Making Do

Have you ever needed backing for a quilt and not had the exact single cut of fabric? Let's talk about it.

I needed a quilt backing that measured at least 57" long. I didn't have that, but I did have a cut that was over a yard, and a half yard of another fabric. Perfect!

First, I straightened the edges by ripping the fabric. This makes sure I won't have an issues with the piecing. Then, rip again along the length of fabric. This effectively makes that half yard of fabric into two fat quarters.

Keeping the selvage edges matched up (around here the selvage doesn't get trimmed until the quilting is done) sew the shorter fabric to one end of the longer piece, and to the other end of the other long piece. This will keep the directional fabric in the same orientation. Use a wide 5/8" seam allowance and press open all seams to reduce bulk. 

Then, seam the two long pieces together down the middle. Now, I have a backing that is long enough for my quilt but don't have a single, long seam that goes from side to side of the quilt. I think this gives the backing a little more interest, too. 

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Accuquilt Go! - This is the basic kit that I started with. The cutter, one die, and mat.

Accuquilt Ready. Set. Go! - New to Accuquilt and ready to jump into the Accuquilt Go! with both feet? This is the set for you. It includes the 8 Inch Qube and a strip cutter. 

8 Inch Qube - Already have an Accuquilt Go! and just want to add to your collection of dies?

Charming Maison de Garance

While writing this post I realized I didn't share the name of this fabric line. This is Maison de Garance by French General for Moda.

According to that label, this fabric has been in my collection since 2010. 

In May 2023, I cut the charms into 2.5" strips and used them as leaders & enders. If you're curious about this technique for making a quilt on the side (like a quilter's side hustle) while working on other projects, I highly recommend Quiltville. In the free patterns section you will find almost a dozen different leader & ender projects. Bonnie hosts a leader & ender quilt along every year and you can find many of them in the free patterns section. 

I thought this one had a somewhat traditional feel, so I quilted it with a great fan edge-to-edge. 

As a utility quilt (meaning a quilt that is meant to be used) I stitched on one of my woven labels and put the state and year below it.

I didn't plan the layout for this quilt. I just stitched strips together and then stitched the squares together until I had enough for each row. The result is a somewhat chaotic top that is contained by the borders. I really like how this one came out. I'm also pleased to have finished a quilt that has been almost a year in the making.

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Accuquilt Go! - This is the basic kit that I started with. The cutter, one die, and mat.

Accuquilt Ready. Set. Go! - New to Accuquilt and ready to jump into the Accuquilt Go! with both feet? This is the set for you. It includes the 8 Inch Qube and a strip cutter. 

8 Inch Qube - Already have an Accuquilt Go! and just want to add to your collection of dies?

Charity Quilting

Sometimes I get quilts from Quilts for Kids that don't have a name on the label. I love that people give of their time and skill to create for others. 

Both of these are quilted and will be headed to Annapolis Quilts for Kids. 

If you want to contribute but don't have the time or skills, you can support the national Quilts for Kids by going directly to their website and clicking DONATE. I don't earn anything from this link. 

If you want to support me indirectly, I do include Amazon affiliate links to products I use on my other blog posts. If you purchase the items I recommend, or anything else, after using my links to reach Amazon I receive a small payment from Amazon. I added my yearly income from these affiliate links to the sidebar if you want to see how that commission adds up. 

My personal goal is to quilt at least one quilt per week throughout the year. To that end, check out the Epoch Converter for 2024 to see how I'm stacking up.

2024 Charity Quilt Count: 52

Charity Quilting

Stacked bricks. Pieced and quilted by me.

Pieced and quilted by me for Annapolis Quilts for Kids. 

If you want to contribute but don't have the time or skills, you can support the national Quilts for Kids by going directly to their website and clicking DONATE. I don't earn anything from this link. 

If you want to support me indirectly, I do include Amazon affiliate links to products I use on my other blog posts. If you purchase the items I recommend, or anything else, after using my links to reach Amazon I receive a small payment from Amazon. I added my yearly income from these affiliate links to the sidebar if you want to see how that commission adds up. 

My personal goal is to quilt at least one quilt per week throughout the year. To that end, check out the Epoch Converter for 2024 to see how I'm stacking up.

2024 Charity Quilt Count: 50

Charity Quilting

I love this quilt pieced by Mary. Aren't the fish wonderful?

I was playing thread chicken while quilting this one. I managed to finish quilting it before running out of thread. 

