Booklet Pouch

The Booklet Pouch pattern by Aneela Hoey @aneelahoey has been out for a few years, but for some reason, I saw it on IG recently and knew I needed one now. I thought the large option (9" x 11" x 3") would be a much better storage solution for my Aurifil 12wt threads than the bag I currently kept them all jumbled in. So I ordered up the necessary zippers (both closed- and open-ended) from zipit and put it on my to-do list.

As usual, cutting out the pieces for a bag takes as long/is as tedious as sewing the bag up. But once I started sewing, things went pretty quickly. Once you sewed up one set of pockets, you just followed the same instructions to sew up the other set - easy peasy. Can't say sewing with vinyl is my favorite, but it's not hard per se, and obviously was a key element to this pouch.

I used four different Carolyn Friedlander prints for the interior and bindings, and a CF Essex print, Graphite, for the exterior. 

So here was my jumbled mess of a pile of threads I made the pouch for.

Before filling the pouch, I sorted my threads by color. I was actually a little surprised at my selection once I'd laid them all out, and see a few holes I need to fill.

And....all settled into their new home, with some room to spare.

But thankfully, the pouch zips closed just fine. 

I'm pretty excited about the new home for my 12wts; enough that I've ordered the zips I need to make a smaller version for my hand-sewing needles. Looking forward to getting those organized too.

Block Studies Collective | Grid Work

This, the final prompt of this season of Block Studies Collective, proved to be a doozy. It's not that I wasn't familiar with the general technique. (take a quick peek here) It's that when I saw a particular sample of Tara's @tarafaughnan with varied colors of dots, I wanted to create something similar. Except I found it to be a kind of mind game. And I wasn't really happy with my first try.

So I tried again. 

Then I went and put the second piece up on the design wall, and guess what? The two absolutely 'fit.'

After sleeping on it, I still felt they were good together, so I started playing with what should go in the upper right corner. It took a while, but....

I finally had a finished top I was happy enough with to continue. I had planned on just speeding things along and finding a backing in stash, but nothing really suited me so I went ahead and pieced one from scraps.

For quilting, I used Aurifil 50wt 2612 [Arctic Sky] to do an imperfect(!) curved grid.

Then finished off with matched binding, with the finished piece measuring 25" x 38", which I'm pretty sure is my largest block studies piece. I've named this one "Mesh."

With that, and one more group zoom on March 31, this season of Block Studies Collective is done. I'm thinking of revisiting one month's focus, so I'll be back to share all six projects together after that. Meanwhile, I thoroughly enjoyed the series.

Curvelets

While at QuiltCon, I succumbed to temptation, and purchased a set of Curvelet templates from Jen Carlton Bailey @bettycrockerass. Not 100% sure why, as tiny and fiddly aren't really my jam, but I've been infatuated with various projects made with them, and I just figured I'd try them out.

Each step of making tiny curvelet blocks, 1.5" unfinished, will take time. But I've made ONE, so know the process now. Just need to keep at it. I purchased three Ruby Star Society mini charm packs, which I hope to mix and match. So stay tuned! I'll (hopefully) eventually be back with a status report.

A Very Long Table Runner

Several weeks ago, a friend let me know about the call from our NWWA Synod @lutheransnw church leadership for table runners to decorate the tables at the upcoming Synod Assembly. The runners were to be hand-crafted in any way, in any colors and design, and approximately 12" x 120". I agreed I would be happy to make one for the event.

The fabrics I chose came from stash, and were a variety of cross-weaves in an eclectic color palette. I decided to make improvisational blocks inspired by a Josef Albers design I'd used in a Bee Sewcial prompt in 2023. 

I just kept making blocks 13-14" tall and various widths until I estimated I had enough.

To put the runner together, I pieced two long pieces of batting into one, with straight and evenly-spaced sides. Then it was easy to line up the blocks one by one, sewing each to the next and so on. The ends turned out needing partial blocks, but I decided that was ok. For the backing, I was fortunate to have just enough Essex Yarn Dyed in Palm, leftover from making one of our son's liturgical stoles.

I quilted an uneven grid (between .25" and 2") with Aurifil 40wt 1231 [Spring Green] and bound the runner in Windham Fabrics Artisan Cotton Turquoise-Copper. As usual, I began by machine-stitching the binding onto the front, and then, as luck would have it, I was able to make good use of a weekend road-trip to hand-stitch it on the back. 

