Lazy Summer Quilt Camp Challenge

You're invited! Come join me and some amazing quilty friends for the Lazy Summer Quilt Camp photo challenge!

Lazy Summer Quilt Camp is a month-long photo challenge on social media taking place in July, giving us all a new opportunity to share our quilts and build our quilting community. The online quilting community is amazing, so of course we want to meet more of the quilters hanging out there!

I teamed up with some of my quilt pattern designer friends to create the photo challenge. I'll be serving as the host of the challenge (because needing to tag 6 accounts in your posts is crazy), but it has been a collaborative effort and you'll see the others participating and cheering you on all through the month. So let's give a round of applause (and a follow!) to my Lazy Summer Quilt Camp teammates:

Staci of Crafty Staci - Instagram | Facebook

Monika of Penny Spool Quilts - Instagram | Facebook

Lauren of Palm Creations - Instagram | Facebook

Bobbie of Geeky Bobbin - Instagram | Facebook

Eva of Gingerly Quilt Co - Instagram | Facebook

(and come follow me, too, if you don't already, Devoted Quilter - Instagram | Facebook)

You'll notice we called it Lazy Summer Quilt Camp. There's a reason for that! Summer can be busy (beach days, hiking, BBQs, ice cream stops, soccer practice, baseball practice...oh, and all the regular stuff like laundry and work and figuring out yet again what you should eat today) and we wanted to create a challenge that would be fun and easy.

You don't have to make anything new.

You don't have to write a whole blog post.

You don't even have to take a new picture.

Look at the daily prompts (more on that in a minute), look through the dozens or hundreds of quilt pictures already on your phone (I know I'm not the only one 😅) and share the ones that fit that day's prompt. A quick caption to tell the story of your quilts and you're done. 

Then, maybe while sitting on the deck with your morning coffee or tea, scroll through the posts of your fellow campers using the hashtag #lazysummerquiltcamp and bask in the quilty inspiration. You might even find some new quilting friends to follow and discover a new pattern you just have to make.

The Daily Prompts

Each day in July there will be a new photo prompt. There's no pressure to post everyday, so join in as often as you want (remember, we're going for fun and easy, not pressured and stressed). Here are the prompts so you can start thinking about which of your quilts you might want to share.

To make it even easier to participate, I'll be sending out daily email reminders with the prompt for the next day. It'll be your gentle nudge to take a few minutes for yourself and think about which of your beautiful quilts you'd like to share for that prompt.

Sign up for the daily reminders here

 

I'm excited for Lazy Summer Quilt Camp (I've already been thinking about which of my quilts to share) and I hope you'll join us!

7 Truths About Scrap Quilting

It's no secret around here that I love scrappy quilts! I even created a membership for quilters who love scrappy and stash-friendly patterns as much as I do (join us, if that's you!). After making many (many!) scrap quilts in my almost 30 years of quilting (now I feel old), here are some things I've noticed about scrap quilts, along with some scrap quilt eye candy. And yes, all of the quilt patterns are available in my shop along with a lot more😊

Blooming Beautiful

It takes longer to cut everything for a scrap quilt

When you're cutting 40 2 ½" squares from yardage, you can quickly cut a few WOF strips and then cut them down into the squares you need. It only takes a handful of minutes. When you're cutting those same 40 squares from 40 different fabrics, it takes longer. There are ways to speed it up a little, like stacking the scraps so you're cutting more than one at a time or using a die cutting machine, but it's still not going to be as fast as cutting from yardage. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since it also means you get to admire all those fabrics as you go, but it is something to take into account if you're making the quilt on a deadline.

Ombre Twirl

Scrap quilts are a great walk down memory lane

Not only do you get to admire all those fabrics as you're cutting them, you're also reminded where they came from and what projects you've already used them in. Digging through my scraps is always accompanied by an internal monologue of 'I made a skirt with that,' 'Sandrine gave me this one,' 'I used this for Brandan's quilt,' 'that's the fabric Aiden bought me for Christmas,' and on and on and on. It's kind of like taking out the Christmas decorations and remembering the story behind each one, except it isn't confined to one part of the year.

