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

FQS Sewcialites 3 Check-in: May Update

May 29, 2026May 29, 2026Leave a comment

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:

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:

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

April 25, 2026May 13, 2026Leave a comment

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

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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Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Block 3 "Cabin Life", sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara

Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: March Check-in

March 27, 2026March 27, 20261 Comment

I am having so much fun participating in this sew along! I haven’t done a sew along years, but have had my eye on some in recent years and I’m so glad I decided to just go with it and jump in this year! We all know I love Fat Quarter Shop, and part of that love stems from their well-written and well-organized patterns and sew alongs, so it’s fun to be caught up in the fun of something like this again. It’s giving big Farm Girl Vintage vibes from way back in the day.

The sew along is still rather new, so if you want to join in you totally should!

Like all quilters do at the beginning of a new quilt, I had to decide on a color palette. I like to add constraints and restrictions when I’m figuring out my color palettes, and I also really love to use community sew alongs as an excuse to work through a problem area in my scrap bins. I’ve noticed, over the past few years, that my green scrap bins have been bursting at the seams, but whenever I go to work through my green scraps, most of them are a yellow-green color, which isn’t a color I like to work with that much. For this sew along I decided I’d try to work through as many of those yellow green/lime green scraps as possible.

As I thought about a cohesive color palette that incorporated yellow-greens, I had a flash of inspiration: Cherry Limeade. Citrusy colors and fruity visuals. It’s always fun when a color palette excites you. I committed and haven’t regretted it one bit. I am LOVING this quilt.

The sixth block pattern will be published today, but I wanted to do a round-up post at month’s end, so I’ll just be showing the first five blocks I’ve made up until now. Block 6 will happen…sometime next week, probably, given the craziness of this weekend’s schedule.

Block 1: “Idyllic”

Block 2: “Twinsies”

Block 3: “Cabin Life”

Block 4: “Spring Wind”

Block 5: “Little Love”

Thoughts on the Setting Blocks

Looking at the final layout for the finished quilt, I’m aware of the setting blocks and realizing I’d probably prefer to make them ahead of time, rather than waiting for the release of the official block pattern at the end of the sew along. The setting blocks are easy enough to reverse engineer: They’re just two 5-inch squares sewn together and then attached to a 5 x 9.5-inch rectangle. So I’m hoping to start sewing up one or two each week along with whatever new block pattern is released. Then I won’t have a crazy amount of extra blocks to sew at the end.

You can download the patterns for the blocks on Fat Quarter Shop’s website.

Links to specific patterns:

There’s also a very active Facebook group for this sew along, if you want to join: Sewcialites Lounge, and they are so much fun to interact with throughout the week. If you’re looking for an upbeat community of sewists, you’ll find them there!

Scrappy Thursday: Clementine Quilt Month #3

February 10, 2022February 8, 2022Leave a comment

It only occurred to me now, as I sat down to write this blog post, that this isn’t actually a scrap project. BUT…it was in my scrappy project bins for some reason; I’m thinking I threw the blocks into whatever bin was handy as I packed up my craft room three years ago, and I didn’t think beyond “What’s in the scrappy project bins?” when deciding what projects to put into the Scrappy Thursday rotation. Oh well. It’s been a long time that this has been waiting, and this is the way I’ll be able to get it done the fastest, so I’ll just go forward with it.

Of course, just because I put some of the fabrics into the project bin didn’t mean I put all of the fabrics into the bin, so I spent a large portion of my sewing time trying to locate the background fabric for this quilt. It was tucked away with a completely different quilt I was working on when we had to pack up, and those two quilts were jammed into the back of a Christmas drawer, despite not being Christmas-related quilts whatsoever. (I never want to move again.)

Alright, Month #3 is the Peaches & Plenty block, and geez…these blocks took forever to make! I don’t know if I’ve gotten extremely slow or what, but I think I put at least six hours into these. Not my favorite pattern, but it doesn’t matter anymore because they’re DONE and now I’ll move on with my life. Woo hoo!

