A red, white, and blue sawtooth star quilt block with farm animal fabric squares

Crafty Goals: July 2026

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Welcome to Full-on Summer, otherwise known as July! Whew! You guys, the Brookes were very, very busy in the month of June; I’m so glad I didn’t make any actual crafty goals for the month because there simply wasn’t any time available for crafting.

Debrief: June 2026 #craftygoals:

Music and artist ribbon graduation leis in maroon, gold, and white.

Graduation: Rachel is officially graduated from high school! I love graduations so much; the only celebrations I love more are weddings and babies. These life milestones are so special, and I try hard to make sure that they feel extra special for the individuals involved. I made a cute artsy ribbon lei for her and music note lei for one of her friends in the band because I think she’s awesome, and we threw a big ol’ graduation party as well. So much work! But everything went well and the party was well attended, so I’m satisfied.

Rainbow paint chips board with bags of chips attached

Summer Plans: Well…sadly, my husband’s mother passed away the day before Rachel’s graduation ceremony. June 2026 was all about graduation plans and funeral plans. Once graduation was done and dusted, I pivoted immediately into funeral trip preparation. I was also invited to sing at the funeral, so I spent the weeks leading up to it feverishly transcribing (finally) a song I’ve been working on for years and working with Renaissance to write a flute part so she could be a part of it, too. I’m happy to report that it went well. With all of that going on, it’s easy to understand why summer planning has not happened yet.  

Family dressed in black at an LDS funeral.

July 2026 #craftygoals:

Time-Sensitive Things That Need Working on ASAP:

Graduation Quilts: All the signature blocks have been collected, so it’s time to start piecing! It’d be really great to get Rachel’s quilt completely done this month, but it will probably take longer than that, much to the dismay of the many people in our circles who have become (in their own words) obsessively invested in the final outcome of her quilt. Hey, if peer pressure helps you move forward with positive, productive things, then put that peer pressure in the driver’s seat and let it motivate you to push towards the finish line! (Looking at this in a realistic light, I think there’s a good chance I can pull off getting both of the flimsies complete in July.)

I am not sure when I’m going to get to Renaissance’s graduation quilt, though. With the realization that I want to put the signatures on the back of the quilt, I now need to create an entirely new quilt for the front of the quilt. As luck would have it, I just purchased a pattern not too long ago to make for her “someday,” but it’s a bit involved. I might work on a “palate cleanser” project once I finish Rachel’s grad quilt and before I get going on Ren’s again. I want to finish Ren’s grad quilt before the end of this year, though, that is a definite goal.

Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: I knew June would be busy and I’d fall behind on this, so I’m not panicking, but it is a goal to get caught back up with my blocks in the upcoming month. It’s just NINE blocks, no big deal…ha ha ha. I guess I’ll shoot for three per week. Oh, man…

Things to Work on After the ASAP Projects:

Machine Stitching:

  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: The binding is done and Emily even slept under it when she was here for Rachel’s graduation. The label is not done yet, and I got it into my head to make a complicated label, so I’m working on piecing the label during my self-imposed mandatory 15 minutes of “Finishing Time” at the start of every work session in the craft room. It’s possible to get this done this month and do a legit photoshoot and all, but I can also see this label taking longer than that. Hopefully it all gets finished this month.
  • Riley Blake Designs’ Block Challenge Quilt: There’s so much on my plate this month, so I’m going to shoot for getting six of the chevron blocks done.
  • Baby Quilt: A friend is pregnant! There’s a baby on the way! Yay for babies!!! I’m trying to decide on the direction I want to go with this—I have a flimsy already made, the “Best Friends Farm Wonky Stars” quilt from during my Blank Quilting ambassador days, that would work beautifully, but I feel guilty re-purposing something I already made? That guilt is silly, right? If I decide to go with the partially-made quilt, I’d like to have it basted by the end of the month. If I decide to make a new quilt from scratch, I will need to decide on my pattern and acquire the fabric by the end of the month. As I write my options down and look out upon the expanse of projects waiting for my schedule to open up so I can work on them, I’m leaning heavily towards using the already-existing flimsy.

Hand Stitching:

English Paper Piecing: Get as much work done as possible on Smitten. It’s HOT in the craft room in the summer, so hand-piecing is perfect for this weather. I should set a daily stitching time goal for this. Fifteen to thirty minutes a day or something. We’re in the slog of it; I just need to sit my butt in the chair and stitch and it’ll be over faster.

