March, 2026

While I was sorting out my 2.5″ bin of scraps I decided it was time to use some of them up. I also had the plain squares in my stash so it didn’t cost me anything (except what I’d already spent). I worked on this on Thursdays when I sewed with Gail.

I did a cross on each of the 16-Patches and my signature star on the plain blocks. I often donate the top to the Guild so someone else can sandwich and quilt it but since it was a simple one I did it myself.

This is one of the smaller projects in my Little Handfuls of Scraps pattern book. I finished the top at the Guild’s January retreat but waited until I had a batch of tops sandwiched before I started quilting. And the quilting was quick and easy – just a straight line down the middle of the flying geese.

Madison also requested a hot pad for her table that was big enough that she could set pots and baking dishes directly from the oven to the table. Again, I sent some patterns and she picked this one. I’m not sure where the pattern came from; it was a print-out that someone (probably Gail) gave me.

I used the same blue fabrics that were in her placemats; the hearts in the centre don’t show up quite as obviously as they did in the pattern but I think that is a good thing. I used a double layer of insul-bright so her table top should be safe.

Making the octagon shape wasn’t difficult but it wasn’t easy stitching the binding – all those corners.

Before Christmas Madison asked if I would make her a set of placemats. I sent her some pattern ideas and this is the one she picked; the original pattern came from Stacia. The request was for them to be made in blue and grey. I went through my stash and came up with fabrics that I thought fit the bill

This was an easy and fun pattern to make. I picked out six fabrics and since Madison wanted six placemats I was able to put some of each fabric in each placemat but I arranged the sizes and placement differently.

Quilting was just straight line as well as my often-used eight-pointed star.