Can you believe it’s June 1st? It’s National Nail Polish Day, National Barefoot Day and National Say Something Nice Day. For those of you on the coast, it also marks the beginning of hurricane season. We’ve had some wild weather of late here in Georgia. If you haven’t already, make sure you have non-perishable food, batteries, flashlights, water and other needed items set aside just in case. Here’s a checklist from Ready.gov to get you started.

Sadie and I will be at the Cobb County Public Library’s summer reading kick-off program later today with several other therapy dog teams. This has been a summer tradition for both of my therapy dogs. Other therapy dog visit requests have popped up on the calendar this past week; however, I will be wearing my quilt volunteer hat for the next two weeks. It’s quilt show and quilt camp time!

Speaking of reading, this is what I’m currently enjoying:

Yesterday was our monthly quilt guild meeting. Of course, everyone was abuzz going over details for the quilt show one last time. I’ll be there 3 days – two as a volunteer and one with my CraftLAB girls who submitted blocks for the kid’s display. (Psst: I’ll be the kid’s exhibit chair for the 2026 show.) Our guest speaker was Sylvia Schaefer, who is known for quilting in the negative space. Her presentation was interesting. I enjoyed the trunk show and picked up some tidbits to try on my own quilts.

I turned in my first completed quilt to community service this week. It’s not one of my PhDs either. I made this one specifically because the recipient organization requested more quilts suitable for boys. The pattern is Dash from one of the 3 yard quilt books from Fabric Cafe. I picked up the fabric bundle during the Middle Georgia Shop Hop. The backing is a wide back from Joann’s. Binding is scrappy and made from leftover fabrics. Batting was courtesy of the free table at a guild meeting. I machine quilted it in an all-over meander and attached the binding using a 3-step zigzag stitch. The community service rep smiled when she saw the dogs on the quilt.

June will be busy with reading, quilting, volunteering and travel. I plan to be away from my devices as much as possible. I’m definitely in need of a technology and social media fast.

You see a quilt on Pinterest that catches your eye. Your social media feed is buzzing about an upcoming QAL hosted by a certain designer and quilt shop. By all means, download the free pdf info sheet and/or print off the pattern information. Before you hit the “buy now” button, take 5-10 minutes to really study the pattern details. I am all for supporting designers and publishers. However, many blocks (often renamed something catchy to sell a pattern) are in the public domain – meaning freely available to anyone. I challenge you to see if you can figure out how to make simple designs without automatically purchasing the pattern. This will help you better understand quilty math and quilt design, plus might free up your shekels for more challenging books, patterns, and fabric.

Why do I say this?

If the QAL project involves a single, classic, pieced block, you’ll find lots of online blog and video tutorials are available. You may even find the block in a compilation of quilt blocks book at your local library or quilt guild.

Also, the back of a pattern envelope/ free pdf project info download sheet provides a wealth of information with regard to: 1) finished project sizes, 2) detailed diagram of project and 3) any special tools/supplies needed to make the project. Use this information, plus any finished quilt photos you can locate online to determine the interior block layout, finished block size and guesstimate sashing and border widths.

Block size: Quilt patterns often come in multiple sizes. Merely subtract the finished size of one project from the next size up. For example, if the toddler size is 42″ x 54″ and the lap size is 54″ x 66″, your finished block size is 12″ x 12″. This rule of thumb works best if all blocks are the same size.

Border width: Straight set blocks with a single border makes it easy to figure out border width. Count the number of blocks across one row and down one column. Multiply this by your block size to figure out the interior quilt size. Our example uses 12″ blocks in a 3×4 layout. The interior quilt size is 36″ x 48″ The finished size is 42″ x 54″ so the border is 6″ total. Divide this by 2 and add 1 to 1-1/2 inches to that number. I would cut my border strips at 4 to 4-1/2″ wide in this example.

Personally, I’ve declared a moratorium on buying quilt books and patterns. FQS is currently sponsoring a bow-tie block QAL to market a new book/fabric line and my social media feed is full of bow-tie quilts. As commenters said on social media, “I don’t need that book to make this quilt.” True, but I will be adding yardage to the charm pack swag received at my recent quilt retreat to make this quilt in “mostly” the new fabric line featured in the QAL. Excellent marketing strategy, FQS!