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In a hand-me-down bag there were these little bits. A 1-1/2″ strip with 6 1-1/2″ squares attached. Twenty of them. Such cute little bits. They wanted to be a quilt.

Adding 6″ stars in matching colors and some sashing fit the bill. I like the way it makes the stars shimmer with movement.

The polka dot binding was an unexpected decision, and the backing is a little odd, too. But they do work, and it all came from stash, so that’s a win.

Second Chance projects can make one dig deep to find a solution. I do ...

Some of you know that my school offers children a learning experience known as Intensives. The week before Christmas, and the last week of school in the Spring, students don’t attend regular classes. (Honestly, what really gets done in classes at that time?) Rather, each student selects from a menu of classes and attends that one course for the entire week. Offerings include theater, music, rock climbing, engineering, local history, and…sewing!

While on Spring Break this past week, I prepped samples for the Spring Sewing Intensive. SEW much fun!

There are still a lot of details to work ...

In a scrap bag I got small scraps of this raccoon/bear/tree fabric. Sort of odd colors, but the print was cute.

The solution was Churn Dash blocks with the fabric in the centers. And some sashing and matching binding.

It will be delivered to a co-worker who is expecting her first baby soon. The baby shower was a few weeks ago…but we are all doing the best we can.

Churn Dash blocks are so versatile.

I’m working on my 4” blocks for the #scrappymeetsthriftchallenge that I’m doing on Instagram. If you would like to join us, follow Taryn of @reproquiltlover and sign up. She’ll send you all the info. You’ll get foundation paper patterns that work for 3 sizes. I chose the largest. The main reason was, I didn’t want to foundation piece and this acrylic template gave me the same size. 

I thought I would put together a demo of sorts. I use the SQUARE ON SQUARE TRIM TOOL from creative grids. They have a video online … but I ...

 I found EIGHT books at the used bookstore in North Bay. And I love that ALL their titles are searchable online. Even better, you can search by author, and whatever they have from that author comes up! It's called Allison the Bookman, and I LOVE the site. I will call today and pay for the books, then they will go on the Pony Express. Yes - Our Pony Express reaches faraway places! Now, I need to update my list, and I have a couple of other bookstores to check out. Oh my -- this is super exciting! 

Oh, I should mention ...

Do you keep a journal? I do, I have for years. Back at least twenty five years ago I read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and began the habit of "morning pages", although I don't subscribe to that discipline as strictly as I used to, I do still find that putting my thoughts down on paper first thing every morning helps me clear my mind and to organize my thoughts and plans. I have always used

Do you keep a journal? I do, I have for years. Back at least twenty five years ago I read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and began the habit of "morning pages", although I don't subscribe to that discipline as strictly as I used to, I do still find that putting my thoughts down on paper first thing every morning helps me clear my mind and to organize my thoughts and plans. I have always used

Based on the traditional pattern, Arkansas Crossroads (AKA Crossroads, Kisses and Crosses, River Scraps, and probably other names). I started this quilt sometime in August 2024. You can find variations all over the web: HERE and HERE and HERE are some options.

Mine is based on 2″ squares and finishes at 84″ square.

I didn’t want half-stars/medallions, so I tried for a different finish that keeps them all whole and gives a sort of floating look.

The backing makes my heart happy!

It is living on a guest room bed for now. So I can see it every ...

No change in the numbers.

At my Art Quilt Group this week, one of the members showed us how to do boro stitching. She was lucky enough to take a class in Japan when she was visting family there several years ago. Here is the beginning of my seven inch square.

I really enjoyed this! The combo of stitching and scraps greatly appeals to me. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this piece, but I plan to finish it sooner rather than later.

Fabric In: 0

Fabric Out: 16.75 yards

Net Fabric Out: 16.75 yards ...

One of the nice things about binding is that you can work on it a-few-minutes-here-and-a-few-minutes-there, and, before you know it–You’re Done!

Unpredictable winter-spring weather means indoor pictures. Not the best, but the best I could do. I really love the color mix in this quilt. Inspired by Harry Potter, the colors are green, blue, red and yellow. But, so MANY of each color. That’s the thing I LOVE about scrappy quilts.

And the Brightly pattern is a sure winner. I have made several now and the receivers all love them.

No fabric in this week.

I made two potholders for a little fabric out.

Next I replaced the binding on a blanket. The old binding exceeded its useful life. There is a definite trick to working with the packaged blanket binding. I have one more blanket to re-bind before I move on to other sewing.

Fabric In: 0

Fabric Out: 16.75 yards

Net Fabric Out: 16.75 yards

How did you do this week?

Again, a small piece of fun fabric wanted to have purpose.

I dug through my tin of 2-1/2″ squares looking for matches, and the leftover bindings bin, too.

Small projects are nice from time to time, coming together quickly and making something useful to go live with Daughter and family soon.

This is a great pattern to use up jelly roll leftovers. In fact, a bunch of those (already conveniently sewn into sets) is what inspired this pattern.

The strip sets are 6 strips high and 12-1/2″ wide. The stars are also 12 inches (finished). I used a plan similar to THIS TUTORIAL: https://www.createwithclaudia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CWC-Mystery-Quilt-Along-2020-November-Block.pdf

I matched the star centers and the binding. I would like to do this again and highlight a focal fabric in the star centers.

This quilt will be donated to the local childrens hospital.