More quilts finished - halfway through 2026

This is my 94th blog post!  So I will likely write my 100th before the end of the year.  Amazing.  Something I started mainly as a record of my sewing and patchwork has become a "thing"!  I know not many people read my blog but that doesn't worry me.  It is for me, mainly.  My first blog post was in September 2020, so I've been blogging for almost six years.  

I've finished a couple of quilt tops this month and have progressed others.  I just keep pegging away at them and, like magic, they get finished.  😄 Not really.  When I cleaned up the sewing room during the month, the number of half finished tops, finished tops, patterns and fabric pulled together for a project, boxes of bits, etc. made me realise that I am never going to finish all the quilts I want to make.  Just not enough hours in the day.  But I will do my darnedest to get as many done as possible.  My thought is that at my wake after I die there will be a pile of quilts I've made, and people can take one home with them as a memory of me.  What do others think of that idea?  I have read of others doing that and it makes sense to me.

                 

One completed quilt sewn from scraps from two of the baby quilts I recently made.  You may remember the quilts, both in pinks with a + pattern.   Here and here are the posts about those quilts.  I will likely donate this one somewhere, or maybe keep it in case I need to give a new baby girl a gift.  Finished size:  32" x 38".  Very simply pieced and quilted as you can see.  I love the backing fabric, which I acquired somewhere and am glad it was exactly the right size for this quilt.  The binding is made from scrap bindings from my basket.  

        

I laid out my Quatro quilt again this month and worked out the order of the flower blocks for this round.  I will be starting to join the blocks to each other, into a long section, and then each section on to one of the sides of the main quilt in the next month or so.  As you can see, there are four cross blocks missing on the right hand side of the quilt.  I've run out of the paper pieces needed for these blocks.  Once I've attached one of the sides and enclosed the blocks inside the quilt, I can remove the papers to use for those missing cross blocks.  In this quilt, only the outside blocks have papers in them.  

I am really happy with how this quilt is looking but the time and effort it has taken, makes me realise I don't want to hand piece a quilt this size again.  Or possibly any paper pieced quilt! 

I've worked on a couple of quilts for Days for Girls also this month.  These next two quilts were tops when I got them (made long ago by someone else and donated to our group) and needed tidying up, backing and binding, and quilting.  One is 40" square, the other 65".  So I've used up about 4.5 metres of my fabric for the backings and bindings.  The teacup quilt received minimal quilting but I did quilt more heavily on the Thimbleberries fabric quilt.  

   

Another quilt top done and dusted is my string scraps quilt.  I added just one border (to enclose the multiple seam ends) and it will make a nice lap quilt for someone.  With so many seams in the top, it is quite heavy.  I have to work out how to deal with the bias edges distorting this style of quilt, next time I paper piece the scrap strings.  My plans to get this and another quilt actually finished and bound went by the wayside.  I'm easily distracted!  

Would you believe that I visited a local patchwork shop while away this month (in Townsville in Queensland) and didn't buy any fabric?!  I did buy some threads, but I'm still feeling virtuous.

June 2026 fabric tally

Finishes this month:   baby quilt = 2 m; Days for Girls quilts = 4.5 m

Purchases this month:  0 m   (I'm so virtuous 😇😂; I can't believe it!)

Fabric used:  - 6.5 m         Fabric acquired:  + 0 m

Running tally for 2026:  - 20 m   

Scrap Happy Day - June 2026

Lots of scrap sewing done in this last month.  When I have the urge to sew but don't want to think too hard, I go to my scrap drawers and make up some blocks for one of the scrap quilts I have in mind to make.  

        

In one drawer were a number of solid colour squares, so some of these were turned into these blocks. Not sure what I will do with these yet.

   

There were quite a few plain white/cream squares cut so I turned a few into a couple of chequerboard blocks, with some of the squares that weren't a specific colour.  I might make these into teapot rugs, bigger than a mug rug, for my teapot to sit on.  

As I prepared this post early for posting while I’m away from home, I realise now that I haven’t recorded the sizes of the blocks/squares.  Let’s say they’re 1 1/2” or 2” squares!  

