💘 Happy Valentine's Day! 💖

February is my month to be Queen Bee for the Sew Sweet Bee club. It only makes sense to have my bee sisters make some heart blocks for me, right? Or you could say I was overthinking what block to have them make and I finally landed on the one that makes the most sense because of Valentine's Day landing in February. Or, I lack imagination. Or all of the above. 😉  No matter, I chose a darling ombre heart block created by Julie @ The Crafty Quilter. Here is the link to her tutorial: Ombre Heart Quilt Block Tutorial. I asked for them to make them in any combination they chose of various red, pinks or a mixture of the two, with low volume or off white background. I hope they will all go together well enough to just sew them together and make a baby quilt for donation. I am waiting for them all to get there before I make my own blocks to add to the mix. 

Made by Lisa12822

Russ and I don't go all out for Valentine's Day, but he always buys me a card and candy. He is thoughtful that way. This year, he bought a really cool card! No candy since that is not allowed on Keto. 😶 I didn't buy him a thing but trust me, I love up on him every day! 💝

Have a sweet day, and be kind to everyone you meet. You don't know what kind of heartache they may be dealing with.  

💘 Happy Valentine's Day! 💖

February is my month to be Queen Bee for the Sew Sweet Bee club. It only makes sense to have my bee sisters make some heart blocks for me, right? Or you could say I was overthinking what block to have them make and I finally landed on the one that makes the most sense because of Valentine's Day landing in February. Or, I lack imagination. Or all of the above. 😉  No matter, I chose a darling ombre heart block created by Julie @ The Crafty Quilter. Here is the link to her tutorial: Ombre Heart Quilt Block Tutorial. I asked for them to make them in any combination they chose of various red, pinks or a mixture of the two, with low volume or off white background. I hope they will all go together well enough to just sew them together and make a baby quilt for donation. I am waiting for them all to get there before I make my own blocks to add to the mix. 

Made by Lisa12822

Russ and I don't go all out for Valentine's Day, but he always buys me a card and candy. He is thoughtful that way. This year, he bought a really cool card! No candy since that is not allowed on Keto. 😶 I didn't buy him a thing but trust me, I love up on him every day! 💝

Have a sweet day, and be kind to everyone you meet. You don't know what kind of heartache they may be dealing with.  

Here in Iowa, we have been hit with snowstorm after snowstorm. Today, we are once again digging out from another 6" that fell overnight. The winds will be picking up, gusts of 45 MPH and temperatures are dropping. It's days like this I am thankful to be able to stay home! 

While being snowed in, I have been making simple patchwork baby quilts as part of my effort to clean up my stash and make baby quilts to donate to our local pregnancy center this year. Because the weather hasn't cooperated, I haven't taken pictures of them all. As I get them quilted I will get pictures and post them. 

I also went through my minky scrap stash and took the time to piece them together to make quilt backs for baby quilts. When I pieced these two, I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use to make the top, and quickly started cutting and piecing. No overthinking allowed!! 

I got out the low volume Bonnie and Camille fabrics in my stash and cut some 3 1/2" squares to make a 45"x54" top. 

Because I loved it so much and I wanted to use it as my lap quilt right away, I basted it and got it quilted with simple cross-hatching. 

I have decided to make this the year of simple patchwork when it comes to my scraps. I love the simplicity, they are always cute, it takes no thought and they come together so quickly. 

 I am also thinking ahead to Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for this year. I have made tote bags in the past, but since they take up larger cuts of fabric and I am getting low on those, I have been searching for ways to use up the fat quarters I have purchased over the years that have been sitting way too long. I am considering drawstring bags. Cute and functional! 

Do you have plans to use up your stash and scraps this year?

Until next time!  

Here in Iowa, we have been hit with snowstorm after snowstorm. Today, we are once again digging out from another 6" that fell overnight. The winds will be picking up, gusts of 45 MPH and temperatures are dropping. It's days like this I am thankful to be able to stay home! 

