Four pink hearts and a hug

I’ve made another quilt as part of my quilting ‘stretch’ project this time using the March block from Sherri at A Quilting Life’s mystery block a month. As I said then I don’t know if I’ll manage to make a quilt a month, but I won’t really know unless I try…

I’m glad that this block was relatively simple to put together as time has been more challenging this month, perhaps the warmer weather or something else, I’m not sure quite why, but I only finished it after a concerted push last night…

My fifth donation quilt

As soon as I saw the centre block was a heart I knew that I’d be using pinks from my stash - but which ones! The pile of pinks on the right of this basket are (from top to bottom) from an old quilt cover, two old shirts, the old quilt cover again, a mystery plain pink and remnants of a much loved Boden sundress. I’ve no recollection of where the plain pink material has come from so perhaps it was part of a mystery bundle I picked up somewhere.

The paler pinks which I’m using for the hearts are likely to be much older and acquired at some point from mum’s stash, and the paler background is from the lining of the sundress. As you’ll see as this post progresses I also added some grey zigzagged material from an old duvet, which was also the backing on last month’s quilt.

Testing the block

As you know I’m making test blocks ahead of making the block for my mystery block of the month quilt and I’m making these blocks into quilts of their own. And this block has relatively few pieces compared to last month’s vintage star block, and was therefore much easier to put together, phew.

The part that required the most concentration was not to cut the wrong side of the sewn line, but I managed that successfully each time - and tbh it really wasn’t that hard, but that was the potential stumbling block (no pun intended) this month.

And in no time at all I’d added borders to the hearts, and joined the blocks together.

But I felt it wasn’t quite there yet, so left it overnight mulling over which fabrics to use for the borders. In the end I decided on a thinner red checked border before adding more of the multi-patterned pink material from the old duvet cover. I think it needed the bold checked thin border to make it work. I also knew that it needed the stripes to match as best they could to avoid it looking messy.

And with a little bit of luck that worked out.

I’ve also changed my mind on which backing to use, originally I thought it would be the multi-patterned pink fabric but I think any more of that would be too much, and so I’ve opted to cut up a paler pink single duvet cover which I bought a couple of years ago on eBay for £1.04 plus postage - as I discovered in the label I’d thoughtfully written for myself when I unfurled the fabric.

Finishing the quilt

I got the quilt to a finished quilt top level in a few days, then it sat for a while waiting for me to assemble it with the batting and backing fabric. In fact I snuck that part in ahead of waiting for family to arrive over Easter, which was a good use of time. Then after the bank holiday I set about quilting it. Remembering that the purpose of these quilts is partly to up my skill levels and to get myself comfortable with both piecing and quilting, as with practice comes a better crafter.

So rather than quilt this one as I have before I decided to quilt it in diagonal rows across the quilt, and then spent ages looking for some masking tape that I was sure I had,. I didn’t find that, but I did find some tape with marked lines on which was probably a better option, or it was once I worked out where to place it most effectively, and so I didn’t sew over it!

I also wanted to change the density of the quilting on the hearts. I considered a different colour thread, but in the end opted to add quilting lines closer together, using the same approach.

And I’m happy with how this quilting style turned out; the tape worked well and could be easily repositioned for each line of sewing. I didn’t have a plan for the spacing between the lines before I started and worked that out as soon as I started to plan the second line - they’re about 8.5cm apart. Yes they could be more precise, and ideally closer together but it was good to discover this process as I went.

The finished quilt this time with the bottom right hand corner turned back on itself to show the bagain backing fabric

It turned out well didn’t it? And four hearts and a hug seems the perfect title for this one.

You can see my other quilts which I’ve made to donate to Project Linus - 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, including those that are part of this ‘stretch’ project in earlier posts. I’m aiming to publish an update on my progress in the last week of each month for the remainder of 2025.

My lime blue diamonds hand sewn quilt

Much earlier in the year I set out my quilt plans for 2025 with number 6 on the list being:

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.

Introducing my EPP project

As I said it’s a hand sewing project, but one which needs to be pretty portable so for this I’m using my Yarnivore project bag from Vicki Brown Designs a while back - and while it’s not descriptive of the contents, it’s a great size for this project. I’m able to include a mini cutting board, a pouch full of threads and a glue stick, plus the material covered diamonds which are ready to sew and quite a few which have already been sewn.

And yes, the diamonds are pretty small - they’re about two inches in length. I bought the white templates from eBay as my patience doesn’t extend to cutting those too!

