Making my Mystery Block of the Month: October 2025

You’ll have seen that I plan to complete Sherri’s mystery block a month quilt and in my last post I shared the test blocks which I made into my twelfth charity quilt, today I’m sharing the centre block I made for my own quilt.

As I said yesterday I’m a fan of this block, and making it for my own quilt didn’t change my mind on that.

laying out the component elements for the ohio star block

As it’s a ‘star block month’ that meant I’d be using the navy blue fabrics from the range I’ve chosen for this quilt, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use a selection of the three available, or just one. I knew from my blocks yesterday, and from the examples from Sherri that the triangle next to the inner square looked best if it was a lighter colour, and so I branched out a bit and opted for a non-navy fabric.

three rows of the block sewn - and it looks like the seams will meet up easily, phew

With that decision made I decided to go for a single navy fabric for the block - my gut instinct was to use this green and pink patterned fabric as I felt I hadn’t used that much. And once I’d finished the block I knew that was the right call as laid alongside the blocks that will be closest to it, that fabric didn’t appear. Phew.

Checking my fabric choices alongside the blocks i've already sewn in the row above, horizontally and vertically

Not only did the block come together quickly, despite the numerous triangles, it was one that seemed to match and keep its points without too much work on my part - maybe that’s why I liked it?!

My finished block with green/light borders added
the completed block hanging with the others on my bookcase

But it’s done, and pressed and is now hanging alongside the previous month’s blocks. There’s just two more blocks to go, and then the real work of assembling and finishing the quilt starts. I’ve read today that Sherri will be sharing more about finishing the quilt next week, as well as the final block, so it’ll be good to see what’s in store - and I must remember to factor in actually finishing this quilt into my quilt plans for next year!

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

Making my Mystery Block of the Month: September 2025

You’ll have seen that I plan to complete Sherri’s mystery block a month quilt and in my last post I shared the test blocks which I made into my eleventh charity quilt, today I’m sharing the centre block I made for my own quilt.

Despite being relatively ahead of my relaxed schedule for this month’s quilt and central blocks, as always seems to be the case I found that somehow, all of a sudden, the block for my actual quilt still needed to be done almost at the last minute. Isn’t that always the way, the trick of having too much time on your hands, suddenly becomes no time at all.

Anyway, my block is done, but somehow with no photographs until it was assembled.

Showing the 'basket' at the centre of the block - the basket uses green/gold patterned material, but the basket's contents is blue

I’d chosen the materials I’d use way back in time too, if you look back they’re included in September’s Quilty Update, and I’m pleased with how the colours turned out. It’s the first time using both of these colour ways, and while the basket’s contents is blue so perhaps not too realistic, the basket definitely has a touch of realism about it with those colours.

It’s also the first block for a long time that I had to do some unpicking - I mixed up my green order. I contemplated living with it, but as it was only one piece, I decided to head for the seam ripper and add the green fabrics in the same order as before.

The blocks from this month and the previous two months laid out side by side as a preview for a row in the finished quilt

I couldn’t help but have a peek at how the completed row would look, although I’m sure there will be extra sashing to add to assemble the quilt - but you can get an idea of what it will look like when finished.

This month's quilt block is now hanging on a skirt hanger with the other blocks on my bookcase

So September’s block done, and the basket that I wasn’t sure I liked when I started turned out to be way easier than I ever imagined. Who knew.

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

Making my Mystery Block of the Month: August 2025

You’ll have seen that I plan to complete Sherri’s mystery block a month quilt and in my last post I shared the test blocks which I made into my tenth charity quilt, today I’m sharing the centre block I made for my own quilt.

My challenge for this one was choosing which of the navy fabrics to use, and one that I gave more thought to than normal. This block is quite similar to the patchwork star back in April, but the centre square is made from four smaller squares rather than a single piece of fabric.

My dilemma was whether or not to use the three navy fabrics I had, or to add in some of the other colours from the range, or to stick with one. In the end I went with the latter as there’s plenty of colours in this print, which I hoped would give me the patchwork feel I was after.

Laying out the individual navy blocks to check if they might work and look 'patchworky' enough

I purposely cut different parts of the design and tried to make a bit of a plan.

The squares and rectangles laid out how I planned to sew them

And after a bit of jiggling about, it worked out ok - well more than ok actually.

A patchwork star made with the same navy material but looking every bit a patchwork

Then it was on with the borders, after double checking with my hand drawn plan and another sneak peek of the blocks so far laid out (which I shared in my recent Quilty Update if you wanted to take a look), and before I knew it the August block was complete.

Pressing the completed block
The finished block hung on my bookcase using a 'skirt' hanger

After a quick press it too was hung with the other blocks I’ve made so far. I’ve even caught myself up with my ‘relaxed’ timetable sharing August’s block by the end of September.

Now for the next one!

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