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible (including food). If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Contact Kate on katechiconi@gmail.com and she'll add you to the list.  We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie

Cooling down in May?

The weather may be cooler in May but my sewing machine has been running hot.  

There's nothing like a deadline to get things done!  I finished another baby quilt before the baby turns one.  I knew I'd be seeing the parents, and the baby, at my granddaughter's birthday party on the 31st May, so pushed to finish off Norah's quilt.  Happy enough with how it turned out.  

I had debated adding a narrower stop border between the top and the green but, after looking at photos of similar quilts on Pinterest, thought that wasn't needed.  The quilt is still a decent enough size.  Some free motion quilting around the flower and the name but otherwise a serpentine stitch across each section of the jelly rolls.  

Finished size: 58" x 71”.  All fabric from my stash, using a Moda jelly roll and adding a few 2.5" strips from my strip box.  Backing is a nice piece of wideback, also used for the border.  The binding is made from strips not used from the jelly roll. 

While I was on a roll, sandwiching Norah's quilt on my sandwich table (aka folding table tennis table), I sandwiched several other quilts.  I'll show these as I finish quilting them - hopefully in the next month. 

I'm still plugging away at the Quatro quilt.  I completed these flowers (as I call them) while on holiday earlier in May.

I will lay out the quilt this week and work out where each of the flowers go in the current round, and sew that round down before going on to complete any more flowers.  

 

May 2026 fabric tally

Finishes this month:   Norah's quilt = 6.5 m

Purchases this month:  0 m   (I'm continuing to feel virtuous 😇😂)

Fabric used:  - 6.5 m         Fabric acquired:  + 0 m

Running tally for 2026:  - 13.5 m   

  

Scrap Happy Day - May 2026

Scrap Happy days come around so quickly!  But at least this month I have some scrap work to show.  Thank you Kate, for the regular reminders. 

Several years ago, I made a quilt as a birthday gift for a friend.  Sadly she told me last month that one of her dogs had chewed it.  Thankfully the chunk taken out was not a big one.  It isn't a big dog!

As I had used a whole jelly roll to make the quilt, I only had scraps of those strips left, most of which I had cut up into 2.5" squares.  I rummaged through the boxes and found pieces of the three fabrics needed - front, back and binding.  The black and white fabric was three separate 2.5" squares, now joined together.  

It was a pretty rough repair job but not noticeable unless you're looking for it.  There wasn't much of the binding fabric so I had to join the fabrics straight across the binding rather than at an angle.  

And now you can hardly tell it has been repaired!  I'll drop it off to my friend in Melbourne in a couple of weeks' time when I'm down there.

I've mentioned the making of the quilt in blog posts here and here and here

Although I've mentioned it in my monthly report, I'll include photos of the string quilt I've been working on - all scraps - as well as the scrap squares 12" blocks I've worked on in the last month.  I must count the ones I've got in the box to see if I have enough for a quilt.  It is a great feeling to be using up scraps to make these quilts.  

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible (including food). If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Contact Kate on katechiconi@gmail.com and she'll add you to the list.  We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie

Almost a whole month of sewing - finally!

No finishes this month despite being home for most of the time.  There has been lots happening other than sewing though. I did have enough hours in the sewing room working on a few ongoing projects.  Time in the sewing room keeps me sane-ish. 

Photo of one of my quilts in use. Isn’t she so cute?

Scrap sewing has taken lots of time but no finishes yet.  My string scraps tub was overflowing so I used the paper base method of making 6 1/2" blocks, utilising an old phone book for the paper (as per Bonnie Hunter's method.)  I made 60 plus blocks and the strings tub doesn't seem to be diminished at all.  Scraps do seem to accumulate when they're not being watched. Sewing these blocks was very therapeutic and relaxing.  

I started on a quilt for another new-ish baby.  This one is based on some Pinterest posts and uses a jelly roll.  The baby's first birthday is in June so I plan to hand it over by then.  There will be borders added but I haven't worked them out yet.