Knitting: I usually work on the Husband Christmas Socks in secret, but I am much further behind on them this year than I normally am, so I’m going to talk about them because publicly shaming myself works for me. I try to have the Husband Christmas Socks done by the Fourth of July so they don’t hang over me, but here we are, almost at the Fourth of July, and I’m only about two-thirds done with the FIRST sock. Eek! The situation isn’t dire, obviously, but some heat needs to be applied. I’ve been working on them for fifteen minutes a day for some months now, but I guess I need to bump it up to thirty minutes until they’re done. It’d be great to finish them up by the end of the month, but a practical goal would be finish the first sock and get to the heel of the second sock? That’s actually a little ambitious, but possibly doable. I have some other socks I’d like to knit up as gifts this year, so being behind on this is annoying to my Christmas junkie senses.

Embroidery: None for this month. But it is July and hand stitching is lovely in the summer, so hopefully I get through my projects so I can visit some embroidery projects. There’s nothing like sipping lemonade and embroidering in the garden while the bees buzz in the lavender plants.

Summary of July’s Crafty Goals:

  • Rachel’s Graduation Quilt: Finish both the signature back flimsy AND the pencil crayon top flimsy.
  • FQS Sewcialites 3: Sew up blocks #15-23. (3 per week.)
  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: Finish the label, photoshoot, blog post.
  • Riley Blake Designs’ Block Challenge Quilt: Sew up six chevron blocks.
  • Wonky Stars Baby Quilt: Baste. (Do I need to secure a backing and batting?)
  • Smitten EPP Quilt: 30 minutes of stitching a day.
  • Husband Christmas Socks: 30 minutes of stitching a day.
  • Embroidery: Indulge in some summer garden stitching on Sunday afternoons and soak in the aesthetic.

Proud family of a White River High School graduate, class of 2026

Rachel’s High School Graduation

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Another graduate in the Brooke household! Rachel graduated last night in the rain!

White River High School graduate, class of 2026
Proud family of a White River High School graduate, class of 2026
White River High School graduates toss graduation caps

It’s been such a great week with all the graduation buildup and festivities. Emily flew back home to be a part of her baby sister’s big day and it’s so great having all my Brookelets under the same roof for a little while! (NOT a fan of this whole “flying the nest” business of parenting!)

In true Washington State fashion, it rained on and off throughout the graduation ceremony, so we were pretty damp and chilled by the time it came to taking pictures afterwards and we struggled to find our brightest joy on film, ha ha.

And now we’re taking some easy days to get over all the craziness before Rachel’s grad party. Whew!

I’ll leave you with the picture that makes me laugh the most, which just sums us all up so perfectly most of the time:

Family graduation photo preparations

All the blocks in the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026 sew along, sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara in blue, pink and green.

craftygoals: June 2026

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We made it to the summer! We’re in the midst of end-of-school chaos and fun, so I’m just going to leave a quick update!

Cara and Renaissance Brooke serving cake at the end of year band concert
Ren and I serving cake at the end-of-year band concert.

Debrief: May #craftygoals:

Graduation: We are working on it! It’s finally here! Made some leis, sent out most of the invitations, and Rachel and I have run quite a few errands to prepare for her graduation party. We even did her “Senior Skip Day” together because she wasn’t interested in doing the stuff her peers had planned to do, and wanted to go quilt shop-hopping with me instead! Such a fun day!

Cara and Rachel Brooke going quilt shop hopping on Rachel's high school Senior Skip Day.
Senior Skip Day: Quilt Shop Hopping!

Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge Sew Along: I finished all sixteen blocks! It still needs its setting blocks and final construction and finishing, which I had hoped to do in May, but alas, that did not happen.

All the blocks in the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026 sew along, sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara in blue, pink and green.

Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: Kept up with the blocks until this last Friday because I caught the cold that’s going around these parts and I’m recuperating from that. Did not work ahead on June’s blocks as I hoped I would.

Blocks 1-14 in the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along, sewn in green, pink, red, orange and yellow fabrics.

Graduation Quilts: Received the last block I was waiting on for Ren’s quilt and bought some fabric for the new top I’m going to make for it. Received the fabric for Rachel’s quilt top but haven’t started on it. Sent out lots of blocks to be signed for Rachel’s quilt and received most of them back.

Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: I am SO CLOSE to being done with the binding; there’s only about two feet left to hand-stitch.

Sew Many Stars BOM Christmas Quilt: Nope.

Smitten EPP Quilt: I put in some decent time on this on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. Rachel has started her own Smitten quilt, and she is surging forward with it, which lights a fire under my keister to finish up mine because mine’s been in progress for almost six years now. Can’t let her beat me!

