Category: Projects

I wrote last week about my moody little HOME blocks (created with my HOME quilt block pattern), and how I was craving a small project.  Well, I dove in and made something with them.  No pattern, just cutting and sewing (and learning by trial and error), and now I have a little HOME needle book.

For starters, I have renewed respect for makers who create sewing patterns for bags, books, and pouches.  Their attention to detail is really awesome, and my novice skills are apparent in this little book.  And yet, it makes me smile and I’m happy with it.  I enjoyed making it and am already using it.

One of my goals was to just finish it, so I didn’t look online or visit any stores to find hardware.  I just used what I had on hand.  Obviously this could be a lot fancier.  But I decided to make a little envelope to hold scissors and thread inside the pouch.

Above the envelope I added a flap of felt for holding my needle.  Hot pink ribbon won the color audition for a simple ribbon closure.  Since finishing this, I’ve been playing more with the envelope idea, and have figured out a better way to sew a fabric envelope.  I’m excited to use this new skill for the holidays!  For now, I’m tucking the flap inside to keep everything in place and it seems to work just fine.  Simple.  A HOME needle book for the joy of sewing with colors that make me smile.

On the back I put a piece of the amazing modern floral I first photographed these little 4 inch blocks with.  I have a small piece of it but sort of wish I had yards and yards.

What do you sew when you need a small project to finish quickly?  I enjoyed making my HOME needle book.  What became of my second block?  Well, I made a quilted book cover with it, and it matches the needle book. So fun!

Last week I needed to take a deep breath creatively.  I have SO MANY quilts and other projects I’m working on or planning in my head, and the list is longer than there are hours in the day.  I needed a small project to work on.  Enter my HOME quilt block, a foundation paper pieced quilt block pattern in three different sizes.  I really love all three sizes (my Refuge quilt is made with the largest), but there is just something about the tiny 4 inch block that always calls to me.  So I pulled some fabric, started sewing these small blocks, and now I’m smiling at my moody little HOME blocks.

In fact, It occurred to me that if these were the typical Halloween color scheme, I might like the holiday more.  The pinks and dark blues with a touch of honey are so pretty to me.  It looks like the tiny house is glowing in the dark of night, and I love it.  A few years ago I started a 100 day project using this little 4″ block.  Unfortunately, I didn’t stick with it because they take so long to sew.  Smaller is definitely not always faster!  These cute little blocks take time to piece, but are oh, so worth it!  In fact, I still intend to finish a quilt made entirely of these 4 inch blocks.   I’m ok with a far away finish.  It will be marvelous.

But, back to my moody little HOME blocks.  I’m loving dark backgrounds with bright colors, and I have hopeful plans for these two little blocks.  Honestly, I love this color combination so much that I wish I could just keep making them and turn it into a quilt.  But my goal was a small project, so I’ll see what I can do.

What about you?  What would you make with a little 4″ block?  Any suggestions for what they might become?

Have a great day!

Jennifer

Ready for a dose of color?  The Jelly Rainbow quilt pattern is a fun way to play with color.  I pieced my version a long time ago but never quilted and bound it.  During that time, the cute girl I want to gift it to has grown much taller.  So, looking at my quilt top, I decided I needed to make it a little bigger.  This is a different sort of rainbow than my Rainbow Serve quilt.  It’s more a mash-up of color, and I love it.  So here, today, is my Jelly Rainbow quilt top with top and bottom borders added.

This pattern was originally published by Ruby Star Society.  They offered it free through Moda, and you can still find it here.  It’s a 54″ square quilt top you can make with just one jelly roll.  No background fabric required.  So if you haven’t seen this pattern, you might want to check it out.  This is what mine looked like before I added my borders:

I used a jelly roll with a large spectrum of color, which makes the rainbow effect more pronounced.  These fabrics were designed by Lotta Jansdotter, whose work is beautiful.  And thanks to my dear sister,  I have a border that matches the fabrics in the top.  I guess sometimes it serves us well to have a deep fabric stash!  (And many thanks to Kristen!)

I keep looking at that lovely orchid color, and thinking that it’s just so lovely.  And speaking of a stash, how do you manage yours?  Do you periodically go through it and get rid of what doesn’t still inspire you?  I start to do that, but often still see potential for fussy cutting, or English paper piecing, or color blending, or scraps.  So for better or worse, I tend to hang onto even older prints.  When it’s time to mix everything together, I like having those options.  Of course, the down side is storing scraps, and so forth.  So how do you approach it?

I digress.  Back to the jelly rainbow quilt top.  I like that such a simple pattern provides secondary designs for the eye to explore.  And I really like this color scheme – I think it will be perfect for our friend, even though it will come later than planned.

I’ve got several quilt tops now that need to be quilted!  Time to sew!