Saturday - February 7, 2026

Progress on 3 Projects

Another very cold New England day, and it's snowing outside. A perfect day to stay inside to sew. And bake! Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are on the to-do list.

I sewed the first bird block in the Song Sparrow quilt. I've morphed this quilt so much that it is nowhere near the original design. I'm going to start calling it the Songbird quilt. It doesn't look it in the photo, but the background is a pale blue with a very pale floral. So now I have two birdhouse blocks and one bird block. The blocks finish at six inches.

A Dear Jane block also made it onto my sewing machine. This is the G-2 block. I chose this lovely lavender fabric from the Misty Meadows fat quarter bundle. This is another block that I printed from the Electric Quilt Dear Jane software program.

(Dear Jane sew along - Block G-2 "Mohawk Trail".)

I've been having fun piecing the crazy quilt blocks. I haven't begun embroidering them yet. I need to settle on which embroidery stitches to use. Not sure whether to limit it to a few select stitches, or if I should embroider stitches as the mood takes me. Also deciding if I want to stay within a family of embroidery thread colors, or just use whatever comes to hand.

(Two more crazy quilt blocks finished.)

If you enjoy fantasy with a twist of mystery that features a unique detective team, I recommend The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. I finished the book last night and enjoyed it so much that I'm diving into the next novel in the series.

Enjoy a beautiful day!

Dawn

 

Saturday - January 31, 2026

Blocks and Hats

I woke up this morning to -8 F. degrees. Way too cold. So I ate breakfast and headed to the sewing machine for happiness therapy. I'm almost done sewing another Dear Jane block with all of it in half square triangles.

I finished the "Shutter Bug" block for Dear Jane. I love the square-in-square block look. Paper piecing made sewing this block a cinch. The block will finish at six inches.

After I finish sewing the current Dear Jane block, I'll pull out another crazy quilt block to work on. I've raided my stash and found some more fabric with printed words. I'm having fun adding a word (or words) to each block.

(Dear Jane sew along - Block G-4 "Shutter Bug".)

The Spring Challenge quilt is basted and ready to machine quilt. I debated between straight line quilting and doing a meander free motion design. The meander is so far winning the decision. Next choice is binding. I could go with a blue fabric, but I'm going to review all the leftover binding strips that I've amassed. I may do a scrappy binding.

I've also been knitting. Another good cold weather activity. On the loom, I have a pretty periwinkle and light gray yarn I've been working into a hat. Currently I have a pile of knitted hats ready for donation.

(Some hats that I've loom knitted ... ready to donate.)

My bit of spring indoors is coming along. The lettuce is sprouting in my Vego Garden Mini Planter. My Christmas Cactus has decided to gift me with a second blooming. And I have a mystery plant with lovely small yellow flowers. It's a grocery store plant buy that someone at work purchased for an event about three years ago and put up for adoption afterward. The plant always delights me with cheerful yellow flowers several times a year.

Enjoy a fun, creative day!

Dawn

 

Saturday - January 24, 2026

Crazy Jane

It is 3-degrees F. outside, a partly sunny day with a winter storm moving in for tomorrow and Monday. A good weekend to stay indoors and sew.

I'm finishing another Dear Jane block. It is half-way sewn and waiting for me at the sewing machine. I'm loving the batik fabrics I'm using - Riley Blake "Misty Meadows". The white swirl fabric will appear in every block for continuity. I bought an entire bolt of it from JoAnn's Fabrics before they closed. The white fabric is not a batik, and it looks beautiful with the Misty Meadows colors. These photos are showing the bright white fabric in gray-blue tones; much prettier in person.

In the photo, the green block on the left is called C-1"Trooper Green's Badge". The blue block on the right is called D-6 "Challenge". I just noticed that I picked green fabric for "Trooper Green's Badge". Not planned LOL!

(My latest complete Dear Jane blocks - C-1 and D-6.)

I'm having fun with the crazy quilt blocks. The paper piecing technique is working very well with them. I'm going to begin hand embroidering the blocks. I'm deciding whether to do one embroidery stitch for the entire quilt, or if I'll mix embroidery stitches and techniques.

A friend has been teaching me to English paper piece (EPP), so I've been working on basting hexies together for sewing. Not sure what the project will be, but it's fun sitting and sewing together.

