Studio Squirrels At Work

In the last post, I mentioned my dilemma for backing Rastro.  

The large scale floral in this photo was intended to back Motley (the fourth Macnas series bonus quilt).  After weeks of dithering, I finally decided that Motley, the top, will be donated to Many Hands and Many Hearts so it can become a comfort quilt.  

That decision left the floral yardage available and, truth be told, I like it better for Rastro than either of the other scrappy pieced backing options.

There wasn't enough yardage to match the design along the center seam so I inserted a strip of Kaffe Fassett 's 2021 Moss Flower.  

And now there are two freshly pressed backings hanging on the balcony - Rastro's on the left and the one for Ludiosis on the right.  (both are approximately 62" x 84").

And speaking of Ludiosis, despite my earlier statements about setting the blocks aside for later, this has become a full-on project (thank you, studio squirrels).  

I simply had to put some of the blocks up on the design wall to reassure myself that my plan would work.  Happily, there's definitely enough potential to keep going.  As of Thursday evening, I need only another 30-40 blocks before I can take these off the wall and start on the real layout.  

I'm very glad I did not follow the tutorial's suggestion to sew everything into one massively long strip before pressing and trimming individual blocks.  I've had so much fun adding the narrow cut off edges into the fabric mix and trimming the 4.5" blocks a little along.

* * *

With another ten days with temperatures in the high 90s predicted, I'm hopeful this run of available studio time continues.

Quiltdivajulie

Two More Flimsies and January's Monthly Recap

Belatedly, here is a full photo of Hanabi's quilt top (Macnas series no. 10).  

(earlier not-yet-pressed reveal post is HERE)

Hanabi has a wide back waiting in the closet with its binding already made.

Rastro, one of the four Macnas series bonus quilts, is now a flimsy.  

52" x 72"

I need to seam the backing for Rastro and choose binding fabric.

Motley, another of the four Macnas series bonus quilts, is also now a flimsy (corners to be squared after quilting).

48" x 64"

I need to seam the backing fabric but the binding is already made.

* * *

We're still essentially housebound although DH has ventured out twice.  Our driveway is still only partially uncovered and after Thursday's high in the low 40s, we're back in the below-freezing zone until sometime next week.   

(local schools and  most city offices/services ended up closing for this whole week)

* * *

For my own 2026 record keeping, these were my January "finishes"

Quilt tops

• Enchanted, Macnas series no. 9 
• Hanabi, Macnas series no. 10
• Githerments, Macnas series bonus quilt
• Githerments scrappy pieced backing 
• Rastro, Macnas series bonus quilt (above)
• Motley, Macnas series bonus quilt (above)

Finishes

• Trouvaille
• Esperance long runner no. 2

Other

• Bindings made for six waiting quilt tops
• Fandango, Macnas series no. 7 pin basted
• Prepped fabric/batting for set of 6 reversible placemats

My goals for February

• Quilt and finish Fandango
• Pin baste, quilt, and finish Incandescent (to be gifted in April)
• Pin baste Grandiose, Macnas series no. 8
• Camp Sefton - Young Man to lay out top for their new autumn ottoman quilt RUSKA (noun-the time of fall foliage). This will be an after school/weekend project which will likely end up including some sewing.

We shall see how things go . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"The most effective way to do it is to do it."

Amelia Earhart

More Bits and Pieces

With the top for Rastro laid out on the design wall, I pulled out the project box for Motley, the fourth Macnas bonus quilt.

Featuring the potato chip block design, centers for the twenty 12" blocks will be leftover pairs from Grandiose (no. 8).  

This is the backing and binding for Motley.  I'm so happy to be able to finally use this gorgeous long-stashed Philip Jacobs Snow Leopard yardage.

Because I had so much fun making the Ottoman Quilt and Esperance, I started a project box to collect leftover strips and trimmed backing pieces to make another scrappy quilt top/back.  

And after creating four Macnas bonus quilts, I'm calling an end to using up leftover pieces and parts . . .  So I've added the remaining 2.5" x 4.5" colors to that future scrappy project box.

I also set up a low volume scrappy collection box for these end cuts from the original Macnas series rectangle cuttings as well as any remaining 2.5" x 4.5" pieces.  

