieced fish.)

Well, Carol might have thought this was easy … but I had SEW many ideas, it was hard to choose!

Call it a miracle, or fate, or whatever, but I received a free pattern “There She Blows” from the Art East Quilting Company. It’s a 20″ block and I wanted to make a baby quilt, but didn’t feel like making 4 whales … so I decided to just double the size of all the cutting. Well, it was good in theory, but didn’t always work out … so I had to do a bit of re-calculating. However, the directions are full of tips to make the block easily! And, if you want to make the bigger size, check out their Resizing Cheat Sheet (–> “More” –> “Resources.”)

A little bit about the Art East Quilting Company It is a Canadian 🇨🇦  company, but they ship all over the world. Our guild had them do a zoom presentation and it was wonderful. So if you’re looking for something different and fun, check them out!

When quilting the water, I used both “Turkey” and “Jelly” from Silly Moon. I wanted the waves all different.

Anyhow, this is my “newest baby quilt “There She Blows”! I live on the west coast of Canada, so I had to make my whale an Orca!

Quilt Stats:

  • Size: 41″ x 41″
  • Fabric: Island Batik:
    • Sky: Turquoise solid
    • Spray: unlabelled – from my Island Batik scrap bin
    • Whale body: Raven
    • Whale underbody: Drizzle
    • Water: Cerulean from Tantalizing Teals
  • Hobbs Batting Heirloom: 80/20
  • Aurifil Thread:
    • #2600: Piecing
  • Quilting: Variety of dark grey, light grey, blue and light blue.

Other Fishy Bloggers

Visit each of the links below to see the wonderful fishy quilts and projects that have been made!

JULY 22

JULY 23

JULY 24

JULY 25

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Monday Moments July 15

/ quiltinggail / 10 Comments

Yup!!! Especially at this time of year …

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!

  • Jan – June:  165 / 181 days
  • July: 14 / 14 days
  • Total: 179/ 195 91 %

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:

  • Estrella Bag: something different! A bag … The pattern is available HERE. I found some fleece lined vinyl in my stash and paired it with some quilting cotton, also from my stash. (Picture on the right).
  • Island Batik September project

Quilting:

  • Jam Session … but I can’t show you until the pattern is released.
  • “Something Smells Fishy“

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 finish up 2 Luminous Layer Quilts that used 7.5 yards each!

No shopping this week!

  • Fabric Used in the last 2 weeks :   15 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2024:     131 yards  from non-IB: 53
  • Fabric Added in the last week: 0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     29.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              86.5 yards

To Do

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

To Do from the last report:

I’m amazed!!! I guess by keeping my list short, I was able to get things done!

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“. √   DONE
  2. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star. √   DONE
  3. Work on “Something Smells Fishy”. √   DONE
  4. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE
  5. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Finish “Something Smells Fishy”
  2. Finish “Estrella bag“
  3. Work on Island Batik September project.
  4. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  5. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:

Luminous Layers QAL

/ quiltinggail / 16 Comments

OK … I was really really busy when all the instructions came out for this quilt-a-long! I LOVE doing Sandra’s quilt-a-longs (from MMM Quilts) and I just didn’t have time to pull fabric. THIS LINK has all the information and links to each weekly sew-a-long.

Well, fast forward a few weeks and when I started to pull fabrics, I ended up pulling fabrics for not one, but TWO quilts.

#1#2
BackgroundblackBackgroundSwirl Teal Jade- Copper Patina
Fabric AScuba – Tantalizing TealsFabric AUnknown IB fabric (older collection)
Fabric BSlate – Bodacious BlacksFabric BTeal – Floral Wonders
Fabric CMarble Aqua – BlenderFabric CMini Sprigs – Pink – Wild Blooms
Fabric DUnknown IB fabric (older collection)Fabric DSwirl – Multi Purple Green – Copper Patina
Fabric E RainFabric EOrnate Scroll – Neutral – Copper Patina

Progress was slow … but progress happened.

