What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I've been sharing with you the quilts I've been making for my nieces and nephews, the ones who have not received one in a while.  I overlooked three of them so thought I'd get caught up on that and do a recap.

The ones I've already posted about are Josh, Ashley, Laura, Nikki, Travis, Paige, Natalie, Emily, Carrie, Karlie, Kourtnie, and Kacie's. (Each name has a link attached in case you'd like to see them.)  All of them were made since 2018.  Thank goodness, I have a fantastic quilter (Shirley Jackson) I can depend ...

Rennes is the most recent great-nephew to get a quilt from Aunt Sandy.  (These little ones just keep coming!)   

I bought a few blues and grays when I was in Shipshewana this past summer so I would have enough to make a scrappy version of "Child's Play", a free download from sewcanshe.com.  

More HSTs, but I'm getting used to them, so I've stopped complaining!  

I'll probably use this pattern again.  I really love it.

I may have planned too easy a goal for November.  The Safari Babies quilt is already done!  I quilted it with a simple meander on my domestic machine and put on a bright binding for a fun finish.

Such cute safari babies!

I've already found some line drawings for another quilt like this one.  This time - underwater babies!

Linking up with So Scrappy and Confessions of a Fabric Addict

My October One Monthly Goal was to finish and gift the I Spy quilt for Baby Vivi, and I did it.  It was finished and gift wrapped for several days, but I didn't get by there to drop it off until the afternoon of the 31st.  Phew!  That was close.

I guess I was really focused on finishing, because I didn't take any "in process" photos.  How about some slightly fuzzy close-ups instead?

Cute prints, and bright colors, and Tom & Jerry, and cupcakes .....  

..... and a sweet custom label made by my friend Denise, aka Vivi's gramma.

When I was working on Kacie's quilt in 2021 (you can read about it here) I pieced a backing for it using leftover fabrics from the front along with a few pieces from my stash.  I liked it so much when it was finished that I decided to turn it into a quilt top at a future date instead of using it as a back.

I added an orange strip .....

..... and knew it needed more, so I set it aside.  A few weeks ago I was in the mood to get something off my UFO list, so I pulled ...

My grandson needs a new quilt.   It seems he has outgrown all the quilts I've made for him.  It's no wonder.

Look at this child!  I think he gets taller every day!

He wouldn't give me any ideas about the style or colors I should use.  He wants to be surprised.  I bet that would be risky with a lot of 16-year-olds, but I'm pretty sure he'll like whatever I do.  I've decided to use the "Cartwheel" pattern by Stephanie Sheridan.  It was featured in the Aug/Sept 2016 issue of McCall's Quick ...

I was so busy sewing in July that I forgot to blog!  I set my goals for the month and posted them on the 5th, forgot all about blogging, and got to work.  I managed to dig up a few more purples for RSC2022 by looking through my Asian prints.  There weren't many there either, but my Sawtooth Star and Windmill blocks are done as are the 60 brick blocks.

My One Monthly Goal for July was to finish the One Block Wonder that has been on my UFO list for a while.  And I did it!  I had ...

Since I accomplished my June goals, after failing to do much at all in April and May, I think I might have enough mojo now to set my goals for July.   

I started on a One Block Wonder in September of 2019.  Yikes!  That's embarrassing.   Okay, it needs to come off the UFO list soon for sure!   I started quilting it around then, but got discouraged shortly after that (with Covid and life, not just with quilting) and set it aside.  I had quilted all the blocks in the center of the quilt but not the borders.

It is ...

I am happy to announce (happier than you know!) that my March goal (which became my April goal) is finally done!  I knew I was right to not give up on it.  I put the binding and label on Natalie's quilt this week and it's ready to gift.

I was finally able to get some photos that show the true colors.  It's amazing what a little natural light will do.

I'm excited to be able to gift this one in person next weekend.  I've had to mail an awful lot of niece and nephew quilts ...

It's almost the end of another month and time to report on April's RSC2022 progress.  The color for April is pink, and even though pink is not very high on my favorite colors list, I've managed to find enough pink scraps to get my blocks made.  Here are my Windmill and Sawtooth Star blocks.  

I added a third monthly RSC project which I haven't mentioned before now.  I want to use up as many scraps as I can in this challenge, so in January I found a stack of sixty red 2.5" by 4.5 ...

Was February even shorter than usual this year?  I think it was.  It went by really fast!  Even so it was a good month, quilting-wise.  

First of all, I accomplished my OMG (One Monthly Goal) hosted by Elm Street Quilts.  And then some!  My goal was to finish piecing the "Lazy Eyes" quilt top.  It was a LOT of boring piecing .....

..... sewing the same seams over and over (and over) again.

I wasn't sure I was in love with it once the blocks were up on the design wall.  Is it me, or does it look like it ...

If you need more projects to work on or you're looking for a quilty podcast to listen to, check out Sherri's blog, A Quilting Life.  Just after the Covid isolation began my quilty friend Denise used that blog to entice me into doing a Mystery Block of the Month as a sew-along with her.  It turns out this Mystery BOM is an annual thing.  Now she's talked me and three other neighbors into making the 2022 mystery quilt.  More about that later.  

The 2020 quilt was designed using all half-square-triangles.  I decided to use bright batiks ..... 

..... with ...

The first time I participated in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was also my last time, and I didn't do great.  Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it.  I made it my goal to make a donation baby quilt each month, and I did make three.  That's not too shabby, but I was disappointed that I didn't do more.  For 2022 I'm taking a little more reasonable approach and just making blocks in the color of the month to use in projects towards the end of the year.

Angela at "So Scrappy" announced ...

After almost a year of Covid isolation, and then another year of being hesitant to get back out into the world, I think I'm just going to keep hanging out at home and get some serious sewing done.  I'm already used to being inside, I might as well get something done.  I must have been in a good mood and feeling energetic the other day when I wrote down my goals for 2022, because it ended up being quite a list!  In addition to my "regular" goals, I have twelve quilty goals.  Everything from "sewing every day" to ...

I do love an I Spy quilt.  There are so many fun novelty prints out there. Penelope Rose would be here soon, and her quilting Gramma already had a bunch of quilts awaiting her arrival, so I decided a toddler sized I Spy quilt would be the perfect gift.  I dug into my bag of scrappy novelty prints and my Biscotti jars of strips, and made a plan.







  






























Even the simplest block works with interesting fabrics and bright colors.

















I had everything from kites and cows to ice cream cones, silly hippos, baby chicks, and lobsters. 

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.  It's just been a very strange year.  I have done a few quilty things, but I haven't actually blogged about much of it.  In the next few weeks I'll try to catch up a little.