Welcome to Saturday Quilt & Share. The first of 2024 – I have to keep reminding myself this is still only the first week of the year. Strangely I already have the feeling I’m playing catch-up, as though things are slipping away….  But I’m determined not to spend this year constantly feeling behind the pace and like I should have done more. I need to take time to enjoy what I am doing AND reflect on what is accomplished rather than getting swamped by ‘didn’t get done’ thoughts. By ‘accomplished’ I don’t just mean the successes. I will be including the trying, learning and failures as activities worthy of note and reflection. 

Anyway enough of all that… Back to Saturday Quilting Bring and Share where we can bring along our projects and share in the lovely, inspiring ideas, finishes and Works In Progress being aired by members of the Worldwide Quilting Community. Leaving an encouraging comment when you have visited and benefitted from reading a blog post is a great way of adding to the Community. See below for links that will get you started on this years blog tour.

I have two three projects to bring along this week.

Project 1 – The Jungle Luxe Quilt

I’ve chosen the backing and binding fabrics as well as purchasing a pack of Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 wadding.

The extra wide backing is ‘Our House’ by Natalie Barnes. The stripy binding fabric is from a 2021 Alison Glass collection.

Next step is basting 😛 I’m not entirely sure of a quilt design for this one. I want to avoid stitching through the faces of the jungle creatures so I may opt for random wavy lines stitched side to side. I wish I felt brave enough to stitch out a free motion jungle leaf design but at the moment I know I don’t have resilience in reserve to set out on anything as testing as a new FMQ design. Sometimes it’s best to play safe 😉

Project 2 – Modern Half Square Triangle Sampler

This is a real ‘blast from the past’. I followed the 2016 QAL run by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts. The QAL was great and I learned a lot about making HSTs. I made 22 of the 24 blocks but didn’t get round to stitching them into a quilt top.

At last they are out of the UFO Cupboard of Shame*, up on the design wall, smiling down on me, with all their bright citrus charm. I’ve chosen 20 of my 22 12″ blocks to create a quilt top with a 4 x 5 layout. I could just stitch the blocks together as they are but I’m thinking of adding sashing, maybe a blue on white fabric… Anyway it feels good to be bringing such an old UFO back into the light, we’re heading for a finish!

*Linda at Flourishing Palms suggested I rename by UFO repository the ‘Cupboard of Dreams’. So hence forward I will endeavour to think of and refer to my UFOs in this much more positive way 😊

Project 3 – Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2024

I’m looking forward to joining in with Angela’s very relaxed Rainbow Scrap Challenge QAL. I was wondering which block(s) to make from my scraps when my Instagram scrolling was halted by a photo of Jo at Thimble & Needles finished scrappy quilt. (Jo’s pattern, ‘Clippings’, is available to purchase as a pdf download). A great way to use up neutral, black & white as well as colour scraps. I think I will make 4″ finished blocks with an occasional 8″ block to mix things up a bit.

My neutral, B&W and green scrap bins ready for Rainbow Scrap Challenge action!

Here are the links into our Worldwide Quilting Community:

Elana has curated a useful list of quilt themed link ups that us bloggers and readers of blogs will find helpful as we seek to make connections and share inspiration. If you enjoy visiting link-ups please do let us know about them in the comments. Thank you!

Having a design wall is a game changer for any patchwork quilter. Amira has shared how she made her design wall from readily available lightweight materials. I did something very similar last year and it’s holding up well (as you will know from all the design wall photos that pop up in my blog posts!).

Fancy a QAL broken down into short, mindful segments? Designed to give you time to enjoy unpressured creativity whether you are new to patchwork quilting or an experienced quilt maker? Sonia says her Mindful Quilt II (the first Mindful Quilt Along was in 2020) is ‘a fun, low pressure quilt along that encourages you to slow down, enjoy the process of making, and be creative’. Find out more about the QAL and Sonia at her blog, Fabric & Flowers.

Remember the Fall Foliage QAL I joined … and didn’t complete? Well! Krista has compiled an inspiring show & tell blog post sharing many finished and many unfinished Fall Foliage quilts. I will be keeping the link to the show & tell post easy to find as I feel it will be a good motivator to get me back on it with this quilt.

JaninieMaries’s 2023 Wrap Up is an enjoyable read as she shares a variety of projects finished through the year.

Rachel is geared up for her Positivities 2024 BOM. It’s a subscription BOM described as ‘Suitable for intermediate quilters. During the course of the year, you will learn techniques for strip piecing, foundation paper piecing, simple curved seams and partial seams. No prior experience with these techniques is assumed. Pattern club includes detailed directions. Advanced quilters will also enjoy the journey!’

Linking with Alycia for Finished or Not Friday. Alycia has a lovely gingham patchwork quilt to celebrate and a little confession to make too… How many of us have already broken the New Year UFO pledge and started a new project? 😃

Happy New Year! Happy Stitching!

Allison