It's February already?

 Well, I can't believe it is February, a whole week in even!  Life happens, and despite my best intentions I am not ready to launch my quilt-along for this year.  The good news is that I have set a definite date for that - March 4! So stay tuned to hear more about that as I prepare - I am always excited about a new project and this one is no exception.  

In the meantime, I've been trying to tidy up my sewing room by finishing some of my lingering WIPs.  That is Works in Progress, if you haven't heard that acronym before.  I have a bad habit of starting things, then setting them aside to work on something else.  So, I am making an effort to finish up something once a week or so.  These selvage bins were a lot of fun to get finished up!  I had 13 of them pieced and all the sections cut out.  One weekend I quilted all of the outsides, then another weekend I assembled the bins.  It was really satisfying to see them all on my cutting table in the sunshine!

I have added most of them to my Etsy shop, so if you would like to have one for your sewing room, I'm sure you can find your favorite color!  Or if you have a collection of selvages that you would like to put to use in a colorful little project, the Mini Selvage Bin pattern is available as well!  I still have plenty of selvages, but I am abstaining from new projects for a little while so they will have to wait their turn!

The other project that I've been working on is getting the quilt block ready for Quilt Run 101.  This is a really fun block, I'll share the completed block next week, when the quilt run has started!  I don't often design applique blocks, but I am really proud of how this one came out.  

So many lovely sunrises this month!  The weather has been unusually nice for January!

That led to an unusual amount of outdoor work for this time of year!  We cut our willow back a bit so it won't interfere with the lines out front.

We added rock around some of our backyard plants to keep from dealing with weeds.  Isn't the grass pretty and green?

And we enjoyed lots of pretty sunsets as well!

I enjoyed having my Crazy Jane quilt on the bed for January.  My long term goal is to have a different quilt for my bed each month!  I'm planning a pretty red quilt with French General fabrics for February, but no more new projects yet - I'm trying to be good and do some finishing first!

I did start my Alice's Wonderland Sampler Quilt in January.  I was hoping to do a block a day, but I have fallen behind and am working to catch up.  I am really loving the pretty liberty fabrics in this quilt, they are a treat to work with!  I am being a good girl and following the book, though some of the techniques aren't what I would choose to do.  I'm learning a thing or two in the process, even though I've been quilting for 40 years.  It's really fun to try different things, actually!

This is a long post, but it's been a while and I needed to catch up - I've really missed blogging and am excited to try to post more often and share what is going on in my life. I'm also looking forward to catching up- on reading some of my favorite blogs - I've really gotten behind on that, too!  Truthfully, I'm trying to make sure I spend less time on my phone and more time doing things that are more gratifying and productive.  

Hope you are finding time for the things that you enjoy!

Pamela

Hometown Nostalgia Row Quilt Reveal and Tips!

Happy New Year! My Hometown Nostalgia quilt top is finished and ready to share!

It's just a fun quilt, I think!  I love that the blocks do subtly represent the seasons, I sewed mine together in the order that I made them, but you could totally arrange them in any way you would like.  

I've been hearing an ad recently for the show Mad Men that talks about nostalgia and it really summed up what this quilt means for me.  It speaks of nostalgia being a twinge in your heart, calling you back to a place and time where you knew you were loved.  My original version definitely had that quality, the fabrics reminding me of my childhood in Colorado.  It will probably remain one of my favorite quilts I have ever made because of that connection.  

The first few rows will sew together easily - pin at each seam joining the blocks and the seams in the blocks themselves don't line up, so no worries about the bulk there!  When you get to the August block, you'll have to start matching the block seams as well, and there will be some bulk where they come together.  Just match to the best of your ability and sew through them.  I do make some effort to make sure my points line up and don't get sewn through, but I really am not obsessive if they are a little off.  After all, this is a quilt that will be used, not entered into a show.  As long as most of them line up, I'm happy and am in it to just enjoy the process.

As far as pressing the row seams - I look to see which way the seam wants to go, and press in that direction.  That's usually the side with the fewer seams, or less points.  You can also press your seams open if desired. If you want to make your quilt a little larger, you could add a narrow sashing in between.  In that case, you would press the seams toward the sashing strips.  Without borders this top finishes at 60 inches wide and 72 inches long.  I don't plan to add a border to mine, but it you like, you can add borders to bring it up to the size you want.  

As far as quilting this goes, my original quilt is done with diagonal cross-hatching. For this one, I'm contemplating custom quilting each row.  I've got a couple of other projects to finish up before I will work on this, so time to contemplate!  I'll show you progress, of course, when I get there!

Yes, I am planning another project for 2025!  This will be a fun one, I think - it will be starting up at the end of January, and I'll be revealing it shortly.  It is called The Wanderer's Path and it will feature a nature theme.  It is still in the design phase, so no preview for now, but very soon!  Hope you will join me again, I really enjoy these projects!

Row 12 of the Hometown Nostalgia Row Quilt

 I can hardly believe that it's time for the final row! I hope you are ready to sew the final blocks, this time of year seems to get so busy that it can be hard to find sewing time.  This block I call Twisted Star.

The good news is that if you survived last month's row, this one will be a snap!  We'll be using the same unit, but won't have to worry so much about the color placement so you can whip these together with less brain power involved.

 

If you are making this row using the same fabrics, you will need about 3/8 yard of background, 1/8 each of light and medium, and 1/4 yard of dark.  For this December row I chose wintery colors because it's a good month for snow, and dreaming of a white Christmas! 

Sew the quarter square triangles together, right sides facing with the background fabric on the top.  Make sure you sew these all consistently so they face the correct direction!  Press seam toward medium fabric and trim the dog ear from the corner..

Sew these pairs to the half square triangles.  Press seam toward the dark fabric and trim dog ears. 

Lay your pieced squares out around the center light square.  Notice how the background triangle will go to the outside edge of the block.  Now place your background squares in the corner and sew your block together!

How not to sew your block!  Don't know how I managed this one, but I got to use my seam ripper!

I really love the finished blocks - very "winter" looking!  

Next week I plan on sewing my rows together and showing my finished top!  

Download this month's block pattern below (I've corrected the link so the file is correct now!):

Download the Free Pattern Here!