It was nice to revisit this project and look through it again and start getting excited. It’s an interesting-looking finished quilt that is different from anything else I’ve ever made, and I’m looking forward to the completed project…which should hopefully happen in May. Slow and steady…

Month 3 blocks are the ones on the right. Building up a collection!

I was supposed to get these done last month, but it didn’t work out that way. I’m hoping to get onto the Month 4 blocks this month as well, but we’ll see how well that pans out.

Scrappy Thursday: Brickhouse Quilt: Blocks 1-4

January 6, 2022March 14, 20253 Comments

It’s always a good thing when you make a goal and you complete the first part of it! I’ve completed the first occurrence of my new “Scrappy Thursdays” goal to work on getting the scrap bins down to a more manageable level each Thursday. This week’s scrappy project in the rotation was the first four blocks of my Brickhouse quilt.

I am really liking this pattern. It uses slightly bigger than I normally use pieces, so it eats up fabric a little better, and the construction is super easy. I’ve decided to use aquas and turquoises for the roofs of my houses, and pinks and reds for the bricks. And then I’m pairing all that with scrappy low-volume prints for the background. It turns out that I was pretty low on skinny red scraps, so I’m actually having to dive into my next-larger bin of scraps for the reds.

I’m thinking I might make multiple Brickhouse quilts this year because I like this pattern so much. House quilts are adorable anyway, so having lots of them would be so cute.

Alright, one Scrappy Thursday down, fifty-one more to go! Anyone else have scrappy goals for this year?

Inspired by this scrappy pattern? Wanna make one of your own? You can download the free pattern here.

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 8: Rail Fence Star

October 2, 2020April 11, 20211 Comment

OK, let’s see if my blog is finally going to let me publish an actual post…it’s being weird this week, and coupled with how lousy I was feeling yesterday, I decided to just wait out the bug. A few hours late shouldn’t hurt anyone’s plans, I hope…

We are getting so close to the end, you all! How exciting!

You can download the pattern instructions here:

sew-many-stars-bom-pattern_block-8-rail-fence-star-block Download

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 7: Shoofly Star Block

September 4, 2020September 3, 20201 Comment

We’re starting to get close to the end of our sew along! School has started, and hopefully that means a little extra time in your sewing rooms! Alright, this month’s block is the Shoofly Star Block:

You can download the pattern instructions here:

sew-many-stars-bom-pattern_block-7-shoofly-star-block Download

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Nature Trail Quilt for Blank Quilting

July 31, 2020July 31, 2020Leave a comment

I was beyond thrilled to open my July box from Blank Quilting and find the Nature Trail fabric collection within! It’s a woodsy collection filled with all the cute, scurrying things in the forest, along with colorful mushrooms and bugs. I’d been stalking the potential choices for July, and had already decided that if I received Nature Trail I’d use it to make some sort of quilt that featured Maple Leaf blocks. Because, hello, Canadian.

You know how you get about halfway through a project and start to second-guess yourself like crazy? I did that with this quilt so hard, and now, as I look at it in its completed form, I have no idea why that even happened. I absolutely love it, and it’s going to look fantastic with my autumn decor, which is super heavy on aqua and teal. (Well, let’s be honest, almost everything in my house is heavy on aqua and teal. Why would autumn be an exception?)

The collection is designed by Ingrid Slyder of Nutshell Designs and it’s a lovely mix of forest things. The scraps are dear to me and will be used very carefully because I love them so. There’s also two panels that come with this collection, and I have an idea stewing in my mind for one of them, and a general idea with no specifics for the other. Maybe I can get to those after I get through with mask-sewing. Because, hello, masks. *grumble, grumble*

Thank you again to Blank Quilting Corporation for this truly enjoyable opportunity to make beautiful things from fun collections.

