Reading Blue Devils Beach Ball Quilt

My daughter lives in Reading, and their school colors are blue and white. She has a neighbor who just had a little boy, so I thought it would be nice to give him a quilt in his future school colors. 

The blocks are 6 and 1/2" squares with 2 and 1/2" square corners. Made the scrap blocks last summer, so this was easy to put together. 

And yes, the quilt is clipped to a chicken wire fence around a tree. The trees are feral in my neighborhood. Don't want this one getting out and attacking anyone! (Actually, deer tend to nibble on the nice tender bark.)

Ocean Waves in Blue and Plum

  

Yes, I did one like this last year, but it is a good size, and I like the pattern. 

Still trying to use up a quantity of electric blue, and the fantastic backing is from "Edna's Stash". The purple was some of hers as well, that must have been from a border, so it was perfect. 

It's 34"x 56", just perfect to keep on the back of the sofa, which I'm pretty sure is a legal requirement in the state of Ohio. Of course, to be absolutely correct, it should be a crocheted ripple afghan on the back of the sofa, or perhaps a granny square one! 

Bright Colors

 Someone gave my the flowered fabric, and I was pleased that I was able to find matching green, orange and turquoise in my stash. The back is bright orange, not a color I usually use. Just wish I could get a better picture to show how pretty the colors are. 

 

The REAL opening of Quilt Season 2025!

Back in March, I cut out about ten crib quilts and put them in boxes (WITH directions!), so in the week we've been off school, I've sewn four quilt tops!

     

This summer, I will be trying to balance my sewing with keeping up with books reviews, and also "tutoring" my three month old grandson. My goal is to get ten baby quilts FINISHED, so we'll see how that goes. I also have five tops that I put together over spring break, so it could happen. I give away almost all of my quilts at this point. 

The most EXCITING thing (not grandson related) of the summer was the thrift find that my older daughter brought to me this morning. We are both big thrifters, and like to just browse at the stores. For the last five years, I've been trying to thrift more fabric than I buy new, which was a good plan, considering the recent, tragic loss of Joann Fabrics. So when I saw this pile of fabric that my daughter got for $10, I was thrilled.

There's easily $500 worth of fabric here, almost entirely quilting cotton. A LOT of black and white, but some fun pieces as well. 

I've decided that this was Edna's collection. (I like to make up stories about my thrift purchases, including this one about a Fair Isle sweater I bought.) Edna's been quilting for a long time, because I recognized a Colonial blue flower and butterfly print that my mother and I used in 1981 to make favors for my cousin's wedding. Edna REALLY had a thing for cows, and made a lot of quilts for her grandchildren that included fabric of things that interested them; Minions, Disney princesses, SpongeBob, and Snoopy. 

Edna was a master at using even the smallest pieces of fabric; two crib quilt tops were included in the haul.

In her later years, Edna's ironing wasn't quite what it could have been, but you cannot fault her thrift at using every last scrap, or her fondness for some Judie Rothermel prints. 

While I have plenty of fabric, my daughter and I agreed: it would have been foolish to leave such a find on the shelf. My reaction would have been much like hers. She said she squealed, embraced the clear plastic bag, and practically ran with it to the cash register. 

Considering that my design process is driven by chance finds, I have a LOT of projects that will come out of this epic find!

Teddy Bear

 

This is the quilt I did for my grandson, who was born in February. My friend hand quilted it and did the machine embroidery. The piece of fabric in the middle of the bear's forehead, right above his nose, was from a vest I made my mother in 1981. There are also pieces of kitchen curtains from when my daughter was young. The brown border fabric was the last piece I ever will buy from Joann's. 

Pattern inspired by this, but I messed up the face a bit:

https://quiltinggail.com/2022/04/14/teddy-bear-class-1/

Ohio Star Wars quilt

I don't have a picture of this quilted, but a friend used Star Wars cookie cutters to put Yoda, Darth Vader, etc., in the white sashing blocks. Made this for a special former student who loves Star Wars. I think he liked it. I was happy with the colors. 

Used this pattern by https://conniekresin.com/river-espresso/.

 

Opening Day of Quilt Season 2025

 It's spring break, so a great time to quilt. I've been cutting out crib quilt tops and putting them WITH COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS in shoeboxes, since it might be hard to get to my fabric stash over the summer, while my daughter and her three cats are staying with me. 

Love this streak of lightning quilt, and it was great for using up the oddly large amount of small pieces of electric blue fabric that I had. The only light fabric that went well was a geometric print from 2005, but since it's going to a good friend's daughter for her baby, I don't mind as much. The state outline backing has been hanging out in my stash since 2012, and there was JUST enough. 

Have to admit that I've been struggling with the closing of Joann's. I don't buy a lot of new fabric; for sustainability sake, I've been buying fabric at the thrift store, which also is good for my design process of using what I have. Still, it's hard knowing that if I need a couple of yards of white fabric, I'll have to... go to a fancy quilt shop and pay big bucks? Get something less than desirable at WalMart? Or worst of all, order something online? Luckily, I am good on thread since several friends have cleared out relatives' stashes.