In-progress shot of a scrappy "Smitten" English paper pieced quilt in a rainbow of colors.

[H1] June #craftygoals:

Time-Sensitive Things That Need Working on ASAP:

Graduation: This is it! We’re there! The next two weeks are going to be such a whirlwind of activity! All focus is on graduation, so I doubt I’ll work on anything outside of that.

Summer Plans: I always flail a little bit when we head into summer break, but there’s a lot going on this summer with Nathaniel, so there’s a lot of logistical details to execute for him throughout the season.

Things to Work on After the ASAP Projects:

I am actually not going to make any goals for June. I’m going to be so busy with graduation and the inevitable clean-up and reset afterwards that I don’t want the extra pressure on my shoulders. IF I find some downtime to work on creative stuff, then great; but I’m not going to publicly declare any intentions.

Heads-Up on Possible Radio Silence:

This is going to be a very busy summer, so the blog and social media channels might go silent. If that’s the case, just know that I fully intend to be back in the swing of things by October, as always. Hopefully I can remember to check in at least once a month, but you know how it gets with sunshine activities and gardening!

In case I don’t pop through until autumn, I wish you the happiest of summers!

"Cherry Limeade" birthday cake, made by Renaissance Brooke in shades of green, yellow, red, pink and white.

FQS Sewcialites 3 Check-in: May Update

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More than halfway there! Blocks I sewed up in May:

Block 11: “Snuggle Patch,” by Edyta Sitar

Block 11 "Snuggle Patch," in the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along, designed by Edyta Sitar and sewn up in yellow, green and pink.

I really like how this block turned out; I’ve been hoping I’d have a chance to use that lemon print at some point in this quilt, and using up some of that lime green and red “Little Ruby” print made me very happy as it’s a tough one to use as well. I was delighted to find some of this pink Lori Holt cherry print from her “Calico” collection in the scrap bins, so of course it had to make an appearance in the Cherry Limeade quilt!

Block 12: “Shoo Fly,” by Sharon Holland

Block 12 "Shoo Fly" designed by Sharon Holland, for the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along and sewn up in red and green.

I really like making scrap quilts because I happen upon leftovers from previous projects that make me smile. This sock monkey fabric is leftover from an apron I made for Renaissance when she was 3 or 4 years old, and I HAD to fussy cut a sock monkey once I saw it.

Block 13: “Back Porch,” by Joanna Figueroa

Block 13 "Back Porch," in the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 sew along, designed by Joanna Figueroa. Sewn up in red, pink, orange, yellow and green.

While scrap-tossing I found all these fruity prints and wanted to use them in this block, which will probably be the center block of the quilt, so I wanted a lot of negative space around it to help it stand out. I thought I used up all of that orange and yellow Sandi Henderson apple print, but a few days later I found another scrap of it. Love these fruity scraps!

Block 14: “Criss-Cross Star,” by Lori Holt

Block 14 "Criss-Cross Star," designed by Lori Holt for Fat Quarter Shop's Sewcialites 3 sew along, sewn up in Heather Ross fabrics in pink, orange, yellow and green.

While combing through scraps to start this block, I happened upon the green Rapunzel fabric and I decided to make this block entirely out of Heather Ross fabrics. It includes fabrics from all three of her “Far, Far Away” collections, plus fabrics from her “Briar Rose” and “Kinder” collections. I knew the pink apple print for the background was a bit of a stretch, and I ultimately believe the block would look better with a less busy fabric for the background, but it made me so happy to pieces all these brilliantly-colored scraps together that I couldn’t possibly go back and remove the apples. I smile every time I walk through my craft room and notice this block. It’s just one busy block in a quilt full of better-balanced blocks, so it won’t matter in the long run!

Block 15: “Split Star,” by Lissa Alexander

Today’s new block is the “Split Star” and I have contracted the cold that’s making its way through our community, so I probably won’t get to sewing it up for a little while. Rachel’s graduation is also fast-approaching, so all crafty pursuits might come to a standstill for the next month. I had hoped to work ahead on this quilt so I wouldn’t fall behind, but May is a busy month and I couldn’t find the time. Oh well.

Happy birthday to me!

I am so glad I committed to this quilt as it’s been so much fun to sew! I talk about these blocks and the lovely sewing community in the Facebook group all the time, so much so that Renaissance themed my birthday cake on this Cherry Limeade quilt this year:

"Cherry Limeade" birthday cake, made by Renaissance Brooke in shades of green, yellow, red, pink and white.