(Paper pieced crazy quilt quilt block in cotton fabrics.)

I added the border to my Spring Challenge quilt. This weekend I'll iron the backing fabric and baste the layers together for machine quilting. The deadline is in March, so I have plenty of time.

This past week, I started a new plant pot of lettuce. I'm also going to experiment with growing bush beans indoors. The sweet peppers did so well last year, I'll plant more of those indoors too. It's way too cold to be thinking of gardening outdoors...so I have my own bit of spring inside.

Hope you enjoy a wonderful day!

Dawn

 

Saturday - January 17, 2026

Spring Challenge

I changed direction for the spring quilt challenge. With so many projects in progress, I opted for a simpler pattern with a fun focal fabric. The focal fabric features cute bears in a garden setting. I chose fun fabric colors: a light blue with pale white hearts, a yellow floral tone-on-tone, and the border fabric is a small yellow floral.

This quilt also serves a double purpose. It's my entry for the Spring Challenge, and is also a donation quilt. I had enough of the bear focal fabric to cut another set of squares. I'll make another donation quilt with them, but with a different setting.

(In progress, my quilt for the Spring Challenge. Needs borders.)

The bear blocks are 6 1/2 inch squares. I sewed 2 1/2 inch wide strips of fabric into strip sets, and then cut the strip sets into 6 1/2 inch blocks. I alternated the bear blocks with the strip-set blocks.

I also started the Song Sparrow quilt. I added bird houses to the design. All the bird houses will be in various purple fabrics. This particular block came from Electric Quilt 8.

(Paper pieced bird house quilt block.)

If you are interested in sewing a quick simple shopping bag, Tiffany's Quilting Life posted a YouTube tutorial yesterday. She uses both a serger and a sewing machine, but the bag can be made with a regular sewing machine straight stitch. I like the wider bottom on this bag. And there is no pattern ... simply cut a rectangle of fabric. So easy.

Next for me is to sew the borders on the Spring Challenge quilt. I want to complete another birdhouse and a Dear Jane block, too. Keeping busy!

Have fun sewing!

Dawn

 

Saturday - January 10, 2026

Two Block Fun

Anyone else feel so energized that they signed up for way too many quilting events? I'm feeling over-committed, but at the same looking forward to sewing.

Projects on my list:

1. Dear Jane blocks. The good news is that I promised myself not to make all the blocks and to keep the quilt on the smaller side.

2. Crazy Quilt. I'm letting this quilt grow as large as it wants to be. I'm guessing lap size or a wall hanging. I plan to hand embroider the blocks.

3. Song Sparrow. I've stalled on this project and need to re-energize myself about it. There are lots of pieces in the bird block, so I'll begin with modifying the design and sew a bird house. When hesitating, switch up the plan and forge in a new direction.

4. Dog & Cat Applique. This is my AccuQuilt project. I'm excited to dive into this one since the AccuQuilt is a new quilting toy to experiment with.

5. Spring Challenge. I can't resist joining friends on quilting adventures. Lisa (The Awkward Quilter on YouTube) posed a challenge in her Discord group. Make a spring-themed quilt that measures at least 36". So far I've thought of three ideas and have discarded them all. I need a thought to stick. I've been wanting to make a sheep quilt...so I'm pondering a fourth idea.)

(First crazy quilt block pieced; ready to embroider.)

I also sewed another Dear Jane block. My plan is to include a bit of the white of fabric in each block. The paper piecing is working great.

(Dear Jane sew along - Block A-8 "Florence Nightingale".)

I discovered another fun quilting channel on YouTube. It has the unusual name of Rope and Anchor Trading Co. Tracy is a quilt pattern designer, and she has her sewing studio on a narrowboat, appropriately called "The Little Boat". She sews from the Grand Union canal in England.

Wishing you a terrific day!

Dawn

 

Saturday - January 3, 2026

A Finish and A Beginning

The sore fingers from hand sewing are worth it! I finished the 2024 Temperature Quilt. I machine quilted the houses with straight stitching. I used a zigzag stitch in the narrow brown "sidewalk" beneath each house. I hand stitched the dark green binding. I also added a fabric key to the back of the quilt, so people would know which fabric equals what temperature. (One house represents the average temperature for that week. There are 52 houses and 4 trees. Each tree is placed to break up the seasons.)

