Nurse Nancy {Finished Project}

“Let us never consider ourselves finished, nurses.  We must be learning all our lives.” ~Florence Nightingale 

The new school year has begun and I was excited to be able to hang a little piece of “home” in my school clinic.  

This block means a lot to me. 

COVID hit in Spring 2020, my first year at my new district at a public school..  I was already feeling pretty overwhelmed and having a worldwide pandemic was daunting as a healthcare worker.  It was perfectly fitting that I was able to pattern test Nurse Nancy for Easy Patchwork.

Little did I know at the time, that the next 3 years would be filled with COVID and very little quilting.  Even this new school year, I am still giving guidance to parents and reporting to the State Department of Health. 

This summer, I finally “found” my studio again and decided I would finally finish the block. I had played around with ideas of wall hangings or making more blocks along the health lines.  But after much thought, I felt the block needed to be by itself as a memory for me.  

I found a frame just bigger than the block.  

Added more background so I could stitch some crosshatch diamond quilting.

I found some cute hexagon cork board to surround her!  I love EPP and it is a lovely nod to that. I hope to have some cute updates as I decorate for each new month. Paper bats in October and butterflies in spring pinned to them?

Even if the kids don't care, it already is something that makes me smile when I walk in and out.  And reminds me that I WILL find balance as soon as the beginning of the year demands and deadlines die down.

Sew Plus and Sew Stamps {Sew Scrappy Spools Quilt Along}

"School bells are ringing loud and clear: vacation's over, school is here." 

-Winifred C. Marshal

I am back at work and the first day is around the corner. I did squeeze in this month's blocks before heading into my clinic this past Monday.

For the details of the quilt along, including pattern, supplies, and dates, see my earlier post announcement HERE.

This Month’s Blocks 

Sew Plus Blocks

I love the play of the two colors with the pop in the center on this block. 

And I can still not get over how much I love this Bee Plaid Fabric line!

Sew Stamp Blocks

I was very worried about how tiny these little blocks were.

But I had so much fun cutting two squares from each fabric in my two bundles. I tossed the in four piles randomly and then just laid them out randomly.

I will admit, I am posting this one day late. I am embarrassed to say that I had the blogpost ready to go, but completely forgot to actually post them. I pray I can find the balance as I return to work again.

 Stay tuned for next month’s block on Thursday, September 14th!

Previous Blocks:
Month One: Sew Four Patch & Sew Cabin Blocks

Month Two: Sew Checkers & Sew Dash Blocks

Month Three: Sew Flag Blocks

Month Four: Sew Flower & Sew Geese Blocks

Month Five: Sew Heart Blocks

Month Six: Sew Patchwork Blocks

Month Seven: Sew Pinwheel Blocks

Meet the other Quilters

• Heather Valentine, The Sewing Loft, (@thesewingloft)
• Jeresther Page, (@Sew_Sweet_SeeBee)
• Jessica Dayon, Skein and Hook, (@jessicadayon)
• Kimberly Bennefield, NW Pepper, (@nwpepper)
• Monica Walser, (@monica.walser)
• Rika King, House of Stitch & Stash, (@houseofstitchandstash)

Keep up with us by following @fatquartershop on Instagram to see and share work from your fellow quilters. Don’t forget to use #SewScrappySpoolsQAL to share your progress on social media on the second Thursday of each month, so we don’t miss seeing your scrappy quilts!

You can find Lori Holt on her blog, YouTube Channel, and Instagram (@beelori1).

Liberty London {Fabric}

I can honestly say after returning from our travels that I left my heart in London...

While sitting on the Tube headed to lunch our first sightseeing day, I sent a pinned place on Regent Street.

My husband knew that it was serious if I sent him a link so we walked from the restaurant to Liberty London. 

I was prepared for the boys and hubby to be groaning, but when they saw the interior, they were definitely willing to wander.

The best part is that they found the Haberdashery section because they knew that I had plenty of yardage already at home. Especially considering that I had two quilts loaded up right under my favorite Liberty Color Wheel before we even left! 

We spent a fair amount of time deciding which bundle from the choices.

I had a cute apple pincushion in aqua blues chosen until we spotted this beauty. I mean, honestly, how could I resist a coronation pincushion in Liberty Fabrics when King Charles III was just crowned just a few months ago.

When I got to the checkout counter, the gal that helped me out giggled when she saw my goodies. "You went a bit MAD for liberty fabrics, didn't you!". My husband immediately let her know that I definitely didn't need them. We had a thin tote bag I take along in case in my purse or totes when I think I might become a pack mule which we call a "Sad bag"   My boys added the Liberty shopping bag to the pile saying, "here mom. You need a happy bag instead". 

