Orphan Block Compassion Quilt

Earlier this month I completed two compassion quilts. In the same post, I showed you some orphan blocks that were hopefully going to become another compassion quilt but they needed to sit awhile until the design appeared in my mind.

That happened last week and the orphans have become a flimsy.

I took some pictures along the way with the intentions of giving some measurements but I didn't keep up with writing down the measurements.

The blocks in the center are all 12" finished. The sashing and cornerstones finishes at 2". 

The top and bottom blocks finish at 10". 

They don't line up with the 12" blocks but I'm calling this an design element. I did have to add pieced coping blocks. It's 40" wide and 60" long.

The 9 patch blocks finish at 5". I sewed 2.5" rectangles on one side of them while the other side had 3.5" rectangles which means the length of these blocks becomes 10"by 5" finished. These blocks were sewn onto one side and the bottom of the quilt. It finishes as 53.5" by 77". 

I did stay-stitch along the outer edge of the flimsy to keep seams from pulling open. Some people say they don't have a problem but I do even though I make my stitching length shorter when I piece quilts. Prevention is easier than repairs!

I'd like it better if it was a little wider, adding an outside border of the yellow fabric would have made it the perfect width but . . . this yellow is the last of the yellow from the bolt I purchased when I started Hearts & Wreaths. All that is left are squares which will go into their appropriate box to be used in future scrap quilts. 

This flimsy used a lot of the orphans. There is one album block left, 4 of the 9 patch blocks and 2 of the patchwork blocks.  I did not buy anything to make this quilt which was a win-win! 

This flimsy, and the others I have made or will be making, will be quilted sometime next spring. I have absolutely no idea how this flimsy will be quilted but I have decided the best way to start is to stitch in the ditch along the main seam lines that run the full width and length of the quilt.

More orphans were pulled from the box and this is the arrangement I came up with for the next compassion quilt. This is not the final arrangement, it has to rest awhile before the sewing starts.

Someone once asked me why I have so many orphan blocks? What can I say, apparently I run an orphanage!

I am taking a blogging break until the middle of October. See you then and of course, happy stitching! 😉

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

Stonefields, Blocks 42 & 43

Block 42 from the Stonefield's quilt, is named the Tulip. 

There was only supposed to be one tulip block but of course I made a second one which is block 43.

The tulip stems were embroidered and the applique was fairly simple.

The next several blocks are more challenging applique with smaller pieces. Stonefield's is designed by Susan Smith.

Except for some of the background fabrics, the blues have all come from my stash. 

You can view the quilts that will be in the Michiana Mennonite Relief sale here which will be held Saturday, September 27. Click on the picture of the quilt for a larger picture. Here is a link to the general website for the relief sale.

I have donated several quilts and have ties to another one. I'll give you the lot number and link to a blog post about the quilt so you can read about it. Feel free to bid if you so choose, thank you!

Lot 81 - Scrappy Dresdens

Lot 104 - Many Trips

Lot 124 - Stars in the Center

Lot 139 - Blue Churndashes

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

A Variety of Pieced Blocks

Blocks 42 & 43 from the Stonefields quilt are named Mulhouse Magic, they are the only blocks pieced in section four, they were fun blocks to make.

I fussy cut the center fabric in both blocks which is a square in a square block.

Susan doesn't really give you instructions when you make these blocks. For this block, she said to look at the picture for guidelines. I made QST's for the outer corners, half of them had the light blue on the right side while the other half had the light on the left side. That worked out okay, I had enough for both blocks.

Block 45 was also supposed to be the same design but you know me, two of one design is enough. 

Stonefields is designed by Susan Smith. 

Week 3 of the 2025 Laundry Basket Mystery was to make flying geese, 24 of them. They are placed around the center star. I went ahead and sewed the star sections together, Edyta didn't say to do that but I did it anyway. Hopefully there will not be any unstitching happening.

The blue looks too bold for the rest of the fabrics but I'll wait and see how they look when it's finished before I make any changes. I assume next week we'll be making corner blocks.

