Starfish Key

I found this beautiful starfish batik fabric last fall in Pensacola. The soft muted colors of lavender and blue on a sandy background make me wish for the beach!

Starfish Key is 40” square. It was very quick to sew with the large pieces. I quilted in an overall clamshell design using the Squiggy ruler by Angela Walters. Cream thread shows up just enough to emphasize the pattern.

This one's hanging on the wall in my spare bedroom, which is currently decorated in shades of purple, lavender, and lilac. It's a sweet retreat where I can read and relax.

Dies used:

Accuquilt 55058 8” square

Accuquilt 55399 8” quarter square triangle

Blue Wren 6522 8” half square triangle

On this Memorial Day,

I salute the brave Americans

who fought and died

for our freedom

Fire and Water

Fire and Water

The Hunter Star quilt block is beautiful done in red and aqua. These bright simple prints direct your focus to the overall design instead of the fabric.

These pieces sew together precisely so it was easy to match the points. After sewing the blocks together, I added a 1” border in a white and red mini dot. The 3” outer border is the same aqua as the blocks. Backing is a geometric print of white, aqua, red and black.

Fire and Water is 44” x 56” in size. I quilted with white cotton thread, using the Elvira ruler to create a curvy design vertically and horizontally across the blocks. The outer borders are also stitched with Elvira, this time in two parallel serpentine lines.

I love how it turned out! One more quilt to add to my ever growing collection. This time fire and water mix very well indeed.

Dies used:

Accuquilt

55032 3 ½” strip

55166 Hunter Star

Blue Wren

6015 1 ½” strip

B A L A N C E

Like fire, be alive

Like water, feel peaceful

Bits and Pieces

This colorful quilt uses some of the smallest pieces I've ever sewn into blocks. Talk about saving scraps...women of the 1930's would be proud.

When I got the spider web die for my birthday, I started cutting fabric remnants. Selecting different colors, I randomly stitched them together. Because of the tiny pieces and many seams, it took several days.

I used a natural muslin for contrast to showcase the web shapes. I chose a meandering stitch to quilt in free motion, with cream thread. Bits and Pieces is 36” x 48” in size.

I love the final product! The die is awesome for using up the smallest of remnants. It looks like an old fashioned quilt that my grandmothers would have made. I can't wait to make other versions with different background colors.

Bits and Pieces

It seemed like a perfect project to sew around Mother's Day. I thought about how women during the Depression years would have spent their time. They'd cut up old curtains, housedresses, shirts, and feed sacks to create a warm quilt for next to nothing, using faded blankets for batting.

Thankfully, I don't have to worry about saving every cent, although I do get a certain satisfaction out of using leftovers to make a bonus quilt or two. It must be my rural Southern thrifty dirt farmer roots showing.

Accuquilt die

55487 Spider Web 6"

Glorious Day

Aqua, lime and hot pink combined with white and gray make me think of blue skied summer days. For this beauty, I dipped into my scrap baskets and cut with the Glorious Nine Patch die from Blue Wren.

Sixteen blocks, bordered by 3½” strips make a 46” square quilt called Glorious Day. I quilted with light gray thread around the circles, across the centers, and over the block seams. The backing is a gray and white medium floral print.

Glorious Day

On a side note, even though some businesses in Tennessee are reopening, we are still taking precautions and isolating at home. The only exception was Saturday, when we picked up an order of fresh strawberries and bedding plants from a local farm.

The upside to staying home is taking time to enjoy being here, relaxing and just living. I did get a bit too close to nature on my walk the other day, though. I stepped on a big ole snake that was snoozing in a pile of leaves! Scared me to death, but it wasn't poisonous and didn't bite me. I'll stick to walking in the driveway for a while.

Dies used:

Blue Wren 6562 Glorious 9 Patch

Accuquilt 55032 3 ½” strip

Wake up in the morning

with a positive mindset

and a joyful heart.

Be determined

that it will be

a glorious day.