Friendship Stars and a Tiny Rabbit Hole

The opportunity to donate orphan blocks in addition to the larger 16" blocks, flimsies and quilts that we will send to Quilts for Survivors this year is proving to be a bit of a distraction, but a fun one. Enter my Friendship Stars.

Of course 'orphan' blocks' tend to be those leftovers from projects started and abandoned but after I culled my bags and boxes to see what I could find I've been using it as an excuse to try out blocks on my 'some day' list. And lately, my 2.5" scrappy squares have been my accomplice. 

It's been fun to dig and see if I can find enough squares of the same print to make a block.

Sometimes making the centre square different helps me squeak one, like this...

Or this.

Just love the bees and this chartreuse together.

When that fails, I settle for monochromatic. It's interesting to see their distinct personalities.

Because the HSTs are being made with two 2.5" squares using the stitch-and-flip method I'm ending up with a batch of even smaller HSTs from the trimming that I can't seem to ditch. You know where this is going, right?

Of course you do. Even tinier stars! The original is a 6" block and the smaller version will be just under 4". Borderline crazy making, as so many rabbit holes are, but oh so cute!...M

Delicate Snowballs

I've got another pinkish quilt top to share with you today - Snowballs and Nine Patches is now a flimsy, and a very delicate looking one at that.

This is another Quilts for Survivors project and started with me on a mission to use up several peach and pink remnants from Jan and one or two of my own that I'd like to see the end of. Adding the large pink floral and a bit of mauve makes it just a little more interesting. Like many of my squirrel projects, it started on a whim, but I didn't expect it to turn out quite so pretty!

I'd love to have one like this on one of my beds, albeit a larger version.

The snowballs and nine patches are 6" blocks and work really nicely together. I tried desperately to ensure that the same print didn't touch itself but inevitably there were a couple of spots where that happened. Such is the life of a scrappy quilter.

And I'm still loving that wonderfully scrappy & pink Flying Geese border.

We don't quilt all of the flimsies that we make to send north but I am going to suggest that we quilt this one, just so I can spend more time with it. I'm thinking a cross hatch that runs through the snowballs and on the diagonal through the nine patches would work nicely....M

Fresh Off the Frames

This week our quilters will be moving to 'summer hours'😊, cutting back from meeting two mornings a week to just one, just because summer is a busier season and it will give us time in our gardens, for getaways, and slowing down a bit. But that doesn't mean that QFS production is slowing to any great extent. Here's our latest finish.

It's another lap quilt - one that Jan made -  and is very similar to the Cowboy Quilt top that I finished up for Jan in February only this time she didn't piece the squares. I think I prefer it this way - a little easier on the eyes - and the fabrics are very pretty. The narrow border that matches the diamond works really nicely.

I'm a sucker for cross-hatched quilting so this one really speaks to me. 

In looking at those Cathedral Window embellishments it occurred to me that you could get a very similar look by using stitch-and-flip corners as well and not have to worry about the curves, etc.

The bright pink backing and binding is the cherry on top!....M

A Magical Mystery Tour

Well, everything in the Double Wedding Ring box is now pressed and organized, but there were no instructions enclosed so I've spent some time looking at what is already together for assembly hints. Finally I looked online and found this great tutorial.

The end pieces on the ovals are slightly curved compared to the squares used in the tutorial so I've had to figure out how to deal with that, but, by and large, I think I've now got a technique that works.

As I mentioned, the fabrics look like they are from the 80s but there are also a few terrific vintage-y looking pieces like this gem scattered throughout. Not sure if it is or it isn't.

Some of the ovals have very dark fabric combinations so I've been digging through my scrap bin as I go and will incorporate a few lighter bits. It's slowing a slow process down a bit further but I think it will be worth it. I'll have to ensure that they are well incorporated when I lay the rings out with the two columns that are already sewn together so that things are well distributed....M