Making my mystery block of the month: January

You’ll have seen that I plan to complete Sherri’s mystery block a month quilt and yesterday I shared the test blocks which I made into my third Project Linus quilt, well today I’m sharing the log cabin block I made for my own quilt.

So while I knew that I’d use the Lewis and Irene fabric bundle which I picked up at the Newark Quilt Show in January for the block’s centres, I didn’t know what to use for the borders. I wanted something quite bold for one of the colour ways, as our house is predominantly white, and although I like that I’m also keen to add colour through accessories and furnishings.

But it was the borders that made me think twice, and more than twice really. I ummed and ahhed about whether I should add them as I go along, or wait until the final block is completed later in the year. The pluses for delaying meant it would give me longer to decide which fabric to use and I could be sure I had enough of that; but the downsides were that there would be a lot of quilt still to complete at the end of the year, and the chances of that happening could be low. But I might not have enough material to use the same on the borders throughout, though I remembered that it really didn’t matter so much on the quilt I’d just completed - but you see my dilemma.

In the end I just got sewing, and hoped I’d work it out along the way!

Sewing the central block

Having completed the test blocks I felt pretty confident to try the block for my own quilt; as well as learning how not to cut off the point of the roof, I also learnt that I preferred the darker border colours on the bottom half of the block, and the lighter ones on the top. Perhaps for this block because they were representative of the ground and the sky respectively - who knows.

I’ve also worked out recently that pulling the fabrics together for a quilt is one of the most enjoyable aspects for me, but while I thought these were busy, I thought they would probably work.

But with the block sewn, I was less sure. The more I looked at it the more I was less sure - and nor did that help my borders dilemma. When looking at it again with fresh eyes, and realising the thing that pleased me most about the sewn block (on the left in the picture below) was the placement of the door handle, I realised it was time to try again.

However perfect and completely unintentional the door handle placement was!

And so I tried a second combination of fabrics - one that’s much less busy, and introduces a plainer element for the sky. This worked so much better, even though this time the door has no handle.

Happier with my block it was time to deal with the dilemma.

Adding borders, or not?

I tried many combinations before I made my decision, but as you can see I’ve added borders.

My main concern was not having enough fabric and ending up with a quilt that looks as if it was of two halves. But in the end I’ve made peace with myself and have mitigated this as far as I can. I’ve bought an extra metre of both of the outer light borders, ideally I’d have bought a metre of the pale background star border too, but I was only able to get half a metre of that. So the lights will be my constant, or that’s the plan anyway.

For the darks - or the bold jade green borders, the material is much older and hunting down similar quantities wasn’t going to happen, but I do have other toning fabrics which were all part of the same set. I think they came from either a magazine subscription or a competition win, but I have ten or so of similarly coloured AGF fabrics which I’ll use interchangeably. The colour will be the constant rather than the pattern for this border, and I’m pretty sure it will work.

And so, on went the borders.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out, and I know it’s bold - but that’s also by design as my working theory is that this will be a quilt for our spare bedroom which will have a rather ornate headboard (well it will once I’ve recovered it!).

So it needed to be bold to get the attention I’m sure it will warrant once its complete.

Join me next month to see how I get on with the next mystery block, and check out my posts which contain charity quilts made from the test blocks.

My quilt plans for 2025

It’s fair to say that I’ve a bit of a thing for quilts, and that’s not really a new thing. What is newer, or something that I’ve picked up again more recently is making quilts again after essentially a twenty or so year break.

In the past few months you’ll have seen that I’ve finished the flying geese kit and then the noughts and crosses quilt, and though on a much smaller scale there was also my handsewn hexi sewing machine mat too, but what next?

The list is ever growing…

Well like any self-respecting crafter I’ve a list of things I want to do which is as long as my arm! And it’s growing every time I see a new design and fall in love with it, and so it goes onto the list. Clearly that’s never going to work out but hey, it’s hard to turn down a beautiful quilt, so I thought I would try and hold myself accountable by sharing my plans - as they currently are in mid February, and then we’ll see how we go…

1. The teal flying geese

   I was originally planning to extend the flying geese kit by adding more material to those provided in the kit, and I duly started to ‘collect’ material in my chosen colour scheme. The only thing was that when I looked at it again, I loved the fabric I’d added way more than the ones in the kit - and so the kit became a test of my tolerance and skill level for making flying geese.