Scraps Take Flight

Every scrap quilt is unique

Even if you use the same pattern and the same colours, you still won't make two identical scrap quilts. You might be using only blues for the nine patch blocks, but you'll still use a different combination of fabrics each time, giving the quilts a slightly different look. That means you can use the same pattern over and over, but not get bored because every quilt will feel new. It also means basic patterns, like simple patchwork squares, can feel fresh each time because the fabric combination keeps you engaged.

Framed Pinwheels

They never empty the scrap bins

I swear the scraps multiply as soon as we turn our backs! It doesn't seem to matter how many scrap quilts I make, the scrap bins are never empty. Considering how much I love scrappy quilts, I'm not complaining, but it is mind boggling.

If you're starting a scrap quilt thinking it's going to use all of your scraps, you're going to end up disappointed. But if you're starting that quilt thinking it's an opportunity to play with some favourite fabrics, create something beautiful without needing to buy a bunch of new fabric, and create a little space in the scrap bins at the same time, then you're right on track.

Pinwheel Irish Chain

They can look chaotic if you're not careful

Some people are perfectly happy to throw absolutely everything into a quilt willy-nilly and they're thrilled with the results. Other people look at those quilts and shudder because there's no cohesion. Personally, I've done both. These days, I prefer to use a single fabric for the background, especially a solid or blender, which tames the chaos a little and makes the whole quilt feel calmer.

Other ways to tame the chaos include using all solids, using a limited colour palette, and keeping all the scraps of one colour close in value.

Stand Out Starburst

Any quilt pattern can become a scrap quilt pattern

A pattern's fabric requirements might say it needs one fabric, but that doesn't mean we can't use an abundance of scraps instead. One of my Stash Artists members recently dug into her stash of dark purple fabrics in place of a single purple I had used for the background of a sampler quilt. Her version looked fabulous!

Prairie Points Pinwheel

They can be addictive

Once you start combining all those leftover bits of fabric to make a quilt, it's hard to stop. There are so many possibilities and it's so fun to rummage through the scraps to find the perfect ones. And of course, we all know there are always more scraps just waiting to be used. These days almost all of my quilts are scrap quilts and I'm not mad about it!

8 Point Meadow

Did I miss anything? Are there more truths about scrap quilting that people need to know? Share them in the comments!

All Booked Up Quilted Bookmarks

In the Stash Artists membership, I'm sharing a mini quilt pattern each month of 2026. This month, I really embraced the mini and designed the All Booked Up quilted bookmarks. Aren't they cute?

The bookmarks finish at 2" x 6", not including the ribbon. Since they're so mini, I went for simple, scrappy piecing with a bit of reading-themed text. There are three piecing designs and three text designs, which can be mixed and matched for 9 different bookmarks. They're so quick to make, you could easily make one for all your reading friends! (And if you're not a Stash Artists member yet, join us now to get access to the All Booked Up pattern right away.)

I made my first set with hand embroidery. I did simple backstitching using Aurifil 12 wt thread (one bookmark also has a handful of french knots), and did it all while traveling for the h+h trade show. It was a great travel project. 

Bonus points if you can identify the book I used for a background!

I really love the addition of the hand embroidery! Tip, if your backstitched lines aren't as smooth as you'd like, make your stitches smaller. Larger stitches tend to make choppy lines, whereas small stitches make lines look nice and smooth.

Then, since not everyone is into hand embroidery, I made a second set using fabric markers. I used the fine tip end of my Ohuhu fabric markers.

I wasn't sure the fine tip of my fabric markers would be fine enough, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it was exactly right and worked perfectly for the small text. And no, these aren't freehanded! My writing is nowhere near that neat! The text template is included in the pattern and can be used for either embroidery or fabric markers.

Here are both of my Bookworm bookmarks. I love that there are endless possibilities for making unique bookmarks, with the different piecing and text options, and then incorporating all your favourite scraps and different ribbon colours, too.

I opted for simple quilting after assembling the bookmarks, using white Aurifil 50 wt thread to outline the piecing.

I kind of expected the flying geese design to be my favourite bookmark, but the horizontal stripes with the teal embroidered Bookworm ended up being my favourite of them all. Which one is your favourite?

If you love mini quilts, stash-friendly and scrappy patterns, and virtual sewing sessions with friends, then come join us in the Stash Artists membership! Once you join, you'll get access to the All Booked Up pattern and more. We're an international group and we'd love to welcome you, too 😊