Category Archives: Quilts

Progress on Compass Lone Star

May 10, 2025 9:43 am ⋅ Pam

Last night’s progress saw me get the inner border attached and the top 3 center stars attached to main body of the quilt. Silly me — I thought I’d put the borders together mathematically. I failed to take into consideration that I was terrified to trim the center. I finally trimmed two edges leaving the width of the fabric alone. Now I need 2 7/8″ sashing instead of 2 1/2″ I originally cut sewed. Easy enough fix. I must have bought 10 yards of the backing fabric. I have two 4 yard pieces and a piece of selvage that is 16″ wide and at least 2 yards long before I started cutting it for sashing.

For the inner border I’m using Hampton Road by April Cornell in yellow. I must have purchased it in 2005, as I started the quilt in January 2006. The first pictures I have of the quilt have a 1/3/2006 time stamp. Hum…given it’s is laying on a white sheet instead of the blue batik, maybe I didn’t get the fabric until I had already started the quilt.

I do remember not wanting to start anything new until I had some of my UFOs under control. At that time I was keeping them on a paper list and split them into 2 categories — Works in Progress and Tops to Quilt as the number exceeded 100. I’m happy to report that the # of tops is now to 10 and the WIP is now down to 36. This is now my 3rd oldest UFO.

I hope to get this WIP move to the Tops list by end of the day, so I need to get into the Quilt Studio.

Posted in: 2025 Brandon Quilters UFO, Compass Star

LeMoyne Stars

May 9, 2025 10:06 am ⋅ Pam

Last night I finished making the LeMoyne Stars for my Compass Lone Star quilt. I think there are 3 different piecing configurations in these blocks. As I put the blocks up on the wall, I was struggling to get them all oriented correctly. Turns out 3 of the last 4 blocks I had the blue and yellow reversed. I didn’t have enough fabric to redo all 4 of the blocks, but I found enough to redo one. so the 4 corners are flipped. Would you have noticed if I hadn’t pointed it out?

The next issue was finding fabric to set the blocks. The yellow on the left will be a 1″ border before the LeMoyne Stars and then a 3″ final border. I showed my sister these options and we opted for the far right. This will also be the backing fabric.

Before I sew more blocks together, I need to trim the center and put the inner border on. I may then need to tweak the seams on those three blocks I’ve sewn together.

Posted in: Compass Star

Compass Lone Star Progress

May 8, 2025 7:30 am ⋅ Pam

Yesterday I was able to finish all of the Lemoyne Star blocks that I previously cut. It’s now time to figure out a layout. I prefer a quilt that is longer than it is wide, but I’m also fighting the lack of the background fabric. I sent the picture to my sister and asked her how she felt about square quilts. She prefers rectangles, but said this one needs to be square.

That’s good as it will be easier to finish. I found 2 more Lemoyne Star halves, so I just need to make 3 more. I’ll use the shirting in the bottom right of the fabric picture. Given that I’m going for a square quilt, there might be enough left in the shirt to use in sashing or whatever I do to finish this quilt.

My pile of little 9-patches are growing as my Leader/Enders. I think I have 2 more brown pair left to make, then it will be time to move to another color.

The paint is up on the wall. I’m not sure what is next. The general contractor will be here this morning. I think all that is left are installing the cabinet inserts & door/drawer pulls, floor, backsplash, countertops, appliances, electric, and plumbing.

Posted in: Charm Challenge, Compass Star, House, Leaders & Enders, Uncategorized

What I’m Working on Wednesday – 5/7/25

May 7, 2025 10:43 am ⋅ Pam

Since all the binding is done, my current focus is the Compass Lone Star. There has to be a better way to make those Lemoyne Star blocks, but I’m working with what I started with back in 2006. Pieces are already cut and there’s been some assembly.

While I’m stitching these blocks, I’m making 9-patches as my leader and enders.

At Quilters By Hearts Desire a couple of years ago we had an ongoing color theory program and we swapped 5″ squares of a specified color each month. I’m using my squares and some muslin to make these little 9-patches. I have a vague idea of what I’m going to do with them, but I need to get them made first.

Both the Compass Lone Star and the Rainbow Charm Swap quilts are on my 2025 Brandon Quilters UFO list. The star is also on my Mississippi Quilt Association UFO list as well.

In other news, my cabinet are painted and now they are working on the rest of the kitchen/breakfast room/laundry room. I love the color, but can’t wait to see it finished.

Posted in: 2025 Brandon Quilters UFO, charms, Compass Star, designwall, House, Rainbow Challenge

Goals for the Week of May 5, 2025

May 5, 2025 7:23 am ⋅ Pam

Last week’s goals

Bind these 3 quilts: Blooming 9-Patch, Illusions, and the 2011 Mystery Quilt. – DONE

Assemble, quilt and bind 2 more President’s Challenge quilts – DONE

- Make a charm tote bag. – DONE

So what’s on my list for this week?

Make the rest of the Lemoyne Stars for the Compass Lone Star quilt.

Find something to use for my Leader/Ender Project — I’m thinking it will be my Rainbow Charm Swap.

Clear the tables AGAIN and go through at least 1 of the DOOM bags.

I took my main machine to the Sit-n-Sew and when I got back I thought I would clean it since I’ve been sewing so much. This is the accumulation after just 2 weeks.

That led to resuming the deep clean of the quilt studio that I started several months ago. It always looks worse before it gets better.

But I wiped down the window sills, baseboards and swept behind and under the middle table and sewing table and circled back and swept behind the other table as well.

