FMQ a Baby Quilt and Cell Phone/Device Holder

Hello and welcome. By the time you read this, I will be ready 😕 and hopefully making my way across the Pond for an amazing trip! Our first destination is London💂 and then Southampton to embark on the ship. Before I leave, I'll share my latest finish. 

FMQ a Baby Quilt for the Guild

You've seen the two scrappy BB/cuddle quilts that I made this summer. I took them, as well as the quilt shown below to the Common Thread Quilt Guild (CTQG) meeting this week. They are donated through our Community Projects.

I picked up the flimsy, batting, backing and binding last year at a guild meeting. I quilted most of it months ago and just needed to finish FMQ the borders. This time I didn't bind the quilt before quilting the border since the borders are 6" wide. That's quite wide and I didn't want to take a chance that it wouldn't work out.

Finished baby quilt for Community Projects

Back of the baby quilt

I FMQ the centre blocks with straight lines converging to the middle of the triangles but extending out to the next rows/columns. With that geometric quilting, I wanted to add organic shapes to the borders. I FMQ vines of heart shaped leaves. Even though I was using an orange thread, it was still sometimes difficult to see within the colourful fabric pattern. I'm always amazed how a colour that I think should pop out, will disappear. The only reason I wanted it to pop out was so that I could see it clearly when I FMQ it. 😕

Here is the pretty backyard photo. My garden is mostly weeds but at least they're mostly alive now that we've finally gotten some rain.

Backyard glamour shot 😎

Scrappy Cuddle Quilts

Because we all love photos of quilts, here are the two scrappy cuddle quilts that I handed in this week at the guild meeting. You can read more about them in previous posts (see Related Links).

Purple Scrappy Cuddle Quilt

Teal Scrappy Cuddle Quilt

Cell Phone/Device Holder

Last Spring, my childhood friend, Sylvie, made me a cell phone or device holder. JJ (my adult child) and I have been moving it around the house and using it. JJ asked me to make more so that we could keep them handy....so I finally did. They will be very useful and I have made one to take with me and another as a gift for my niece.

Original holder made by my friend Sylvie

More cell phone/device holders

The holders only require a 9" x 12" fabric piece., a cup and a half of rice and some fluffy batting. I used batik fabrics since they are pretty and already out to use for the Bloomers blocks, Of course, the neutral batik one is for my niece - I love the leaves pattern on it. The one supporting my old cell phone is an amazing fabric that looks like cathedral windows. I've been wanting to use that fabric for years - so now I have and I'm keeping it 😍 JJ got the two other two and we'll keep my friend's one downstairs to share.

I did learn a couple of things 😊while making these. The first thing is that once the holders are filled with rice and fluff, you want to place the pins facing the top so that they can easily slide out of the way when sewing that last seam. This became very evident when I tried to remove the pins that were pointing up and difficult to remove before stitching.😉 

Ensure that the pins can be easily slid out of the way!

I also added a quilting clip at the beginning of the seam. It just keeps the fabric together while you fiddle around with it but is easily removed just before you start to sew.

What I learned

• I enjoyed FMQ the baby quilt that I didn't have to piece.😁
• At the guild meeting in June, I picked up another quilt top to be finished. It's wonderful - the committee puts the quilt top, batting, backing, binding and a label together. It goes so much faster to finish without having to figure things out...since there's always a chance of getting it wrong!
• I'm really glad to give back to the community, now that I have a little more time. Since my favourite part is the FMQ, it's a great way to get more practice without spending so much time piecing.
• Making the phone/device holders went really well and it was as easy as promised!
• I didn't have any fibre fill, so the first holder I made, after adding the rice, was filled with scraps of batting. I just had to try - but I removed it and then refilled it once I had bought the correct fill. 

Related links

• Finished Teal Cuddle Quilt, August 28, 2025
• Scrappy Purple BB Quilt Finish and FM Mavericks, July 31, 2025
• How to make a phone pillow holder

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Consider checking some out, after you've linked up below.

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 548 of Free Motion Mavericks! It was a very productive week! Thanks for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. 

Kat of Scrapbox Quilts finished two scrappy bargello quilts in the RSC colours. Each was simply FMQ. They are so lovely!