Now to get it delivered with time to spare! I'm hoping I'll eventually see some photos of the conference room with some of the hand-made runners on display.

Pantone Quilt Challenge Fabric Pull

After weeks of anticipating the Pantone Quilt Challenge @PantoneQuiltChallenge hosted by Elizabeth @elizabethkray and Sarah @bysarahruiz, I finally came up with an inspiration design idea while out shopping last week. That motivated me to run home and pull some fabrics that might work their way into my project.

I pulled a variety of substrates and colors, bottom to top:

Essex Yarn Dyed Homespun in Natural

Painter's Palette Mocha - My choice for a 'match' for Mocha Mousse

Essex Yarn-Dyed Nutmeg

Crossed in Sand from Diamond Textiles

Essex Yarn-Dyed Espresso

Noodlehead Around the Bend floral print on Essex Roasted Pecan

Kona Biscuit

Kona Earth

Kona Stone

So now I just need to get started! Hoping to share some progress soon-ish, as the #PantoneQuiltChallenge2025 runs only through April 28! Here's all the details.

Floral Stitches X

Believe it or not, I've now completed 10 of the 12 flower samplers in Dropcloth's Floral Stitches subscription series.

Each little flower is 4" in diameter, and you use the colors and stitches of your own choosing. For this entire series, I've used Wonderfil perle cotton #8, most often with a double-strand. More and more, I'm using a trio or more of threads in each flower color. IE. for the yellows in this one, I used three solid threads and two variegated, using them pretty randomly as I stitched along. I did purposefully use a lighter variegated one for the outside edge of the flower, and I really like that accent.

It may be hard to tell, but I used seven different stitches in this little sampler - chain, straight, running, lazy daisy, woven chain, couching, and brick. I really enjoy deciding what to use as I go along.

So just two little samplers to go! It'll be great to see them all together in a few months.

P.S. If you follow Dropcloth on IG, you may have just seen one of my little samplers in Rebecca's recent post!

Kintsugi

The March @beesewcial prompt from my beemate M-R @quiltmatters is Kintsugi - the Japanese art of repairing pottery with lacquer and gold or silver dust. M-R provided a pin board for inspiration, and asked for specific colors - the backgrounds were to be a mix of navy/dark blues, with orange accents in each block, and the joins in silver. In my case, I used four dark blues in varying Kona shades (Navy, Windsor, Indigo, and Storm), Kona Orange for the accents, and for the 'silver,' I included Konas Silver and Ash, Essex in Gray, and bits of retroreflective fabric, courtesy of Stephanie @spontaneousthreads.

The first block measured 9.5" x 15", and honestly, I found working with the retroreflective fabric a bit tricky. You can't iron it, so finger-pressing it is, and even then, it didn't seem to want to lay completely flat.

My second block was a tad larger at 11" X 17.5". I stuck with more straight lines on this one, due to the laying flat issues. That seemed to help.

At any rate, it's a fun technique to play with. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing my blocks with the others made by my beemates. AND, though we have April off, I'm up for providing the prompt in May. Still mulling that over....

Open Jar SPRING | Springtide

Tasked with making a very long table runner - something I'll share more about later - I ended up having a pile of scrappy cross-weaves on my cutting table, and in the moment, they looked very spring-y to me. So rather than put them away, I decided to create something in response to the Open Jar @open_____jar prompt for March, SPRING.

Inspired by Crossover by Ophelia Pang @opheliapangg, I improv-pieced the fun mix of colored cross-weaves together, ending up with a small quilt top about 21" x 24". Just for reference, the background fabric was left from the QuiltCon Windham Artisan Cotton 2024 Fabric Challenge - Artisan Solid in White-Aqua. I really liked how it was light-colored enough to let the brighter colors really shine, but wasn't quite white.

I used more scraps to make a pieced quilt back, and then set to grid-quilting with several Aurifil 28wt threads: 1231 [Spring Green], 2530 [Medium Orchid], 2420 [Light Blush], 2845 [Light Juniper]. Per Aurifil's suggestion, I used 50wt in the bobbin, basically using up several already-wound bobbins in similar colors.