Here are the progress pictures of #1

Here are the progress pictures of #2

Each one finished and the different quilting on each one!

Both together:

Quilt Stats:

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

I was Featured!

Wednesday Wait Loss and Free Motion Mavericks featured my Sly Fox Quilt. You can read about it HERE.

Put your Foot down

featured my St. Paddy’s quilt

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:  

Island Batik Unboxing Video, July 2024

/ quiltinggail / 8 Comments

Twice a year, Island Batik sends the Ambassadors boxes, full of fabric and supplies from industry partners. Here is a slide-show video of what I received this month:

Below is pictures of what I received with details:

First is the fabric from Island Batik:

This is the Surprise package that I will be using for the November challenge. You’ll get to see the fabric then!

There are 12 half-yard cuts of various fabrics that I can use in any of the projects.

Citrine
Paisley Dot Orange (Blender)
Large Netting – Ivy (Blender)
Mushroom		Red – solid
Green – solid
Turquoise – solid
Colbalt – solid		Cherio – Iris
Periwinkle
Cerulean
Bubbles – Raspberry

10″ stack of Floral Fun, paired with Muslin and Seaweed

2 packages of Stash Builder rolls: There are 4, width of fabric strips in each roll.

Black, White and Dark Grey solids, 4 yards of each

I received a 10″ stack of Bodacious Blacks and a 2 1/2″ strip pack of Ravishing Red.

6 yards of Frosting – such a pretty neutral!

This is Poetic Bouquet, designed by Kathy Engle for Heidi Pridemore of the Whimsical Workshop. It is paired with 2 yards of Whip Cream (a neutral) and 2 yards of Bluebonnet-Purple Egg (part of the Poetic Bouquet collection). I will be using this in the September challenge. Descriptions of the Aurfil Thread are below.

Aurifil Thread 40 weight

  • 2745: Midnight
  • Medium Purple
  • Bright Turquoise
  • Light Blue Violet
  • Light Orchid

By ByAnnie supplies. Everything I need for the Payday bags. The fabric is from the Midnight Garden collection: Vines and Sprigs-blue, Medium Floral Multi E and Mini Floral Multi Blue for the linings.

Hobbs Batting is my absolute favourite batting and I am always thrilled to receive it. This time, I received:

  • 80/20 Black batting, Queen Size
  • Tuscany Collection: Unbleached Cotton, Twin Size
  • Fusible Cotton Batting, Queen Size
  • Tuscany Collection: Silk Batting, Throw Size
  • Thermore: Queen Size

A picture of everything that was in the boxes!

Thank you!

Thank you to Island Batik and Industry Partners: Hobbs Batting, Aurifil Thread and ByAnnie bags.

Island Batik Ambassadors

Visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors to see what they received in their boxes:

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Sunday Summary July … 7

/ quiltinggail / 10 Comments

LOL!!! I certainly like to sew each day, but not for 12 hours! LOL!!!

Monthly Colour Challenge

July’s colour is Silver!!! Here is my July block. 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’s all my blocks to date:

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!

  • Jan – May:  143 / 152 days
  • June: 22 / 30
  • Total: 165/ 191 86%

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:

  • Jam Session … but I can’t show you until the pattern is released.
  • “Something Smells Fishy” … you’ll see this later in July!
  • “Lone Star Left-overs” piece back
  • “5 fat quarter quilt“

Quilting:

  • Quilting “Gardenia“
  • Lone Star Left-overs (you can see details of the Lone Star HERE). Sandwich once back is pieced

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!

This past week, I posted my Forest Friend quilt. It used 4.5 yards of fabric. You can read about it HERE.

I did buy 1.5 yards of backing for a quilt.

