Elegant Garden, Block 9

Block 9 of Elegant Garden is finished.

I am slow at appliqueing small pieces of applique. How small? I took a picture of a dime beside the corner flower.

Years ago I purchased Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles, both the large and small sizes. This is what I'm using to make these perfect circles.

 For the small circles that don't have applique on top, I'm using this product. I purchased it at a local fabric store. You can search for it online.

There is adhesive on the back side. I mark the circle on the sheet, cut it out then heat set it onto the backside of the fabric. I cut the circle out of the fabric leaving 'turn under'. I always finger press the 'turn under' fabric. This helps with a smooth applique.

For the larger circles I trace the circles onto freezer paper, cut it out then iron onto the backside of the fabric. I also finger press the 'turn under' along the freezer paper but I remove the freezer paper before the applique is completely attached. 

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

Four Patch Around the World

The first project of 2025 is Four Patch Around the World. Four Patch Around the World is listed as #13 on my extensive list of 2025 projects.  

Of course I changed the pattern and made it larger and symmetrical. Around the World measures 96" square right now and has been delivered to Calico Point for quilting.

You can see the trips in the center of the quilt. It was cold outside and this was a hurry up picture. I'll take a better picture when the quilt returns home, probably in March.

I also used fabrics left from Tula Hexies for more variety. The print fabrics are from a Free Spirit jelly roll I purchased the last time I visited Deanna in Utah. Jelly rolls are nice but you have two fabric strips each exactly same then repeated in several color ways.  The Tula fabrics blended well and added more variety.

Four Patch Around the World is the pattern I purchased when I visited MSQC in November. The two white jelly rolls were entirely used. I needed to cut more strips from the bolt of white Kona I keep on hand.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Elegant Garden, Partial Block 9

Last week was a busy week at my home and block 9 of Elegant Garden has many small pieces to be appliqued so I don't have a finished block to show you today.

It's amazing what a little color can do for a block!

You can easily see the markings on the background fabric of all the work to be done yet. See those tiny circles in the corners? Those are applique while the stem and leaves are embroidered.

Hopefully next Sunday I'll show you a finished block!

Elegant Garden is an older quilt designed by Edyta Sitar. 

This Christmas cactus was covered in buds when I brought it from outside in early October, it started blooming the end of October. I was surprised to see it so full when I came home from Phoenix in December! I don't know whether it will keep blooming through all of January or not but I'm very pleased to see them. My amaryllis are letting me down this year, their growth is extremely slow. At this rate they won't bloom until next May!

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

Projects Planned for 2025, '26 & Probably '27!

I'm starting off the New Year with a list of quilts I hope to accomplish this year. The projects won't be made in the order they are listed.

First are the older projects that were listed in 2024 and carried over into 2025 - 

1. Fire Island Hosta Queen, designed by QuiltWorx - Poor Fire Island Hosta, she didn't even make it out of the project bag! A start definitely needs to happen this year.

This isn't a kit, I selected my own fabrics but they are similar to the cover picture.

2. Blueberry pie - The blue outer borders have been added but this quilt has to wait to be quilted. The applique border looks a little puckery. This will quilt out just fine when it is pulled tight in the quilting frame.

Quilting will definitely not happen in 2025, I'm planning on putting another quilt into the quilting frame this fall.

3. Elegant Garden - finish applique blocks and sew the flimsy together. Elegant Garden is an older applique pattern designed by Edyta Sitar. Elegant was not on my list for 2024 but was started when the blueberry pie applique was finished.

4. Garden Party - Thirty-six blocks have been pieced. The plan is that this will be the only project I work on at the April retreat this spring, I'm hoping to have all the posey blocks pieced by the end of the retreat. The alternate blocks will be red chain blocks which should go fast since they will be strip pieced. Garden Party is found in the Addicted to Scraps book written by Bonnie Hunter.

And the new projects planned are . . .

5. Relief Sale quilt - Elaine and I are collaborating together and making a blue & light gray 9-patch quilt similar to the one the guild made back in 2019. Elaine is doing the applique while I am piecing the 9 patches then sewing them and the applique sections together. The goal is to have the flimsy appliqued, pieced and ready to put into the hand quilting frame this fall. I've decided the name of this quilt is Rhapsody in Blue but I haven't told Elaine yet. 