Isn’t it the cutest?!?! Seriously, make time to bake with your children as they grow up; you might just raise up a pastry chef that makes holidays and celebrations all the more beautiful in your family! It’s so much fun to watch her in her pastry program.

Download the free block patterns for yourself:

Block 16 "Kaleidoscope Star," designed by Tara Reed for the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026 sew along in shades of green and blue.

Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026: May Check-In

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We’ve come to the end of this year’s Block Challenge sew along and all my blocks are done!

Block 15: “Center of Attention,” by Heather Peterson

Block 15 in the 2026 Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge "Center of Attention" designed by Heather Peterson, sewn up in Confetti Cottons solids in green, blues and pinks.

Not a bad little block. I’d like to see an entire quilt made of these. I threw this together in a short amount of time, so there’s not much to say about it.

Block 16: “Kaleidoscope Star,” by Tara Reed

Block 16 "Kaleidoscope Star," designed by Tara Reed for the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026 sew along in shades of green and blue.

I think this is a particularly striking block. Another block that I’d like to make an entire quilt out of. We shall see.

Finishing

The finishing instructions were released today, and they differ from how I thought they were going to go. I had preemptively started working on the setting blocks in the manner I thought they’d be constructed, so I’m just going to go forward with my method. I had made the goal to finish this quilt in its entirety by the end of May, but that will not be happening; and with Rachel’s graduation only weeks away, my focus is going to shift to preparing for all the festivities and preparations for that. Hopefully I can come back to this quilt before the end of the summer.

Thanks so much, Riley Blake Designs and all of its designers, for putting on a lovely sew along. This quilt is going to look so beautiful in my front room.

The block patterns are free and available on the Riley Blake website. If you want to download specific patterns, here’s the links:

craftygoals: May 2026

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Everyone in my household is flabbergasted that we’re already a week into May; like, where did April go and when did it actually happen? Needless to say, spring is in full swing around here! Lots of fun stuff, plenty of sunshine, and a reinvigorating of the soul as we cast our eyes towards the end of the school year.

Debrief: April’s #craftygoals:

  • Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge Sew Along: GUYS. I am officially caught up! Fourteen blocks sewn up! Patting myself on the back here because it is rare indeed when I get that far behind on something and then am actually able to truly get caught back up again. I haven’t had a chance to do photoshoots on all the blocks yet, so I’ll have to come back and do another post for that.
  • Fat Quarter Shop’s Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: Staying caught up on that! The Cherry Limeade quilt is coming along beautifully, and I’ve found some great internet friends via the Sewcialites Facebook group. It’s such a nice group of people who are cheering each other on and lavishing praise left and right on everyone. This might be a sew along I continue with for many years because I’m enjoying both the actual sew along and also its participants so much.
  • Renaissance’s Chef Clothing Tailoring: She never approached me about it and it doesn’t seem to be bothering her that much, so I may not actually help with this after all.
  • Rachel’s Prom Dress Tailoring: I had to install a lining because the bodice was made from see-through MESH, but I figured it out easily enough and did a good job. Minimal hemming, woo hoo! She looked gorgeous; I’m so thankful that she really loved big, poufy ballgowns and we were able to go crazy with the full skirts over the years. Also thankful that my formal dress-hemming days are OVER. (No, I will NOT be making their wedding dresses, making the prom dresses cured me of that dream.)
  • Graduation Quilts: I have all but one signature for Renaissance’s quilt. I’ve marked the seamlines on all of the blanks for Rachel’s quilt and have handed out quite a few of them to former teachers. I also realized that I think the signature “top” should actually be a signature “backing” because both of the girls have said they think they’d prefer that. SOOOOOOO…I’m designing new tops for the quilts to match the vibes of the now-backs of the quilts. Because when I said I’d make them a quilt each, I really meant two quilts each but cleverly packaged as just one quilt. ::rolls eyes::
  • Penguin Party Quilt: Quilt top completed! Yaaaayyyy!! And that is where it will remain for a few months as I shift my attention to Rachel’s graduation. Anti-climactic? Yes. But I told you that THIS IS THE YEAR I FINISH THIS QUILT.
  • Smitten EPP Quilt: I did put some time in on it. Can you tell? Not really. Rachel started her own Smitten quilt in the last couple of weeks to deal with the boredom of the last weeks of senior year. Everything is wrapping up and she’s tired of wasting time on her phone, so she asked me for some pointers on fabric placement and the like and then employed the EPP skills she acquired when I taught it to her and all the other Activity Days girls in our Utah ward forever ago. She’s completed about five of the large blocks and two or three of the small blocks and they look pretty good. It’s been so much fun to hang out in the craft room together in the evenings as she cuts fabric for her next block; like a little pause between school days Rachel and adulthood Rachel. I’ll cherish these conversations forever. So much is changing on the horizon for her and it is running at us full-tilt.
  • Jingle Bell Socks: They are done! They still need blocking and finishing, which probably won’t happen until the knitting bug hits again in autumn, but they are technically done.
  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: Not technically a goal last month, but I decided to start every sewing session with fifteen minutes of quilting/finishing and lo and behold, the Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt is officially quilted! I’ve also trimmed it and created the binding for it. I’m just as shocked as you are. It’s only taken six years.