  • Fabric Used in the last 2 weeks :   4.5 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2024:     116 yards  from non-IB: 47
  • Fabric Added in the last week: 1.5 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     31 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              85 yards

To Do

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

To Do from the last report:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“ not done
  2. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star not done.
  3. Quilt Luminous Layers. See HERE. √   DONE
  4. Decide on “Something Smells Fishy” blog hop project √   DONE
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“
  2. Piece back, Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star
  3. Work on “Something Smells Fishy”
  4. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  5. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:  

Monday Moments: July 1

/ quiltinggail / 15 Comments

I’ve been away for awhile. The posts you’ve seen in the last few weeks were scheduled ahead of time. (Except for the Quilt Canada one.) Now, it’s time for me to catch up!

While at my sister’s in Edmonton, we had a sewing day and made window hangings! The pattern is from Epida Studio and the technique is Pojagi. You can access the pattern HERE. It was fun to make as a group! (From left to right, me, cousin Terry, cousin Connie and my sister, Lynn.)

Mine is now hanging in my window!

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!

  • Jan – May:  143 / 152 days
  • June: 22 / 30
  • Total: 165/ 191 86%

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:

  • Jam Session … but I can’t show you until the pattern is released.
  • “Something Smells Fishy”
  • August Island Batik project

Quilting:

  • Quilting “Gardenia“
  • Lone Star Left-overs (you can see details of the Lone Star HERE). I need to figure out the backing and then quilt it.

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!

In the past 3 weeks, I have posted 3 finishes …

  • St. Paddy’s quilt (See THIS Post) 4 yards
  • Prisms blog hop (See THIS POST). 8 yards
  • a UFO (see HERE) 4 yards
  • Pojagi Window Hanging 1.5 yards

I did do some fabric shopping while in Edmonton. One store (Lori’s Country Cottage) had a fantastic 40% off sale!! I couldn’t resist! I bought 4 yards of grey fireside (background) and 4 yards of Island Batik “Drizzle.”

  • Fabric Used in the last 2 weeks :   17.5 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2024:     113 yards  from non-IB: 45.5
  • Fabric Added in the last couple of weeks: 8 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     29.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              83.5 yards

To Do

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

To Do from the last report:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“ not done
  2. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star not done.
  3. Quilt Luminous Layers. √   DONE
  4. Decide on “Something Smells Fishy” blog hop project. Decision made √   DONE.
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“
  2. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star
  3. Quilt Luminous Layers. See HERE.
  4. Decide on “Something Smells Fishy” blog hop project
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:  

Prisms: Blog Hop

/ quiltinggail / 24 Comments

Prisms is a signature collection for Claudia Porter (from Create with Claudia).

This collection is so pretty. When Claudia asked if I’d participate in her blog hop, I said sure. I went to EQ and designed this quilt:

It wasn’t too long and the fabric arrived! I didn’t ask for any background because I wasn’t sure I liked the white with it. Once the fabric arrived, I auditioned several different lights and I found that Linen, a soft yellow was perfect!

This quilt was paper pieced! What was I thinking??? At least I can do it without sewing on the paper and therefore I can sew other projects at the same time! My picture was heavily marked as I needed to keep track of which colour went in which location. And the design wall helped a lot!

The backing is one of Island Batik’s Blenders called Dandelion Daffodil! So bright and cheerful!

A close-up of the quilting and the. back of the quilt with the sun shining on the front.

Quilt Stats:

  • Size: 40″ x 40″
  • Fabric: Island Batik Prisms collection
  • Designed in EQ8
  • Technique: paper pieced
  • Hobbs Batting Heirloom: 80/20
  • Aurifil Thread
    • piecing #2600 (dove grey)
    • quilting #2000 (light sand)
  • Quilting Rulers: Silly Moon Charming & Rocket

The Blog Hoppers

Make sure you visit each of the bloggers below and see what they created with the Prisms collection:

I taught myself something new!

I had forgotten to order enough fabric for the binding, so I thought I’d try doing a self binding. I am rarely successful when doing this, as I tend to slice a bit of the backing. Even when I’m careful. However, this time, I had this brain wave, after pinning the backing out of the way, “Cut 1/8” away from the finished top.” It worked!!! I was so happy!