(in looking at this photo, I need to move that darker pink print to the other project box)

Day 5 of DH's ongoing efforts to clear the frozen ice/sleet/snow slab from our main driveway.  

(the food-coloring outlining the edges of the driveway is just in case any of the delivery drivers venture out - so far we haven't seen any of them since last Friday)

And across town, this is how Young Man and his friends (and their parents) are spending their snow-day afternoons . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

Githerments - First Flimsy of 2026

Githerments, one of the Macnas bonus quilts, is a flimsy - the first one of 2026.

(Githerments is an old Yorkshire word that refers to a random assortment or mix of items)

Approximately 52" x 72" and made from the excess cut pieces and leftovers after piecing the top for Fandango, Macnas No. 7.

On the right side of the flimsy in this photo you can see a strip pieced using blocks left after piecing Githerments.  

Waste not. Want not. 

Onward to the backing for Githerments . . . 

After I pieced Trouvaille (which is currently on the pool noodles ready to be pin basted/quilted before month end), I cobbled together this scrappy backing.  

Originally I had a panel in the center but removed it and replaced it with more of the one pink fabric already in the back.

I like pink, a lot, but this back was overwhelming so I never sewed it together aside from the left and right columns.

I tucked the pieces into a project box, hoping that another quilt would come along where I might be able to salvage all or part of that fabric.

In that same box I also added a long insert strip pieced with half-rectangles from Pretty in Pink and another long insert strip pieced with more leftovers from Blossom and Fandango.

When I started work on Githerments, I knew I had found the elusive project for all that pink.

But this time, I added more scrappy goodness, creating vertical columns to take advantage of all three leftovers insert strips and two different leftover binding strips.  

I like this and will get it sewn together in the next few days so Githerments will be ready to quilt right after I finish Trouvaille and Fandango (similar color palettes and likely the same quilting thread).

* * *

One of my primary goals in the studio this year is to move the remaining Macnas quilts along so that all 12, and maybe even the four bonus quilts (Holus Bolus, Rastro, Motley, and Githerments), are finished by year-end.  I've set the studio squirrels a challenge to keep me on task as the year progresses - we'll see if they can keep their end of the agreement.

Quiltdivajulie

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So Many Odds and Ends (and Beginnings)

I'll start this run down with the backing for Kefi (link below). 

Earlier this year, I kept a basket of leftover strata after making Young Man's quilt named Dragon Fyre.  

Now I have found the perfect way to use them - I sewed the segments end to end and created a long insert strip for the back seam in Kefi's backing.  

I posted Kefi's flimsy finish HERE along with a bit of the quilt's back story. (July 2022)

(Note - for any of the quilts shown here, you can click on their label at the bottom of the post to see all posts for the projects)

Incandescent is now two horizontal seams shy of becoming a finished quilt top.

Stay tuned . . . 

All the leftover trimmings and such from Esperance, Haru, and several other projects have been sewn together into a piece that measures 14" wide x 115" long.

I plan to use part of it to make an Easter/Spring runner for the buffet in our dining room.  Once I know how much is left, I can decide how I want to use the remaining section.

(no rush on this one)

I have pin basted and chosen quilting thread for Thankful, the new November wall quilt for our dining room.

This will be the next project under Max's needle, to be followed by Vellichor and Coddiwomple.

My goal is to have all three finished by month end.  

Time will tell.

The box of rectangles leftover from the 12 Macnas-inspired quilts has been staring at me from the closet shelf.

This batch will become Rastro (although the segments will have 6 rectangles and not 8 as shown above).

I chose to leave out the dark browns and aboriginals (of which there weren't very many of either one).

Here are Rastro's 78 6-block segments sorted out for eventual piecing - not until next year.

Once Rastro was sorted and put away, I still had a pretty large pile of rectangles along with 20 pairs from Grandiose.

I decided it was time to make 20 seemingly-everywhere-online potato chip blocks using the Grandiose pairs as the consistent (but scrappy) centers.  Since taking this photo, I've also sorted the light rectangles onto these plates. 

I found the KF yardage (top of photo) that was set aside for a someday backing that will work perfectly for this 48" x 60" ish quilt that I've named MOTLEY (adjective - a mixture of often incongruous elements). 

Only a few rectangles left now - not sure what I'll use them for but I'll figure that out next year.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Getting organized is a sign of self-respect."

Gabrielle Bernstein