May #craftygoals:

Time-Sensitive Things That Need Working on ASAP:

Graduation!: I’ve got some massive graduation party planning to do in the next month, so my craft progress may be extremely impacted, but it’s totally fine. I need to make graduation leis for Rachel and her friends, and all the random things that will make her graduation party extra nice. So many fun projects!

Riley Black Designs Block Challenge Sew Along: This ends this month! There are sixteen block and I’ve sewn fourteen of them! Woot woot! There are a handful of setting blocks and sashings to actually finish this thing, but we’re not going to focus on that too much. I’m trusting that the energy of finishing the last block will push me to keep going. Wouldn’t it be great if I just finished this whole quilt by the end of May? A girl can dream…because if it’s not finished by the end of May, it will languish due to graduation and the absolute insanity of our summer schedule. So yeah, I guess the goal is to finish this completely by the end of May.

Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: Almost halfway there! Block #12 comes out tomorrow! I am still just absolutely loving this sew along. I ordered my border, backing and binding fabrics last week. It’s going to be such a pretty quilt! It’s so different from what I normally do and it’s proving that deviating from your comfort zone can be a really, really good thing. With graduation coming up and some really crazy scheduling in the weeks right after graduation, it would be a good thing if I could actually finish both May’s and June’s blocks during May. I’ve mocked up the entire quilt already so I’d be working off my own guesses at how the scheduled blocks are going to go together, but who cares?

Sewcialites 3 Block #6 Window Seat made with green, red, orange, yellow and pink fabrics.
Sewcialites 3 Block #7 Flower made with green and pink fabrics and altered to look like a watermelon flower.
Sewcialites 3 Block #8 Beacon made with green, yellow, and pink fabrics.
Sewcialites 3 Block #9 Daylight made with green, yellow, and cherry print fabrics.
Sewcialites 3 Block #10 Little Berry made with pink and green fabrics.

Graduation Quilts:

  • Renaissance’s: I might be able to really get going on Ren’s here soon. Needing to also construct a new top is going to slow me down, obviously, but the quilt will be used a lot more as a result and I cannot stand it when people stuff a quilt in a closet, so here we are. It would be good if I could finish Ren’s quilt entirely.
  • Rachel’s: It could start moving forward; I’ve received quite a few signed blocks back already. I’ve mocked up her quilt top design and she’s enthusiastically approved it, so the fabric for that was included in the Sewcialites order and will be here next week. It would be good if I could finish the top this month and add the borders to the blocks that have already been signed.

Things to Work on After the ASAP Projects:

Machine Stitching:

Rainbow Coin Strip Scrap Quilt with black venom binding
  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: It’d be good if I could get this finished for good! That fifteen minutes at the start of each sewing session accomplishes a lot! We’ll see…
  • Sew Many Stars BOM Christmas Quilt: This is the next UFO to finish on 2026’s list. I highly doubt I’ll get through my other projects to the point where I’ll work on this, but I’m listing it as a possibility.

Hand Stitching:

English Paper Piecing: Smitten EPP Quilt: My Smitten quilt is permanently located in its rolling cart next to the couch in the TV Room, and I’ll pick it up here and there to work on, but with daylight lasting longer and life being busy I don’t know how much work will go into it during the month of May. Watching Rachel’s quilt come together makes me want to get my own quilt going again, though, so perhaps her enthusiasm will rub off on me?

Knitting: I need a new car knitting project. I could wind some cool yarn and just make some regular ol’ socks? Although, with warmer weather coming up I probably won’t accomplish much knitting in the next while. I do prefer to do embroidery or EPP in the warmer months.

Embroidery: Perhaps, given the knitting conundrum, I should figure out an embroidery car project? There’s a beehive embroidery kit that’s been languishing for some time. I could pop it into the car for the summer.

