Wonderful Wednesday - Blue and Green for Parrish - A Spring 2026 (Ravelry) UFO Club Finish

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  I'm here to share my 1st UFO finish of the Spring 2026 UFO Club. This quilt has been on and off my list for more years than I care to admit.  TEN YEARS to be exact.

When the year began...

This quilt was one of 12 quilt projects in the running for finishing.  Maybe it would rise to the top of my UFO List and I might actually find the wherewithal to complete the quilt.

5.  Blue and Green for Parrish (2016)

It began The IDEA of this quilt began when I heard a heartwarming story about a boy whose birthday wish was to be able to sleep under a quilt I had made for his sibling.

My quilting friends came to the rescue.  Seed blocks arrived from Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts back in 2016, but the project never made it to the top of the UFO List until...

It became one of my retreat projects in 2023 and I cut the final pieces for it on the last night.  Here is the layout that I planned before heading off to bed:

The next morning...

I was the only quilter in the sewing room and managed to finish up the quilt top with time to spare:

Special thanks to Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts for the brightly colored "Starter Blocks" for this quilt!!

A number of years later...

I decided that it needed to be bigger.

So...

Once again it waited.

Then...

Enter the 2026 UFO Challenge that my local Bee is hosting.

The quilt went on the list, but the first time its number came up, I opted to work on another project.  (That is totally within the guidelines for our challenge.)  I had a reason, but will need to look back to find it.  Oh!  I wanted to work on something else last month.

And this month...

It finally got the attention it so richly deserved.  I selected fabric for cornerstones...

Made the choice between border options...

Then binding and backing fabrics were chosen:

Soon enough...

The quilt top was complete:

Next came the creation of a quilt back:

Special thanks to Britt for making time to quilt it for me on her machine:

I feel SEW lucky to have such a good friend!!

Since I wanted it done with a pattern that was outside my comfort zone, I asked Britt to quilt it for me.  We had a studio consultation prior to one of our ARTventure days and was returned a couple of weeks later.

With the quilting done, that only left the trimming and binding!!!

Here it is all squared up:

The binding was sewn on not long after:

And...

That binding was attached during this past Sunday's art time and was sewn down during Monday's Weekly Zoom Call with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color.

If you're in the Quilters Knitting group on Ravelry you may have already seen it, but...

It's DONE!!!  Here's the picture proof in my customary porch swing picture:

This is the same quilt on our living room sofa:

In case you'd like to see the back:

I'm SEW glad that this quilt has been completed.  It was moved up the list based on a sad story I heard when I was in Florida last month.  The quilt will soon be making its way to England to comfort its intended recipient.

I might not have completed this quilt without the UFO Challenge hosted by my Bee.  Thanks, Maggie, for suggesting we play the UFO Number Game and to Britt for taking the lead.  This is my 1st finish for the Spring 2026 session of the UFO Club on Ravelry.  It's my 4th finish of our Bee's UFO Challenge and I couldn't be happier.

Until next time...

Mark another UFO off the list!!

June 2023 - ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge - Link Party

Welcome to the June 2023 edition of the ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge here at the Joyful Quilter!!  Thanks for stopping by the Link Party to see what participants have made this month.  In my part of the world, Summer has finally arrived.  Have the warmer temperatures arrived in your neck of the woods?  With the heat of the season, I am (even more) inclined to stay inside and quilt. What about you?

I host this challenge in conjunction with Angela's (RSC) Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ So Scrappy.  It's been SEW much fun to offer the...

Button credit to Susan @ Desert Sky Quilts, updated by me.

Since basically ANY small quilted item qualifies for this challenge, I scrounge through my scrap basket to see what I can come up with.  

Each month I offer a prompt to help get your creative juices flowing.  While you are NOT required to use it in your project, the guiding word is revealed at the end of each month's LINK PARTY post.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the next month's focus.  It, along with the RSC Color of the Month (as soon as Angela releases it - around the 1st of the month) will also be added to the 2023 ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge page at the top of the blog.

