What’s On My Sewing Table – May Edition

SOOooo many projects moving through my sewing table right now. It’s probably a little frenetic. But I’ve been feeling a good spurt of creative energy and so I’ve been running with it! As a result I’ve got a variety of projects to share. Something for everyone including: May RBD Quilt Block Challenge blocks, more Union Jack quilt blocks, Holiday-themed bench pillows, and a gorgeous new scrap quilt project. My design wall has been well used this week. Read on!

I can’t believe it’s already May! We’re staring down the barrel at the end of another school year. Gratefully it’s not nearly as crazy busy as May was last year with 2 graduations (plus their respective events and hoopla) + lots of extended family in town. And now that I’m down to only one kid at home who can now drive himself to both school and his extra-curricular activities, life feels kinda nice. And I’m kind of enjoying it!

As a result, I’ve been on a sewing rampage recently and thought I’d share a bit of what has been happening behind the scenes. (Special thanks to my neighbor and stunt double Robby for helping with some of the piecing.)

May RBD Quilt Block Challenge Blocks

Catching up on the first two May quilt blocks for the 2023 Riley Blake Quilt Block Challenge.

These are the two blocks for the first two weeks of May:

Mountain Peaks designed by Melissa Mortenson of the Polkadot Chair and Playing with Blocks designed by Geri Robinson of Planted Seed Designs.

You can read more about the details of the 2023 Riley Blake Free Quilt Block Challenge here. And here are the links the free May Quilt Block patterns.

Next week will be the last Block – block 16 and the release of the official quilt layout. (Which you can use or not.) I’m hoping to put my blocks together as quick as I can.

A few of you are also using Portsmouth (yay! and thank you!) and have asked if I have fabric requirements. Since I’ve been making as I go, I don’t really have anything official. Fat Quarters + Confetti Cotton in Cloud as the background fabric is my best recommendation. I’ll put together fabric requirements for the layout I end up using.

More Union Jack Quilt Blocks

I’ve been having a blast pulling colors and coordinating blenders to make more Regent Street Union Jack quilt blocks using the London Parks collection from Liberty. It’s been fun to throw them up on the design wall to see how they’re all playing together. And I love it!

Riley Blake Bench Pillow Club

This year I collaborated with Riley Blake as part of their Pillow of the Month club. This year all of the projects are bench pillows.

My project came out a few months ago with a cute Spring Fling, Easter-themed pillow. I’m late (as is often the case) and thanks again to my neighbor Robby for helping me finally piece the sample together!

This kit is pulled from Riley Blake Basics in assorted pastels.

I don’t have a bench, so I’ll probably have it quilted and use it as a table runner. You can still find a few of these kits on ETSY.

You can find the more Pillow of the Month kits available from ETSY, or subscribe from Missouri Star.

Playing with scraps

I’ve been working on another project behind the scenes that I’ll share soon. It uses a color palette I’ve been piling up and patiently waiting to get to all winter. And it created a gorgeous pile of scraps.

So I started sewing the leftovers into Improv Log Cabin quilt blocks (tutorial here). And they got kind of addicting! They’re some of my favorite blocks to sew together because they require so little precise measuring or cutting. So liberating!

As you can see, I kept the traditional log cabin color method separating lights and darks, but other than that it’s just random-pieced scraps.

Here’s a little more of a big-picture view point. I only need a few more blocks to have a decent throw size quilt. And it’s been SO fun to work on! This quilt has no immediate need or purpose. It exists only the the purpose of playing with scraps. And I’ve enjoyed the creative freedom so much.

But I need to set this squirrel (distraction) project aside and finish a few other deadlines before summer. Because ready or not, here it comes.