July is here. New BOM and challenge time.
After the fireworks we have to decide. Any suggestions?
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Thank you for the reminder! It completely slipped my mind to update everything for the new month.
For our July BOM, we have the Rainy Day block that @MistressJennie nominated. When I get a chance I will also post additional links for an alternate HST method.
I will update the monthly prompt and quarterly challenge when I get to the computer and can access my document with the info. I will also tally up all the quarterly prize drawing entries and post a winner at that time.
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Can you believe we’re already halfway through 2023!? That means we not only have a new BOM and monthly prompt, but a new quarterly challenge as well as a winner from last quarter’s drawing! Without further ado, here’s all the fun stuff!
July BOM:
Rainy Day - nominated by @MistressJennie
Alternate methods for making HSTs
Tutorial and chart for making split QSTs
If anyone has any questions on how to use the alternate methods to create the July block, please ask away!
July Prompt
Hand Quilting:
The original quilting method! Add some hand quilting to your next project. This is only a monthly prompt, so there are no big expectations. Coasters, a mug rug, a small wall hanging - any of these would be great way to explore the art of hand quilting!
Traditional hand quilting tutorial
Big stitch hand quilting tutorial
Quarter 3 Challenge
(July 1 - September 30)
Jelly Roll Race:
The race is on to create a fun quilt using either precut jelly roll strips or strips you’ve cut yourself. Whether you choose to make an original Jelly Roll Race quilt (you can have a completed quilt top in an hour or less 
), create your own unique variation of said Jelly Roll Race, or simply race to your machine with a favorite jelly roll pattern, the challenge is to create a quilt project using 2.5" strips of fabric.
Goal List:
Please share your third quarter goals with us. You can earn an entry into the prize drawing for every goal you share and complete this quarter!
WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!
And of course, this post cannot end without determining our second quarter winner! The entries have been tallied and a winner has been drawn. Congratulations, @Magpie, all those scrappy April BOMs must’ve brought you good luck! I’ll be sending you a pm shortly.
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What, really? Wow, how cool is that! Thank you so much.
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You’re welcome! Thank you for coming up with our April BOM and then sharing all your wonky log cabin blocks with us!
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Congrats @Magpie!
Fun BOM, prompt, and challenge. I am starting a quilt for my daughter featuring greens…emerald green, sage green, with splashes of other colors. Good greens are hard to find in precuts. But I’ve gathered enough to get started. I will probably be doing at least two blocks a month to catch up for a Christmas gift.
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Thank you ever so much for the gift card, so generous!
I ordered Catherine Dreis’s Quick & Easy Quilt Block Builder book, I believe recommended by master (or mistress?) quilter Jennie, and some twin pointed tapestry needles Linda mentioned once upon a time.
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That book is on my list too
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So I’ve been machine quilting and musing.
You know that idea that’s been knocking about for ages, that the Amish leave deliberate mistakes in quilts because “only God can create perfection”
I reckon that there was some early Amish woman, who was busy thinking about hot Casey Yoder and his fine buggy, who made a mistake in her piecing because she wasn’t focused on what she was doing. And when challenged, to cover it up, pulled the “only God can create perfection” out of her hat, . And then everyone thought she was so devout and pure and started copying her
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I placed an order for some fabric yesterday and I meant to see if they had that book. The fabric was getting low in stock though (it was a sale item and they had a quantity of 5 when I first clicked on it, they were down to 2 by the time I checked out), and in my haste to check out, I forgot to search for the book. I think I’ll go put it in my Amazon cart right now so I’ll have it there as a reminder. Thanks for sharing!
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So the book is now in my Amazon shopping cart, but when I searched it, I came across another book that offers instructions for creating quilt blocks in multiple sizes. I thought, ‘ooh, how handy!’ But then the cover reminded me of a card deck that I bought (I have the second version as well) and have yet to actually use other than to admire the quilt blocks. So, before I go buying more block books, I should probably use what I already have 
.
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How cool is that!
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I Edel submit this as my large item for this quarter
Finally finished something, I’ve been busy with other stuff and not doing a whole lot of finishes. But I do love a scrappy quilt and I do like the scrappiness contained in a border, I think it makes the scrapyness pop.
@AudiobookLover that is a very interesting quilt planner.
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It’s like an eye-spy treasure hunt!
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I love all the warm-tone scraps, @Edel! Sashing really does make a crazy quilt easier on the eyes, and that shade of red is gorgeous.
I, tendstowardschaos, offer this pile of scrappy coasters as my small quarterly finish.
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@Edel, your scrap quilt turned out amazing! Be sure to enter it in the Talk Scrappy to Me Challenge!
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@Edel , Scrappy goodness. The colors are so fun! Thensashing really makes the squares pop!
@tendstowardschaos , nice coasters, ravh one is a mini work of art.
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Thanks for the nudge, I’ve entered.
@tendstowardschaos those coasters are lovely, the colours are great
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Great colors on your quilt! You did a nice job of creating controlled scrappiness!
@tendstowardschaos, I love your coasters! I need to find time to make some as well.
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I was making decent progress on my niece’s I-Spy quilt at the start of this month. I sewed on all the borders (an inner and outer border) and laid it out to assess/admire my progress when I discovered that it would not lay flat. There was a horrible ripple or maybe even multiple ripples that could not be smoothed out (and any attempt to quilt them out would have undoubtedly lead too further heartbreak). It was so bad that the only solution was to seam rip the outer borders and hope that they were the cause. Unfortunately, after taking the outer borders off, the awful ripple was still there, so I had to take off the inner borders as well 
. The good news is that the center lays flat.
I’m not sure what caused the issue. I’m using a cheap stiff quilting fabric from Joann’s for the thin inner border and I’m wondering if the inferior quality affected everything. I had the border clipped and it didn’t seem like I was stretching it when I sewed, but maybe I did without realizing it? I tried to find solutions to my issue, but I could only find info on how to prevent wavy borders vs a wavy center. I’m going to try the solutions though and hope they eliminate the issue. They consist of cutting the border strips against the grain so that they’ll have less stretch and measuring the length/width from the middle of the quilt and cutting the borders to that size before stitching (as opposed to my usual method of stitch on the border strip, then cut it to the size of the quilt). Oh, and I’ll be using pins instead of clips this time around and I have also trimmed and squared the center.
I really hope it will work this time around 
. If anyone has any other suggestions, I can use all the help I can get!
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