(2024 Temperature Quilt - 52 weeks.)

And to christen the new year, I began assembling the blocks for the Dear Jane sew along. Lisa (The Awkward Quilter on YouTube and Discord) is spear-heading the event. Our group is sewing the blocks in no particular order, sewing at our own pace, posting photos of our quilt blocks as we go.

I used the Electric Quilt (EQ8) add on for the Dear Jane blocks. The blocks are well presented in this software, with lots of choices for resizing and printing the patterns. I opted to print 6-inch blocks with the foundation paper piecing option. So far, I've sewn one block, and plan to sew more today. My plan is to sew some but not all of the blocks for a smaller quilt.

(Dear Jane sew along - Block A-6 "Uncle Homer".)

The Song Sparrow quilt along begins on Monday (Fat Quarter Shop has the Song Sparrow pattern and fabrics). Lori from Quilting in the Country on YouTube is hosting the sew along. Deb S the Pug Mama Quilter came up with the idea, and Lori volunteered to host the sew along on her YouTube channel. This is going to be fun!

If you are interested, Deb just began hosting a sew along for the Winter Kisses quilt. I opted not to participate in this event since I'm doing a few others. The quilt is lovely.

Enjoy a cozy day crafting!

Dawn

 

Saturday - December 27, 2025

Finished - Whew!

I'm not sure why I thought this UFO from 2017 was my nemesis. Once I started working on it again...adding a border, basting layers, quilting, binding...it went pretty quickly. And TaDa! Here is the finished quilt.

(Finished the batik half square triangle UFO quilt.)

And finishing the UFO quilt also means that my 2025 bingo card is complete! If you want a copy of the original bingo card, click this link for a pdf file. Perhaps you'd like to challenge yourself (or friends) in 2026.

So to recap the year ....

Paper Piecing - Garden/nature quilt, house & gnome blocks
Striped Fabric - Halloween quilt
Applique - Gnome blocks, Halloween & Snugly Sweaters quilts
Try a New Technique - Applique application & quilt binding
Hand Sewing - Embroidery & hand sewn quilt bindings and labels
Orphan Block - Included in garden/nature quilt
Jelly Roll Project - Table Runner & Baby Quilts
Make Mug Rug - Several mug rug sets
Animal Fabric - Halloween, Garden & Snugly Sweaters quilts
Free Motion Quilting - Lots using Jazz II & Bernina sewing machines
Geometric Print - Fabric used in various quilt blocks/projects
Make Gift - Coaster Sets, Table Runners, Baby Quilts, Tote Bags
Your Choice - Sewed a new iPad Holder & fabric bowls
Add Words - Fabric used in Table Runner
Make Bag - Four tote bags & cat fabric handbag
Finish UFO - Batik UFO from 2017 done
Share Tip/Technique - Yes, in person and through social media
Holiday Fabric - Halloween and Snugly Sweaters quilts
Sew Quilt Kit - Snugly Sweaters quilt (included template & fabric)
Organize One Area - Several sewing areas reorganized
Join Quilt Along - Finished nature QA & joined Dear Jane quilt along
Use New Sewing Tool - New scissors, sewing needles, binding tool
Scrap Quilt - Halloween quilt (used lots of scraps!)
Donate - Baby Quilts, quilt blocks for group projects (and knitted hats)
Purple Fabric - Added to several quilt blocks and projects

I'm also quilting my 2024 temperature quilt. With luck, I'll finish quilting it by the end of 2025 and start hand sewing the binding on the quilt.

Hope you've enjoyed a creative, happy year!

Dawn

 

Sunday - November 23, 2025

A New Book

A bit of shameless self-promotion here. So excited to announce my newest book .... Crafty Word Search. I've wanted to create a puzzle book forever, probably because I enjoy them so much! There are 112 word search puzzles. Hand-curated word lists created by a fellow crafter who enjoys everything from knitting, sewing and macrame to embroidery, quilting and more. Makes a great gift!

Thank you for letting me brag a bit. I've been working on this book for a while, and it feels great to talk about it.

Time to sew more binding to the baby quilt. With luck, I'll finish this project today and return to work on the batik quilt. So many entertaining projects.

Have fun!

Dawn

Looking for more blog posts? Visit my archive. Here is a link to all of last year's entries.