A quick internet search shows that you can pre-order this fabric from Bug Fabrics here in Washington State (who I’ve ordered from in the past and they’re quick with shipping!), and it looks like Eclectic Maker in the UK will also carry the collection at some point.

Clementine Quilt Along Block #1

January 25, 2018January 24, 20186 Comments

Clementine-QAL-665x285

YES! It’s Clementine Quilt Along time! Fat Quarter Shop has designed a new block of the month program to help raise funds for childhood cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

st-judes-final-300x218

I signed on to sew along, and here’s my block:

It’s called “Watermelon Wheel,” and, if I may, I have some advice about putting it together (aka “Don’t Be Dumb Like Cara Was”)

When you go to sew up the diagonal components of the block, don’t go on auto-pilot and turn them into flying geese, and
After you re-cut the pieces for the diagonals, CHECK THEIR DIRECTION before starting to sew them, or you may end up with a whole lot of diagonals that go the wrong way.

However, once you finally remember how to sew like a good little sewist, this is a nice little block to make. It looks great when you’re done, and part of the fun of this particular quilt along is that you’ll make two sizes of each block:

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I think it’s going to look pretty great when it’s all done!

I’m joining other bloggers to get the word out about this great fundraising opportunity, and we’re all sewing up Clementine blocks of our own. If you’d like to see the other blocks out there, here’s who’s sewing along:

April of April Rosenthal (@amrosenthal)
Bonnie of Sunset Family Living (@sunsetfamilyliving)
Cara of That Crafty Cara (@thatcraftycara) <—that’s me!
Carrie of Moda Cutting Table (@modafabrics)
Denise of Pieced Brain (@piecedbrain)
Elise of Elise and Emelie (@eliseandemelie)
Gina of Carpe Quiltin (@gina_tell_carpequiltin)
Heather of A Creative Pursuit (@acreativemama)
Hilary of By Hilary Jordan (@byhilaryjordan)
Jan of Cocoa Quilts (@cocoaquilts)
Jen of Heritage Threads (@heritage.threads)
Joanne of Quilts by Joanne (@turtlequilterjo)
Kairle of Kairle Oaks Handcrafted Goodness (@kairleoaks)
Kendra of Good Starter (@good_starter)
Kristen of 3 in the Nest (@threeinthenestraleigh)
Kristina of Center Street Quilts (@centerstreetquilts)
Leah of Ponderings from My Heart (@ponderingsfrommyheart)
Melanie of A Bit of Scrap Stuff (@mellierc)
Melissa of Happy Quilting (@happyquiltingmc)
Pat of Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan)
Pat B. of Life in the Scrapatch (@scrapatches)
Patty of Elm Street Quilts (@elmstreetquilts)
Rebecca of One Wee Bird (@oneweebird)
Sarah of 123 Quilt (@123quilt)
Seema of SSK Craft Shop (@sskcraftshop)
Sherri of A Quilting Life (@aquiltinglife)
Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts (@sondradavison)
Stephanie of Quilt ‘n Party (@quiltnparty)
Tanya of Tanya Quilts in CO (@tanyaquiltsinco)
Teresa of Aurea’s Kitchen (@aureaskitchen)
Vickie of Crocheting Vixen (@crochetingvixen)

Fat Quarter Shop has kitted up fabric for both the top and also for the backing, in April Rosenthal’s newest fabric collection, Mama’s Cottage.

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For more information about the sew along, including this month’s pattern download, you can check Fat Quarter Shop’s Clementine Sew Along landing page.

If you’d like to sew along, Fat Quarter Shop is asking for a $5 donation for each block pattern download, which you can donate here, to help them reach their goal of $40,000 raised to help in the battle against childhood cancers.

Gingham Block pattern

February 6, 2016February 6, 20161 Comment

We have a sewing group in my neighborhood, and we’re running another quilt block swap this year. The pattern that February’s queen bee wants cannot be found online, so I’ve written one up for us. It’s going to be pretty cute!

Gingham Block pattern.docx-page-001