The precut this month is Charm Squares. I don’t use them unless it comes up in the challenge but I do seem to collect a few here and there. These are the quilts I’ve done the last couple times they’ve been pulled out of the hat and I’ve liked how they all turned out.

The squares I decided to use this time had prints I didn’t want to cut and after looking around for ideas, I ended up combining several ideas into this … as you can see it’s not assembled yet but I did sew all the blocks today. I had to think a bit because half the blocks were directional and couldn’t be rotated but I think they’re all turned the right way. It looks a bit jumbled right now but I think I’m going to like it.

I did happen to have some of this print from the same line in stash and always intended to use it with the charm packs so it will be the outer border.

I know I won’t get it right all the time but this is the second pieced project in a row that isn’t turning out like I want. I knew the shade of blue wasn’t right … I like gray/blues for my veteran quilts but I ordered these and decided to use them anyway. Then, what I thought was a 2 inch finished HST die, turned out to be a 2.5 inch finished HST. Not a big deal since I had Thangles here which is how I usually make my 2 inch finished HSTs but after cutting a while, I realized I should have just gone with the 2.5 inch HSTs and cut the strips for my Rail Fence block 3 inches. UGH!

I don’t abandon projects that aren’t working out like I planned … I know that just because I don’t love a particular quilt doesn’t mean that someone else won’t … in fact Chris was begging for the square in a square top I just finished (he won’t get it, he’s got plenty of quilts and that one’s for donation) but he really liked it.

So, I’m going to finish these blocks and assemble the top but I am going to downsize it some by making fewer rows. I’m aiming for about 48 x 66 but it’s possible I might go 54 x 72. I’ll wait and see how it goes.

I will make this one again because I like the combination of stars and the rail fence blocks and I think I’ll even use the 2.5 inch finished HST die when I do make it! I do have brief instructions on my website at this link.

I’m not sure I’m loving this right now but I often have doubts at this point in a project. It’s busier than I’d like but I’m going ahead with it. I’m using a couple Jelly Rolls for it from BluPrint.

A while back, I’d bought a Jelly Roll kit and made a smaller quilt that used just one Jelly Roll and I always intended to make a larger RWB quilt using a Framed 16 patch block. I made a few notes at the time.

I haven’t gotten very far yet … and the blocks that are up on the wall will be moved around as I get more up there.

I’m sewing along with HeartStrings today. The WI/MN group is meeting to share progress and exchange projects in different stages and the theme for this meeting is guy quilts so I grabbed a “kit” I’d put together a while back and started cutting and making blocks. You’ve seen me make this one before – it’s the Five Yard quilt that I made for Caleb and I also used it with some other stash fabric. For those two quilts I made extra blocks and didn’t put borders on but I’m thinking I’ll do the borders this time.

Isn’t this a cute little puppy print? I’ve got enough of these fabrics left to make a Quick Strippie too. And since this is a project I’d kitted up a while back, I’m counting it toward my July precut challenge!

The pattern came free with my dinosaur bundle that I used for Caleb’s quilt but I searched online and did find the pattern posted.

Stephanie pulled kits for our July Precut Challenge. It can be a kit you bought or one you put together yourself …. we all have those don’t we? That group of fabric that you pulled intending to make a particular quilt. Maybe you even cut it out already.

After a lot of waffling, I decided to do a Craftsy kit called Stop and Go. Blocks are big so it’s going to go quickly. And since I don’t like using solid black because it picks up and shows so much lint, I substituted another black fabric from my stash.

I’ve been searching for my mail and packages for a couple weeks … I’ve forwarded my mail from Tampa but it had been misplaced by the post office here. I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to get it resolved and was able to pick it all up at the post office today. A small package from Sarah was in the batch that got forwarded, along with a nice note thinking me for my participation in the Hands2Help project this year.

I’ve been promising Adam a T-shirt quilt for years and had finally made a start on the design and layout about a year and a half ago when he brought me 5 additional shirts that he wanted in the quilt … back to the drawing board I went but the project kept being pushed down the to do list. I decided I HAD to get it made this year.

I laid the shirts out on the floor – some of them have been shifted around since I took the photo. There are 21 shirts and some have larger motifs than others so I need a setting that allows different size shirts.

I used my TouchDraw App to help calculate the width and length to cut the shirts. I’m building one row at a time and you can see the “sashing” doesn’t line up. That’s intentional.

The mess on the floor is slowing becoming a neat stack of different size blocks backed with a fusible, non-woven, lightweight interfacing.

I’ll be working on this one for a while!

Since I couldn’t find the one panel I know I have somewhere in the sewing room when I was packing for GA … I’m going with “large” print for June’s precut. Stephanie always allows us lots of options for the precut challenge and you can even chose to skip a month or substitute another precut but in this case … I had two fabrics set aside to make a pillowcase for Rae and Bree. I had to review the instructions on my website since it’s been so long since I’ve made any pillowcases but both are finished!

If you’re playing along – here is Stephanie’s exact wording for June:

Our June Precut Target is Panels. 

If you don’t have any panels (or leftover part panels), here are few other options –

Perhaps you have some big prints that have been hard to use, maybe that rogue FQ out of a bundle. 

Pillow panels? Cheater prints? Wide border stripe prints? Obvious directional prints?

Or, you could sub in any orphan blocks you have and treat those like a printed pillow panel.

I think since the pillowcases took so little time, I’m going to pull one of my Quick Strippie kits and piece one of those too!

I made all but a few of the blocks today. I can’t remember how many extra I threw in so I’ve set some aside until I get them on the design wall. The seams will be pressed up or down depending on where they are placed in the quilt so I’m ready to put them on the design wall tomorrow.

We have a week left here in GA and I wanted another quick and easy quilt to work on so I pulled a Jelly Roll and started a Boxed Squares. One Jelly Roll will give you a lap size quilt that measures 48 x 60 inches.

I do most of the cooking around here but if we have brunch, Keith fixes it and it was yummy this morning.

After eating, I went down to the sewing room to work. First up, I assembled the design wall, then I finished the blocks for the Jelly Roll Rail Fence quilt.

They’ll wait a bit for assembly since I’m making more masks for Chris and his co-workers. And since it seems we’ll be wearing them for a while, I’ll make a few more for us too. I finished 8 before calling it a day. It’s been a bit rainy but we think there’s a window to head out for a walk.