June's letters were:

D and/or I

I'm enjoying stretching my creativity to come up with a design to include each letter, as well as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color of the Month.

June's color was Light GREEN and/or Light BLUE.  Plenty of that in my scrap basket(s)...

I was SEW excited about piecing that you only get a few process photos...

I sorted through the baskets shown above, but ended up digging in this BOJ:

Here's the little quilt top that I coerced out of the little Bag Of Joy:

I was having SEW much fun that I also pieced the backing:

Soon enough, the quilting was DONE and you know what time it was, don't you?  The next step was to finish the edges.  This may have been the very first time EVER (in my 30+ years of quilt making) that I've done single-fold binding:

SEW...

I'm pleased to present my completed ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge entry for June:

How does that fit this month's theme, Joyful???

It worked like this:

D + I = DI-ane!!!  The components for my entry were in a scrap bag from my friend Diane.  SEW... Yes, I cheated - SHE gave me the idea upon seeing this month's letter prompts!  :P

Thanks, Diane, and thanks again for sharing your lovely fabric scraps with me!  :o))

Or broken down into each letter...

D = Double Sided because the backing scrap I chose wasn't quite big enough.

I = I Finished My Entry with TWO Days to spare!! 

What's next, Joyful???

The month of July arrives tomorrow.  Angela already announced a new color for us:

RED

July's letters are:

A and/or G

NOTE:  What will YOU create???

And now...

It's time for YOU to link up your D and/or I projects in the LINK PARTY below.  All entries MUST be submitted by Wednesday, July 5th @ 11:59PM (EST).

Until next time...

USE those table scraps!!!

#ABCtableSCRAPSchallenge2023

#tablescrapschallenge2023

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ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC23 - Week 17

Welcome to Week 17 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week started with an ending.  The end of a Bucket List experience.  You'll find the link in Wednesday's entry, if you haven't already read the post.

SUNDAY - I realize this is freshly finished UFO quilt top is not PURPLE...

Look, Alycia... PLAID!!! Link takes you to Finished (Or Not) Friday.  :o))

Currently 39 x 47, so it still needs some additional work to stretch it out a bit.

But...

My purchase at Quiltville Inn was the Gypsy Sip n Snip.  I couldn't resist bringing one of the nifty cup holder/trash can (and clip holder) combos which adorned each workstation back for my own studio:

While I was away, the heavy machinery multiplied on the lot next door:

FIVE pieces of equipment can't dampen the excitement of getting to mark off a Bucket List item.

MONDAY - Work was followed by a trip to the grocery store

TUESDAY - Work was followed by my monthly Evening Quilt Bee meeting:

I nearly forgot to take a photo!!

WEDNESDAY - Wonderful Wednesday

I've been building a PURPLE quilt this month.  It's been a really fun RSC project:

Wonder of wonders, you could actually see the dent this has made in my PURPLE scrap basket.

It went from being bulging and overflowing to only half full!!!  I'd call that a success.

Zoom with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color

This afternoon's big adventure regarding the construction site next door???

Delivery of the largest wood chipper I've ever seen...

Along with...

The longest piece of machinery (presumably a log sizer/cutter) blocking our driveway:

THURSDAY - Work was followed by a quick stop at the grocery store and the pharmacy (because I couldn't POSSIBLY go just ONE time in a week!)  Sigh...

I did some sewing, but I'll share more about that next week

FRIDAY - ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge Link Party (It's open until Tuesday night, so there's still plenty of time for you to create an entry using the Y and/or N letter prompts or the color PURPLE!)

Today was my day off and I was excited to be able to attend Knit Group, but it was canceled this morning.  :o((

That gave me the opportunity to focus on one of my SHOULD DO items:

I worked on the layout for the next T-Quilt.

SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope you will join me in visiting Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week.  She hasn't posted the link yet, but I'll add it when she does.

My contribution to the party...