The kit came for the Designer Mystery BOM, this is the 4th block in the series.

I think this is the prettiest block. 

Those tiny little birds in the brown fabric are so cute!

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

Stonefields, Blocks 38, 39, 40 & 41

The first two blocks in section four of Stonefields have been completed. They are called 'Angel Wings'. There was supposed to be only one block with this design but I decided two were better.

Here is block 38  . . .

And block 39.

There was supposed to only be one Angel Wings block but I decided that block 39 should be the same as 38. Why? Because this is my quilt and I can do what I want.

In the patterns, block 39 was supposed be the same as blocks 40 and 41 which are called Mirror Mirror. Two blocks the same are enough.

Block 40 which has my favorite blue floral fabric,

And block 41 which also has a pretty floral in the center.

Both of these blocks appliqued very fast. I might come back to the Mirror Mirror pattern if I decide to replace another design.

Stonefields is designed by Susan Smith. Chris and Rebecca Grace are also stitching along with me, we're each working at our own speeds.

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

2025 Laundry Basket Mystery Quilt, Weeks 1 & 2

I've been so good this year sticking to my list of projects and not getting side tracked however I got squirreled! I've succumbed to the Laundry Basket Mystery Quilt sew-along. It's weekly so at least I won't have to wait a month for the pattern like I do for the Designer Mystery sew-along and no, I did not order fabric from Edyta even though she has many beautiful fabric collections.

I came across several bags with fabrics that I had purchased for something else while organizing my sewing studio in July but those projects never happened. I pulled one of those bags for this project.

The fabrics are batiks that I purchased years ago. Yoder's had a quilt in display in their store that I thought was cute so I bought the kit. It was cute but I just didn't get it sewn, now it's time to use the fabrics.

Here are week one blocks, 9 square in a square blocks. I've used two different blue fabrics.

The fabrics actually have more of a slate blue appearance in real life. Don't worry, this isn't another blue & white quilt, there are also dark pink, green, brown and yellowish fabrics. The background fabric is a cream color, not white as they look in the blocks.

The blocks for week two have also been pieced.

These hourglass blocks are set with five of the blocks from week 1, they make a star for the center of the quilt.

I hadn't planned to use blue for this week but I didn't think another color would look right. That is what the challenge is about mystery quilts, color placement!

It's nice that Edyta shows us the location of the blocks in the quilt, this way I was able to use another blue fabric to make the star entirely blue.

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

Stonefields, Blocks 35, 36, 32 & 37

More Stonefield blocks have been completed. Here are blocks 35 and 36, their name is Imogen's Sunburst.

It was nice not to have applique the center points, the circle covers them.

Block 37 is titled Date Night. There was supposed to be some random circle appliqued onto the side of the flower but I didn't like it, so I eliminated it.

And block 32 which was supposed to be the same design as blocks 30 & 31. Those were nice stars but I thought 2 blocks were enough. This flower is much cuter.

This completes the 3rd section of Stonefields. Here are all of my blocks so far. The display wall is filling up, I hope it's large enough to hold all of the blocks.

Stonefields is designed by Susan Smith.  Just a word of warning, this pattern does NOT contain detailed instructions. It is NOT for a beginning quilter.

Chris and Rebecca Grace are also working on the Stonefields quilt, each of us using the method that works best for ourselves. 

I was in Wakarusa last week and took pictures of the quilt gardens. This will probably be the last pictures of them this summer. 

First the garden in 'downtown' Waky.

I don't remember if I had shown you the design of the garden, this is it!

And the garden at Grandma's Pantry. 

I thought taking a side picture instead of straight on might make it easier to see the design in the flowers.

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

Two More Compassion Quilts

Last week I showed you the two compassion quilts that were made from the 'ugly' blocks which actually turned out pretty. I decided to finish the blocks that were made from the 2" box. Most of them were already made, just needed to sew them together. These fabrics I like so much better than the 2.5" squares.

