Hazel - From the Archives to Cuddles

Hazel

56” x 72”

Like her namesake eyes, no one can ever quite get a perfect read on her. She’s a bit mischevious but still follows the rules most of the time. She’s shy, but a deep conversationalist. She loves the beach but hates the dirt. You can be two things at once.

My stash is deep, and that includes many unfinished projects, sets of blocks, teaching samples, and a bunch of random things. I’ve been carrying around this bin of started blocks and chosen fabric for over a decade now. I pulled it out as part of my series: Old Projects Cheryl Has Laying Around, What Should She Do With Them? These blocks come from on of the patterns in my book, A Month of Sundays. The original was calm and inspired by beach grass. This version? She’s a Hazel.

The pattern itself is super easy. I think I started with 10 blocks already made and some strips cut. I did the rest of the cutting, sewing, pressing, and even assembly in a few more hours. Not counting the futzing on the design wall to get the layout just right.

For quilting I went really easy on myself. End to end wavy lines in a light pink. It emphasizes the linear nature of the blocks but also softens them. I had a day rented on the local long arm and this was a very quick finish. And score! Found some Liberty cotton in the clearance bin to use on the back.

To bind the quilt I had just enough of this mint green and white stripe. A lot of the fabrics came from a collection that was released about 12-13 years ago from Cloud 9. I used the stripe in other colours in the quilt itself but saved this green for the binding. With my much improved machine binding skills it became a perfect frame for the finish.

Hazel, like a few others, made their way into new homes this summer. A warm treat for some special people. More on that in another post.

Gaia - Slabs from Scraps for Donation

Gaia

60” x 72”

She lives up to her namesake. Forever picking up bits of things - pretty stones, a fallen leaf, even the trash. Forever finding beauty in all of it.

In need of a new finish in a short timeline, I turned to some class samples. You see, I always have my class samples ready to go. In this case, the samples were piling up. In each Scraptastic class or each Slabs only class I make a slab. It’s a great introduction in to organizing your scraps, then seeing both colour and value as you go to use them with some improvisational piecing. I usually make my class samples so that they can eventually be put into a quilt, should I so desire. Well, I desired.

Combined with a simple white on white print sitting in the stash I took the slabs from 14 separate classes (with a few still left for teaching) and put them together in a generously sized lap quilt. She is destined for a specific donation opportunity so I needed to make her big enough for adult snuggles.

Quilting was pretty straightforward. A simple loopy free motion pattern on the rented long arm. I chose a turquoise thread because it looked good with the backing fabrics. With white and all the colours on the front I could have picked anything.

I have meters and meters of this black and white stripe in my stash because, well, it’s a rather perfect binding. You can’t go wrong with it when you have a multi-coloured quilt. My machine binding skills are finally in a place where I am happy with them (after many, many, many mediocre efforts over the years - you get better each time) so it was nice to finish this off quickly this way. I used a turquoise thread in my machine again to stitch the binding down, this tying it all together.

She was ready for a special giveaway. More to come on that soon…

Flora - A Baby Doll quilt from Park blocks

Flora

36” x 36”

She’s a sweetheart. Flora loves all things nature, especially plants and birds. But she will also stop to rescue a bug. Even the caterpillars because, while kind of gross, she knows they will turn into something beautiful. So drink the nectar, watch the sunlight move through the trees, and count birds eating mountain ash berries outside your window, Flora will be right there along with you.

Earlier this year I finally gifted an overdue wedding present to my husband’s cousin and her wife. Around the same time their son was enjoying the new baby doll that Santa brought him. Knowing I hd a few extra blocks around, I turned them into a coordinating quilt. Now he can snuggle with his baby just like his Mamas snuggle with him.

There were already 3 blocks started (and none finished). They combined my old Tag Fabric and some prints from Heather Givans’ Succulents collection. Went into the vaults for these! I made the last block with another of Heather’s prints and something else I found in my stash. It was kind of neat to have a theme to the fabrics - all plants. The Park pattern by Carolyn Friedlander is a good opportunity to show off fabrics. On the back I used a Charlie Harper print with birds on it that I know the Mamas would appreciate.

On the original quilt I also quilted a grid. That one was a vertical/horizontal. On this one I went for diagonal. In both cases it should be sturdy enough with the hand applique. Both quilts are going to get some good snuggles.

To finish the quilt I had just enough of the green fabric from the original quilt to also bind this one. It’s another way to tie the two of them together.

Flora is already in her new home, already in use with that loved baby doll. She’s big enough for snuggling under right now. At one point in life I made a few dozen doll quilts and there were tiny. Just big enough to cover a doll or stuffie. While they are loved and used this way, I like the idea of making them a bit bigger so kiddo and doll can be snuggled together. It works while the kiddo is little, at least.

Book Cover Quilts

Join me for this crazy little exploration in quilt blocks.

For each book I read in 2025 I am making a quilt block inspired by the cover. Not necessarily by the book or the story itself, but by the cover. So it is really a block inspired by the book designer’s work. And they would have been guided by the contents of the book. Sometimes the covers use original artwork, created just for this purpose, sometimes they pull from existing artwork.

Credit where credit is due - for both the book designers themselves and the woman who gave me the idea for this project. Margaret Fleisher did a similar thing for a 100 day project a few years ago. She is a great improv quilter! I was enamoured with her idea then and am doing my own version now.

I’m not here trying to make a literal interpretation of the book cover. Knowing that I am playing improvisationally I just try to capture the feel of the cover. Not every detail is included, and rarely is the text even referenced.

For example, for The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store above (amazing book by James McBride!) I used the illustration made by the designer Lauren Peters-Collaer as my started point. I picked fabrics from the scrap bin that were similar. To be honest, I debated going a bit more abstract as the human figure can be tough to translate, depending on the posture, and this posture is not an easy one. I am so glad I pursued the play! Of course, it is not exact, but it does have a clear relationship.

Don’t tell the others, but it is my favourite of the blocks so far! Probably also my favourite book of the year.

Someone on Instagram asked me if I was choosing books based on the covers. Nope! I read all sorts of books and choose them based on my mood more than anything. If you look at the books I’ve read this year I have memoir, literary fiction, historical fiction, cozy mystery, cozy Japanese, history, and more. I do consider audio books reading, so they might make the list too. Here are the books so far in 2025:

• Moon Road by Sarah Leipciger, cover art by Grant Haffner

• The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittle, cover design by Alysia Shewchuk, image by Xavier Noel

• Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock, cover illustration by Alessandro Valdrighi

• This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett, cover design by Robin Bilardello

• The Wager by David Grann, narrated by Dion Graham (this one is absolutely worth the audio book version)

• The Maid by Nita Prose, cover by Elena Giavaldi

• What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster, cover by Sara Wood

• The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, cover by Ingrid Paulson from art by Janet Hill

• Crook Manifesto by Colton Whitehead, cover by Oliver Munday

• The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl, cover design by Charlotte Struck, with art by Billy Renkl

• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, cover by Lauren Peters-Collaer

• The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, cover by Vi-An Nguyen

I’m not the kind of person who sets reading goals. As long as I read every day - even if only for a few minutes before bed - I am content. I usually keep a list of books read for the year and I finish about 20-30. So I am looking at the this list and kind of surprised I am already through a dozen!

For the blocks, I wait until I’ve finished 3 books, then I make the 3 blocks. It becomes a little afternoon of playtime and remembering the books. If you want to follow along a little more ‘live’ then make sure to check out Instagram. As for what I will do with the blocks? That remains to be determined.