And She's Off!

She's off the design wall, and she's off to the quilter! My Star Sampler is a flimsy! I don't know why I struggled with this one so much. I wanted it to be special to showcase all the great blocks from friends - something I'll enjoy displaying this summer for America's 250th birthday and for many years to come.  Regardless, too much over-thinking going on for sure.  

Better pictures soon. My planned blue border just didn't work (for me).  It felt too heavy or something so I stopped with the white border. I'm considering the blue star print for the binding to give it a nice frame. Anyway, she's a flimsy! Michelle randomly had an empty quilt frame on Thursday going into the weekend. So I dropped her off at the longarm spa, and she will come home all spiffed up and beautiful in a few days I'm sure.

May Shopgirl Stash Bee 

I'm the May queen bee for our Shopgirl Stash Bee so my blocks were done early.  I jumped on the potato chip block bandwagon and came up with this variation.  I need to dive back into Pinterest to find the block variation that inspired my plan. I'm sure I saved it somewhere so more on that later. 😐 If it comes together as planned, it will be a nice QOV for a family member.

String quilt flimsy

Speaking of QOVs, I also picked up my string quilt from Donna's longarm spa. I love the stars and ribbons she used.  

More (and better) pictures after it gets a binding and label. And Oh I have a plan for these. We have SEVEN (living) veterans in our immediate families. Gratitude starts at home, right? 

Sunday afternoon's bike ride didn't disappoint. Far fewer butterflies this time but plenty of bird watching along the way.  And the headwinds were much more tolerable. 😂 

My cute squirrel friend made himself at home under the cushions!

Yesterday was a long day cleaning the front and back porches.  Squirrel friend evicted, pollen eradicated. Today, I am feeling it all over but the back porch is open for business! Hoping to fill the flower pots this weekend.

May goals:

1. Bind and label Star Sampler (May OMG!)
2. Quilt Honey Bouquet
3. Orange RSC blocks
4. Bind and label the string quilt
5. Layout Carolina Chain blocks
6. Wrangle batting scraps

Piece...

Cheryl

🧵🪡

Linking up a day late 😣 with Judy's  Design Wall Mondays and with Anne-Marie's One Monthly Goal (OMG) for May.

Hold On. Let me Overthink this.

There hasn't been a whole lot of quilting going on over here for one reason or another, but I spent this past week at a retreat (yes, another retreat) with a group of friends. I might have procured a new t-shirt. It's perfect. 🐥

And, I'm happy to report progress on several projects!! First up, some pink 9 patch blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge project I "accidentally" started last month. 💗 My plan is to make as many each month as my 2 1/2" bin will support. I have plenty of pink in the box, so maybe I'll  get a few more in next week.

I made a few more Village Quilt houses in pink last week ,too.  I have eleven more cut but forgot the "door" pieces at home so maybe next week... This is one of my RSC projects from 2025.  After pink, I think I only have one or two more colors to add. 

 

Donna is the April Queen for our Shopgirl Stashbee and chose this Disappearing Pinwheel block for us. I believe the block tutorial was from Missouri Star.

Donna's sample block

She asked for gender neutral fabrics in a softer palette for a baby quilt. Here are my blocks. Geese and bunnies!

Next up, I made my last Carolina Chain blocks, another 2025 RSC project.  I chose gray for October instead of pastels since I'd already been using all shades/tones in each monthly color. When I finish the star sampler, I plan to start sewing these together!

Because I was still procrastinating (overthinking) the star sampler, I stitched up a Honey Bouquet top using a cute little bundle called Pawsomely Posh from Camelot. Get some sunglasses.  It's bright. 😎 But the pups and scooters are just too cute.  Some little girl somewhere will love this. I think sorting out the layout took longer than cutting and sewing the top. I'll definitely revisit this pattern.

Pawsomely Posh Honey Bouquet 

I finally settled down on Thursday, and worked out a plan for my star sampler.  I got all the sashing finished and blocks sewn into rows. I'll sew the rows together and add a border in the same blue fabric as the cornerstone stars next week (I hope.) And then maybe take some better pics. 

I made five more Streak of Lightning blocks for my Leader/Ender project using up a shoe box of 2 1/2" squares and strips. That box is like loaves and fishes, but the lid fits a little better now. :)

 

Next up? Back to the star sampler, some pink houses and my block samples for May stash bee. I'm about to be a queen!  

Piece...

 

Cheryl

🧵🪡

Linking to Angela's ScrapHappy Saturday 

No Scrap Club for you 😷

Monday was our monthly Scrap Club day at The Dancing Bobbin, and I missed it! So bummed. 😞  I've been ordered to rest until this lingering upper respiratory thingy moves out of our home. Ughhh.  On a positive note, I've wrangled some overdue paperwork and enjoyed a lot of blog posts and youtube tutorials. 💓

on my design wall...

I'm still pondering my star sampler layout which is kinda killing my sewjo, but I did manage a bit of sewing Wednesday while the warden was at work 🙊. Cyndi is the March Queen for our Shopgirl Stashbee and chose this block for us. I'm not sure of the pattern source, but it's really cute! We're using 2 1/2" squares for the 9 patches and 6 1/2" squares for the snowball blocks. 