I had planned to just make simple patchwork quilts again, like I did with the first two quilts but then changed my mind. While I was looking at the stack of quilts that Koka Quilts just got back from her long arm quilter, one jumped out at me. It contained 6" finished 9-patch blocks with alternate star blocks. I have some unused star blocks that finish at 6" also.

I went with that idea and I love this quilt!

This quilt finishes at 58" by 70". 

I used every single star, no leftovers to go back into the orphan box.

I did have to rearrange several times to figure out the correct arrangement but it was fun.

For the second quilt, the blocks were sewn into a simple patchwork quilt. 

The patchwork quilt measures 58" by 64", a little smaller than the first one. 

If I did the math correctly, this flimsy contains 1640 1.5" finished squares. 

These two quilts made a definite dent in the 2" square box.

Both flimsies have the same border fabric, it's leftover from another quilt.

These flimsies will be quilted sometime next spring then donated.

So, what's next? I pulled a bunch of orphan blocks to arrange on the display floor. Nothing is going to happen immediately, I need to let the ideas germinate awhile.

I'm tentatively thinking about using the yellow fabrics as sashing. I'll probably add some cornerstones but I don't know what color, what do you suggest?

The center 9 blocks finish at 12" while the top and bottom blocks finish at 10". The little 9 patches finish at 4.5". There are 22 of them, 11 for each side. This quilt is definitely going to require math. 😔

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

Stonefields, Blocks 30, 31

Blocks 30 & 31 are named Cara's Surprise Block. Block 32 was also supposed to be a Cara's Surprise block but I thought two blocks of this design were enough. I'll show you what I substituted for block 32 later.

Here is block 30 . . .

And block 31 . . . 

Blocks 33 & 34 are pieced blocks and were displayed in this post.

I'm going to be slowing down on appliqueing the Stonefields blocks, I've put the relief sale quilt, Rhapsody in Blue, into the quilting frame! I had originally said it would go into the frame in October but it is marked and ready to go so I decided to start quilting. This quilt has a deadline so I've got to keep stitching!

I don't think I've shown you the flimsy since Elaine has completed the applique corners. 

The corner applique is based an adaption of the center applique which is from the Lady Jane quilt.

The corner applique is the same applique I used for my Blueberry Pie flimsy. Elaine is a very precise person, I'm sure she was rather appalled with the cobbled together design I put together for my pattern but it worked!

There is a quilting design marked on the outside border which doesn't show in the pictures. When you mark on light fabric, you mark lightly, just so you can see the design when hand quilting. I took a picture of the stencils so you can see what the design is, a cable of feathers.  There are diagonal background lines so there aren't empty background spaces.

Here is a picture of Rhapsody in Blue in the quilting frame which is in the basement of my home. I'm thankful to have the space to put this large quilt into the frame, it's 118" by 118".

I am using my old sticks & stands frame for quilting. I think this setup has much better tension on the sides than the roller frame I used for several years.

You can see on the left side that the frame isn't large enough for the whole quilt top. Once I've quilted just past the center medallion, I'll move the part hanging off and onto the frame. This is going to take a long time to quilt so I've covered the top with a sheet so it doesn't get dusty.

I've been asked if I don't feel out of touch with my sewing studio located in the basement? No I don't, I'm thankful to have such a large studio. I don't have a huge social life, I like being by myself and doing what I enjoy, sewing and quilting. 

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

Ugly Quilts?

I decided to go ahead and sew the 'ugly blocks' together. Since they've been pieced into flimsies, they don't look as bad as I feared. They'll never be favorite quilts but I won't be ashamed or embarrassed to donate them.

Last week you all gave me several good suggestions as to how to set the blocks but I decided to just keep it simple with easy patchwork.

The first finished flimsy measures 59" by 79".

There are forty-eight 8" finished blocks in the center, set 6 by 8. The narrow brown fabric is leftover from a long ago project. The outside border is fabric from my mother's stash so it's old, from the 80's or 90's.

Here's the flimsy displayed on the grass.

