Keeping busy

I was pretty busy this week but I don’t have any finished quilts to show for it.

The quilt I finished today is the 7th guild quilt since Thursday. I’m glad to see our Community Outreach nearing the completion of the 400+ quilts that were in storage when the current chairwoman took over. To say I’m impressed she was able to handle such a big task is an understatement.

On Saturday, I have a quilt trunk show at my guild, so I’ve been laying my quilts on the guest room bed, one at a time, for the last two weeks. I lightly spray the top of each quilt with water and smooth out the wrinkles. Once it dries, I add the next quilt. They won’t lie completely flat but closer to it and, they’ll look better than if they had been folded for months without this extra step.

This week, I made the 80 string blocks I’ve wanted. Members of the Heartstrings Quilt Project regularly create rainbow string blocks. I loved this one by Stephanie from 2020. She’s an Australian member who shared her tips to help me recreate her layout. I enjoy seeing her quilts and wish I could see them in person. The work of all group members is so inspiring! I get excited to go to my sewing room every time a new photo is posted.

I’m starting to think our cat, Rocky, enjoys string blocks as much as I do!
These were made with paper foundations that I still need to remove, and I’ll have to iron that top pink block better. 🫣

I’ve been organizing my sewing room and that’s the reason my small cutting mat is on this table. I did manage to whittle the pile on my cutting table from it’s original 2′ to only 1′ tall now. More work ahead but, it’s not insurmountable.

This small basket of scraps and the second one I’ve already started had me stumped all week. Today, I made a plan.

I’m cutting kid-friendly fabrics into 4 1/2″ and 6 1/2″ squares to create Mary’s Happy Blocks or perhaps her twisted version. I’ve made happy block quilts before and love how adorable and quick they are. I also have Sharon Craig’s book Twist ‘N Turn and have used its method for making cats and dogs on the beach blocks. I’m looking forward to trying it starting with smaller squares like Mary’s version.

I plan to cut the non-kid-friendly scraps into 2 1/2″ strips and add the narrower pieces to my strings. I don’t want to create more storage for scraps that I’m unable to sort by color. I know that if I do, they’ll just sit unused until I find them years later. I have enough fabric for adult quilts, so I don’t need to save small chunks.

The scraps are sorted by color, but I don’t use black scraps often enough for them to warrant a dedicated space to store them. Instead, I’ll use the small basket they were in for the strips I’ll be cutting.

The 2 1/2″ strip size creates fun, quick quilts to donate. Keeping them visible will help ensure they get used!

I’m using the black scraps I had been saving to make a scrappy binding for my next quilt that includes black in the design.

I may have shared this before but, this is how I sort my strings. Most of the drawers contain strings sorted by color, but a few are organized by type: batik, patriotic, kid-friendly, and adult.

My husband riveted sheet metal to the backs of both string carts to stabilize them. It stops them from being wobbly when I roll them toy sewing machine to start making blocks. We used an old street sign he found in a ditch. He dislikes waste and is always thinking of ways to make the discarded things he finds into something useful. I can’t count how many times he has brought home exactly what I need. ♥