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

St. Paddy’s

/ quiltinggail / 11 Comments

Fellow Island Batik ambassador, Denise Looney, offered a free sew-a-long to her St. Paddy’s quilt. Each week was free, and then you had to purchase it for a small amount. You can get the pattern on her blog “A Quiltery.”

I used a variety of Island Batik greens from the “Sandalwood” collection. “Ice” was the background fabric. The pattern is paper pieced. It’s a fairly simple pattern, but it took me AGES to make all the blocks. (And yes, I was working on 2 other quilts at the same time!). Unfortunately, I only took this one progress picture.

I decided to only do the centre medallion because I wanted it for a topper on my piano. I’m really impressed with how pretty it is!!! Thank you, Denise!

  • Fabric: Island Batik: various fabrics from the Sandalwood collection and “Ice.” Binding is “Seaweed.”
  • Hobbs Batting Heirloom: 80/20
  • Aurifil Thread:
    • Piecing & Quilting: Aurifil #2600 (Dove Grey)
  • Quilting: Straight line, walking foot.

TGIFF

Here’s the link for you to show us your FINISH this week:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Monday Moments: June 10

/ quiltinggail / 14 Comments

My triathlons last ALL week!!! LOL!!!

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!

  • Jan – May:  143 / 152 days
  • June: 9 / 9
  • Total: 152/ 161 94%

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:

  • Just a leaders & enders … nothing major, at the moment!
  • Jam Session … if I get the pieces cut out!

Quilting: to do… the list is getting shorter!

  • Quilting “Gardenia“
  • Lone Star Left-overs (you can see details of the Lone Star HERE). I need to figure out the backing and then quilt it.
  • Luminous Layers #1 & #2 a quilt-a-long from MMM quilts (see HERE for details and links to instructions)

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 finished my June Island Batik project!!! You can read about it HERE. This quilt used 11.5 yards of fabric!

  • Fabric Used in the last week:   11.5 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2023:     95.5 yards  from non-IB: 40.5
  • Fabric Added this week: 0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     21.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              74 yards

To Do

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

To Do from the last report:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“ not done
  2. Finish IB June project. √   DONE. and posted HERE.
  3. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star not done.
  4. Work on Luminous Layers. See HERE. √   DONE.
  5. Keep working on St Paddy’s quilt HERE. √   DONE.
  6. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE
  7. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“
  2. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star
  3. Quilt Luminous Layers. See HERE.
  4. Decide on “Something Smells Fishy” blog hop project
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:  

June: Sleep in Heavenly Peace

/ quiltinggail / 51 Comments

Quilts Across America is the “Create for a Cause” for Island Batik’s June challenge. Here’s some info:

Quilts Across America is a program that relies on the generosity of quilters everywhere to provide a quilt with each bed that is delivered. Quilters can partner together or sew on their own to make and donate quilts throughout the year. Each year the month of July is designated as the Quilts Across America month. Quilts Across America was initiated by Studio 180 Design and Tucker University in July 2023. Help make this the largest quilting event in America and complete the process of getting kids, “Off the floor, Into a Bed, and Under a Quilt. 

I received the Tucker Trimmer I tool and a magic wand from Studio 180 Designs in my Island Batik box. As I searched for a pattern, Hocus Pocus came up and I knew what I was going to make! The pattern is free: HERE. And, if you like video tutorials, there is one HERE.

In my January Island Batik box, I also received a 10″ stack of Island Batik “Squiggles, Dots and Lines.” Since it is a signature collection for Deb Tucker, Studio 180 Designs, I thought it would be perfect for this quilt! Pair it with “Bluebelle” and I had a great start!

I made most of the top while at a retreat in early April (at Over the Rainbow). It was great to have opinions on which block layout I should use. I had 4 blocks done and laid out on the design board one night before I went to bed. When I got up in the morning, the blocks had been rearranged (thanks, Lynne!) and I went with the “new” layout! And yes, the retreat centre had a pink Oliso iron!

Here is the quilt and it’s Daphne (my grand-dog) approved!

A close-up of the quilting: 1.5″ circles and random straight lines.

