WINTER DAYS

 Like most of you in the US, this weekend finds us in the deep freeze. No walking for me for the next several days. No snow here, just sleet, freezing rain and temperatures below freezing for the next several days. At least we didn't get the 14" of snow first mentioned several days ago. Winter in the South.

So what to do? Put a pot of 15 Bean Soup in the slow cooker. Corn muffins will be made later:

Free motion quilt Diamond Jubilee, with a new ruler:

The only thing left is the borders

Wavy border straight line quilting

This is a terrific new ruler: STITCHLINE 1 QUILTING RULER designed and sold by my friend Geraldine Wilkins--no relation that we know of.  Watch her video at this link and you will want one too. It combines a channel for Stitch in the Ditch--a MUST for me, a long straight edge with needle stops at both ends AND a cool wavy edge that lets you make lots of great designs easily. In addition, there are lots of great reference lines built in that allow for less marking on the quilt itself. 

Her website and YouTube channel have good videos as she explains lots of important things to know about free motion quilting with rulers. If you want one of her brand new rulers, buy it from her-- shipping was reasonable and fast once she got them in stock. Tell her I sent you:

 

I haven't decided if I am going to do a cross hatch border--double the quilting--but I might. When all the first round is done I will decide. 

Spend a few hours with the hubby doing a jigsaw puzzle:

My “Will” Wilkins

A few days ago I had fun teaching THE VILLAGE at Southern Charm Quilting here at home. The students did well, most learned a few valuable tricks to improve and enjoy paper piecing:

Student work at the end of the class

I bet some of them are building more houses today

Class sample:

I hope you are warm and contentedly working on whatever brings you joy during this big storm week. How do you keep busy?

Let's quilt.

Barbara

SECOND LIFETIME QUILT TOP COMPLETE!

 It took a lot of sewing but the top is done:

85" square

I am pleased with this top and glad it is done. There are 289 pieced Old Italian blocks, 3" square.

It is a replica of an antique top I bought in 2014 at Paducah from dealer Cindy Rennels:

It was my intention to have no repeats but there are at least TWO. There might be one more pair but I haven't found them yet. 

With the few leftovers I made a small quilt so I can hand quilt. It's been a while since I did any hand quilting and I am eager to get back to that. It would take me years to hand quilt the large quilt so this small one will have to do:

Leftovers 18" square

For more information on this quilt see these post:

MY SECOND LIFETIME QUILT

The 2025 SUMMER SEW ALONG provides information for making this block in 3 sizes:

2025 Summer Sew A Long

Now I have to decide which of my next BUCKET LIST quilts gets started...

Let's quilt.

Barbara

BUCKET LIST QUILT #5 COMING ALONG

 This has been a productive week. I am coming along nicely with MY NEXT LIFETIME QUILT, aka Old Italian Blocks. It's been less than a year since I started this so that is good progress. The 3"blocks were made as Leader/Enders, using reproduction fabrics from my deep stash.

There is a very organized color plan although it may be hard to see here. First, I sorted all the blocks into basic color groups: dark blue, light blue, dark green, light green, black/brown, yellow/rust/orange, red/pink, purple, gray, lights. I was striving for NO repeats, but, alas, there may be a couple.

Once I cleared the design wall and placed all 289 blocks exactly where I wanted them, I knew I had to sew the complete top as quickly as possible to use the design wall again. Here is the layout:

The top row isn't quite right because I can't quite reach the top of the wall on my stepstool. Falling off is a possibility so I have to be very careful or get a bigger ladder.

Once I sewed several rows the wall looks odd and it's hard to be sure I have the blocks in the correct place. I have to get back on the stepstool to move them all down into position:

After  a lot more sewing it was time to really move everything down into position so I can reach all of them with the stepstool AND be sure all are in the right spot:

I have been asked to explain how I keep the rows organized as they come off the design wall and go to the sewing machine. It is a bit of a challenge but not really hard.

Here is the most recent row I added. Using the first photograph, the "official layout", I carefully check that each block is in the right place while still on the wall.

I carefully take each block off the wall and lay it on one of my large design boards, being sure to keep them in the proper order. The perimeter triangles are placed on the board to help me keep track of which side is left, which right:

Paying attention, I add a solid square to the right side of each block, then join them in pairs, then fours, etc. I have found it helpful to take a picture of the  board before starting to sew--it is EASY to get one or two of the blocks turned around, so out of order. 

After careful pressing, the sewn row goes back on the design wall and I make the next row. After making 4 rows, I join them in pairs, then into fours, then they go back on the wall. Once I get the first half done, I will switch to the other side to complete the other half. That way, the entire quilt is only under the needle for the final seam joining the two halves.

This is a replica of an antique top I bought in 2014--read about it  HERE--same link as above.

A yellow border wasn't my cup of tea. After getting started on this, I searched my closet and found the perfect border and binding fabric. This dark red, printed on the diagonal, will be just fine:

I am eager to get this top complete. At this point I expect there is a solid week of piecing to get it done. Then I can move on to other things and the design wall will be usable again.

For those interested, my DESIGN WALL is two sheets of 4' x 8' foam board, covered in Warm and White cotton batt, mounted to the wall. Blocks stick to the batting easily without pins. Only long rows once joined into larger sections need a few pins due to their weight. I've had this wall for 25 years. It is covered with strings--they are hard to remove because my husband used a squirt bottle of Elmer's White School Glue to adhere the batting. In hindsight, mixing a thinner solution of that glue/water might have allowed it to be painted on, keeping the batting more firmly in place. I still love my wall and use it every day.

If you want more information on how to make these fun blocks, in 3 different sizes, see my SUMMER SEW ALONG 2025

Let's quilt.

Barbara

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Out with the old, in with the new. Or, in my case, celebrate finishing this OLD quilt top I began designing almost 30 years ago, so OLD but now it feels really NEW:

Star of Texas, about 72" square

This has been on my bucket list for all these years. Read more about it here:  Star of Texas

Here are my two Game On! quilts, both through month 7, now all I have to do is write the blogs for each month. It is not too late for you to start--this is SO MUCH FUN:

                                                        

Now that I am pretty far along on Game On! I can concentrate on a few more projects I really want to complete this year.

My Old Italian Block Lifetime Quilt is the next top to make:

All 290 of the 3" blocks are done--now it's on to the design wall this week

Quilting needs to be done on Diamond Jubilee:

And soon I will start two online courses on ruler quilting with these two quilts:

panel for Angela Walters class on Arcs and Curves

Quilt of Valor to use for Natalia Bonner's class on 99 strip designs

There is always more to create and I have to come up with my NEXT Lifetime/Leader-Ender quilt project. I have a few ideas. Stay tuned.

Since I am home until mid-March I am determined to get as much done as possible. 

My words for 2026 are "RENEW" and "REBUILD". I don't usually pick a word but was challenged to do so by a friend. These seemed to ring true for 2026.

Do you pick a "word of the year"? 

What do you plan to achieve in 2026? Just keep going, that's my plan.

Happy New Year to all!

Let's quilt.

Barbara