There will be a large flower appliquéd at the intersection of the sashing, as per the Pinterest posts.  The sashing is supposed to be pale yellow but looks white/cream in most lights.

My plan is that May will be a month of quilting, clearing out some of the quilt tops hanging around the sewing room.  Fingers crossed that happens!  

April 2026 fabric tally

Finishes this month:   =   nothing!

Purchases this month:  0 m   (I'm still feeling virtuous)

Fabric used:  - 0 m         Fabric acquired:  + 0 m

Running tally for 2026:  - 7 m   (no change from last month)

February and March finishes and starts

Days for Girls is a great voluntary organisation where volunteers make up reusable menstrual health kits to be used by girls and women in a number of countries around the world.  The kits help to improve the lives of girls and women who can't access work or education for one week each month because they have their period.  There are also kits for women who've just given birth.  

I enjoy the sewing for our local Days for Girls group as I know that I am helping another female somewhere in the world.  The sewing isn't difficult, although we do have to be precise as the quality standards for each component are strict.  This month, I also brought home lengths of fabrics to be cut up for the various components.  

There are often small pieces of fabric left over from making the kits, which our group use to make small quilts for the babies born to the women our heavy-flow kits go to.  I had a heap of fabric pieces, both cotton and flannel, from last year's kit-making, which were turned into quilts suitable for newborn babies.  The quilts are generally sized around 30" x 36".  I ended up finishing eight of them in March.  The backings and bindings were all from my stash.  

So frustrating in January when my main sewing machine encountered a hiccup.  My fault entirely, according to the sewing machine mechanic, who told me off for trying to mend my son's backpack strap on the machine.  I really should have used one of the older heavy duty machines I have but was too lazy to go and get it out and set it up.  I ended up fixing the backpack strap by hand!  Anyway, it took a couple of weeks to get to the mechanic.  I was fairly busy in that period anyway, with overseas visitors and travelling around a few local places with them.  Three lots of overseas visitors in the first three months of the year!  

I've spent a lot of time on the menstrual health kits, mainly sewing shields.  And just to get some sewing for me done, I completed a number of 6” scrap potato chip blocks to add to the growing pile.  I need to work out what I will be doing with them.  I have some plans but nothing definite yet.  It is so satisfying to make these - mindless sewing, using up scraps, finished blocks when done, a quilt on the way.  

I'm still working away on the Quatro quilt, designed by Sue Daley.  It is good hand sewing to do while watching TV.  I laid out the quilt on the floor to work out how many more different blocks I needed to make.  As you can see, there are a few more flowers (as I call them) to make for this round, and more light grey crosses needed as well.  It is the second last round so the end is in sight! (The rugs on the floor distract from the quilt bocks, sorry.)

March 2026 fabric tally

Finishes since the start of the year:  Days for Girls baby quilts (bindings and backings) =  7 m; 

Purchases since 1st January:  0 m

Fabric used:  - 7 m         Fabric acquired:  + 0 m

Don't forget that the fabric tally returned to zero at the beginning of the year.  So we will see how I go at using up some of my stash this year.  

Scrap Happy Day March 2026

I've been all out of whack with my blog posts lately, including my Scrap Happy Day posts.  The theory is that I will get better!  

In the last couple of months, I've made eight small baby quilts from scraps of fabric leftover from making Days for Girls menstrual health kits.  We use new fabrics - flannel for the pads, and cotton for the shields - and there are often scraps that aren't big enough to include in the kits.  So a number of us have made baby quilts from those scraps.  

Recently I backed a quilt for a grand-nephew with one side of a doona cover I picked up at the op shop.  The other side of the doona cover divided nicely into four for backing for these baby quilts.  The rest of the backing fabrics are from my stash.

Bindings are all from the Days for Girls scraps or from my basket of leftover quilt bindings.  Still lots left in the basket for more quilts.  

Each quilt is machine pieced and quilted, with bindings sewn down by machine.  Battings are mainly polyester (preferred for our recipients.)  The quilts are 30" x 36" each.  

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible (including food). If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Contact Kate on katechiconi@gmail.com and she'll add you to the list.  We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie