My sweet summer quilt is published in the July/August issue of The Quilt Pattern Magazine. The fabric line is “Sippin’ Sunshine” by Maywood Studio. The patchwork design alternates chain blocks with framed Sawtooth Stars. The color combination of yellow, pink, and teal is cheerful and soothing. Isn’t the outer border fabric of patchwork squares and picnic food so much fun?!
The Quilt Pattern Magazine is only published digitally. Click here to purchase the July/August downloadable issue. You can view thumbnail pictures of the projects included in this issue of the magazine. Click here to subscribe for one year.
I chose “China Sea” for the quilting design. The swirls and swoops add a playful texture. I used pale yellow thread which is barely visible on the white background and blends nicely with the pastel prints in the quilt.
At 68″ square, it is the perfect size for a picnic quilt or a summer coverlet for a little girl’s bed.
Today’s “show and tell” is about the second “Pick a Color” quilt I made. Click here to read my blog post about the beginnings of my blue and white quilt. While teaching the design at my local quilt shop, I spied a layer cake of fall-ish prints from Primitive Gatherings. I wondered how the pattern would look using many colors and a low volume print background.
I am so pleased with the results of my “what if” ideas! The layer cake contained enough dark prints to make sixteen blocks. Since there were no duplicates, I matched colors rather than prints within the blocks. The layer cake contained a fair amount of low volume prints . . . not enough dark colors to make a border of HSTs. So for this remix, I opted for a red print border, and contrary to most of my designs, I added an outer border of the same background print. I quilted the “Happy Times” pantograph with tan thread and bound the quilt with more of the red print.
My friend, Janet, also made a “Pick a Color” quilt with various peach prints and a solid teal background. I love the way the various peach shades shimmer across the background!
I’ll teach the class again this Saturday at Sew There quilt shop in Angier, NC. If you live locally, come join us to make this striking quilt!
I hope you have been anticipating this date as much as I have . . . the day for posting the final two 12″ blocks in our “Blessings” BOM. You can access all the free instructions for the project by clicking on “Blessings 2026 BOM” in the blog menu.
As with the previous ten blocks, the final two feature the Cat’s Cradle unit. I am so glad we buckled down to learn this versatile unit. I will definitely keep my Creative Grids Cat’s Cradle ruler handy for future patchwork projects. Making 56 of these units has taken the trepidation out of the process.
Block 11 has a central 4″ finished square, perfect for fussy-cutting a theme or large scale print. Add Flying Geese and Cat’s Cradle units with stitch-and-flip triangles. Note that my computer drawing uses two low volume prints. If your fabric line doesn’t have low volume prints, you can use light background fabric instead.
One of the fabrics in my Fat Quarter bundle included a grid of various colored Sawtooth stars. I fussy-cut one for Block #11 and added a neutral frame to bring it up to 4 1/2″ for the center square. The navy patches remind me of parentheses or brackets, showing off the center portion of the block.
Block 12 has lots of half square triangles. Check your scraps to see if any Flying Geese cut-offs from the central medallion would suit as HSTs for this block. In previous blocks, the Cat’s Cradle units have been in the corners. However, for this block, they are turned inward for a Four Patch center.
Block #12 in my sample quilt effectively uses a large scale theme print for the larger triangles. The red and blue prints offer a distinctive contrast for the interior Four Patch and the outer triangles. If you are not using triangle cut-offs for the Half Square Triangles, try the eight-at-a-time technique for making HSTs. It is a real time saver when making this block!
As I sew this month, I am contemplating the blessing of family. We are hosting a family reunion over the 4th; it will be so nice to see folks from both my side and my husband’s side of the family. All are traveling from Virginia and South Carolina to celebrate with us.
Here we are at the end of June! Have you had a minute to work on your “Blessings” blocks this month? Thank goodness I completed mine at the middle of the month . . . the end of June has been super busy with guests and church day camp.
