Sue

I had surgery at the beginning of February, so there was no sewing until near the end of the month. But I managed to get some red 2.5″ squares done: Two-Step from Lissa Alexander’s book “Scrap School”; some split 9-patches; & rail fence blocks.

Slowly but surely, I’m making progress on Bonnie Hunter’s Winter Mystery, Indigo Way. Step 2 was done in late February. If I continue with one/month, I’ll finish late summer!

As February turned into March I decided to make some Scrappy Hearts by Quilty Love. These are large blocks so I only need a few for a throw quilt. We’ll see how they end up at the end of the year.

Purple Scrappy Heart

There’s been more sewing in March, now that my head can stand it. So I got the 2.5″ projects done in purple.

I did the two purple Patchwork Hearts I need for my layout for the pattern by Quilty Love. Then on to the wonky Lori Holt paper pieced hearts. I realized that I didn’t get the red ones made for February, so they will have to get done later in the year.

I used leftovers from another RWB donation quilt to make these for the current charity block drive by Cynthia Brunz. You can make some using these directions.

And this week I got the top done for Cherry Crunch by Bonnie Hunter! I started the low volume string blocks in January 2023, so it’s good have it done. It’s in the closet to await its turn at the quilter. I ended up making it smaller than the pattern, so I have a bunch of orphan blocks left to snowball into a baby donation quilt.

I started another RSC2024 project. How does this happen when I made a resolution to not go overboard?? Ah well. These are Patchwork Hearts by Quilty Love. I made the January green, then went ahead & made the February red. So this project is done for the month!

In January 2023 I posted that I had made all 448 of these string pieced 2.5″ x 4.5″ blocks for Bonnie Hunter’s Cherry Crunch. Then I planned to set them aside until the red month & put the corners on. Unfortunately, red occurred during the time we were moving & I was not doing my projects.

So this week I got right on these as soon as red was announced. It pinged in my brain that I wanted to get this top done! I’ve been putting on the corners, then sewing pairs, then pairs into blocks. I’m almost done with the blocks I need for a lap size quilt, then will have leftovers to make a donation baby quilt. So hopefully I can get these rows sewed & the borders made this month.

It’s been months since I posted here. I’ve been getting used to our new home, doing more physical therapy, having more tests, finding more things for the doctors to treat. So I’ve just been sewing what I wanted & not worrying about pushing myself. One thing I have been doing is keeping up with the charity block drives by Cynthia Brunz. These Offset Log Cabins are the drive for Dec 2023-Feb 2024 so I got them done at the beginning of January & made more greens than blue & purple, since January is green!

Covered in Love announced they were also doing a Jan-March block drive after a hiatus, so I made two for them. These Elizabeth Hartman blocks were fun but took quite a long time & I was anxious to get started on some of my own stuff, so stopped after 2. Also they are large.

This year’s new projects include these wonky Lori Holt paper pieced hearts. I’ve been hoarding this Tula Pink low volume layer cake that I got on an MSQC Daily Deal a long time ago because I love the fabric. So I’ve been waiting for the “perfect” project to use it on, but have decided it will be darling for this & since I want to use up what I have, what am I waiting for? The colored fabric is another Daily Deal I’ve been holding on to, so these layer cakes are being used. While technically not scraps, they are stash, so I’m going for it. Also, these are super cute!

My other new projects are scrap projects using 2.5″ squares. I’m making Two-Step from Lissa Alexander’s book “Scrap School”; some split 9-patches; & some rail fence blocks I saw on instagram a long time ago. These may drift into next year if I need more blocks to make whole quilts.

In non-RSC sewing, I finished “Jamestown Landing” from “String Fling” by Bonnie Hunter. It’s definitely a scrap quilt & will go to the quilter sometime. It’s in the queue. My son & daughter-in-law gave me the book for my birthday in July so I couldn’t resist starting on it then & it took a while to make all the blocks, because Bonnie=lots of piecing.

I finished “Christmas Joy” mid-January. It’s made from all the leftovers from the tree skirts I made both my boys as wedding presents in 2019. I’ve had that bag of strips hanging around waiting for a pattern I liked, & when I saw Fast Track by A Bright Corner in my patterns, I realized it was perfect. So I power-sewed in early December, got it quilted, & bound after the Christmas rush. Since I finished another Christmas quilt for me in time for this Christmas, I’ll have two new quilts to toss around Christmas 2024!

I gave my DIL all the fabric for a Hocus Pocus quilt by The Pattern Basket because she loves mine. When I saw this version by Jessica Dayon using the Shades of Autumn fabric, I ran right out & bought everything I needed for the quilt. She got it in September & I’m just now starting on it. But all these cut pieces have now become pumpkins with leaves & stems.

And finally, the Bonnie Hunter winter mystery: Indigo Way. I’ve always wanted to do one of her mysteries & every year I save the clues, but have yet to make one. This year I decided to just do it. I cut out the first clue & have been L&E sewing them. I finally got them all trimmed & pressed this week, so part one is done. I’ve cut & started L&E sewing part two, so maybe this will be done by the summer. Ha ha!