Of course, both bags became filled up as we continued our adventures along Picadilly....Next time I go, I will fill up my happy bag for some happy yardage!!

Luggage Tags {Fabric Project}

"Always say yes to new adventures."

This summer we decided to go overseas to London...

and Paris!!

Before we left, I realized both my son and I did not have good luggage tags and I wanted to make sure we didn't lose them when we were on the planes and the Eurostar between London and Paris.

There are a TON of tutorials out on the internet, but I ended up making them like a scrapbook luggage tag I had in my stash. 

I used interfuse between two cotton scraps, made some binding and added it to the top of vinyl for the pouch, and then machine stitched the binding all around.

Leftover binding was used to make the ties and threaded through the grommet holes I punched. 

Perfect? No. Did they work? Yes!!!

And we both loved how they complemented our carry on luggage and gave them a little personality!

Keep calm and travel on!

Sew Pinwheel {Sew Scrappy Spools Quilt Along}

 "If I had my way, I’d remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead." - Roald Dahl

For the details of the quilt along, including pattern, supplies, and dates, see my earlier post announcement HERE.

This Month’s Blocks 

Sew Pinwheel Blocks

These blocks evoke childhood memories of me and my cousin running around with a pinwheels outside to make them spin. 

I just love the vibrant colors of these Bee Plaid fabrics together. They say SUMMER to me!

I’ll just be over here continuing to enjoy my summer break!

 Stay tuned for next month’s block on Thursday, August 10th!

Previous Blocks:
Month One: Sew Four Patch & Sew Cabin Blocks

Month Two: Sew Checkers & Sew Dash Blocks

Month Three: Sew Flag Blocks

Month Four: Sew Flower & Sew Geese Blocks

Month Five: Sew Heart Blocks

Month Six: Sew Patchwork Blocks

Meet the other Quilters

• Heather Valentine, The Sewing Loft, (@thesewingloft)
• Jeresther Page, (@Sew_Sweet_SeeBee)
• Jessica Dayon, Skein and Hook, (@jessicadayon)
• Kimberly Bennefield, NW Pepper, (@nwpepper)
• Monica Walser, (@monica.walser)
• Rika King, House of Stitch & Stash, (@houseofstitchandstash)

Keep up with us by following @fatquartershop on Instagram to see and share work from your fellow quilters. Don’t forget to use #SewScrappySpoolsQAL to share your progress on social media on the second Thursday of each month, so we don’t miss seeing your scrappy quilts!

You can find Lori Holt on her blog, YouTube Channel, and Instagram (@beelori1).

Blue Star and Cross {Quilted Throw Pillow Cover}

 I love making seasonal linen covers for my family room. The give a big pop of color in my family room.

I actually had made the Navy ones for my son’s graduation and the Red Star pillows for Christmas.

I already had Blue Rolling Stone block pillows for spring and they worked with his college colors.

And yes, I am completely aware that I’m always a little extra when it comes to party decorations in the past like the 80th bday party we threw earlier this year. 

I decided to duplicate the Star and Cross block from the Patchwork QAL I did along time ago.

I didn’t realize that it was a very similar to block to the red ones I did! 

I usually use a natural linen with the color when I’m making pillows, but this time I decided to use the Navy Essex linen with a Light Blue Essex Linen background.

The backing is a fun Navy stripe and tiny stitched crosses called Land of the Brave. 

A solid Navy for the binding. 

Overall, I’m happy that a party pillow ended up working for this time of the year!

Scrapalooza {Scrapbusting Quilted Projects}

I had a ton of extra scraps in a bin I was saving up for the holidays. 

SCRAPPY TRIP ALONG PILLOW

I had a bunch of leftover pieced strips from a piano key border I made a long time ago called Imagination for a charity bee. I didn’t even mean to, but I started sewing it into a tube and making strips. I realized quickly it was becoming a Scrappy Trip Along block.

Leftover navy strip home dec fabric made a great backing with zipper from one of my boys’ room redecorating.

The pillow turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

TRIVETS

I had some leftover EPP finished shapes from the Summer Star Pillows and leftover triangles from some large bean bag cushions I made. I thought they would make some good trivets.

Backings were fun gingham and solid. I love the hexie shapes for my trivets.

Potholders

I still had some leftover EPP shapes and pieced strips from the piano bar border, so I had to make some potholders.

I even had some more strips for the back of one.

The one thing I did differently is make straight openings instead of curved like the one on the right before because I wanted to skip the bias binding. The straight works, but I like how the curved opening stays snug on my hand. 

All in all, I am just happy to bust some long-standing leftover scraps!