   I passed, and have since sorted out and pruned somewhat more the materials I intend to use - but I haven’t got any further yet as while I have a rough idea of what I want to do, I don’t have an exact plan. I know there will be a lot of flying geese, but also some plain elements too, and it makes sense to have a bit more idea of the end point before I start. So for the time being though this one is still percolating.

2. The mystery block a month

   Well I wasn’t going to, but the January block was really cute, and so I am. And after all it’s only a block a month, so how hard can it be. Yes mentally I’ve signed up to Sherri’s mystery block a month quilt over on A Quilting Life and I’ll share how I’m getting on soon - though given my January, I started later than I hoped, but the first block is done - and for reasons I’ll explain next week, this one needed more planning than I hope the rest of the months will need.

3. The jeans and pyjamas

   The noughts and crosses quilt was a way for me to test the Drunkard’s Path block - again I passed, which is good news as my heart is really set on the Happenstance pattern by Sarah Hibberts. Of course I’m giving it my own take and will be using old jeans and material I’ve saved from old pyjamas for this one, which will eventually live in the boot of my car for those times when you need a quilt on the go.

   All that’s stopping me getting started with this one is the actual cutting out, so I’m hopeful that as this one won’t need to be huge it won’t take me too long to get started, nor take too long to be finished either.

4. The Essex linen kisses

   This one wasn’t supposed to be on the list, but it made itself known shortly after I bought the brightly coloured screen printed scrap box from Helen Steele (pictured below). The scraps are of varying sizes but to maximise how many I can use I plan to cut them into 3 inch squares, and sew together to form a brightly coloured cross, or kiss and use a darker fabric as the background.

   This one is so close to being cut out and started on, so my money’s on this one starting next.

5. My floral fancy

   I shared how I had recently started my own floral fancy, well the plan is to finish that panel - and most likely to extend it further into a quilt. In my head the extension panels will complement rather than replicate the central panel, and the fuller quilt will be a longer term project throughout the year.

   I’m keen though to make progress on the central panel as it is really beautiful, and I really don’t want it to languish in a cupboard - or on my large craft mat, as it currently is, for too long. I need that mat back!!

   I’m also collecting a selection of greys to form the extended quilt, so while buying grey fabric doesn’t sound the most inspiring it is with good purpose - and I’m mostly staying on track.

6. My English Paper Piecing (EPP) blue diamonds

   This is my hand sewing project which I’ll take to my monthly sewing group evening meetings, and no doubt will pick up in between those too, as it’s a good project for keeping my hands busy. The diamonds are small - I like a challenge, clearly! - and I’m using pre-loved fabric for this. The central diamonds will be various blues from MOH’s old shirts - some patterned, some plain and each of these will be outlined with bright lime diamonds, which is material left over from another project long ago.

   As the diamonds are small, my updated plan is to place much larger diamonds between the hand sewn blocks, which will help with progress! I’ve got an old embroidered tablecloth which I bought on eBay for this - which may be a bit controversial for some cutting this up, but I’m ok with it. Whether or not I’d cut up a family heirloom is another matter, but that’s not something I need to consider for this project.

THE SCREEN PRINTED ESSEX LINEN SCRAP BOX

Oh and one final ‘stretch’ project

This one is potentially crazy, and I may not achieve it - but then again I just might, and I won’t know unless I try.

The corporate world loves a ‘stretch’ objective doesn’t it - and this is my ‘stretch’ project. From the quilts I’ve completed mentioned above I’ve found sewing a test block so useful and something I intend to carry on doing for the mystery block a month quilt. So I thought I might as well make these test blocks into quilts too, I’ll be using fabric from my stash, and so I’m hopeful I’ll also be able to make a small dent in my stash, and for a good cause.