6, 7, 8. Make 3 quilts for granddaughter Joanna. Log Cabin Heart, Stars & Log Cabin, & the 2024 BOM quilt from A Quilting Life by Sherri McConnell. Three quilts is very ambitious, I'm aiming for at least one quilt but three would be fantastic. All three will be out of teal fabrics. I also reserve the privilege of changing my mind about which patterns to make.

9. Make at least 1 of the bagged projects I have kitted. Two would be even better but I'll be satisfied with one.

10. Red & White Gatherings - a challenge with Lynn. We both bought this book several years ago when we saw one of the quilts on display at the Quilt Store @ the Essenhaus complex. We each need to make one quilt from the book, our own choice. 

The quilt has to be based on one of the patterns from the book but we can change it to suit our taste. I already know Lynn will be adding applique to her quilt because she always adds applique.

I'm planning to make a version of this feathered star quilt and I'm going to actually make it with red fabric, but a blue version would really awesome!

11. Possibly another blue & white quilt might happen, I have some blue embroidered blocks that needs to be made into a quilt.

12. Then there are the purple/lavender embroidered blocks that also need to be made into a quilt.

13. Around the World Four Patch - made with the two white jelly rolls I bought at MSQC in November combined with a Free Spirit Daydreamer design roll I purchased in Utah several years ago. (The Daydreamer link was one of many places to find the design roll.) Of course I'm making the quilt larger than the pattern calls for. I'll probably add fabrics left from the Tula Hexies quilt.

14. There are several small flimsies to be machine quilted by me. Should they be counted as 14, 15 & 16?

15. Hand quilt a crib quilt made in Amish style. Amish style doesn't have much piecing, it's the quilting that brings it to life. Not all Amish quilts have black which is a good thing, I can no longer see black thread on black fabric!

16. And, as if all those projects aren't enough to keep me busy, I signed up for the 2025 Designer Mystery BOM through Fat Quarter Shop that starts in June 2025!

17. Book Adventures - While celebrating my birthday last summer, I purchased the Book Adventures kit at Carolines. I thought this was going to be a little crib quilt but it's 60" by 67"! I want to have this pieced and quilted before my next July birthday. This way I'll have all those squirrel quilts that I bought on my 2024 birthday outing finished!  

If I have time (😉?), it would be fun to get out my Weird Scrappy Log Cabin blocks (also known as Quilt Vortex) and make more of them. If you do check out the link to my post written in November 2022, the link for the Call Me Crazy pattern no longer works, try this link instead.

After organizing and writing about all these projects, I've decided this is much more than a one year plan, this is definitely a two year, probably a three year plan! Maybe I can actually accomplish these goals if I keep all of the squirrels out of the sewing studio.

Linking to 2025 Quilt Planning Party, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Elegant Garden, Block 8

Last week my evenings were spent appliqueing block 8 of the Elegant Garden quilt. Lots of Christmas special were watched.

Elegant Garden is an older quilt designed by Edyta Sitar. There are 25 blocks in this quilt, 24 of them are appliqued while the center block is a pieced star. I've been thinking about which fabrics to use in the center block but haven't decided yet. Even though the center block is in the center of the next row, it's block 25, the last one to make.

The instructions in the pattern are for machine applique but I'm hand appliqueing my blocks. The instructions also state how large to cut the background squares but Edyta hasn't added extra to the square. I cut my squares an inch larger. I'd rather trim a block than have it be too small. 

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching,  Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

2024, How Did It Sew?

I have spent 2024 trying to stick to the list I posted about last January in my first Planning Party report. At times sewing my list and sticking to the plan became very tedious, however I am very glad I persevered when I see all the quilting that was accomplished. A total of 8 quilts were listed. Of those 8 quilts, 6 are completely finished and 3 of those quilts were started and finished this year. However I did have a squirrel sneak in and run around, I'll show you that quilt at the end of the post.

Hearts & Wreaths was finished in June. From start to finish, it took a little under 3 years for this long term project.

The piecing of Dresden Stars was completed in February, sent to the long arm quilter in May then returned to me in August.

The anniversary quilt (listed as gift quilt) was pieced and long arm quilted entirely this year.

The months of June and July were spent binding comforter tops for MCC and machine quilting small quilt projects which I'm not showing in this post. You can read about them here, here, and here.

