New Start: Fairlawn Roses

 

This is the first of twelve twenty-four inch blocks...

...of a quilt I am calling Fairlawn Roses. The pattern comes from the book Making Quilts by Kathy Doughty. She calls it Fairlawn and I added Roses to the name of mine because I am using all rose prints to make my quilt. 

I have made 576 - 2.5 inch HSTs.

I was kind of limited as to what to use for sashings. I was thinking I would just make all of my blocks and figure that out later; however, when I started making my blocks I could see that I needed to decide sooner rather than later. 

And sew on...

God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December...J.M. Barrie

November Orphan Block Wrap Up

 

Orphan Milton

48 x 60

This top has 12 inch orphan blocks in darker colors. I framed a couple of blocks to get them to finish at 12 inches.

Orphan blocks was the theme in my sewing space in November. Throughout the last year or so I have received orphan blocks from several folks. I have to be in the mood to try and get all the orphans to play nicely together. When I am in the mood I have a lot of fun making comfort quilts. I think I made 18 tops this month. I have three I have not blogged about in this post. 

Orphan Natalie

36 x 48

Peachy colored 12 inch blocks. Some framed to make 12 inch block.

Patches and Pinwheels 

40 x 50

I received the Patches and made some 10 inch Pinwheels to go with them.

I also receive lots of little baggies of different bits and pieces I work on as leaders and enders. A lot of the time I put the finished bits and pieces in the little Parts Department. This month I put a lot of the bits with a pile of orphan blocks. 

Someone gave me yellow six inch parts for HSTs. They were in sets of four so I used blue scraps to make some 12 inch Pinwheels. 

More pinwheels. A few are six inch.

Someone gave me a baggie of sets of what looked like waste triangles. They were all in the sane two fabrics. Again, I made a bunch of pinwheels. 

I added all of those parts to a pile of blue and yellow orphan blocks.

I made some alternate QST blocks and cut them with Companion Angle Ruler. At the beginning and end of the strips I cut HSTs with the Easy Angle ruler do I did not waste any fabric. I made some green Broken Dishes blocks. 

I added those to a pile of green orphan blocks.

Black, white and gray baggies of pieces got made into...

...different blocks...

...that I added to a pile of black, white and gray blocks. 

All piles have been put away until next time I feel like playing with orphan blocks for a month. But wait! There are more piles I am putting away that you have not seen yet. 

Browns.

Black and brights.

Blues.

Multicolors.

And four bags of blocks that might look okay together like low volume, pinks, yellows and oranges and similar fabrics in different colors.

And sew on...

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We received 10.5 inches of snow and a couple more inches are predicted for today. 

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Oh joy! I received a box of fabulous fabrics from Barbara. I think they will make some nice backings. 

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On Thanksgiving I started a Positivity Journal. There are a lot of positivity journal prompts online. I thought some positivity might get me through the winter months when I tend to feel a little depressed. 

New Start: Pie Birds

 

I started a new quilt for me. It is called Pie Birds. I first saw it on Viridian's Blog. I loved the name because I love pie birds. You can see I have a few I have used in the past when I used to bake pies. They are fun and cute little things. I loved the blocks because they are scrappy too. 

Evidently it Is a Kim Diehl pattern from the book Simple Charm. I didn't use a pattern. I just figured out how to make the 10 inch blocks on my own. I made 5 blocks to see if my own figuring was right. Then I decided I want a quilt with 35 blocks so I only need to make 30 more blocks.

Next step? I have a bunch of little 1.5 HSTs cut with my 

Easy Angle ruler. They are leftovers from making other quilts. I will use them as the wings on 60 little 1.5 x 2.5 Flying Geese. These will be my first addition to two sides of 2.5 inch squares. In my test blocks I made two HSTs but decided Flying Geese would be easier. I am going to work on all 30 blocks at one time because I find it easier to process scraps for the rounds on all of them at one time. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! At Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I was going to do a wrap up post on the remaining orphan block tops I made this month but it snowed all day yesterday and I didn't want to go out to take a photo. I guess we got 10 inches and two more inches are forecast for tomorrow. I might have to find a place inside for a photo. I have three tops and two have photos. 

Cheerios

 

It's a top!

Cheerios

40 x 40

I have been making Cheerios blocks from scraps since 2024 as one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects. Earlier this year I went through the pile of blocks and divided them into groups for 3 comfort quilts - two small and one  twin size. I need a few more blocks for the twin that will contain blue, purple and pink blocks. I made the small green Cheerio top in September. 

As you can see...this one has red and yellow blocks and a lot of dogs. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

It's A Wonky Stars Top!

 

It's a top! 

Wonky Stars

42 x 42

Someone gave me a little baggie full of large dark blue waste triangles. I immediately saw Stars! They worked perfectly as Star points on 4 inch squares. I used dark blue squares from my 4 inch squares bin. I found a few 4 inch width scraps long enough to use for some blocks. For other blocks I cut 4 inch widths from some multicolor chunks. 

This little comfort quilt won't get finished and donated until next year. 

And sew on...

It's A Finish! Waffle Cone Roses

 

It's a finish!

Waffle Cone Roses

51 x 63

I can't believe I finished the top back in December 2021. I guess it has been that many years that I have worked with rose themed fabrics in December because I love roses and the quote by J.M. Barrie, "God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December."

Waffle Cone was a free quilt pattern when I made this. Now I see that the link I previously gave for the pattern is broken. 

I big stitch hand quilted it with a variety of different brown perle cottons. I used some stencils I had on hand and a pounce pad with chalk for marking. Some of my stencils I have for hand quilting don't work well with big stitching so I didn't add butterflies; however, I did work in some dragonflies as you can sort of see here.

I liked this pattern for some big prints as well as some smaller scraps. 

I love how I can feel all the fabrics soften as more and more big stitches are added.

And I love to be covered in roses. 

Back and binding.

And sew on...

Reflecting today on all I am thankful for. The list is long. Hope yours is too. 

It's ATop!

 

It's a top!

40 x 52

This quilt started with some fabulous Basket blocks I was given. 

I added a few borders with Flying Geese and Wonky Windmills. 

It will get quilted and donated in 2026.

And sew on...

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Oh joy! I received a big box of goodies from Diana! I had fun unpacking it all! 

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I just discovered that there are a lot of quilt books available with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. I have browsed through several and so far not single quilt has gone on my "want to make" list. Actually I have found I prefer to make traditional blocks from actual scraps until I have enough for a quilt. That process may span a few years because sometimes I have to wait for scraps to happen. I also love to look at vintage quilts, find one I love and then make my version. 

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We are supposed to have high winds today with gusts up to 49 miles per hour. Then we are supposed to have snow later in the week. I am not fond of that kind of weather. I am glad I am retired and don't have to venture out. Guess I will have to make myself a cup of hot chocolate and browse through all the black Friday seed sales and seed catalogs I have received in order to get my gardening fix.