One scrappy PURPLE project was completed while on retreat last weekend.  I'm not sure whose Orphan Block this was, but it came out of a "Bag of Joy" from my friend Diane:

Update:  The blocks were the extras that my friend Diane shared from a top made in a class

 on Mile a Minute Quilts. She was happy to see it finished table topper.  It was a fun project to work on!

I quilted it (thanks to Stacy for serving as my Design Consultant!), trimmed it into a tumbler shape to preserve the quilting, and bound it with a fabric from my (gifted) stash of Autumnal prints.  This cute turtle fabric was on the back and the turtles are red-violet in color...

But I only have these scraps left, as I gave the remainder of the one-yard cut to Tiffany over the weekend once I cut off the amount needed for the backing.  (Not sure how I missed getting a photo!)

When Carol commented on the unusual shape of the little quilt on Tuesday and said how much she liked it, I promptly gifted it to her because I know how much she enjoys decorating for Halloween:

Here is the photo that Carol took of the backing fabric when I couldn't recall what I had used:

 

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

TidyUp Tuesday - Delivering Quilty Hugs

Welcome to another edition of Tidy-Up Tuesday!!  I'm here to share this past Saturday's quilt delivery.  If you visit regularly, you might have read about the making of The Emergency Quilt last week, but there is a bit more to tell.

Here is the rest of the story...

My friend lost her home to a house fire two weeks ago today.  When I heard the news, I was in shock.  The house was a total loss.  It was a lot to take in, even though I was far removed from the devastation.

I wanted to do something to help, but what???

It took a day or two before it sank in just what was needed.  That's when I knew without a doubt that this family needed quilts to comfort them during this time.

They needed QUILTS and they needed them FAST!!!

I had a plan for Mama's quilt.  She loves nature, trees, and digging in the dirt.  What better quilt than my (dirt-colored) Blooming 9-Patch:

This quilt was made as a Quilt Along with my Sew/Craft Friends-zy group.  Since it was going to be mine, I purchased a special circle design quilt backing at Pineapple Fabrics during one of their Warehouse Sales before finishing the top.  I quilted the quilt my longarm with a favorite design board to drive home the circles of the backing fabric. It was my final UFO finish of 2020 and it hasn't been used once since I completed it.  I guess it was just waiting for The Professor to need a quilt to comfort her:

On delivery day, she got her quilt first:

So touched by the gesture, she was on the verge of tears:

Next up, The Junior Quilter got her quilt from Miss Britt:

Britt's Tiny Nines quilt hadn't really found a home at her house since its completion, but The Junior Quilter has always LOVED fabric scraps and the blue of the backing fabric is one of her favorites.  The fact that the "String of Pearls" fabric of circles  "match" the back of Mama's new quilt is a bonus:

Then came the challenge of providing a quilt for a preteen boy...

Neither Britt nor I had anything appropriate in our stash of quilts ready for gifting.  She volunteered to help me make blocks for a quilt for him.  The reality of how long that might take and the realization that I might have another (even better) solution to the conundrum came to me when the shock of the situation wore off.

What's the plan, Joyful???

Right upstairs, there was a stack of Duke shirts waiting to be turned into a quilt.  Duke just happens to be his favorite team.  Nothing could be a more fitting quilt.

I still can't quite get over the fact that I made a T-shirt quilt in a few short long days!!!

Finally, the time had come for The Preteen to receive his quilt:

Little sister was happy for him:

Britt took these photos as we all smiled for the camera:

I captured these precious moments after presenting the quilts...

The Junior Quilter is already wrapping herself in her quilt and dragging it around the house:

Here she is burying her face in Mama's quilt:

Laying on her brother's quilt while asking for help straightening her own:

One extra hug for Miss Joy before the quilters went back to an afternoon of art-ing:

This whole quilt presentation thing wouldn't have happened without the support of this dear, sweet friend:

Thank you, Britt!!