But I was eager to get the bindings on the two challenge quilts, so nearly everything on the sewing table got swept off into those 2 bags sitting on the floor next to the broom — aka DOOM bags — Didn’t Organize Only Moved.

Posted in: 2011 Mystery Quilt, Blooming 9-patch, Charm Tote, Compass Star, Dragonfly Garden, goals, Illusions, Rainbow Challenge

What I’m Working on Wednesday – 4/30/25

April 30, 2025 11:52 pm ⋅ Pam

I set off this week with the goal to get 5 quilts bound. A lofty goal, but I machine bind, so completely doable. It’s only Wednesday and all 5 of the quilts are bound! I typically do a flange binding, but chose to bind the President’s Challenge (top left) quilt with the same fabric as the backing and the 2011 Mystery Quilt (bottom right) I had cut my binding when I finished the top 14 years ago and decided to not put the flange on. I still stitched the binding to the back and brought it to the front, but it was hard to see.

I designed this quilt as a retreat mystery quilt back in 2011. My smaller one I finished in time to hang in the 2019 Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival. It was done in just 3 fabrics and can be seen HERE.

Started: 3/15/2011
Finished: 4/30/2025
Size: 59″x 74″
Calista Stars E2E, increased to 15″ tall
Military Gold 40 wt Glide

Posted in: 2011 Mystery Quilt, binding, designwall

Cross Another One Off

April 29, 2025 10:17 pm ⋅ Pam

This is Illusions, a ‘3-yard’ quilt that I made larger. I don’t remember how much extra fabric I used, and I think I used all of the bubble and the orange. I made the top at the Brandon Quilters retreat last fall, and quilted it November. It’s been sitting in the binding pile since then.

Started 9/19/24
Finished 4/29/25
Size 67 x 89
E2E Bubbles with no size changes.
3+ bobbins of Glide 40 wt in Sand.

This quilt is on my 2025 Brandon Quilter’s UFO Challenge list.

Posted in: 2025 Brandon Quilters UFO, goals, Illusions

Three Finishes

April 29, 2025 4:32 pm ⋅ Pam

It’s only Tuesday and I have 3 finishes!

First up is Blue Waters. It’s one of the of my 2024 Brandon Quilters Block of the Month quilts. It’s been waiting to be bound since either August or September. I have 2 different dates in my notes.

Started 12/9/23
Finished 4/27/25
Size: 66″ x 83″
Used 2+ bobbins of Glide 40wt in Mercury
B2B (border to border) Bubbles

Next is one the Brandon Quilters President’s Challenge quilts.

I brought the blocks home after the April meeting. I just assembled, quilted and bound the quilt.

Started from blocks 4/26/25
Finished 4/27/25
Size: 40″ x 56″
1 bobbin of Glide in Passion
E2E design – Espallier increased in height to 19″.

Finally, my Blooming 9-Patch that I’m calling Dragonfly Garden.

This was a sew along with the Gulf States Quilt Association. I didn’t get the top done before the meeting, but I finished it in less than a month. All the fabric, including the backing came from stash.

Started 4/3/25
Finished 4/28/25
Size: 75″ x 92″
4 bobbins of Glide in Magic Mint
E2E design – Dragonfly Dance, enlarged to 15″ tall

Posted in: 2025 Brandon Quilters UFO, Blooming 9-patch, Blue Waters, Dragonfly Garden, QBHD President Challenge

Goals for the Week of April 7, 2025

April 25, 2025 6:56 am ⋅ Pam

I don’t know how much quilting I’ll get done this week, but I absolutely need to get the batik version of this block made this week. These are this quarter’s Gulf States Quilt Association Lotto blocks and the meeting is Saturday. I’m not a big Kaffe fan, but I think I found the way to use the fabric — fussy cut. My fabric now looks like Swiss cheese. I bought 3 different black & white prints the other day, then only used the zebra, pulling the other 2 from my stash. It looks like fingerprints to me.

Next on the list is to get the borders on the dragon shop sample. I really wanted it done to take to the guild meeting tonight, but got distracted.

The 3rd item is the Blooming Nine-Patch. This is this quarters sew along with GSQA. I hope to have all the blocks done, but I don’t know if I’ll get them sewn together. We’ll have to see what this week brings. These are the last 2 fabrics for the quilt.

As for my 2025 master list of UFO projects, nothing has been marked off since the middle of February. I’ve been busy — and now I’ve added 2 new projects! I may count the shop sample as my panel quilt, but that really defeats the purpose of listing a panel quilt. I also want to make another Crazy Eights quilt with the FQ I bought at the AQS show. “It’s not hard and won’t take too long” I think is how I ended up with so many UFOs. So for now this will just be a PIG.

Posted in: Crazy Eights, goals, Gulf States Quilt Association

What I’m Working on Wednesday – 4/23/2025

April 23, 2025 9:31 am ⋅ Pam

Last night I made a little progress on the Blooming 9-Patch. When I originally sewed the strips for the most recent 9-patches my seam allowance was off and I had to fix it. I was also distracted by the long arm. I thought I’d put a quilt on the frame and while it was stitching I’d be piecing.

I opted for gold thread – specifically Military Gold from Glide on this scrappy red, white and blue quilt. It’s about 60″ wide and the E2E design I picked stitched quickly, so I didn’t have much time between passes.

The gold thread makes the quilting stand out. This E2E design is Calista Stars from My Creative Stitches. It is currently on sale for $5.

The quilt top was finished in April 2011. It was a mystery quilt I wrote for a retreat I attended. It’s been sitting in the box of quilt tops — with the backing and binding strips cut – since then. I wonder how long it will take me to bind it? I’ve got 2 more quilts that need binding.