Pattern Love

Back in the summer, I enjoyed creating a scrap quilt and then writing the pattern for that quilt…..

A few days ago, I received an email from Diane D. (from Toronto Canada) telling me that she had made the quilt and attaching a photo…..

Isn’t it wonderful!!

I love the lighter blue fabric on the outside. It goes a long way to “lifting” the other colors in the quilt..

And the purple inner border….don’t get me started about how wild I am about it!!

This is what she said…..

I loved the pattern & love the Kaffe Fassett / Philip Jacobs beautiful fabric.

Appliqué & scrap quilts from the leftover bits are my happy place.

Diane….it sounds like we could be great friends!!

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Do you have a stack of scraps that you want to use in a fun design?

Check out this pattern for a quick and easy scrap quilt that will help empty your bins and bring a smile to your face!!

Full Color pattern includes step by step instructions for blocks and border.

Click HERE for more information.

Do I quilt this one?

Yesterday I posted about the “Finally Finished” exhibit at the International Quilt Festival.

The gist is a woman who takes antique quilt tops from unknown makers and quilts them to “Finally Finish” them.

Well, I have a quilt top that my Grandmother made…..

You can’t tell it from this photo, but the sashing fabrics are little blue frogs!! SUCH FUN!!!

I have no idea when the top was made, but my mom gave it to me back in the 1990’s. (Granny passed away in the early 1970’s).

It has been part of my “UFO” box for all of these years because I was uncomfortable finishing the quilt by machine. And, I knew that I would NEVER finish it with hand quilting.

After seeing this exhibit, and seeing how wonderful the finished quilts are, I am thinking that I might plan to finish it with free-motion quilting.

What do you think? Is this a valid way to finish an old top??

Please tell me what you think!!

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Do you struggle to decide what to quilt in your blocks? If so, check out my FREE series…..

Click HERE for more information

Hallway of scraps??

Over the years I have posted lots of photos of hotel hallways as inspirations for quilting projects. At this stage, I can’t remember when or where this photo was taken….

…..but I love the angles and shapes that are formed.

NOW, in my “SUMMER OF THE SCRAP” mode, I looked at this photo again and wondered what it would look like with scrap strips!!

THAT might be fun to play with and heaven knows, I have plenty of strips to play with!!!

A NEW quilt in the midst of the madness!

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the frustrations that I am having with my current scrap project.

So what am I about to do now???

Start another one of course!!

It started with this overflowing box of 2-inch squares…..

….plus this other box of blue 2-inch squares….

The 2-inch size is not one that I use a lot…nothing like the 2.5-inch ones.

So, I wanted to find a design that would work with these, and THIS TIME, I wanted a plan for it and not just start piecing.

SO….on Tuesday I was perusing Facebook (as we all do), and I saw a woman who had posted thes two pictures….

HMMM…maybe a triple Irish Chain???

I hopped on to Electric Quilt and started playing. Although I liked the original design, I decided that I might want to tweek it a bit. What if I changed the layout to 5×5 rather than 7×7.

The main blocks will look like this…..

AND what if I altered the center of the block to something like this….

But when I put them into a quilt, it was just too much….

Then I changed the alternating block to this…..

….the final quilt looked like this……

I like that better because it does add some open spaces.

So, I kept playing and designed this block….

.Now I get something like this…..

Now THAT…..I REALLY like!!

My guild retreat is coming up in less than two weeks and I was trying to think of something to work on and I think this might be it!!

Since it will be totally scrappy, I won’t have to worry about color placement.

I have decided to use a bunch of different whites for the “background” I don’t have tons of these already cut so I will pull out the Accuquilt this week and get to cutting. It looks like I will need 25 for each 2-block set.

I think that using a lot of whites will give it some sparkle.

I am much happier with the thought of having a plan for this quilt and also knowing that I can just sit and sew and NOT THINK!!

So, maybe this quilt will move me from the brink of madness, but the jury is still out!!

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Do you struggle to decide what to quilt in your blocks? If so, check out my FREE series…..

Click HERE for more information

Two month Review

Now that we have completed 2 months of 2024, it was time to review my goals/resolutions for the year.

One of my ideas was to spend 5 minutes each workday recording memories of my life….from childhood on. I did great in January and the first half of February……

…..but life and work has gotten hectic so this has often gone by the wayside. I am not giving up though. I definitely want to return to it when tax season is over. It has been fun to think about new things to write!!

My other BIG goal was to spend 10 minutes in my studio each weekday…..

THIS ONE I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED!!

The only days that I missed were travel days.

In the last two weeks my 10-minute goals have changed a bit.

First, I had to put a sleeve and label on “Sadie”. That has been done and she is on her way to Paducah…..

“Sadie the Saddle-Billed Stork”

I also spent time getting to know my new Oliso Iron…..check out yesterdays post for more about that.

A few weeks ago I wrote that I wasn’t sure what to do with my 6-inch dark blue scrap blocks that I have been working on.

Maybe I need to rethink??

After writing that post and reading all of the wonderful suggestions, I went back upstairs and started playing with them some more. I am now leaning toward something similar to this…..

So, while I decide, I am determined to use up all of my 1.5-inch blue scraps…..

….and this week, I emptied that box…..

When I finish using all of the bits that I have pieced, I will start playing with intent!!

Finally, I had one goal that I didn’t share with you…..visit a museum, gallery or antique store each month.

In January I spent several hours at the Dallas Museum of Art and in February there was QuiltCon.

Tomorrow, Michael and I leave for 7 days in England and I am hoping that I can fulfill this goal for March while there. We are going for Michael to work and me to photograph/video what he is doing so getting to visit a gallery may or may not happen. We will see!!

Thanks for giving me time to do a catch-up.

How are you doing on your 2024 goals??

For Free-Motion Quilting ideas, be sure to check out my YouTube channel…… https://www.youtube.com/c/francesquilts/videos