Clattering Noises

 Oh the beauty! It was stash busting time and I remembered a free pattern from my favorite quilt designer (quiltylove). If you sign up for the newsletter you get this simple, but super effective plus quilt pattern. It’s alternating blocks of colorful plus on neutral background and neutral plus on colorful fabric, arranged with gradual changing colors. The perfect pattern for mindful sewing. The blocks come together easily, but take some time. I absolutely enjoyed the sewing process and adore the result! The backing was a cute star fabric from project Linus. The final size was 42”x48”. Dontated to project Linus in August 2024.

I love quilting. I love rummaging through the fabric stash and planning simple quilts. But what I love the best is when something like this happens: some purple leftover unloved border fabric gets a new lease of life by finding some rainbow strips. A stash buster quilt makes me happy!  This one ended up as a tiny one, only 35”x37”. How cute is the backing. A 2$/m sale that I could not resist. Donated to project Linus in August 2024.

This one is a repeat of this quilt . I had enough of the several solid fabrics leftover to create another quilt. For the quilting, I stitched in the ditch, which was not super successful. The long zig zag on the previous version looked cleaner.  Final size 50”x50”, dontated to project Linus in August 2024.   

 My volunteering group received a request from the spinal unit at a hospital for some lap quilts for adults. Instead of our usual 40“x50“ children’s quilts, we could make some larger ones with some more grown up fabric. I made three of those star quilts, two in the larger size (this one and here ) and one in the baby size ( starry version ). The pattern felt easier on the larger sizes, as the block size increased (not the number of blocks).  I was really happy with the outcome, the greens and white background work well together. Final size 50”x60”. Donated to Project Linus in August 2024.

 One of my team members at work expected their second child, a little boy. The big sister is obsessed with The Wiggles and the father is obsessed with the band Tool. So I set out to design a two sided quilt for them. The baby was due on the 20 June or so. When I had finished the design and ordered the fabrics by end of May I felt super organised. Turns out little Archie came early (1 June), when work on the quilt had just started.  I am super proud of this one, it’s the first quilt that I have ever designed from scratch. It was received well by the new family.  Finished size 50” by 50”.

 At Project Linus we got a request from a local hospital to provide some adult lap quilts for the spinal unit. I had some not so kid friendly neutral fabrics in my stash and got a nice sky blue solid as contrast. I used the same pattern as for the starry night quilt, but upsized the pattern pieces to get a 50”x60” quilt. I am pretty happy with this one, the gradual ombré effect of the background fabric works well with the blue stars. Donated to project Linus in August 2024.

 It’s not often that I purchase a pattern, but this one intrigued me and I wanted to learn flying geese. The pattern is from the QuiltyLove blog and shop.  This first version was crib side (40”x50”), which made the flying geese pretty fiddly. I had a few black / dark fabrics that I wanted to use up as the backdrop to the bright yellow stars.  I am Semi-happy with this one. The background fabrics are too similar and the middle strip (black and white) looks like a mismatch. Anyway, it’s still a cute quilt for a kid that dreams of being an astronaut amongst the stars. Donated to project Linus, August 2024.

 Another rain and clouds quilt, after I made those four before. I used some pink, grey and white for the clouds, rainbow colours for the rain and a navy background. The back fabric was a funky „my little pony“ themed bright gem. Unlike the four earlier quilts, I did not follow any stitching lines for the quilting - I used regularly spaced 4” lines at an angle. I like this much better, it mirrors falling rain during a windy day. The quilt was finished with a navy border. Final size is 96cm by 115cm (38in by 45in).  This quilt was donated to Project Linus Queensland chapter.

 At the Project Linus March meeting I picked up a couple of appliqué motives to make a Linus quilt. Usually the kits include some squares to make up the blankie, but I went for an even more simple rainbow stripe pattern with some stash fabric. I really love how Ruthie turned up, the little monster snuggled up under the rainbow blankie. Donated to Project Linus during the May meeting. 

 I had a large piece of a white fabric with flowers and a few fat quarters in pink hues in my stash. I made another 9“ plus quilt form it. Those two recent ones had lighter fabric as background, I prefer the navy version with the smaller Plus. I used leftover pinks and purples for a scrappy binding. Finished size 100 cm by 113 cm (39” by 44”), it was donated to project Linus in March. 

 I love a stripey quilt and the layer cake pattern for some stash busting. For this quilt, I mashed those two ideas up and created 6” by 6” squares with a dark/light/dark or light/dark/light combination. The squares were then arranged in a horizontal/vertical check pattern (ie direct neighbours were the opposite and the diagonals the same kind).  This came together fairly quickly and I love the result. It looks busy in the picture, but in reality it is all right. The muted colour and solid strips give it enough calm. There are some cute animals to be searched and found.  Background is a hilarious pig in the mud print that I collected at project Linus. Finished size was 92cm by 121cm (36” by 48”). Will be donated to project Linus in March 2024.

 I made some plus quilts before and wanted to try 3” strips/squares instead of the 2”. Less cutting, less sewing, different impact. I got some fabric from the last Project Linus meeting and found a big chunk of solid baby blue. I looked for some pinks, yellows and blacks (for some contrast) and made up this little beauty. I am very happy with the result, although one or two more rows in length would not hurt. The background was also from Linus, it looked like from a very old stash with unusual measurements: 90cm by 2.5m. I added a grey strip to get it to width (just over 100cm).  Finished size 100 cm by 113 cm (39” by 44”), will be donated to project Linus in March. 

The snap up of a 3$ magazine yielded two quilts for far, see here and here . Whilst the star one was fun, it is a bit oversized. So I decided to make another gingham one! This time in two hues of blue. Check out that cute background. Sale clearance snap up!  This one will go to project Linus and hopefully it will bring  some joy to a bigger kid or teen. Finished measurements 93cm x 132cm (35.5” x  52“). 

  I picked up a 3$ craft magazine in Perth during the holidays (who could resist a magazine sale like that?). Turned out there was not much in there that I could or wanted to make - with the exception of two quilt patterns. After making this gingham quilt, I tried out the second pattern, a star quilt. I had a warm yellow solid fabric in my stash and und that as the main colour. All triangle panels were made with cute animal fabrics, also from my stash. The pattern is easy to follow and all panels  lined up easily. I loved how it all came together. This one will go to project Linus, even though it is too large (140 cm by 140cm — 55“ by 55”) for the hospital. Hopefully another charity will get it instead. 

 I picked up a 3$ craft magazine in Perth during the holidays (who could resist a magazine sale like that?). Turned out there was not much in there that I could or wanted to make - with the exception of two quilt patterns. This gingham pattern caught my eye. Usually I get a lot of joy out of using up my stash - but this pattern called for fabric in two hues. I found a fabric in a bright yellow and orange. A second version of a quilt made by the same pattern is here - to be honest, i think that one is more successful, given it has a stronger contrast between the light and dark blues.  Anyway, I am happy that I tried something new. And I ended up using some stash background fabric, which made me even happier! This one will go to project Linus and hopefully it will bring  some joy to a bigger kid or teen. Finished measurements 93cm x 132cm (35.5” x  52“).