It’s a great time of year, full of all sorts of fun things! I hope your projects are going well, and if you’re too busy with other things at the moment, remember that it’s totally fine to take breaks because the yarn and the fabric will wait for you. Enjoy the sunshine, the celebrations, and the time with family and friends, if that’s what’s pulling you away.

Summary of May’s Crafty Goals:

  • Graduation projects: Leis, party prep, etc.
  • Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge: Finish up last blocks, maybe finish the entire thing?
  • Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: Definitely finish May’s blocks, but try to get June’s blocks done ahead of time, too.
  • Renaissance’s Graduation Quilt: Try to finish completely. Crazy goal.
  • Rachel’s Graduation Quilt: Try to finish the new top and add borders to the already-signed blocks.
  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: Finish completely.

Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026: April Check-In

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I had the goal to get caught on this in the month of April and I’m happy to report that I did just that! Here’s the blocks that I sewed up in the last month:

Block 4: “Ribbon Star,” by Fran Gulick

I think this is my favorite block of the entire sew along, and just about everyone else agrees with me. My daughters comment on how pretty it is whenever they wander through the craft room. So pretty! Might make an entire quilt from it someday.

Block #5: “Ombré Dash,” by Beverly McCullough

I was surprised that I was able to get this ombré look to work with my limited color palette!

Block #6: “Square Knot,” by Jennifer Long

Bit of a heart attack-inducing block due to the “backwards is forwards” nature of construction. It all turned out fine, but I had many a moment of “Wait…OH NO!…wait…no, it’s fine…wait…no it’s not…yes it is…I think?”

Block #7: “Tulip Toss,” by Christopher Thomas

Bit of a devil block. Matching those cornflower edges to the snowball edges was torture. I managed it fine enough, eventually, but eek. Not a fun experience.

Block #9: “Center Pieces,” by Vicki McCarty

Ugh. I did such a good with matching up my HST points, only to botch the strips. And I suspected that that was going to happen and still didn’t adjust my seam allowance during construction. I might go back in and fix them at some point, but I got to the point where I was just so sick of this block that I don’t want to look at it anymore.

Block #11: “Pinwheel Pop,” by Amanda Neiderhauser

This is another darling block that everyone loves. The blue frame behind the pinwheel is delightful!

Block #12: “Cactus Blooms,” by ME

The schedule block for Week 12 is “Majestic View,” by Casey Cometti, but it just didn’t have the look I wanted in my quilt. So I poked around in the Electric Quilt Block Library until I found a block I wanted and then tweaked it to make it fit. I cannot remember the actual name of the original block, but I’ve been calling it “Cactus Blossoms.”

Block #13: “Patchwork Star,” by Liza Taylor

What a cute and easy block to make! I enjoyed this one.

Block #14: “Flower Show,” by J. Wecker Frisch

In the rush to get all the blocks finished and caught up, I lost track of this one and literally do not remember making it. Must have been an easy one?

The block patterns are free and available on the Riley Blake website. If you want to download specific patterns, here’s the links:

Only two more blocks to go! And then the setting blocks, which are looking kind of intense, but neat-looking!

Sewcialites 3 Block #7 Flower made with green and pink fabrics and altered to look like a watermelon flower.

FQS Sewcialites 3 Check-in: April Update

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Already at the end of April! Whew! I love this sew along so much! Here’s a rundown of what we sewed up in April:

Block #6: “Window Seat,” by Brigitte Heitland

Sewcialites 3 Block #6 Window Seat made with green, red, orange, yellow and pink fabrics.

Technically a March block, but last month’s round-up post didn’t include it because of timing. This one makes me think of Starburst candies. Starburst limeade!

Block #7: “Flower,” by Elizabeth Hartman

Sewcialites 3 Block #7 Flower made with green and pink fabrics and altered to look like a watermelon flower.

When I saw this block I thought it looked like a watermelon, and seeing that I’m making a very fruit-inspired quilt, I thought it would be fun to try my hand at altering the block pattern to look more like a watermelon. So I did! I’m really pleased with how it turned out! Watermelon Flower!

BONUS: Renaissance was making cookies for Easter while I was sewing this up and she made a watermelon and limeade pitcher cookie for its photoshoot! I wholeheartedly enjoyed the experience of creating this block!

Block #8: “Beacon,” by Amy Smart

Sewcialites 3 Block #8 Beacon made with green, yellow, and pink fabrics.