However, I am going to show you Dots and Dashes, this was the largest of the compassion quilts I quilted and donated. Quilting compassion quilts was on the list.

Most of the blocks for Dots & Dashes were completed, I just needed to piece a couple more blocks then sew the blocks together. The pattern for Dots & Dashes is found here. I may make another quilt from this pattern someday.

Tula Hexies was one of the quilts I quilted. She's staying at my house for me to enjoy. Tula Hexies was a new project I started in November 2023 and she's finished!

Radiant Blues was started and completed in 2024.

Radiant Blues is my favorite quilt of the year. I have been wanting to make a feathered star quilt for years and now I have. I enjoy looking at it displayed on the wall. 

Pineapple Blues was started at the Jane Stickle retreat in April. I innocently thought I could actually piece all 49 blocks needed for this quilt in one long weekend! I managed to complete almost 20. The rest were completed in September. She came home from the long arm quilter in November, another quilt started and finished in the same year.

The outer blue borders have been sewn onto blueberry pie. She won't be going into the quilting frame though. She measures 108" and I won't be able to have the hand quilting finished by spring. I don't like to hand quilt during summer and I feel guilty if I have a quilt the frame and not be quilting.

One of the projects I listed was Garden Party, designed by Bonnie Hunter. Thirty-six blocks were pieced at the November retreat, that quilt is on the list again for next year.

What quilts didn't happen? Fire Island Hosta was the only project on the list to not make it out of the project bag, it is also on the list for next year.

The squirrel quilt is Blessed by Nature which was a kit I purchased at Lolly's during my July birthday outing. Donna and I both pieced our quilts together in October then I sent my quilt to Calico Point to be quilted. Here she is!

Linking to TGIFF!, Favorite Finish December, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Missouri Star Quilt Co

The farmer and I drove to Missouri the week of Thanksgiving to spend time with his sister and BIL. Springfield is four hours from Missouri Star Quilt Co so of course I made sure we stopped for a visit.

When I tell people that we visited the town, they want to know what I bought, which was not a lot.

I bought a pattern that I thought looked simple but interesting, Four Patch Around the World. 

I also purchased two Kona white jelly rolls which will be used for piecing the above pattern. My purchases were placed into this really cute bag. It's a small bag but it was large enough to hold my purchases.

I did buy one more thing, a panel. In the picture it looks rather drab. Actually it has white background and is very bright and pretty. I thought this would make a nice compassion quilt. I didn't buy the accompanying fabrics, I knew I had fabrics at home that would coordinate with it just fine.

We were in Hamilton when the stores opened at 9 am Central time. I didn't take a lot of pictures but we enjoyed viewing the painted walls of the buildings.

The scraps shop was interesting, I don't remember the correct name.

The farmer was amused by the cow fabric cuts. He had no idea about the names of different cuts of fabric.

I didn't buy any scraps, I knew I had plenty at home. Of course I took a picture of the blues.

We visited all the stores but the yarn shop. I did forget that some of the stores had upstairs shops, I guess I'll have to make another visit some day.

I was asked by a friend if I thought it was worthwhile visiting Hamilton. I say yes, if you're in the area. I could have easily spent a lot of money but I can say that about any fabric store I visit. I like the idea of how MSQC revived the little town of Hamilton.

I'm sure most of you know that J.C. Penney was from Hamilton and everyone knows about his department stores. We toured his childhood house, it was TINY! I have no idea how they raised children in there! 

After the house, we walked to the Library/Museum. What you may not know is that J.C. Penney had a herd of Guernseys. The farmer really enjoyed viewing all the memorabilia.

There were a lot of trophies on display and pictures of award winning cows and bulls, very exciting stuff, at least for the farmer.

This is a picture of a Premier Breeder and Exhibitor award from a national show in 1937. They don't give awards like this anymore.

This is the Lieber trophy which is a production award. The Lieber was a traveling trophy which was awarded each year. The metal emblems around the bottom are the names of the award winning farms with the year they had the top production in the US. I guess the trophy was full so J.C. just kept this award. 

The American Guernsey Association still gives this award, kind of, nowadays you get a picture of the award 😒.

J.C. also had an award winning beef ranch but I'll let the ranchers talk about that.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!