As I complete the blocks, I am pinning them to my design wall. Seeing the cheerful yellow, blues, and teals makes me anxious to set the blocks together, finishing the quilt. However, I do need to design a different outer border; since I am working with leftovers, I don’t have enough of any one fabric to make the Cat’s Cradle border as in the sample quilt.
Eilene sent her a picture of her blocks with a patriotic theme. Kudos to her for finishing her blocks in the midst of planning and directing her local quilt show!
How about you? Did you complete Blocks 9 and 10? If so, comment “Done” below.
Tomorrow, July 1st, the instructions for the final two “Blessings” blocks will be posted. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Born to Excel Camp is our church’s home-grown version of Vacation Bible School. About 120 children and 60 volunteers come to the campus each morning for Bible teaching, songs, games, and special interest classes. The campers can choose from Cooking, Woodworking, Drama, Art, Sports, Gaga Ball, Nature Crafts, Golfing, Camping Skills, 3-D Printing, Quilting, and Sewing. Eight campers signed up for Quilting, and each are making a sixteen-block Rail Fence lap quilt.
The ladies in our church’s quilting group have been integral in the success of the Quilting class at camp. Several months ago they helped to cut and package kits for the quilts. Since we aim for a one to one ratio, they pair up with a camper to coach sewing and quilting skills.
If you would like to make this project, you need 1/2 yd. each of three coordinating fabrics from the front of the quilt as well as 40-42″ squares of batting and backing. Cut four 3 3/4″ x WOF strips from each of the three coordinating fabrics. Strip-piece four bands of three strips each in the same configuration. Measure the width of the bands (ideally 10 1/4″) and cross-cut the bands into squares of that measurement. Arrange the Rail Fence blocks on a design surface and sew together in four rows of four blocks each.
My friend, Melodie, is leading the sewing class; seven campers are making string backpacks. With her step-by-step instruction, they are even making a zippered pocket!
It has been a great week at camp. Campers and instructors alike are tired but satisfied with the activities and projects and skills learned this week.
Marianne has participated in the Block of the Month projects (offered freely on this blog) for the past several years. She used most of last year’s 15” “Optimism” blocks to make a quilt for her friend who moved into an assisted living facility. And she used a leftover block as the center of a Round Robin project.
Marianne’s Round Robin
Knowing her penchant for purple, Marianne’s friends added borders of various shades and various patchwork designs. I can only imagine the months of anticipation and the thrill of the big reveal!
Have you ever participated in a round robin project among quilting friends? Describe your center block in a comment.
Have you ever scrolled through Pinterest or other online site and been arrested by a design that begged a second look? Have you ever thought, “I could make that, and I have the perfect fabrics for it, right now, on my cutting table!”? Such was my case this past week.
I clicked on a Pinterest post that showed 15 Layer Cake quilts (quilts made using 10″ squares) and spied one that could use some polka dot squares left over from a back-to-school project I made for publication. The variously colored leftovers, still piled on my cutting table, would make a cheerful contemporary baby quilt. A closer look at the basic instructions provided online let me know that I needed to re-size the blocks in order to use the fabrics I had on hand.
I chose nine 10″ squares and cut a 3 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ rectangle and two 3 1/2″ squares from each. That left 3″ x 10″ and 3″ x 3 1/2″ rectangles that I used to make a scrappy border. I also cut thirty-six 3 1/2″ squares from white background fabric.
The blocks came together quickly, and I cut and sewed 2 1/2″ sashing between them. The first border of background fabric was also cut 2 1/2″ wide. I needed several more strips from leftover 10″ polka dot squares to complete the scrappy border. Four leftover HSTs were perfect for the border corner squares.
For the quilting design, I took my cue from the curly-cues in the white-on-white background fabric. Using light gray thread, I freehand quilted three loops interspersed with meandering all over. A favorite multi-colored stripe from my stash for the binding ties all the colors together and makes a fun finish.
I expanded the backing fabric by inserting a row of 6 inch “Sheepfold” blocks.
This quilt design would be a great project for a beginning sewer or quilter. It is perfect for someone with limited time for creative interests, and it would be fantastic for simple sewing on retreat.