At this point, I have a confession to make about the binding. I was kind of in a hurry to finish this small (18" x 22") quilt for IGQuiltFest2025Day14's prompt, "Recent Finish." So I did indeed prep a typical faced binding, but after sewing the strips onto the sides of the quilt, under-stitching, and pressing well, I clipped the edge to hold it, flipped the quilt to the front side, and added another vertical line of quilting, securing the facing while doing so. Then I repeated the procedure for the other side of the quilt. You can see where one side turned out almost perfectly, but the other not as much, but still not bad. (scroll up a couple of photos to see both sides at once) This was a shortcut I would not and could not have done on most quilts, but on this one, it worked, and helped get me to my goal of a quick finish.

I'm curious if you ever take shortcuts like I did on this little quilt. Honestly, it added to the fun of making an impromptu improv piece influenced by the spring-y colors hanging out on my cutting board. Projects like this one are just plain fun, and give me the motivation I need to keep working on the larger ones that take more time and focus. 

Calendar Cascade

A bit behind, I'm hoping to get started soon on the new Seattle MQG BOM for 2025 - Calendar Cascade, created by guild member Naomi te Wildt @quiltingnaomi. 

A new feature this year has been guild access to QuiltInk, where we've been able to play around with possible fabric colors. It took me a while to settle on a palette, primarily trying to made use of what was already in my stash. I did finally need to order a bit, since I don't keep many cuts larger than a half or full yard on hand. Here's what I settled on!

My friend Louise @imfeelincrafty offered to design a swatch card for me, which I was very grateful for.

So I've got everything I need now to get started, including instructions for the first four rows. I'm really hoping I can catch up before April's assignment is released.

Arcs

When I last mentioned my Wayward Arcs piece made during Block Studies Collective in January, I was debating whether to add to it, and maybe even take it to QuiltCon to use during my hand-quilting class with Tara Faughnan @tarafaughnan. Well, I did both!

Before I went, I 'basted' it lightly by machine-stitching several vertical lines. Then for the hand-quilting class, I packed both Wonderfil #8 perle cotton and Aurifil 12wt, expecting to try both. But I found out in class that Tara prefers and uses Wonderfil Spagetti 12wt (that is, when she's not using Wonderfil GlaMore 12wt, a metallic thread), and so I tried it.

I was surprised how much I loved it. Tara and I compared the Aurifil and Wonderfil 12wts, and the Aurifil was just a bit 'fluffier?' It's hard to describe, but for hand-quilting, I really liked the Wonderfil also, and purchased some green and off-white to use while quilting my little quilt.

Over the weekend, I finished hand-quilting, and then stitched on a wide (3/4") binding. Just for the record, I'd backed the little (19" x 26") quilt with a printed fabric from stash, and used Quilter's Dream Request, which is especially nice for hand-quilting.

It sure felt great to be hand-quilting again, and I love the finished texture. I know it takes more time, but I'm seriously hoping for more hand-quilting in my future.

Linking up with Favorite Finish {March 2025} with @quiltingJETgirl.

QuiltCon Phoenix | Etc.

This random wrap-up post is mostly for me.... just as a reminder of a few more QuiltCon moments that are worth reflecting back on. 

First off, Rachel @snippetsofsweetness and I flew out of the new-to-us Paine Field Airport very near our homes. With just two gates, it was so much smaller and convenient than we were used to.

photo taken by Rachel, since she had the window seat!

After an uneventful flight and getting settled into our hotel, we had the most delicious salads as a late dinner at the hotel restaurant, Carcara. It was a welcome time to relax and breathe in the reality that we had a few days to spend together, something that doesn't happen much these days.

On Friday night, we had dinner at Cornish Pasty Co. with a delightful group. All invited by Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl and joined by her husband Michael @wabi_sabi_overland, Rebecca @rebeccalynn207, Krista @poppyprint and CJ @cj.molen, both long-time friends. It was too dark to get a photo of our pasties, but the company was excellent, and we enjoyed the evening.

Come Saturday, Rachel and I ventured off together after attending the Keynote with some guild members, and joining in the guild photo. We first headed back to Blanco Cocina so Rachel could enjoy it too. Oh how I wish Blanco had a restaurant near us back home! 

Then we ubered over to Palabras Bilingual Bookstore, a shop Rachel was keen to see and experience.

It was an enjoyable outing! After, we ubered back to the convention center for one last round through the vendors and quilt exhibit, saying goodbye to QuiltCon. It was bittersweet for sure!