Kat's scrappy bargello quilt FMQ with slight waves

Kat's scrappy bargello quilt FMQ with straight lines

Sally from Crafts, Cavies and Cooking is in the process of FMQ a lovely, large quilt. In her plan of attack, she stitched all of the stars first. Now she's working on the crosses. What lovely FMQ!

Sally is now FMQ the crosses!

Sally was FMQ the stars

Deb, the Scrappy Quilter is rolling along and finishing more quilts! This latest one involved curves :-) The FMQ is lovely as it echoes the curves of those gorgeous blocks. 

Deb's lovely curved blocks quilt

Details of Deb's FMQ as she echoes the curves

Gwyned Trefethen is busily FMQ her very large 2024 RSC quilt. Here is her latest accomplishment.

Gwyned FMQ her 2024 RSC quilt

Melva of Melva Loves Scraps had another finish this week! Here is her Rainbow Korner Kabin quilt. She FMQ it with a Baptist Fan design.

Melva's Rainbow Korner Kabin quilt

Close-up of Melva's Rainbow Korner Kabin quilt

It's now your turn 😍

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Three Finished Bloomers Blocks

Hi and welcome 😊 I'm so happy that you made it! I've been playing and have many projects in progress. Here is one of my favourites! I appliquéd a third block from Bloomers' SAL It's been a lot of fun, especially since I was able to add some embroidery. 

Bloomers Blocks - so far

Three blocks from the Bloomers SAL

The blocks are part of the Sew Along created by Denise @Quiltery. The Bloomers quilt will be amazing! I'm not sure how large I'll make the quilt - we have lots of time, so we'll see. 

quiltery.com

Here's what I've made so far.

First block

I appliquéd the flowers, used the chain stitch to embroider the stems and the back stitch for the lines in the flowers.

My first block - appliqué and embroidered

Second block

This is my favourite block so far. Since the block has a butterfly, I decided to use the butterfly and flower shapes that were in my batik fabrics. It was all appliquéd. I only embroidered the stem. I reserve the right to add embroidery at any time 😀

My second block - using the fabric as pattern

Third block

I've skipped one of the pattern's blocks - I may come back to it. It depends on how large I'll end up making the quilt. I loved adding the French knots 

My third block - dark to light

I've used most of my interesting fabrics to make these first three blocks. I'm trying not to buy more batik...but I think that "resistance is futile"😄

What I learned

• I've enjoyed making the blocks. It helps that I'm using batik fabric which is the same on both sides of the fabric. That means that I haven't put the adhesive for the appliqué on the wrong side!
• I was so happy to make that second block using the pattern of the flowers and butterfly from the fabric. I do have a couple more fabrics that I could use, so I'll try to make more so that they'll fit in.
• I love that I can add embroidery to these blocks. It adds so much (besides, who wants to appliqué a stem!)

Related links

• Bloomers SAL and Hexies, July 28, 2025
• Bloomers Sew Along with Denise @Quiltery

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You might want to check some out, after you've linked up! below Bloomers' Progress on Quiltery, Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put your foot down, 

Here they are again 😍

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 547 of Free Motion Mavericks! What an amazing week everyone has had! Thanks so much for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. 

Gail from Quilting Gail finished making Bloomers - the Sew Along quilt that Denise @Quiltery designed. Gail used the embroidery option to make hers - what a sweet quilt! You'll want to check out her post for details of the FMQ!

Bloomers - made, embroidered and FMQ by Gail
based on Denise's SAL

Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts released her Westfield pattern - the quilt was originally published in Make Modern. What a lovely quilt!

Preeti's Westfield quilt

Kat from Scrapbox Quilts has been very busy. First we have a lovely aqua table topper. As you might imagine, it was rough to bind but looks great! Kat FMQ it using various designs. You'll want to enlarge the picture and check out her post!

 Aqua table topper made and FMQ by Kat

Kat also quilted three donation children's quilts - they are so fun. Here's one of them - you'll want to check out the others!

One of the three children's quilts quilted by Kat

Gwyned Trefethen is FMQ her very large quilt. Here is a glimpse at her FMQ process. You'll want to read her post to learn more!

Gwyned needs a lot of preparation to quilt this one!

Sandra Walker of mmm quilts finished this lovely USO (check out her post to figure this one out!) called Suburbia. Someone is going to be very happy this Christmas! 