While being snowed in, I have been making simple patchwork baby quilts as part of my effort to clean up my stash and make baby quilts to donate to our local pregnancy center this year. Because the weather hasn't cooperated, I haven't taken pictures of them all. As I get them quilted I will get pictures and post them. 

I also went through my minky scrap stash and took the time to piece them together to make quilt backs for baby quilts. When I pieced these two, I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use to make the top, and quickly started cutting and piecing. No overthinking allowed!! 

I got out the low volume Bonnie and Camille fabrics in my stash and cut some 3 1/2" squares to make a 45"x54" top. 

Because I loved it so much and I wanted to use it as my lap quilt right away, I basted it and got it quilted with simple cross-hatching. 

I have decided to make this the year of simple patchwork when it comes to my scraps. I love the simplicity, they are always cute, it takes no thought and they come together so quickly. 

 I am also thinking ahead to Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for this year. I have made tote bags in the past, but since they take up larger cuts of fabric and I am getting low on those, I have been searching for ways to use up the fat quarters I have purchased over the years that have been sitting way too long. I am considering drawstring bags. Cute and functional! 

Do you have plans to use up your stash and scraps this year?

Until next time!  

For the last six weeks, I haven't been in my sewing room hardly at all! Mostly because the new eating plan my husband and I implemented has taken up most of my time to research and learn how to cook differently. We have had to find a whole new repertoire of meals that we can prepare. Now that it is becoming more familiar, and since I didn't go to work this last week due to the crazy cold, I had time to spend in my neglected sewing room to see if I could find my long lost mojo...

I pulled out my box of 2 1/2" squares. I keep them sorted by color to make it easier to play with them at a moments notice. 

In no time I had I a pile of 25 patch blocks ready to go!

I decided to get out my larger boxes of scraps cut 2" strips and make a frame around each block. That eliminating the thinking it would take when pressing the 25 patches to get the seams to nest with one another. 

Here I have it all laid out with the fabric I chose to frame each block with. 

All done!! This was quick and easy. I wish I could say it made a huge dent in my scraps, but it didn't, but a little is better than none! 

The math...For those who may be interested.

25 patch block: 

25 - 2 1/2" squares.

 Sew together make one block unfinished at 10 1/2"

Frame:

2 - 2" x 10 1/2" strips

2 -  2" x 13 1/2" strips 

Block will be 13 1/2" unfinished. 

It's always so rewarding to use up fabric scraps and end up with a cute quilt to gift to someone. It makes me want to pull out the larger precut squares of scraps I cut last year and make more scrappy simple patchwork quilts. 

Do you have a favorite go-to pattern to make use of your scraps? 

For the last six weeks, I haven't been in my sewing room hardly at all! Mostly because the new eating plan my husband and I implemented has taken up most of my time to research and learn how to cook differently. We have had to find a whole new repertoire of meals that we can prepare. Now that it is becoming more familiar, and since I didn't go to work this last week due to the crazy cold, I had time to spend in my neglected sewing room to see if I could find my long lost mojo...

I pulled out my box of 2 1/2" squares. I keep them sorted by color to make it easier to play with them at a moments notice. 

In no time I had I a pile of 25 patch blocks ready to go!

I decided to get out my larger boxes of scraps cut 2" strips and make a frame around each block. That eliminating the thinking it would take when pressing the 25 patches to get the seams to nest with one another. 

Here I have it all laid out with the fabric I chose to frame each block with. 

All done!! This was quick and easy. I wish I could say it made a huge dent in my scraps, but it didn't, but a little is better than none! 

The math...For those who may be interested.

25 patch block: 

25 - 2 1/2" squares.

 Sew together make one block unfinished at 10 1/2"

Frame:

2 - 2" x 10 1/2" strips

2 -  2" x 13 1/2" strips 

Block will be 13 1/2" unfinished. 

It's always so rewarding to use up fabric scraps and end up with a cute quilt to gift to someone. It makes me want to pull out the larger precut squares of scraps I cut last year and make more scrappy simple patchwork quilts. 

Do you have a favorite go-to pattern to make use of your scraps?