I also love these birds, also pieced by Mary for Annapolis Quilts for Kids. 

If you want to contribute but don't have the time or skills, you can support the national Quilts for Kids by going directly to their website and clicking DONATE. I don't earn anything from this link. 

If you want to support me indirectly, I do include Amazon affiliate links to products I use on my other blog posts. If you purchase the items I recommend, or anything else, after using my links to reach Amazon I receive a small payment from Amazon. I added my yearly income from these affiliate links to the sidebar if you want to see how that commission adds up. 

My personal goal is to quilt at least one quilt per week throughout the year. To that end, check out the Epoch Converter for 2024 to see how I'm stacking up.

2024 Charity Quilt Count: 48

Charity Quilting

On Saturday I picked up a roll of batting and bag of quilts to quilt. 

I picked up backing for six tops that I pieced and eleven quilts made by other members of Annapolis Quilts for Kids. I'll be busy for the next few weeks.

If you want to contribute but don't have the time or skills, you can support the national Quilts for Kids by going directly to their website and clicking DONATE. I don't earn anything from this link. 

If you want to support me indirectly, I do include Amazon affiliate links to products I use on my other blog posts. If you purchase the items I recommend, or anything else, after using my links to reach Amazon I receive a small payment from Amazon. I added my yearly income from these affiliate links to the sidebar if you want to see how that commission adds up. 

30's Playtime

A friend helped me pick out the backing for this 30's Playtime quilt.

It's scrappy and wonderful. 

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Accuquilt Go! - This is the basic kit that I started with. The cutter, one die, and mat.

Accuquilt Ready. Set. Go! - New to Accuquilt and ready to jump into the Accuquilt Go! with both feet? This is the set for you. It includes the 8 Inch Qube and a strip cutter. 

8 Inch Qube - Already have an Accuquilt Go! and just want to add to your collection of dies?

Needle Felting Adventure

As a crafter, have you ever gotten an idea and been unable to let go of it? No matter how hard you tried? Well, this needle felting adventure is one of those ideas. I don't know why, but I had the idea to make some wool dryer balls. Can I buy wool dryer balls? Absolutely (link at the bottom of the post). But where is the fun in that?

Because I wanted to make dryer balls, I grabbed a box of roving. I estimated I could make several with this box.

I wanted some colors so I added in this box of 24 colors. Each of these isn't enough to make a ball, but it should be enough to color a dryer ball. I haven't tried that, yet. 

I didn't want it all to be work, so I also added this kit to make weird and wonderful cacti. If you just want to give needle felting a try, there are so many small kits available. this one just seemed fun to me. 

I wanted the dryer balls to be dense, so I grabbed some 100% wool I had and wound it into balls. I felted in the end and then wrapped the ball with the roving, felting along the way. If you're curious, just poke around YouTube looking for needle felting.

I made four felted balls. These are ready for the dryer! My felting journey isn't done, yet. 

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Wool Felting Needles

100% Natural Wool Roving

Woolbuddy Felting Wool

Woolbuddy Needle Felting Kit

Just want to give wool dryer balls a try but don't want a new craft? Check out these options. They come in so many colors and designs!

Charity Quilting

I've been making little four-patch blocks with leftover bits. I paired them up and made them into blocks using some 2.5" strips. I really like how this one turned out. 

These quarter log cabin blocks are so easy to make. Pieced and quilted by me. Both will be heading to Annapolis Quilts for Kids. 

If you want to contribute but don't have the time or skills, you can support the national Quilts for Kids by going directly to their website and clicking DONATE. I don't earn anything from this link. 

If you want to support me indirectly, I do include Amazon affiliate links to products I use on my other blog posts. If you purchase the items I recommend, or anything else, after using my links to reach Amazon I receive a small payment from Amazon. I added my yearly income from these affiliate links to the sidebar if you want to see how that commission adds up. 

My personal goal is to quilt at least one quilt per week throughout the year. To that end, check out the Epoch Converter for 2024 to see how I'm stacking up.

2024 Charity Quilt Count: 46

Pretty Purples

Last weekend I was near a big box fabric store. I popped in to wander. I found some superglue that I needed and eight fat quarters I didn't. They were on sale: 4 for $5. That price is perfect for charity quilts. 

I came home and chopped them into 6.5" squares suitable for charity quilts. I also grabbed some squares from my stack to make up another. 