Quilt Stats:

  • Size: 60″ x 75″
  • Fabric: Island Batik: a 10″ stack of Island Batik “Squiggles, Dots and Lines” and the light fabric is “Bluebelle.” The outside border and the binding is “Midnight Blue” (part of the Brilliant Blues collection).
  • Tools used: Studio 180 Designs: Magic Wand and Tucker Trimmer
  • Hobbs Batting Heirloom: 80/20
  • Aurifil Thread: Piecing and Quilting #2600 (Dove Grey)
  • Quilting: I used Silly Moon rulers: Cheesie (1.5″) and Rocket

This quilt will be on it’s way to California tomorrow!!

A Give-away!

I received the small Tucker Trimmer from Studio 180 Designs. I already have the Tucker Trimmer III, so I’m giving away the Tucker Trimmer I. If you would like this tool, leave a comment below and I’ll choose a winner by random number generator.

Thank you

Disclosure: The fabrics, batting, thread, needles and the iron were generously supplied by the following companies: Thank you, Island Batik,  Aurifil Thread,  Hobbs Batting,  Schmetz Needles, Oliso  Studio 180 Designs

Island Batik Ambassadors

Visit each of the following Ambassadors to see the quilts that they have created for this challenge! Many different tools will be used.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:  

Monday Moments: June 3

/ quiltinggail / 17 Comments

I think I need to put this up on the door of my sewing studio!

Monthly Colour Challenge

June’s colour is Raspberry!!! Here is my June block. Visit Jen at Patterns by Jen to get your free pattern for this month. It’s free for the month and then you’ll need to pay a small fee for it.

I’m using Island Batik fabrics for my blocks. 

Doesn’t raspberry make your mouth water with it’s yummy goodness?

And a picture of all my 2024 blocks to date.

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!

  • Jan – May:  143 / 152 days
  • June: 2 / 2
  • Total: 145 / 154 94%

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:

  • Just a few leaders & enders … nothing major, at the moment!

Quilting: to do … a long list, but it’ll get done, one stitch at a time!

  • Island Batik June project using a 10″ stack of Deb Tucker’s fabric line, Squiggles, Dots and Lines and the Tucker Trimmer ruler.
  • Quilting “Gardenia“
  • Lone Star Left-overs (you can see details of the Lone Star HERE). I need to figure out the backing and then quilt it.
  • Luminous Layers a quilt-a-long from MMM quilts (see HERE for details and links to instructions)
  • St Paddy’s Quilt. A sew-along by Denise of A Quiltery. see (HERE)

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 finished the Half & Half Mystery by Canuck Quilter It used 6.5 yards of fabric. You can read all about it HERE.

  • Fabric Used in the last week:   6.5 yards
  • Fabric Used in 2023:     84 yards  from non-IB: 36.5
  • Fabric Added this week: 0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     21.5 yards 
  • Net Fabric used:              62.5 yards

To Do

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

To Do from the last report:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“ not done
  2. Finish Prisms blog hop project √   DONE. You’ll see it in June!
  3. Finish IB June project not done. top is done, just waiting for further direction
  4. Finish IB FW Catalogue √   DONE need to get it ready to ship to California
  5. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star not done.
  6. Quilt Canuck Quilter Mystery Quilt √   DONE.
  7. Work on Luminous Layers. See HERE. √   DONE.
  8. Keep working on St Paddy’s quilt HERE. √   DONE.
  9. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! √   DONE
  10. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √   DONE. 

To Do for next week:

  1. Finish Quilting “Gardenia“
  2. Finish IB June project
  3. Sandwich and Quilt Lone Star Left-overs from Pin Dot Floral lone star
  4. Work on Luminous Layers. See HERE.
  5. Keep working on St Paddy’s quilt HERE
  6. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  7. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Blog Hops

Don’t Forget

Here is my Affiliate link: https://glnk.io/mzmmj/quiltinggail If you order over $50 from Missouri Star, you will get 20% off your order and I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to: