Quilting and binding...................

I had 2 sessions of ditch quilting around the light centers of some of the blocks in the Crooked Cobblestone quilt.  I have one more day on light centers and then can choose a different color to do.

I have 2 quilts to bind and this one was already trimmed so I started with it.  In this photo  have attached the binding by machine.

There are 3 fabric strips on the back of the quilt.  The one on the right was full width and the other 2 were cutaways from previous backs.  I have started the hand sewing on the binding and have part of a short side finished.

It was a chilly day yesterday so I was inside all day.  I need to go outside today and see what else is growing. 

Border......................

A little over a week ago I showed some pieced strips I found in a drawer in my studio.  This photo shows what is left after using some of them.

I also showed 2 possible small tops in progress that the strips could be used on.  This was the winner and I got all 4 borders sewn on Wednesday night.

To break down this design: I started with 4 star blocks and then added sashing made of Flying Geese.  After that I added Bow Tie blocks as a border and then it stayed in limbo for 4 1/2 years.  Now it measures 40" square and I think just a medium-dark binding will complete the quilt (after I quilt it).

I think I'm down to the last 2 blooms of my cacti plants.  This orange one makes me so happy.

The medium rose color bloom is so pretty too.  The color seems more intense on this plant this year.

I finished knitting a dishcloth last night, using up the ends of two balls of yarn.

A friend came over yesterday so I could help her with a computer problem and we spent hours talking about fabric and quilts.  She brought lunch from Subway and it was so good.  I hadn't had a Subway sandwich for almost a year.

Quarterly recap- First quarter 2025

There were 6 finished quilts in the first quarter of 2025.  The colorwash is a wallhanging and there is one baby quilt.  The rest are what I consider throw quilts, and they are mostly in the 50" x 70" size range with some a little smaller, some a little larger.  The baby quilt top was just finished in January.

There were also 6 quilt tops made in the first quarter.  That would mean I'm not gaining in the finished vs. started quilts except that I sold the Plaidish top, so I am ahead in finishes by one.  The two Tilda fabric quilt tops are at the longarmer's house so they will be finishes soon.  I plan on quilting the pastel baby quilt in April.  I counted 26 tops on the "to be finished" list.  The largest percentage of them is in the category of 66" or shorter on the longest edge.

There are 17 pieces in the "littles" category, mostly what I consider table mats of one kind or another: table runners, table centerpieces, placemats, mug rugs, and oversized coasters.

This post is mostly for me to look back to for reference, but I hope you enjoyed it too.  You can go back to monthly recap posts to see more descriptions and sizes by clicking on "monthly recap" on the label list on my right sidebar.  If you read the blog on your phone, you need to scroll to the bottom of the post and click on "view web version" to see the sidebar.

March 2025 monthly recap..................

 There were two finishes in March.  On the left Neutral Batik 16 Patch 3 is 54.5" x 72".  I have made a total of 4 quilts with these fabrics; the first one was sold as a top, the second a finished quilt (made with triangles) was sold, a family member has the third one.  I'm hoping a family member will want this one.

On the right, Kaffe Blue Pinwheels is 59" x 72".  It is the 4th quilt made with 6" triangles of Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics.  The others were pink/blue, pink/green and pink/gray. all finished last year.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there are still more 6" triangles in a project box.

March was Tilda fabric month for new quilt tops.  I used her fabric from several lines.  I went to the Tilda website and found the pattern for Whimsy, on the left.  It is 57" x 75".  While I was cutting that quilt, I cut pieces for two more quilts.  The one on the right is a basic 16 patch quilt with the leftover ladies fabric cut into alternating blocks.  I will finish cutting the third quilt this week.

This year I want to finish a lot of small pieces so I will have finished pieces ready for gifting.  This was a good month for finishes in this category.  I gifted the purple/blue hand died small piece yesterday.

I'm going to put together some collages for the first quarter of the year.  I decided I need that to see my progress better.  It will be a separate post from the monthly recap. 

The last March finish.................

I finished hand sewing the binding on this neutral color batik 16 patch quilt around 9 p.m. last night but didn't want to go to the basement to take the photos so I hung it on my main floor studio design wall for these photos.  This one ended up at 54.5" x 71".

I was so happy to find a large enough piece of batik (that looks good with the top) in my backings box.  I only buy that large of yardage when it is deeply discounted.

This quilt has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it and was longarm quilted by Robin Diaz.

It was in the 40s yesterday so it was a good day to stay inside.  I had a wonderful visit with 2 cousins (daughters of 2 first cousins).  I want to be sure family members have my quilts so they went home with some.

I'll work on my monthly recap post today and I'm thinking about doing a quarterly recap post also.  

Almost there...................

Another day of hand stitching, 4 corners done.  I still have about 45" to stitch on the last side.

It went from hot to cold yesterday as the front went through and the severe storms stayed south of us.

I will post this photo again in my monthly recap, but since it's the only other photo I took yesterday I'll share it today too.  These are my 11 littles finished in March.  I did 3 in January and 3 in February so there are 17 finished so far this year.  There was only one I didn't get quilted (that is ready) and I know I won't have time to do it today because some cousins are coming for a visit.

 

Binding again............................

I trimmed this quilt and cut the binding and got it sewn onto the quilt.  I have one long side hand stitched.  This is the last of the neutral batik 16 patch quilts and the smallest one.

