Hopeful Homemaker

This is a quilt I hope my children hang on to.  I have a few of those, I guess, but I hope this one is an obvious keeper for them someday.  Why?  Because the quilt became a journal of sorts during the 2020 pandemic. I included bits and pieces of all of us in it.  Color and design guarantee a happy, fun quilt.  But it’s my hand stitching of all those words that makes this 20 in 20 Quilt Journal a piece of family history.

Though the colors and arrangement of blocks appear random, each half rectangle block represents one calendar day in 2020.  You can read all about what each color means in this post .

But what I love and treasure now, was never part of the plan.  Following the urge to pencil in a small memory here and there became the best element in the quilt.  Reading those little reminders is really great.  Already I see things I’d forgotten.  What a year!  Loved ones gone, jobs lost and found, injuries, surgeries, answered prayers and family time.  We managed a trip to the beach that included a stingray.  That was a first!  It was also a last.  So many memories.  Highs and lows.  All of it worth remembering.  I love the way this quilt invites me to pause and remember.

I chose a simple circular E2E quilting pattern to soften the points of the blocks.  Look at the backing!  I paired two favorite fabrics from different designers and they look great together.

Drumroll, please.  I made a quilt label!  I rarely manage to do it, so this one deserves celebration.  This one serves two purposes:  the last 2 days of the year are represented here, and it’s also a label.  I added the list of what each color means plus my name, location, and year.

Looking at this 20 in 20 Quilt Journal reminds me how personal quilting is.  It reminds me that this type of project is most fulfilling to me.  I guess I’d better get moving on another “sew your story” type of quilt, because they really fill me up.

This quilt is a big one!  It’s my City Sampler Quilt , quilted and bound and making me smile.  It’s made of 100 different blocks, all of them different.  And although it sounds like a lot, it never felt like too much, because I did it as part of a sew-along.

I chose to make all my blocks in blue fabrics.  Seriously, give me all the blues!  A rainbow of them.  I love blue so much, and always have.  So it felt right to make an entire quilt of blue blocks.

I went through all my fabrics, all my scraps, and used as many different pieces as I could.  It was incredibly fun to put pieces together until I found combinations I loved for each block design.  And Tula Pink did an amazing job of making an incredible pattern.  I would definitely make this again.

It didn’t take long for me to include aqua and a few greens in my color scheme.  I particularly enjoyed making the butterfly block below, mimicking the little triangles in the print in the checkered border around it.  In fact, this quilt was an early part of personal storytelling in fabric for me.

I found myself putting together fabrics and colors that reflected my day, my experiences, my feelings.  The tiger block below still makes me laugh.  You see these hungry tigers, not looking particularly happy, with bow ties on the right and a knife and fork on the left.  This block was my representation of my then 16 year old son when he came home from football practice, looking for food to eat.  I love it!  Now he’s a responsible, handsome adult, I’m even happier I have this block to remind me of that stage.

When I first saw the striped sashing fabric, I was in love.  Seriously, it’s the greatest print (made by Andover) so I immediately chose it for sashing.  The trick was to keep the stripe running consistently across the quilt from left to right.  This involved hours and special cutting, but I accomplished my goal.  It feels like the running dialogue of life weaving through the quilt, making it a perfect sashing.

The wavy/swirly quilting is a great compliment to the quilt blocks.  My final layout was simply a random placement of blocks that I didn’t overthink.

I found a gorgeous Japanese bird print for the back, and used a Lizzy House blue to bind it.  The City Sampler Quilt is a favorite of mine, large and happy and FULL of colors/fabrics I love.  Really, there are SO many treasures in this one!

Sometimes I feel like I’ll never catch up on all the things I’m inching forward in my life.  These blocks were made in 2016, and sharing the quilt with you today reminds me that the joy of finishing is a great feeling anytime.  So I’ll go get to work on another!  

I hope your October is off to a great start.  I love the crisp air, blue sky, and feeling like so much is happening!  Happy sewing!

-Jennifer

Hey there!  I’m here today with some blocks from a project I haven’t talked about since 2017.  Oops!  I have more long-term projects, especially hand sewing projects, than I probably should.  But if they keep moving forward, that’s ok, right?  I’m here today with my second ever update on Ice Cream Soda blocks.  This one includes 14 blocks.

English Paper Piecing could become a real passion of mine, if I let it.  Fussy cutting is fun!  Putting together all these shapes in symmetrical designs teaches me more about fabric, design, and color.  It’s a great way to showcase special prints.

Most of these blocks include some fussy cutting.  It showcases motifs, like the strawberries above, or creates movement and symmetry.  The bottom two blocks above are both examples of that.  And in some cases, it just makes for fun little images in the blocks like the mice in the top right photo below.

I also included bits of fabrics I like, just to include them in this quilt.  If you haven’t seen this pattern before, the Ice Cream Soda quilt is designed by Jodi at Tales of Cloth .  She’s an Australian quilter and I ordered the paper pieces from her.  They’re made from recycled paper and are, admittedly, a lot thinner than the pieces I get from Paper Pieces.  I am hoping they’re sturdy enough for a second make.  We’ll see!  She also designed the Mandolin Quilt, which I just finished and am SO excited to show you.

I have a few favorites in this group. Those tiny crowns remind me of Queen Elizabeth.  (Side note:  does anyone else want to make a quilt that honors her?  I’ve got plans there!)  And the storks are a precious print I’ve saved for years.

The center star in this block has my heart.  It’s not an amazing print on its own, but repeated like this makes the coolest flower.  Also, that blue remains a favorite of mine.

I have 24 ice cream soda blocks finished now, and I think I need 68.  So I’m roughly 1/3 of the way there, and these are fun to stitch.  Like I’ve said before, my obstacle is always prepping the pieces, and I don’t have any more ready.  I do, however, have a big stack of fabric I’d like to fussy-cut!  Hopefully I can prep some soon.  But right now, at least I’m stitching a few pieces every day on my Homage quilt.  I’m sure I’ll finish eventually!

Happy sewing!