Thank you for:

1. Jumping in to help me provide quilts for this family in their time of need.

2. Volunteering to make blocks when I thought that would be the best route to a preteen quilt.

3. Agreeing to quilt the T-quilt once the idea of making quilt blocks fell through.

4. Donating one of your favorite scrap quilts to the cause.

5. Being my quilty/arty BFF!!

Until next time...

Share the LOVE!!!

Design Floor Friday - The Emergency Quilt

Welcome to another edition of Design Floor Friday!!  It's been quite some time since I've added a post to this series.  Today, I'm back with a tale of a very special quilt.  It was a super speedy finish because I was a quilter on a mission!.  The quilt is something new, something old, and something unexpected, all wrapped up into one.  

Let me explain...

You see, my friend had a house fire last week.  It was a total loss.  I was devastated for their family.  When quilters face tragedy, we make a quilt!  That's just what I did when I discovered that I had nothing appropriate ready for gifting to a pre-teen boy.

I knew just what to do, though...

I gathered every Duke shirt in the house and planned a pleasing layout:

On Sunday...

He's a Duke fan and my family just happened to have YEARS worth of Duke T-shirts saved for a quilt.  During last week's Zoom call with Knittingsuek, I deconstructed the shirts:

On Monday...

I went upstairs before work to fire up the heat press:

With time remaining and all the shirts pressed, I cut them to size:

The next step had to wait until my work day was done...

It was then that I went back to the "design bed" for an updated layout, as the proportions were wrong on the 3 x 5 plan.  Going with 4 x 4 felt much better:

Back in the studio, I made the necessary adjustments to the smaller shirts...

And created a feature block for the recipient:

What time is it, Joyful???

Time to stitch the shirts into a quilt top.  First one half...

Followed by pairs of blocks for the second half...

But it was later in the evening than I typically sew, yet the quilt top was done.  Or was it?!  Here's where I left it on Monday night:

HINT:  Do NOT sew later than you should!!!

On Tuesday...

With quilt top (and seam ripper in hand), I headed to work, took out the offending seam that I decided I couldn't live with, and reassembled the quilt top when I got home:

SEW much better when the quilt turns out like the plan!!  The completed quilt top measures 64" square.

By Tuesday night, the quilt was loaded on the longarm and ready for quilting:

ETA...  Sending out a HUGE THANK YOU to Suzanne in Alaska for allowing me to use backing fabric provided for another project.  Please forgive me for neglecting to add this prior to releasing the post).  You saved my from having to take the extra time that it would have required to locate (or purchase) and piece the necessary yardage.  There was even enough leftover to use for binding!  :o))

On Wednesday...

Even though I was scheduled to work late, I left work at lunchtime to knock out what I refer to as semi-custom quilting on the quilt, with the hopes of finishing it before the arranged time for my weekly Zoom call with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:

Mission accomplished!!

Once our call was over, the quilt had a date with my rotary cutter so that it could be squared up:

After dinner, it was back up to the studio to apply the binding, but I found that I couldn't stop there!  I simply HAD to stitch the binding down, as well:

 After quilting, trimming and binding, the quilt measures 63" x 64" square-ish.

With that done, the quilt was washed, dried, and ready for gifting, but some better photos to share with you needed to wait until morning:

 After a its tumble through the washer and dryer, the quilt measures 61" x 62" square-ish.

And one final shot of the Emergency T-Quilt, casually tossed on the porch swing:

I'm surprised at how quickly this came together!  Never before have I completed such a large project SEW fast.  It was truly a labor of love and  I'm looking forward to delivering the quilt over the weekend.  Here's hoping he likes it!  I feel fairly confident that he will.

ETA...  Sending out a HUGE THANK YOU to Suzanne in Alaska for allowing me to use backing fabric provided for another project.  Please forgive me for neglecting to add this prior to releasing the post).  You saved my from having to take the extra time that it would have required to locate (or purchase) and piece the necessary yardage.  There was even enough leftover to use for binding!  :o))

Until next time...

Wrap someone in a QUILTY hug!!! 

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