What a great shot of the water...and the quilt!
Suburbia by Sandra

It's now your turn 😊

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Finished Teal Cuddle Quilt

Allô and welcome 😊 The week has rushed by and I worked on many different things. No Cowboy quilt this week - it and I are taking a break! Here's the project that I finished this week.

Teal Cuddle Quilt

The Table Scraps Challenge for August is Aqua. I always have to look up this colour and substitute teal in my head - let's face it, aqua means water, so there are lots of colours that could fit. I'm not great at identifying colours (as my youngest adult child will confirm), so I tend to ignore fancy names and subtleties in colours. For some reason, teal I know, so there it is!

Teal cuddle or BB quilt - all washed and cuddly

The back of the teal cuddle quilt, and a loon!

It's raining out and my quick attempt at taking artsy pictures wasn't great. No worries, the quilt is done on time for the Table Scraps Challenge and I hope to bring it in to our guild in a couple of weeks.

These photos were taken last week as I Poppy sat and hand-stitched the binding.

Hand stitching the binding

Poppy, wondering what I'm up to!

You probably didn't notice but I hand-stitched the binding before I FMQ the border. I find this really useful to do since I don't cut away any FMQ as I square up the quilt and add the binding. 

This time, I also sewed down the binding after I had hand-stitched it. This ensures that my hand-stitches last longer. I know that it's an extra step but when I just machine stitch the binding, there's always overhang at the back. At least now the overhang is hand-stitched in place.

FMQ the border with vines and leaves

The binding is also machine stitched from the front.
You can see the FMQ from the back

What I learned

• Every time I bind a quilt, I have to look up how wide to make the binding. I'm including this here so that I can look it up the next time! I used a 2½" binding. I think that a 2" binding would have been better. I'll try that next time.
• For a quilt that might be washed a lot, machine stitching the binding down makes me feel better about the binding staying together. I will probably keep machine stitching it after hand-stitching, unless I get the correct width of the binding!
• It was a lot of fun FMQ the orange peel design but the quilt didn't have that many squares. I'll have to consider using smaller squares for more FMQ orange peel fun!😍
• I'm really happy to have made another BB or cuddle quilt. It's such a fun project and it will get used eventually.

Related links

• Scrappy Purple BB Quilt Finish and FM Mavericks, July 31, 2025
• Self-care and Free Motion Mavericks, March 28, 2025
• Progress on the Small Blue Scrappy Quilt, March 13, 2025

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties, including Favorite Finish and the Table Scraps August Challenge. Check out some of these parties and remember to link up below! Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, Beauties Pageant, TGIFF, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2025, Oh Scrap!,

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 546 of Free Motion Mavericks! Thank you all for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. 

Kat of Scrapbox Quilts finished two baby quilts last week. Kat made Strip Tango and FMQ it with curvy strings with loops and some stars. She gave this one to a neighbour for her granddaughter, while Scrappy Red Bricks was quilted for her guild's community programs. 

Strip Tango made and FMQ by Kat

Kat quilted Scrappy Red Bricks for her guild

Gwyned Trefethen is still at it, FMQ her Rainbow Scraps Challenge quilt. Check out her post to see how she averted disaster on her latest machine embroidery project! 

Gwyned Trefethen FMQ her Rainbow Scraps Challenge quilt

Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting has been very busy making and FMQ more runners! Here are a few - you'll want to check out her post to get a better look at these and the others!

One of Vicki's latest runner - what fun FMQ

Cute fall table topper by Vicki

Fun fall runner by Vicky

Gail of Quilting Gail had a lovely purple butterfly quilt finish! Gail used the Rocket ruler for the straight lines and FMQ the curves and swirls. 

The butterfly quilt by Gail

Melva of Melva Loves Scraps finished her scrappy Hawaiian quilt. What fun! Check out her post to see the back of the quilt 😀

Melva's scrappy Hawaiian quilt

It's now your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Another Border on the Cowboy Panel

Hi and welcome 😎 It's been a good week! On Monday the Out Of The Box (OOTB) Fibre artists group had an outside meeting. It was such a treat to chat and visit with friends, outside in a park. We even had a gaggle of Canada geese wondering over. What a treat! I've also spent time outside in the backyard, ignoring the weeds and feeding and watching the birds, squirrels and chipmunk. They're an entertaining bunch! Their antics always make me smile.😀

Top Border on the Cowboy Panel

I'm so glad that the two side panels were easy to put together. If they hadn't been, I'm not sure that I would have gotten to the top panel so quickly. From the start, my math was a mess, even if I was so sure I was doing well! I don't know where I went wrong but it doesn't really matter since I'll be following the finished top border to make the bottom one!