I didn't mean for the quilt to become as large as it is but that is what the quilted wanted to be, why argue with a quilt flimsy?

The second quilt is made from the same blocks, again arranged 6 by 8.

This time I didn't add the narrow border, just the dark brown fabric so it's slightly smaller measuring 58" by 72".  I'm not sure why this flimsy is that much shorter than the first quilt, I probably measured wrong, oh well.

The dark brown border adds some zing to the flimsy. The first quilt looks more dull and muted but the same fabrics were used in both quilts!

I know I had said I had over 100 of these blocks pieced but guess what, I miscounted! I needed to piece three more blocks for this quilt which was okay, I'm glad to not have leftover blocks.

The backings for both quilts have been pieced, a soft yellow fabric that was gifted to me years ago with the understanding it be used in charity projects. 

The binding for both quilts has also been sewn. It's going to be very scrappy, using whole and partial strips that are similar to the fabrics used in the blocks.

Sometime next spring I'll spend a month or so quilting compassion quilts to be delivered to the cancer center at our local hospital. 

Someone commented last week that they only sew with pretty fabrics, they don't have any uglies. I didn't buy all those yellow toned background batiks, they were gifted to me by Nanette. She joined in some summer sew-along several years ago, I don't remember how long ago but it was before covid. She became frustrated with the project, took all of the bits & pieces and shoved them into a bag then mailed the whole mess to me. I looked at the pattern and decided I didn't want to deal with the pattern. That was my evening work that winter, taking all those blocks apart. That is where all of the yellowish background fabrics came from.

It feels good to have these fabrics out of the 2.5" box. Now I need to finish piecing the blocks from the 2" box, I might as well go ahead and get those blocks sewn into a flimsy also.

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

Stonefields, Blocks 26, 27, 28 & 29

I've started section 3 of the Stonefields quilt. Blocks 26 & 27 are both the same design called The Semi Circles. I looked at that design and thought no way, not in my quilt! I think Susan was struggling to think of something pretty when she came up with the semi circle idea.

I changed block 26 to an embroidery design I came across several weeks ago. Those are little 1/2" hexies around the center. 

I tried to fussy cut the hexies, they didn't turn out like I had planned but I'm not changing them. I might substitute this block again for another disliked block but I'll add circles instead of hexies next time.

This cute little embroidery was designed by Karen Styles, Somerset Patchwork. You can find the Somerset Patchwork website here then click Love & Hugs from Australia.

For block 27, I appliqued this floral circle onto background fabric. 

I really like this floral fabric, I've used it in several other blocks in the Stonefields quilt. The hexies in the embroidered block came from the same fabric, this is border fabric left from the Lady Jane quilt.

Blocks 28 & 29 are named Paper Flowers.

I wish now I would have added leaves, they look rather stark.

I used the same stems for both blocks, it's bias vine left from the applique of Blueberry Pie. I hadn't intended to use this dark of blue fabric in this quilt but I way over estimated the amount of stem needed for Blueberry Pie. Waste not! I think that blue bias will be seen in future quilts also.

As a reminder, these blocks will finish at 6". Stonefields is designed by Susan Smith.

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

2025 Designer Mystery Block, Stonefields, Blocks 33 & 34

The August block (block 3) from Fat Quarter Shop for the 2025 Designer Mystery quilt has been pieced.

Last month someone asked if there was enough fabric in the packets if you made a mistake in cutting. I supposed it depends on how big of a mistake you make but I would say there is enough to correct mistakes.

The floral white background fabric has been in all three of the blocks so far. I had enough leftover from the first two blocks that I didn't even need to cut into the fat quarter that came with this block.

These floral fabrics have not been used so far, in fact none of the floral fabrics have been repeated so I'm accumulating a nice assortment of fabrics for a future project.

I'm ready to start Section 3 of the Stonefields quilt. There are only two blocks in this section that are pieced. Blocks 33 & 34 are named Bordered Four Patch, all the other blocks in this section are completely appliqued.

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