My plan is to donate these to Project Linus UK, which you’ll know from my previous posts is a charity whose mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children, who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed through the donation of new, homemade, washable quilts and blankets. 

These won’t be the largest quilts, but they will be big enough to give a quilt-sized hug.

And all the other sewing and making!

Yes, my list doesn’t end there - there’s plenty of other things on my craft to do list - including more pouches, I’m sure! But building up my confidence and skill set making quilts before braving the rest of my list seems a sensible plan, well to me anyway. On my non-quilt list, as well as more pouches (obviously), I want to make some lightweight dressing gowns, a cover for my sewing machine, and finally get my head around making some clothes.

Yes that’s as well as normal life, gardening, holidays and my non-sewing craft projects - I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a busy year!

Makes of 2024

Having done this for 2025 for quilts and other makes, I’ve gone back in time and done this for 2024, however as there was only one quilt in 2024 I’ve combined both updates.

The year started with lots of English Paper Piecing patchwork with Tula Pink fabrics, and by July I was sharing the sewing machine mat which I hadn’t even set out to make at the start of the year! Since then it’s appeared unintentionally in many of my photos, and it still proudly sits underneath my sewing machine.

To coincide with my blog’s eleventh birthday, and completely unplanned, I finally got around to making some lavender sachets - spookily eleven. That’s not too bad going as I first saw, and fell in love with the pattern back in 2014!

By March I was making use of some of the Gelli Prints I’d completed on the course I’d attended, and trust me, the gelli printing is slightly addictive - and me being me, well I keep the offcuts too as you never know…

In April I was crocheting, or more precisely finishing a crochet project. I’d made the intricate rainbow squares back in 2020 and after rediscovering them in our house move I was determined to finish this project, and boy, I’m so glad I did.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

I also started my next course run by our local library, and this time it was bags. I started by making a pincushion and two pouches for starters, which I’m still using - though I’d clearly like to use my sunglasses case even more!

Within a few weeks I’d made a zipped pouch and a bag from old curtains, which is my ‘go to’ bag for quilt shows. It’s strong, holds a lot (and I mean a lot) and when I bring it home it doesn’t look like I’ve shopped hardly at all - always a bonus!

Then I started to embroider the Indian Block printing I’d done on yet another adult learning course. My first makes were two sets of bunting, one for my great niece with her name on as she has an out of the norm name, and another for my dad who was celebrating a milestone birthday, neither of which I shared on my blog at the time - though I have since shared dad’s birthday bunting a year on.

In September I was scratching my head and working out how to repurpose a cycling top into a drawstring bag, like you do! I’m not sure if it’s particularly spider-proof but it is used to store a cycle helmet in our gym. I impressed myself with how I managed to incorporate the logos, some of the reflective panels, and more from one of MOH’s first cycling tops.

Then, just as summer was ending, I got my act together and made four cushion covers for cushions for our garden chairs - well, they were ready for the following year’s use! Though given my previous fear of everything zipped, this was a major undertaking for me - and all thanks to that bag course that I went on, where as well as making some lovely bags and pouches, I conquered zips!

And having conquered zips, in October on came the pouches - and to be honest, they haven’t stopped since!

It wasn’t until November that I completed my first, and only, quilt of the year - and it was shortly after this my ‘stretch' project idea started to form. The Flying Geese quilt also informed another project I’ve had on my Quilt list for 2025, but didn’t get to so it remains on my list for another year.

But there were more pouches to end the year.

Although I didn’t share the completed embroidered heart here until February the following year, it was all done by Christmas - and a gem of a present to myself, and again it was one that developed as I embroidered. At the start I had no intention of adding the creamy beige lines, but now I can’t imagine it without them.

I ended the year by sharing the pouch love, with hand made Christmas presents in various shapes and sizes for some of my family. That’s also something that’s ongoing, whether or not they think they need a pouch or not - I’m on a mission to convert them!

Quite a year of makes, and yet, quite a different year of makes to the year that follows!