Binding and labelling plus major tidy up in my studio

 The May quilt tops that I pulled out for quilting are finished!  They are quilted, bound and have labels.  What a great feeling for the 4th day of the month.  Of course, I have new projects started but so far, no pictures for you.  

- Heartstrings: charms for June and lots of ideas but will be all kids quilts. 

- Rainbow scrap challenge: colour is blue and of course, I have far too many types of blocks I am making.

- Quilts of Valour: I pulled out some blocks that were a Canadian quiltswapper yahoo group block exchange in 2009 with 13 of us contributing four 6" blocks from our province/territory.  I have sorted the blocks and stitched the four together that belong each area. My brain is busy thinking about a layout. 

- One more quilt top I want to quilt and bind that was given to me for Quilts of Valour. 

- Make a quilt for my sister to give as a gift for a newborn. 

- Work on some of the kits I have cut from 3 yard patterns. 

- Continuously clean, tidy and organize.  I really need to start adding labels to everything... I look at something and it takes me forever to remember what I was thinking at the time I packaged up the fabric. 

So... the last week of May was quilting marathon week.  Such a great idea that I gleaned from Stephanie and it is working for me.  I managed to finish a good number of quilts considering that there were many appointments for my husband as well and one day of lovely weather that I dedicated to yard work. 

This is the second of four Plus block quilts I made using my rainbow scrap challenge blocks from 2023. I changed up the layout from blocks being neatly in horizontal rows and offset them a little.

I did not make this quilt.  It was donated to Quilts of Valour by Darlene and will make a lovely quilt for a veteran from the navy. 

 I did a sew along with GE Designs and this pattern is Strips and Salsa.  I added on a border to make it a little larger.  A great use of a set of batik 5" strips that were in a package.  Not sure if I got them as a gift or I purchased, another case of not remembering.

I also joined a group on Facebook that was being offered by Running Dove.  She designs for Villa Rosa patterns and this one is Throwback.  If you google the pattern or search for it on FB, you will see so many great designs and colour ideas.  I was a bit lazy and didn't want to match all the vertical rows when putting the blocks together so I turned each one and created a different design than on the original pattern.. I managed to use up some odd red/white fat quarters and added borders using some Canadian themed fabric and it will be perfect for a Quilt of Valour. 

Stepping Up is a 3 yard pattern by Fabric Cafe and it was made 2 years ago and went to the long arm quilter in a bundle with other quilts.  Apparently, I forgot the batting and backing for it so it came back unfinished.  I now have it quilted, bound and labelled.  I will make this again because it showcases two fabrics and good use of fabrics with a theme. 

My May challenge to myself was to open up the bin of well aged florals.  I am not sure floral fabrics are like wine and get better with age but there was a huge variety and I pulled out some greens to go with the flowers. The first step I took using most of the yardage was to cut off a 10" strip.  That meant I ignored fat quarters or bits and pieces. Ha ha... they are still intact and waiting. I then cut again into 10" squares creating my own layer cakes.  A huge stack of them.  I looked for patterns that I like making that used that size of square.  The first pattern I worked on was Kimberly by GE Designs and this is easy and fun to make. 

Square Dance is a really simple design.  Two 2.5" strips are cut off the 10" square and shortened to 9" in length.  Then, two 2.5" slices are made that are 5" long and that leaves a 5" square.  If you cut two at a time and switch out the center blocks, you get a simple, easy framed square. 

Villa Rose Take Out is a another simple pattern and I made one of these earlier this year with batiks.  I didn't have a great selection of fabrics with really light and really dark values, most of them were medium but I went ahead anyway.  Another good pattern for 10" squares.

This last one was made using a tumbler ruler that fits on 10" squares (from Missouri Star). The heartstrings group I belong to had a challenge in May to use a tool or pattern that was being neglected and I have only used this ruler once before, a long time ago.  So, it got some love and attention.  A very simple way to make a quilt with the larger blocks. 

I would love to show you more photos but for some reason, suddenly, google photos will not load to my blog?  What is up with that?  

But, the results of my work last week are here and hopefully some inspiration for you to dig out some older fabric and use it in a quilt?