It wasn’t until many weeks after finishing this that I realized I flipped the flying geese units. It’s not supposed to look like a star! Ha ha ha, nope, not fixing it!

Block #9: “Daylight,” by Corey Yoder

Sewcialites 3 Block #9 Daylight made with green, yellow, and cherry print fabrics.

I appreciated this simple block. I chose to feature a fabric leftover from an apron I made for my cousin years upon years ago, and then to try to use some of that olive woodgrain fabric that’s been sitting in my stash for years. And then I added the beloved cherry print to make up for the ugly woodgrain fabric.

Block #10: “Little Berry,” by Pat Sloan

Sewcialites 3 Block #10 Little Berry made with pink and green fabrics.

Isn’t this the cutest little block?!?! Loved making it; and it’s a really easy block to put together! I’m tempted to make an entire quilt out of this in the future. I love berry blocks so much!

Almost halfway there!

Download the free block patterns for yourself:

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Penguin Party quilt top in-progress, made from aqua and pastel flannel fabrics

craftygoals: April 2026

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Happy April! We made it through Gray February and Cold & Dreary March; we are LEGIT into spring now and I’m so happy!!!

Debrief: March #craftygoals:

  1. Guild Show & Tell Quilt: Seeing that it’s April and I’ve yet to succeed in this area once again, I’m starting to think this may not be my year for making progress on this in this way? I’m even struggling to attend my guild’s monthly meetings! The kids are super duper busy and their activities inevitably conflict with guild meeting almost every month. I’ll keep trying, but I’m definitely not beating myself up over this. I’ve only got two and half years left of minor children parenting; I’ll lean into guilds and the like once this chapter has closed.
  2. Secret Project: Is off the ground! More on this when it feels right to share.
  3. Penguin Party Quilt: A LOT of work done on this! Getting close to completing the flimsy top!
  4. Easter Say-It Sew Along Banner: Never got to it, boo.
  5. Renaissance Graduation Quilt: Was able to put a little bit of work in on it, nothing much.
  6. Rachel’s Graduation Quilt: I have received a number of signed blocks back, but haven’t done any sewing on it. I still need to distribute some more blocks for signatures.
  7. Smitten EPP Quilt: Put in a few work sessions on it. Doesn’t appear like it accomplished much because it’s in that stage of work…sigh. Slow and steady, consistency, etc…it’ll get there eventually.
  8. Jingle Bell Socks: Made a lot of progress on them! First sock is finished.

April #craftygoals:

Time-Sensitive Things That Need Working on ASAP:

Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge Sew Along: It’s my hope to get completely caught up by the end of the month. I’ve sewn up five of the released ten blocks thus far, and there will be another three released in April, so eight blocks over the course of the month. Two a week, if conditions are favorable.

Block 1 in the RBD 2026 Block Challenge Sew Along sewn in pinks, blues, and green
Block 2 “Spin Around” by Amy Smart in the RBD 2026 Block Challenge Sew Along sewn in blues, and green
Block 3 “Starry Bloom” by Cherry Guidry in the RBD 2026 Block Challenge Sew Along sewn in blues and pinks
Block 8 “Turning Point” by Sandy Gervais in the RBD 2026 Block Challenge Sew Along sewn in navy and pinks
Block 10 in the RBD 2026 Block Challenge Sew Along sewn in pinks and blues

Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: I am caught up on this, and will hopefully complete the four blocks that are released in April on-time. Goodness, am I enjoying this sew along! I am using a goodly portion of my lime green scraps, but am worried that there were too many scraps to begin with and I’ll still have enough leftover for another four quilts. Oh, I also hope to get all the setting blocks sewn up in April, but it’s not the end of the world if they’re not completely done. I did get them all cut last week and will probably just use them as leaders and enders.

Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Block 1 "Idyllic", sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara
Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Block 2 "Twinsies", sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara
Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Block 3 "Cabin Life", sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara
Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Block 4 "Spring Wind", sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara
Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Block 5 "Little Love", sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara

Renaissance’s Chef Clothing Tailoring: Renaissance started pastry school! She has to wear a chef uniform and the pants are a disaster. I’ll need to spend some time hemming the length and maybe taking in the waists.

