Showing posts with label quilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quilt. Show all posts

Monday, July 13, 2026

Odds and Ends

It has been awhile since I did one of these posts and I don't have much going on this week. 
I decided to try a mosaic crochet project from Dark & Dramatic Mosaic Crochet by Sixel Design. So many fun designs and so little time. Mosaic crochet is a great skill to add to your crochet toolbox. 
This is one of my portable design boards stacked with cut pieces ready for assembly. This is one of the ways I get so many charity quilts pieced. Preparation is important. You don't have to do it all at once but having a stack of pieces ready to sew is great if you can only find a couple minutes here or there to sew. 

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):


Knit and Crochet Tools: You can read my post about these tools in this post from December 2018. 
Fiskars 7 Inch Softgrip Student Scissors (snipping yarn)
24 Pack Metal Rectangular Empty Hinged Tins (hold needle, needle threader, and stitch markers)RuMe Bags Baggie All (Aspen) (to hold my hand-finishing supplies: yarn needle, needle threader, scissors, Kitchener directions, stitch markers, etc) 

Quilting tools:
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Monday, June 8, 2026

Brown Bag Mystery Quilt

I enjoyed piecing the Brown Bag Mystery Quilt so much that I pulled another version from my collection. I picked up these winter prints a few months ago without a plan. This was a great way to use them. I played with fabric placements a little and I think I used one less print than the original. Once I find some borders it will be perfect. 

If it wasn't a basic square, I cut the pieces using my Accuquilt Go cutter. If it was a square, I used my Creative Grids Stripology XL Ruler to cut.

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Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Brown Bag Mystery Quilt

This year I picked my Brown Bag Mystery Quilt based on a single purple print. I had no idea what other fabrics were inside that brown bag or what the quilt design was going to be. I enjoyed this one so much I pulled a set of coordinating fabrics from my collection and got cutting. I still need to sew this one together and find some borders. I cut most of these units using my Accuquilt Go cutter.

I picked up my BBMQ from my local shop The Crabby Quilter in Annapolis, Maryland. If you want to check out the mystery quilt, you can go to any of the many participating quilt shops and ask to see their Brown Bag kits. 

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Monday, March 9, 2026

Charming: Independence Trail

I spent the week quilting this charming quilt by doing a couple passes a day. I love how that texture shows up with afternoon light. 
The quilting is subtle as I used a matching cream colored thread. 
Quilted and trimmed. Now for some binding. 

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Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Charming: Independence Trail

After assembling my quilt center, and adding a narrow border, it was time for the wide border.
There was some miscalculation with the wide, outer border but I didn't let that discourage me. Those borders are pieced, but just a little bit. Then I got it loaded onto the longarm frame and ready for quilting. This one will take a few days.

In case you missed it, here is a link to Bonnie's free pattern for Four Patch Fun so you can make your own blocks. 

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Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Charming: Independence Trail

I got around to sewing the four-patch fun blocks into a quilt. 
I popped over to my local quilt shop to pick the perfect border and some backing fabric. I also grabbed some of their marked down remnants and a few yards of that fun green for charity quilt backing. 

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Friday, January 2, 2026

Odds & Ends

I don't have a great first post for 2026. Here is the latest photo of my scrappy 6-Day Crochet Star blanket, pattern from Betty McKnit.
I've started a new Odd Pieces puzzle. You can buy this puzzle, and loads more directly from Odd Pieces.
I misaligned the last row of quilting on a charity quilt and had to fill in that space with another design. I think it turned out just fine. 

See you next week! When I hope to have some more crafty things to share. 
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Friday, October 24, 2025

Tips for Piecing a Quilt Backing

Every once in a while I am forced to piece backing for a quilt. 
First: Always rip your fabric to ensure everything is on-grain. If you don't know what that means, just push the I-Believe button and carry on. 

Second: Always leave the selvage edge along one side and keep those edges together consistently. This helps you keep one long edge straight.

Third: Always sew those torn pieces of fabric together using a 5/8" seam allowance. This ensures you have plenty of fabric in the seam allowance. 
Fourth: Always have your longest seam run the length of the fabric. If you seam so those selvage edges are opposite, you have two nice straight edges.

Fifth: Never take a quilting tip as something you "always" have to do. This is just how I do it to get consistent results. 

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Friday, October 10, 2025

Charming: Independence Trail

I've been making blocks, very slowly. Here are the handful I've managed to piece so far. I think this one is going to be a winner.

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Monday, October 6, 2025

Charming: Independence Trail

I've had these charm squares for a silly amount of time. Time to cut them up and use them!
The charm packs don't have enough light colors to do what I want, so I am going to add this print that I picked up recently to pair with the darker fabrics. What block did I choose? A simple block by Bonnie Hunter that works great with two fabrics and I can make one using just four contrasting charm squares. Here is a link to Bonnie's free pattern for Four Patch Fun. 

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Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Fabric Acquisition

Every year I tell myself that I'm not going to buy fabric without a plan. And every year I buy fabric without a plan because the deal was just that good. Or, the fabric was too awesome to leave behind. A local quilt shop owner retired and the shop changed hands. 
New ownership means new fabric lines and aesthetics. That means the old fabric needs to go and the discounts were great! They bundled several 1-yard cuts together and I couldn't leave them behind. I pulled two with Halloween prints and one with mid-winter prints.
I also picked up some neutrals (2-3 yard cuts) and a handful of fat quarters. Close to 20 yards of fabric in total. Now, to pick some patterns and get cutting!

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Friday, August 15, 2025

Quilting Quiltober

Quick update on my 2025 Quiltober Quilt. I got it loaded and quilted. More to follow. 

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Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Brown Bag Mystery Quilt

I finally loaded this great quilt onto the frame. 
While it was quilting, I made the binding. 
I used Overlapping Crop Circles for the quilting design. Look at that lounging kitty!
It's trimmed and ready for the binding.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Fabric Acquisition

Friday afternoon I zipped over to the closest fabric store (they were having a sale) and grabbed some essentials. From the bottom up, backing for my BBMQ, three yards of blue floral because it was in the clearance section, three yards of light gray solid for an unplanned quilt, and four fat eighths. They are like candy in the check out. 

I've been trying to decide what my next big quilt project will be. 

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Friday, June 20, 2025

Summer Sew Along: Quilting

After a rough start, I started quilting my 2024 Summer Sew Along quilt. This quilt top came out so much better than I thought it would. It was a free pattern by Karen Montgomery. Such a great teacher. Remember, finished is better than perfect!

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Friday, May 30, 2025

Brown Bag Mystery Quilt

I finished the center of my BBMQ.
And even managed to add a border. Now I need to go shopping for some backing fabric. 

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