Top and two side borders attached!

As I mentioned, I did all the math to figure out how large to make the brown rectangles between the blocks. I thought that I had it, but when it was put together, it was at least 2 inches longer than the quilt! 😕 I tried to figure out where my error was, but ended up just un-stitching and making each rectangle a half inch smaller. That should have worked but I still ended up reducing two of them by another half inch! By stretching the panel fabric, I was able to make it more-or-less even.....then I looked at the results and the border was upside-down! That's where I left it last night.

This morning in the backyard, I un-stitched the border and then sewed it together again, this time facing the correct way. It's done. As much as I would love to get the flimsy finished by the end of the month, I think that I need to leave it for at least a few days. I want to keep loving it and not let it frustrate me.

Here are some fun pictures of the Canada geese and the chipmunk squirrel and birds in my backyard.

What a treat! I don't usually get this close 😊

A small part of the gaggle of geese!

The bird was not intimidated by the chipmunk squirrel!

What I learned

• I've said it before but I guess I haven't learned my lesson yet - STOP before getting too tired!
• I'm actually getting much better at un-stitching and it doesn't bother me as much as it used to.
• I have no idea where my math went wrong but at least for my bottom border I'll be measuring each part of the top border and using it as the template.
• It would be nice to get all four borders done by the end of the month. I want to get this project out of my studio and gifted.
• I've almost finished my next Table Scraps Challenge. The colour is teal and my BB quilt is almost completed. I attached the binding, clipped the edges and it's ready to be stitched.

Related links

• Cowboy Panel Quilt Coming Along, August 14, 2025
• A Nostalgic Trip and Hand Stitching, August 07, 2025 (August OMG setting)
• Putting together the Cowboy quilt and other updates, March 04, 2025
• SAHRR Week 6 and Free Motion Mavericks, February 27, 2025
• SAHRR Cowboy Panel Update, February 22, 2025
• Blocks for both panels with SAHRR, February 13, 2025
• Snow Happens Finish, SAHRR & Mom's Mat, February 13, 2025
• Lots of Updates and Free Motion Mavericks, January 30 2025
• SAHRR and Snow Happens on Free Motion Mavericks, January 23, 2025

Linking parties

I'll be linking to many fun linking parties. Why not check some out after linking below? Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday,

I'm also linking up to the August One Monthly Goal finish!

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 545 of Free Motion Mavericks! It was a very productive week! Thanks for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. 

This week Kat of Scrap Box Quilts finished a child sized quilt with lovely scraps and a fleece backing. She FMQ with an assortment of designs, including a feather! 

Kat's child sized quilt 

Melva finished an aqua Viridian's Chain quilt - what a lovely photo by the morning glories!

Melva's aqua Viridian's Chain quilt and morning glories

Donnalee made a couple of very cute placemats for Zoey. Isn't she cute? Donnalee also made some very scrappy fall placemats. Check out her post to see Zoey's other placemat!

Zoey has new placemats made by Donnalee

Lovely scrappy fall placemat by Donnalee

Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting made two Happy Jacks wall hangings. Here is one of them with a cute backing. Check out her other Happy Jacks wall hanging.  

Happy Jacks wall hanging made by Vicki

The back of Vicki's Happy Jacks wall hanging

Gail of Quilting Gail finished 2 lovely bags this week. Gail FMQ the loops in the first bag. This smaller bag with the hexie fabric is also gorgeous. Check out Gail's post for a link to the pattern and some options on making them.

Gail's large bag with some FMQ loop-d-loop

Gail's smaller bag with hexie fabric

Sally of Crafts, Cavies and Cooking loves free motion quilting, although she finds it stressful to start. Well she's off to a wonderful start on her Sunny Stars quilt. Check out the design on the back of the quilt. You'll want to read about it on her post. 

Sunny Stars - FMQ by Sally

Sally's FMQ as seen from the back

It's now your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter