What in the world have we got HERE? A blog that I completely forgot about!
Blank pages, missing years of quilting and...TERRIBLE pictures! Phone cameras have certainly come a long way since the 2010's, but unfortunately, I don't think my picture-taking skills have improved much.
Since it's been a minute, what have I been up to? Let's see...
Moved to a different house.
Stopped quilting because, you know, life. Job, kids, life. My 50's were a blur.
Got two of three boys graduated and mostly launched out into the world.
[pandemic...ahem]
Switched careers.
Turned 60 {gulp}.
Remembered that I love to quilt and decided that I deserved to take over my basement to create a quilting studio just for ME and all my quilty stuff!
Remodeled the basement. Added a Clover, the curious cow.
Hello Clover!
Went from midnight blue and tan carpet....
...to fresh green and white, with LVP.
I have white inset cabinets - took the fronts off the tops and that's where my 1-yard cuts of fabric are!
Gathered all of my scattered quilty stuff from closets, nooks, crannies, and corners. It barely fit into my big new quilting space. This is not good. I seriously have enough fabric for 3 lifetimes.
Decided to get going, get back in the saddle, and regain some control over my stash and UFOs (unfinished objects).
Started posting again in my small group in Facebook.
Started exploring options for becoming a quilting content creator.
Wondered who I'm kidding.
Rediscovered my Blogger account! HELLO long lost Blogger friends.
Decided I'm not kidding, I really AM going to learn about being a quilting content creator because I am a QUILT CREATOR! Content means everyone can come along for the ride.
So, let's get to some eye candy. What's been under my needle in the last 6 months since I turned the lights back on and got restarted?
October 2025/November 2025
I joined the local quilt guild here and started going to the monthly donation meeting called Comfort Quilts. My first quilt in more than 6 years was the 3-yard challenge quilt, which turned out so cute and I used just about every inch of the fabric I was given.
Baby Lavender and Yellow Pinwheel (Donation)
3-yard challenge, November 2025
December 2025/January 2026
From the donations in December I picked up a stack of pinwheels. They really needed a border and I kind of needed a challenge, so I worked up a dogtooth border for a somewhat unconventional size of 34" square. I have no idea how the maker of these pinwheels ended up with such a weird measurement but I mathed it out and made it work by adding a narrow purple coping strip - also known as an inner border. It turned out cute and I know someone in the quild will quilt it up adorably.
Purple and Teal Pinwheel (Donation), December 2025
Next, I was starting to sort through my mountains of fabric and came across a yummy selection of fat quarters. I was inspired to use them and didn't want to lose momentum, so I looked for an easy pattern where I could show off some larger full pieces of these wacky fabrics and found Double Slice, perfect!
Citrus Double Slice was a great quilt to work on in December and January when the weather was terrible. The bright colors really lifted my mood. But man, I really have to work on my photography skills; this quilt is much brighter than it looks in this terrible picture.
Double Slice pattern doesn't actually have sashing but that didn't stop me - I really wanted those fabrics to stand out. I auditioned black and white for the sashing. In the end, I didn't have enough of either to sash the whole quilt so..ingenuity! Lisa gets creative with what she's got! (You'll find this as a recurring theme for me.) This is 100% stash, no fabrics were purchased to add to this top.
Citrus Double Slice, January 2026
In January 2026, I led my private Facebook group (Quilter's Small Blocks) through a studio clean out - during which, I found a baggie with 142 batik rail fence blocks that had been a swap from several years prior. All of those bright batiks called to my sad January soul, and I sorted roughly by color, into piles of orange/yellow, green/brown, and blue/purple/pink. I added a few extra orange/yellows, as well as the on-point border and Slices of Sunshine took shape. I picked a batik backgound that looks like sand dollars. In March I quilted it, so it's waiting for a border but I'm just tickled with it. You WILL be seeing both the green and the blue rail fence quilt blocks in future posts - they are already well under way!
Slices of Sunshine, February 2026
Slices of Sunshine, March 2026
I also discovered that I am RUSTY at machine quilting, imagine that! I haven't quilted on a LA since about 2018. I took the certification class again because it had been so long, but the good news is the basics were still the same. This was a great quilt to start on and I can't wait to get it finished for the first COMPLETE to the binding quilt of 2026.
March 2026
Groovy Garden is another donation quilt that started as a stack of appliqued tablecloth flowers. I recognized those flowers because my mother had a similar tablecloth in the 1960's! So, my mission was clear - find some fabric that spoke to the florals AND the era - and my stash did not disappoint! I found the brown partridge fabric and went from there. Unfortunately, I only had half a yard - not enough to do an entire border. So in true scrappy GenX fashion, I figured out a work-around and I have to admit, I like it even better than I would have if I'd had enough fabric to make the whole border. I am still considering how to quilt it, the applique is causing me some pause. I've got two blocks out of order and it will bother me to the point of distraction so I will be fixing that before I quilt it. It's not hard to spot.
Please take a moment to admire the partridge fabric! Zoom in if you can, and tell me you don't hear David Cassidy singing "I think I love you..."
A friend mentioned to me that she thinks this one will be hard to give away. It was a fun quilt to make and as I sewed it I was thinking about the person who will eventually get it - will it be a foster teen who needs to know someone made something colorful by hand just for her, an elderly person who will recognize the 60's wackiness, a scared mom who's just escaped her abuser with nothing but her kid and the clothes on their backs? Our comfort quilt charity donates to a wide variety of causes in our community and I feel like someone out there needs THIS quilt. So no, in the end it won't be hard to give it away.
Groovy Garden (Donation), March 2026
April 2026
I'm hosting a Springy Maple Leaf swap on my private Facebook group. We had decided on the maple leaf pattern for the first swap of 2026 and as I was making the fall-colored sample, I found myself feeling sort of depressed. So I polled the group and they agreed we could change to SPRING leaves because hey, those Fall leaves have to start somewhere. I love the spring colors so much more, even though there is a bit of brown in there.
I'm just getting started on these leaves and loving them already!
In addition, I've got the other batik rail fence quilts. Each is a completely different pattern, and I'm super-excited to get those done so I can share with you!
AND I get to go on a 3-day quilt retreat right around my birthday, so that's a huge treat for me and I'm really looking forward to it.
So I'm back to some blogging, though I'm not sure yet the cadence. You can always find me on Facebook nearly every day, posting in my private group. If you want to join us there, just search for "Quilters Small Blocks." There are 3 simple questions to answer and that's it! It's a fun free group of quilters who have been together since the early 2000's and we love having new members!
Happy stitching!
Lisa
Comments
Post a Comment