Finish or NOT Friday 7.17.2026

 I have one Finish and one NOT this week...

My Finish is the RWB quilt for my friend, Bernice. She takes them to the VA Hospital and the request is that the quilts are 48 x 48. This one started there but unfortunately, shrunk up about an 1.5 inches when quilted. I don't believe there is a pattern name, this is an effort to use up some of my leander/enders I tend to accumilate.

pattern: lender/enders start at 2.5 inches, in this configuration they measure 

                4.5 x 8.5 inches before sewn into the quilt.

                The stars were cut at 4.5 x 8.5 inches to match the L/E

panto: serpentine

My NOT this week is my aqua rails. Upon closer inspection, the novelty is more school related than camping.

pattern: rails and novelty : rails cut at 2.5 inches, subcut at 6.5 inches

                                           novelty cut at 6.5 inches square

Angie and her Mom have been visiting all week. Angie hasn't been eating and her Mom figured out that her tags were hitting the stainless steel bowl her food was in and 'bothering her'. I dumped her dinner onto a paper plate and she ate the whole scoop! I even gave her a second short scoop. The poor girl has been hungry! (Angie has a flat plate at home she eats her dinner on that has grooves in it.)

After dinner, she was checking her treat dispenser for more treats...silly girl!

Sharing today with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday and 

SoScrappy Saturday.

Design Wall Monday 7.13.2026

I pulled out my teal, gray and bicycle fabric to make a donation quilt. Oh no! I'm not liking the bicycle fabric with my teal...

I made my two color rails...

and 'saw some camping type fabric with teal'! Bingo and just enough leftover for this donation. I didn't take a closer picture of the novelty and I am going to add one more vertical row but 'need' to make more of the two color rails.

Sharing today with Judy at Design Wall Monday.

Finish or NOT Friday 7.10.2026

My finish this week is my non-Christmas tree skirt. I went with blue/beige checkerboard with a 4.5 inch cut outer border. I decided to scallop the edge as my guild did a mini-workshop that included scallop edges. I was a 'helper' and the scallops I did , did not work out. So I was determined to try again!

Here is my skirt under my tree. I did go to Michaels' and purchased a spool of 'Happy Birthday' ribbon as our reunion theme is 'Happy 100th Birthday, Dad' - if he was still alive...

Sharing today with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday.

WIP Wednesday 7.8.2026

I am working on my non-Christmas tree skirt. I loaded it onto the long arm and began quilting. 

I did use my Christmas elf print as the backing. I was playing 'batting chicken' and lost! Oh...so close.

I was thinking of cutting my tree skirt into a circle but then I would have cut off part of the checkerboard. I decided instead to make scallops on the border.

I actually traced the scallops on the wrong side in pencil then stay stitched on the scallop line. I pulled out my trusty pinking shears and cut away the excess. I did decide to make bias binding and cut it at 2.25 inches. Here it is...ready for the binding application.

pattern: checkerboard with 4.5 inch cut border

panto: serpentine

Sharing today with The Inquiring Quilter's Wait Loss Wednesday.

Design Wall Monday 7.6.2026

I have this dilemma...I have kept my 4 foot Christmas tree out all year as I like the light it gives off. Oddly enough, I'm okay with it hanging out in the corner of the dining room looking like this:

But with family visiting on Saturday, I have the urge to make a non-Christmas tree skirt. So I pulled out the beige and blue fabrics.

The plan is to make more 6.5 inch unfinished 4 patches, add a border, quilt, trim to a circle and bind.

hummmmm...I can live with this BUT I did a quick check and it looks like some of the checkerboard will be cut off when making it a circle...

I'm thinking it over...in the mean time...

I'm sharing today with Judy at Design Wall Monday.

SoScrappy Saturday 7.4.2026

Today is the first Saturday of July of the color teal. This is another color that I currently don't have very much in the stash. I did manage to make a set of 4 patches with teal and gray.

I wanted to make a square quilt to experiment with scallops as I didn't 'want' scallop border to get the better of me. I discovered this panda fabric with a teal background in the novelty stash. I had made a quilt for DD's best friend in 2017 for their graduation from high school. (It's Quilt A) Although the pandas are directional, I decided to face all the panda as if 'they are growing from the patchwork'. This is 'where' I am leaving it off. I do have the scallop ruler with it, so I remember that is my 'where' this project is heading...

pattern: I made a slew of 4 patches that are 6.5 inches unfinished.

Sharing today with SoScrappy Saturday.

Finish or NOT Friday 7.3.2026

I struggled today but I have two finishes to share.

The first is the Zebra Walk-a-bout. I added a little zebra fabric to the top/bottom to extend the length to make it rectangular. I didn't have enough fabric to make more rows but this solution works, too.

pattern: Walk-a-bout

panto: serpentine

My second finish and the 'one' that I struggled with is my adaption of Lisa Sutherland's Scrappy Strips and Stars. This one started out as stars that I created reversed of the pattern: Old Glory for Dean (another Lisa Sutherland pattern). The thread kept breaking as I was quilting until I finally replaced the needle in the long arm and then also had to make an adjustment to the eye of the needle...it needed to be closer to 6:00 than 5:30. 

But wait...there's more! 

My Baby Brother was looping on the final binding step. Yup, change the needle...no help. Toggle off/on...no help. Change thread...no help. I finally flipped the bobbin over...worked like a charm. 

Saved myself the cost of a new piecing machine! <grin>

pattern: adaption of Lisa Sutherland's Scrappy Strips and Stars

panto: serpentine

Sharing today with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday.

WIP Wednesday 7.1.2026

Here's how I solved my reversed stars dilemma...I adapted another Lisa Sutherland pattern: Scrappy Strips and Stars. My stars are 8.5 inches unfinished and my strip - I found - are 3.5 inch cut. After a day of sewing, I now have another QOV to quilt, bind and label. It might not have the 'wow' factor but I trust Lynn will find the exactly right veteran for it's forever home!

pattern: adaption of Lisa Sutherland's Scrappy Strips and Stars

                my stars are 8.5 unfinished and strips are 3.5 inches cut

Sharing today with The Inquiring Quilter's Wait Loss Wednesday.

Design Wall Monday 6.29.2026

I had enough hst's and zebra print to make another quilt for Project Linus. As I was searching for hst quilt patterns, I found the Walk-a-bout pattern (on Pinterest, of course!). The hst's made an 8.5 inch unfinished block so I cut the zebra print to match. 

pattern: walk-a-bout

Since this 'Walk-a-bout' pattern went together so quickly, I pulled out my RWB and the Lisa Sutherland 'Old Glory for Dean' pattern to start piecing. This quilt is to be posted on Saturday July 4th on the Working Stars FB page.

Oh no! I made a critical error! I made my stars reversed. Blue on a light background instead of light on a blue background! This makes me sad. DH wanted to know if I 'was swearing when I realized this'? No...its time to pivot and make another quilt top. I just won't be able to participate in the 'Old Glory for Dean' parade...

Sharing today with Judy at Design Wall Monday.

SoScrappy Saturday 6.27.2026

Today is the fourth Saturday of June of the color 'pastels'. I interpreted this as meaning lighter tones of my colors...that I could find!

I did pick up a 'pastel' fabric from the free table as used it as the center piece on my Meals-on-Wheels place mats. I didn't have very much so I needed to improvise...

 pattern: 3.5 inch cut strips sewn as quilt as you go.

Sharing today with SoScrappy Saturday.