I had a couple outside sessions yesterday since it was still warm.  I have the stalks cleared on the first of three Sedum plants.

I also trimmed off the old leaves from last year on the Lenten Rose plants.  I left a couple on the center plant because I was getting tired of bending over.  I raked out most of the leaves too.

In my inside garden the one lonely bud has bloomed on the white plant.  It looks mostly pink here but it really is mostly white.

 

 

It was an outside day.....................

It was in the high 70s yesterday so I decided to do some yard work.  First I raked leaves off the flowerbeds where the Brunnera and Lungwort are.  I only found one Lungwort plant in bloom but I'm sure several will follow soon.

The largest Columbine plant is growing fast.  I could see this one from the dining room window.  I got stung by a bee while picking up stacks of leaves in this flowerbed.

One of my Lenten Rose plants has flowers and more buds.  It is a burgundy color flower.  This is the plant that didn't do as well as the other 2 last year.  This year maybe it will be the overachiever.

I think the flowers on this Lenten Rose plant will be the pale green ones.  Maybe they are considered white but from last year I remember the green tint.  I need to rake the leaves out of this bed and cut down the dead leaves from last year.  Maybe this morning if the rain stays away.

I took down my bird feeders before one of our extremely windy days about 2 weeks ago.  I hung this one yesterday and within 15 minutes this raider was here.

Last night I sewed the binding on 2 more little pieces.  I consider the small one an oversized coaster (6.5"square) and the other a mug rug (a little over 8").

Here are the fabrics on the back of them.

I chose a binding for the next quilt in line to be finished.  I hope to get it cut today and sewn on to prepare for the hand stitching.

Tilda 16 patch..................

The photo looks the same as the last few days, but it is really a finished top that is pressed and measured.  It is 55.5" x 72".

A close up shows some of the variety of Tilda fabrics in this top.  They are from several different lines.

Since every other strip is turned upside down, the birds and mushrooms are facing both directions.

The same thing happened with the house print.  I could have avoided this by not using the one way prints but I chose to have the largest variety possible of the fabrics I had.

Here are the 2 leftover blocks.  Since I have one more quilt to make, maybe they will end up in it.

I finished another mug rug last night.  This one is 9" square.  Hand dyed fabrics on front and Kaffe dots on the back.

We're supposed to get up to 70 today and possible rain.  Another day to sew.

Top sewn........................

I sewed a few cross rows in the morning yesterday and a few in the afternoon.  I finished the rest last night.  It was 10:30 when I finished the staystitching around the perimeter so I'll get it pressed and photographed today.

I didn't have a lot of choices for fussy cutting the ladies blocks.  I only had a 10", width of fabric strip left and I needed to cut five 8.5" squares.  This one has the most faces and there are 2 of these.

The other 3 are similar to this one.

When I got home from grocery shopping yesterday I took my phone out with me to see if there was anything growing or blooming.  This old Forsythia bush only has a few flowers each year.  I would like to have the bush pulled out but I end up leaving it there because the birds love it.  I do need to trim off some branches soon.

I haven't broken off any of the Sedum stems yet but I peeked down into one of the plants and see that the new growth is starting.  I had to move a lot of maple leaves to get down in here so they were growing without sunlight, totally covered in leaves.  Light rain is predicted for this morning and tomorrow morning so I might not get to it until the weekend.  We are supposed to get up to 70 tomorrow and by Monday snow flurries are in the forecast.  It's still mainly in the 40s and 50s here in northern IL so it is early to be uncovering plants.

 

Final layout................

I added the 2 light leftover blocks back in and took out 2 darker ones.  Here is the comparison of Monday's layout with yesterday's layout.  The one on the right is the final layout.  I stacked and numbered the columns and brought them up to the main floor studio.  I got the seams all sewn in one direction and I'll finish the sewing today.

I finished hand sewing the binding on the second red/gray mug rug.

The backing on both of them is the same fabric as the binding.  They are 8.5" square.

I checked my cacti and I have a bud on a white one and another on the orange cacti.  On the white Amaryllis, one bud had dried up but the 3rd bud looks like it might bloom.

 

Layout.................

I did the layout of the Tilda 16 patch in two stages.  First I put up all of these blocks, of which there are 4 in each combination, spacing out the duplicates.

Then I cut 5 blocks from the remaining ladies print and removed 16 patch blocks to put them in the  mix.  The 2 leftover blocks are light so I may put one of them back into the bottom row.  I'll look at this again this morning and decide on the final layout and then stack and label the columns to prepare for webbing the top.

I quilted two more of the little pieces (no photo) and got the binding cut and sewn onto the two red and gray ones which are 8.5" square.

Today I'm hoping to sew the Tilda 16 patch top and get more binding sewn onto the little pieces.

 

Working on small things................

The binding is finished on this small piece.  It finished at 12.25" square.  The backing is the same as the one yesterday.

I found 6 more small pieces to finish.  I cut batting and backings for all of them.

I started the quilting with 2 that I could use the same color thread on.  I used a red/black variegated 12 weight thread on top.  

I used 3 different thread colors quilting this one.  It is 8" square.  I'll look for binding for these 3 today.

We had rain late in the afternoon yesterday.  I haven't put my rain gauge out yet because we are still dipping below freezing some nights.

I need to work on some layouts soon.  I have 2 piles of quilt blocks waiting, the floral star blocks from December and the Tilda 16 patch blocks.