I give this design A+ for simplicity, fun, and efficient use of 10″ squares!
The polka dot fabrics are Beautiful Basics “Radiant” by Maywood Studio.
This morning I awoke to the blessing of raindrops hitting our roof. It has been so hot, windy, and dry, we as well as local farmers are so thankful to God for sending us a rainy day!
Besides offering BOM instructions on my blog, I facilitate a tutorial for the blocks at my local quilt shop, Sew There! Quilts and More in Angier, NC. At our monthly meet-ups, participants show the blocks they previously made and learn tips for constructing the next two blocks. I snapped pictures of Maxine’s and Ann’s #7 and #8 blocks to show you. they are both using collections by Kim Diehl.
Maxine experimented with coloring and turning the units until she was pleased with the results.
We applauded Ann’s use of the aqua/sage fabrics.
Here are my blocks, constructed from step-outs shown in class.
Corinne and Sue have sent pictures of Blocks 9 and 10, the “assignment” for June. Corinne is using the same fabrics as my sample quilt, “Star Spangled Beauty” by Kimberbell for Maywood Studio. Perfect for commemorating our country’s 250th birthday.
Sue is enjoying “learning by doing” this patchwork project. Before too long, she will have a lovely quilt for her guestroom bed.
How are you coming along on your “Blessings” blocks? Send me a picture to share with blog readers: aby.quilts@gmail.com.
I recently viewed a video by Melody Joy Quilts which captivated my attention. Click here to link to her video. She describes how to make a quilt using ALL THE COLORS in her scrap bins. What a fun way to draw disparate prints and tone-on-tones from various fabric lines into a cohesive whole! Like Melody, I have plenty of scraps, certainly enough to make a sizeable quilt . . . and I won’t even need to buy background fabric.
Melody calls her project a “Scrappy Rainbow Quilt,” but I am calling mine the “4, 6, 8 Scrap Quilt.” Watch the video to discover why. I have made about a dozen blocks so far, and the hardest thing is choosing three fabrics from the same color family. I so want to alternate blue strips with red or yellow strips with purple.
I think this will make a pretty and cheery quilt, perfect for picnics and tailgate parties. Perfect for baby tummy time or sending with a grandchild to college.
Do you have overflowing scrap bins that need taming? Will you sew along with me? If so, leave a comment below.
Welcome to June and the opportunity to add to your collection of blocks for the “Blessings” quilt!
Block 9 features a Pinwheel center surrounded by Hourglass units with Cat’s Cradles in the corners. Have fun with this one!
The block for my quilt closely follows the coloring of the computer drawing. The inclusion of the medium blue plaid adds a country-time vibe to the block. Be sure to plan good contrast between the center Pinwheel and its background, red in my case.
Block 10 is the one my students have been anticipating making. We think it looks like a wrapped gift with a pretty bow on top. Although it is not difficult to make, I suggest attempting this block when you have a couple of hours to dedicate to it as more pieces are involved.
My coloring for this block deviates only a little from the computer drawing. Since my fat quarter stack did not contain a third strong color like green, I substituted aqua. This lighter hue dictated a darker, tiny center square which ties the center of the block together with the navy print corner triangles.
With the onset of summer activities, I am contemplating the Blessing of Leisure. It sure is nice to enjoy a few minutes of free time every day . . . and maybe several hours more of leisure on the weekends. It is relaxing to pause from work and to do something that I want to do. Perhaps my contemplation of this blessing is prompted by our house guests from Indiana, on vacation from work and school. We adults spent several relaxing hours yesterday at our lake house napping, reading, and watching the children enjoy swimming and boating. A grilled hotdog (along with lemonade and watermelon) supper followed all the laughter and activity.
A Bible scripture that comes to mind is Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NIV), penned by King Solomon, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.”
You can access the free instructions for these 12″ finished blocks by clicking the “Blessings 2026 BOM” tab in the blog menu. Happy Sewing!
abyquilts 