Cyndi's inspiration pic

...and her sample blocks

I finished her two blocks...

...and then I accidentally made more red 9 patches.  

I was determined not to start any more scrap quilts in 2026 until there are some finishes over here. And I held out for a whole 2 1/2 months. Oops. 🙈 I mean, this is the perfect Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, and the color of the month is RED, and I already had these squares in my 2 1/2" scrap bin. So I didn't really have a choice, right?  These have now been stashed away in the RSC project box (Nothing to see here, folks 😂) and I'm back on track with the WIPs. 

Last fall, I dabbled with some EPP for the first time while on a weekend camping trip. I needed something to do while Mr. Enabler (hubs 😍) was out for his bike ride.

So I glue basted these two little cuties and very slowly stitched them together. And then I put them in a box out of sight as per usual. And another WIP was born. 😂 This is why I currently have a No New Projects rule.  Anyway, I pulled them back out this past week while scrolling Pinterest and re-watching tutorials on YouTube.  

The verdict? I'm really enjoying EPP as an evening project to keep my hands busy (instead of scrolling the phone) while relaxing with Mr. Enabler. I'm using 1 1/4" hexie papers and a box of 3" scraps. Did I mention I'm really slow? I don't have a design plan, but I probably don't need one yet.

Next up? Back to the star sampler, some gray Carolina Chain blocks and maybe another hexie or two.  

Piece...

 

Cheryl

🧵🪡

Linking to Angela's ScrapHappy Saturday 

And that's a wrap - February

Where did February go?  Well, there was that epic ice storm across the South, a Bucket List winter vacation, Gold medal olympic hockey watching (obsessing), a bike ride in the mountains during yesterday's spring-like weather, and as much sewing as I could squeeze in.  

I had a great time with my quilty peeps from The Dancing Bobbin last week at The Grand Oak Retreat center in Scottsboro, AL.  We've already booked a return visit for 2027!  The space was perfect for our gang. Great facility, yummy food and just so many belly laughs with friends. 

(I borrowed this shot from their website gallery) 🙊

Dancing Bobbin Friends minus one 💜

    

Swapping stars 💙

The star block swap was a big hit.  Can't wait to put them all together. We all have the same stars, but our samplers will vary drastically.  I mostly worked on WIPs from 2025 as I'm determined to focus on FINISHES this year. 

First up were fifteen little green houses for my Village quilt. I started these blocks last year for Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) at  SuperScrappy.  I added aqua and pale pink blocks later in the week (no photo again) so I think I only have neutrals left for this one.  

    

Next up, I worked on Carolina Chain blocks in various colors. It's from Bonnie Hunter's book Addicted to scraps, and I believe it is also available on her website. This is another RSC project I started in 2025. I think I only need about 30 more blocks for this one in light to medium grays.  

I started these two Riley Blake banner kits I collected last year.  I would have finished the bunny except who remembered to bring batting?  Ughhhh.

 

I've been steadily working on these Streak of Lightning blocks as a Leader/Ender project using up a shoe box of 2 1/2" strips. I spent some time cutting for future blocks to add variety. I literally stacked strips and cut a square and a rectangle from each.  Very easy units to make.  The challenge is keeping them going the right direction.  Ask me how I know.  The book More Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth is out of print now, but I found a used copy online.  

I'm going to attempt linking up with Angela at SuperScrappy a day late.  Take a peek at what other quilters are making for Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Looking forward to March and whatever adventures it brings.  

~ Cheryl

Weekend WIPs

I keep forgetting to take pictures as I sew 😐, but I'll get the hang of it eventually.  Last week and weekend went by in a blur, catching up on errands and sleeping off the jet lag.  No complaints. Vacation was great - happily exhausted over here.

I had a sew day with some of my quilt shop coworkers last Monday while the shop was closed.  I worked on some paper piecing (FPP) units for my swap stars and then finished off our time with some 10" string blocks.  Did I take pictures? Nope. Maybe next time. 

I'm leaving for a three day quilt retreat later this morning with my quilt shop peeps  We try to use at least a little bit of the time for some shop planning, but honestly it's just a great time doing what we love together. 

For 2026, the shopgirls decided on two challenges (so far 😂).  First, we are doing a patriotic star swap to commemorate America's 250th birthday this summer, and the blocks are due this week.  The challenge was to make any 12 1/2" star in any combination of red, white/low volume and blue. There are seven of us participating so I'll keep one each and take the others to swap. The goal is to complete a sampler prior to July 4th.  Fingers crossed.  I'm still undecided on how many total blocks to make and how I'll lay them out. One thing at a time. 

Knotted Star by Ten Cow Quilts

9-Patch Star (Tool Caddy) by Carol Doak

Our second challenge for 2026 is our Shopgirl Stashbee - we make two blocks each month for the queen bee.  Tracy is the February queen and chose this cute boombox pattern (18" finished) in brights. I literally pulled every scrap bin for these, but I think they're really cute. I'll drop these off at the shop on the way to retreat today, finished five whole days early! Yay me!!

 

The pattern is Press Play by Apples & Beavers.

I'm off to pack.  Looking forward to much sewing this week!

~ Cheryl