The blues I’m using are all from MOH’s old shirts and the lime green is from my stash. I like the colours together and have been playing with layouts, even though it’s early days - I’ve only eighteen completed, and I’m going to need quite a few more.

Through testing the layouts I realised i liked it when there’s a plain blue ‘star’ interspersed with the patterned ‘stars’ like in the image below.

And to mock up how the gaps could be filled I’ve used the white diamond templates. These will be a large diamond, not four as shown in this image, and that’s where the new-to-me vintage table cloth will come it, not that I’ve been brave enough to cut it yet. I’m biding my time and will switch to that when I’m fed up of the lime blue diamonds.

Clearly lime blue isn’t a colour, but it’s the working name for my quilt as that’s what I see - and it’s stuck. Once it’s all together, and I’m not sure how big I’m aiming for, then we’ll see if the name still works. I’m also thinking that I might add further adornments, perhaps buttons, perhaps beads but that’s a decision for another day.

I’ll update you again when there’s more than just my lime blue diamonds, which may not be for a while!

A mostly repurposed vintage star quilt

I’ve made another quilt as part of my quilting ‘stretch’ project this time using the February block from Sherri at A Quilting Life’s mystery block a month. As I said then I don’t know if I’ll manage to make a quilt a month, but I won’t really know unless I try…

I already suspect that the warmer months may be more challenging, what with adding in some time to garden as well as going out and exploring the area around where we live, but that’s the point of a challenge right.

My fourth donation quilt

When I pulled the fabrics from my stash I had no intention of making this vintage star block in blues and greens, but there you go, those are the fabrics that called to me and so that’s what I’ve got. Unlike last month I don’t have a silly name that makes me smile, but I’m pleased to have repurposed quite a few old clothes in this one.

And when I say quite a few I’ve used material from old cropped trousers of mine (from three pairs), an old shirt of MOH’s, a blouse of mine and even some from Hawaiian swimming trunks. In fact the only piece that’s remotely new is the navy and white flowered material, which I bought in Newark whilst I was collecting additional material for the flying geese quilt, before I changed my mind.

But onto the blocks

I found this block centre more challenging, right from the off - but entirely because I misread the instructions. Instead of making HSTs (half square triangles) from the smaller squares I used the larger ones and of course they didn’t come out right. So with more squares cut, and my first learning under my belt I was back on track.

Starting out wrongly with my first green star block - the pieces are all laid out but incorrectly!

My second learning came on trimming the HSTs - the rotary cutting mat made life a lot easier, as did using the small square template.

But it was still trickier than it looks. My seams were, shall we say variable, and didn’t always meet where they should. And once I’d sorted one seam’s placement another misbehaved, but I did get my four blocks (with variable seams) done, and I’m happy enough with them.

And so with the four centres complete I added the log cabin borders. My original plan had been to add a dark border but not only was I concerned it would be too dark, I also didn’t have enough of the plain blue fabric left, so I needed another plan.

I used the relatively new flowery fabric to add a border to brighten the quilt overall, and realised that there was plenty of the green spotty material (I’m sure this was a 1990s impulse buy from IKEA) to add a final border. This also brought a learning, and tested my patience, with its tendency to slip about with its own free will. But I got there.

For the backing I cut into an old duvet cover, and I think the grey and white zig zags really work - it’s definitely super soft, that’s for sure.

Once again I added my usual scrappy border, using up the majority of strips I’d cut for the quilt top. Looking at those central blocks now, I’m not looking at the wonky seams (well not so much) I’m looking at the quilt as a whole, so I’m glad it all worked out.

As I’m using these quilts to practice and refine my quilting making skills, I was keen to try something a little different with the quilting. It’s still straight(ish) lines, but instead of ‘stitching in the ditch’ I’ve gone bolder and stitched down the middle of the log cabin strip, using a navy thread - a bold move on the pale green fabric, less so on the plain navy strips!

I think it works, and overall I’m happy with how this one turned out. And as it’s been so nice I took my quilt outside for its own photoshoot in the garden! The block for my next quilt is out already, and it’s another cute one - but first I have to make my own block for my mystery block of the month quilt, all being well I’ll share that here later in the week.

You can see my other quilts which I’ve made to donate to Project Linus - 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, including those that are part of this ‘stretch’ project in earlier posts. I’m aiming to publish an update on my progress in the last week of each month for the remainder of 2025.