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