Rachel’s Prom Dress Tailoring: We are awaiting its delivery and I’ll then push forward with whatever tailoring needs to happen. Odds are there will be torturous hemming. Last prom dress ever. [insert bittersweet Mommy feels]

Things to Work on After the ASAP Projects:

Machine Stitching:

Jelly Bar Quilt blocks in-progress, made with pink and green cat fabrics
  • Graduation Quilts: I’m still collecting signatures, and I don’t technically need Rachel’s until June, so we are doing perfectly fine with hers at the moment. There are three people who have expressed interest in signing blocks for Ren’s quilt and I need to get that done so that I can finish up that step and plough through towards completion on hers.
  • Penguin Party Quilt: Getting really close to finishing the top, so it’d be good to complete that soon. No rush at this point in the year. I don’t know when I’ll get this sent out for quilting; might need to wait until after graduation and all its craziness. (Tangent: I discovered a new-to-me local quilter! I’ve reached out to her and she is super nice and looking forward to working with me in the future! Yay!)
Penguin Party quilt top in-progress, made from aqua and pastel flannel fabrics

Hand Stitching:

English Paper Piecing: I always hope I’ll be able to put in some time on the Smitten EPP Quilt, especially since the weather has turned so nice. Maybe I’ll remember to put the bin into the car so I can work on it while waiting for the kids to come out of practices. I always think I’ll be able to work on stuff at Nathaniel’s track meets, but I end up talking with other parents and y’know, social interaction is healthy and good. As previously stated, there aren’t many years left in this stage of parenting, so I’m going to lean into it all while I still can. There are many empty nest years ahead of me for extra sewing.

Knitting: Keep making progress on the Jingle Bell Socks. Maybe make progress on a Christmas project I’m kicking around in my head.

Handknit sock in-progress in red, white, and green self-striping yarn

Nicer weather, gardening, track meets, prom prep—lots going on in April! I like to start with a big list of goals because it’s my vibe, but I’m totally OK with just enjoying the spring weather and finally being able to be outside in the sunshine again.

Block 10 in the RBD 2026 Block Challenge Sew Along sewn in pinks and blues

March Check-in: Riley Blake Designs 2026 Block Challenge

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It’s the last Tuesday of the month, and if you’re participating in the Riley Blake Designer Block Challenge Sew Along, that means it’s the catch-up and showcase day for the blocks that you’ve made thus far. So here are the blocks I’ve made:

Block 1: Four Corners, by Lori Holt

Block 2: Spin Around, by Amy Smart

Block 3: Starry Bloom, by Cherry Guidry

Block 8: Turning Point, by Sandy Gervais

Block 10: Plus One, by Amber Elliot

I am behind on the schedule, but I have sewn up five of the ten released blocks. It’s a new color palette for me and I was getting really nervous that I had accidentally imagined that these colors would work with each other, but as more blocks go up on my design wall, the less anxious I feel about the palette. I think it’s going to work out very nicely in the end.

The story behind the color palette is: My front room’s couches are a weird shade of green that I originally thought was an aqua/teal blue when I picked them out in the showroom eight years ago, but have had to concede that they are indeed a bluish-sage green of sorts, which does not match my otherwise aqua and teal décor in that part of the house. So I’m pivoting my color palette in that part of the house, and this quilt will be a part of that transition. I’m still figuring out what works, color-wise.

I stumbled across two images of throw pillows designed by Caitlin Wilson, which use that weird shade of green in a color palette that looks really pretty to me, so I decided to embrace it. I’m already a collector of blue and white china patterns, which are featured in her particular decorating aesthetic, so I’m going to accept this happy discovery as kismet and move forward with it enthusiastically.

I am using Riley Blake Confetti Cotton Solids in the following colors to match the colors in the pillows:

  • “Couch Green”/Sage Green: Raindrop
  • Jade Green: Cozy
  • Navy: Oxford Blue
  • Powder Blue: Boy Blue
  • Medium Periwinkle: Periwinkle
  • Dark Periwinkle: Forget-me-not
  • Dark Pink: Grapefruit
  • Light Pink: Peaches ‘n Cream
  • White: Cloud

I will be substituting my own design for one of the blocks because I’m just not into it. It hasn’t been released yet, so I don’t know when that change will pop up on my schedule, but it’s the one block that looks like the sun rising behind mountains—no offense to the designer of that particular block, but it just doesn’t match well enough to the other blocks to make me happy and I’m going to lean into the fact that I am the boss of my own quilts and can make substitutions when I want.

The sew along will end at the end of May, so we’re getting there…I’ll need to up my sewing time on this! There will be another three blocks released in April, so the goal is to have those three, plus the five I’m behind on, sewn up…so I guess I’m shooting for two blocks a week for the next month. Fingers crossed!

Patterns for the blocks are free and can be found here on the Riley Blake Designs website.