There were even some 3.5" strips left over. Perfect for yet another quilt once I paired them with some other leftover 3.5" strips. It just occurred to me I could do this with strips, instead of bricks. So many quilt options. Or strips and squares!

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Brown Bag Mystery Quilt

These little nine-patches were the first clue. 

The second was loads and loads of flying geese. I'm going to be piecing these for days.

A little bit of chain piecing makes this go quickly. I use the letter opener to quickly cut the units apart. 

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Letter Openers

Charity Quilting

This fun quilt was pieced by Kat for Annapolis Quilts for Kids. Quilted and ready for binding. 

If you want to contribute but don't have the time or skills, you can support the national Quilts for Kids by going directly to their website and clicking DONATE. I don't earn anything from this link. 

If you want to support me indirectly, I do include Amazon affiliate links to products I use on my other blog posts. If you purchase the items I recommend, or anything else, after using my links to reach Amazon I receive a small payment from Amazon. I added my yearly income from these affiliate links to the sidebar if you want to see how that commission adds up. 

My personal goal is to quilt at least one quilt per week throughout the year. To that end, check out the Epoch Converter for 2024 to see how I'm stacking up.

2024 Charity Quilt Count: 44

Charming: Tapestry

I loaded up the Charming Tapestry quilt and quilted it with this great edge-to-edge design called Brenda's Tulips.

Now it just needs binding.

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Accuquilt Go! - This is the basic kit that I started with. The cutter, one die, and mat.

Accuquilt Ready. Set. Go! - New to Accuquilt and ready to jump into the Accuquilt Go! with both feet? This is the set for you. It includes the 8 Inch Qube and a strip cutter. 

8 Inch Qube - Already have an Accuquilt Go! and just want to add to your collection of dies?

Brown Bag Mystery Quilt

How can you have only one?

I discovered Mountain Creek Quilt Shop through the Brown Bag Mystery group on Facebook. I found their collection of classic book covers as color inspiration delightful. So much so, that I bought two more brown bag kits. 

I bought The Raven and The Call of Cthulhu. I even added the extra coordinating fabric for borders and binding. I really like the mix of greens and blues in The Call of Cthulhu bag. The Raven will likely be stunning with the almost monochromatic palette. 

I started with The Raven. So far I've only made the one block. I am set up to stitch the rest when I have a couple minutes. It is easy to stitch a couple when I have just a few minutes to sew. 

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Charity Quilting

How does your garden grow? The Square-in-Square block is great for using 2.5" strips to make easy 6" blocks. Alternating with simple squares for a fun effect. I pieced and quilted this one for Annapolis Quilts for Kids. 

If you want to contribute but don't have the time or skills, you can support the national Quilts for Kids by going directly to their website and clicking DONATE. I don't earn anything from this link. 

If you want to support me indirectly, I do include Amazon affiliate links to products I use on my other blog posts. If you purchase the items I recommend, or anything else, after using my links to reach Amazon I receive a small payment from Amazon. I added my yearly income from these affiliate links to the sidebar if you want to see how that commission adds up. 

My personal goal is to quilt at least one quilt per week throughout the year. To that end, check out the Epoch Converter for 2024 to see how I'm stacking up.

2024 Charity Quilt Count: 43

Charming: Phesant Hill

This is my second post about one of my charm pack quilts. Check out the first post from last week to see the cutting tools.

When I say I didn't plan this layout you will just have to believe me. I just grabbed contrasting colors and stitched them into pairs. Then stitched the pairs into sets of four, and so one until I had a row of 16 tumblers. Then I added one more to the end for a total of 17 per row.

I tried to get them to line up so there weren't too many of the same fabrics touching. Sometimes I was more successful than others. 

Once I had the center pieced, I trimmed up the uneven edges and started adding the borders.

A narrow border followed by a wider border is a tried and true method. These are not my colors but I like it anyway. I need some backing to get it finished up. Overall, this quilt was a quick way to use up some fabric that's been hanging around too long.  

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter (borders & binding)

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler (borders & binding)

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades (cutting)
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat (cutting)
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron (pressing)
Fiskars 8-inch scissors (snipping threads)

Juki TL-2010Q (piecing)

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion (pinning)

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count) (pinning)

Electric Quilt (design & layout)

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Fiskars Self Healing Cutting Mat for Crafts, Sewing, and Quilting Projects - 14” x 14" (cutting)

5" Charm Square Acrylic Quilting Template by Missouri Star Quilt Co. (cutting)