Design Wall Monday - February 9, 2026

Good Morning Quilters!

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and I am a romantic at heart.  Here are two of my favorite quilts that I have made to celebrate Valentine’s Day:   This first one is king sized, so I am showing it in two pictures………the bottom half showing in the first picture in the entry hall with Miss Penny Lane and the top half is in second picture (upside down) as it is hanging over the railing to the lower level.

‘’

This quilt utilizes a simple four patch design (3 parts red and 1 part toile) to resemble hearts.  

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all.  I hope you are able to hug someone this week, or hold their hand.   It is great to have a holiday that reminds us of our love for others.

I am still cross stitching on the little Jane Stickle quilt project, and am getting better at it.   Here is a picture to show my progress so far:

It is halfway finished now, and I am really enjoying it.  I am at the point in this project that I want to work on it nonstop until it is finished.  Do you get that way sometimes with a project?

What are you making progress on this week?  And what Valentine’s Day decorations or quilts do you display ?  Join our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below so we can look at your blog and photos.  Thank you for all who participate.  I am sending all of you a big Valentine’s Day hug.

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Design Wall Monday - January 22, 2024

 Good Morning Quilters!

This week I had the flu, and not much quilting was happening.  So it has been a week of getting extra sleep under cozy quilts, and taking care of myself.

But while resting, I thought about the snow.  Here's a picture of our mailbox:

It looks like a big marshmallow is on top of the post that's holding our mailbox. 

Snow has many benefits for me.  1) it brings back many childhood memories of fun times playing in it outside. 2) It gives me a sense of calmness and joy.  3) It reminds me of the beauty of nature, in every season that is so different from other seasons.

  "If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but still the same amount of snow."   Anonymous

The Valentine quilts are on the stair railings, because everything looked so bare around here with the Christmas things all packed away.  I hope you enjoy these quilts and are looking forward to February and Valentines Day.

Hopefully you got more quilting accomplished than I did this week, but if not, there is always next week, right?

Please link up below and join our Design Wall Monday Linky Party.  We enjoy reading your blog and seeing your pictures.  Thanks for participating.  Please link back to this post and mention Design Wall Monday somewhere within your post.  

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Design Wall Monday - February 14, 2022

 Happy Valentine’s Day Quilters!

If you have followed my blog for a while, you know I have saved all the valentine cards from hubby over the many years we’ve been married.  I like to get them out and read them again each year.  Here’s a picture of them beside me right now:

Isn’t this a cute vintage quilt? 

 It is pictured in Mary Emmerling’s Country Hearts small red book shown with the cards.  I love Mary Emmerling’s books.  I should make a doll quilt like this picture……but not until the WIPs are completed.  I like the eight pointed stars in it.

Since it is Valentine’s Day today, I must include pictures of my two large Valentine’s Day quilts:  This one is so large that I have two pictures to show it:  the bottom part, (with Penny Lane) and the top (upside down over the railing). Note to self:  take a new picture of the complete quilt.  

This one is usually on the couch in the living room, where I can snuggle up with it, but this picture is of it on the design wall when I was making it.

What’s on your design wall today?  I have no new pictures to show you, as I am doing very little this week.  My sister did came home with us Wednesday, and is now sleeping peacefully almost all the time.  Hospice has been very helpful, and a lot of the time I just sit with her and hold her hand.  It comforts me, and I think it comforts her.  I can feel your prayers for her and I thank you very much.  

Please show us what you are working on this week.  I so appreciate being able to see and read about what beautiful things you are creating.  You inspire all of us.  As always, I ask that you provide a link back to this blog post from within your post.  Also, if you invite others to join us in our weekly Design Wall Linky Party, that's appreciated.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope you are able to hug someone today, or hold their hand.  

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Design Wall Monday - February 17, 2010

Happy Valentine’s Day.  I have my Valentine Postage Stamp quilt out this month to celebrate.  I blogged about it several times and most of the info is in a previous post (Here)  These two pictures are from that post, but the quilt is in the same place over the railing again this year because it still does not have a hanging sleeve.  It is now bound, but wasn’t last year.

Here's another heart quilt with toile that I made a few years ago:

 It's displayed on the back of the living room couch:

I’ve seen so many beautiful Valentine’s Day quilts on the internet that I may have to make a few more.  Right after I get these UFOs under control.

This week’s progress on UFOs has been good.  For the Bonnie Hunter Talkin Turkey quilt, I have all the outside Hsts made, and am now sewing them into four strips for the four sides.  I should finish this quilt top this week.

The binding is on two sides of the civil war sampler quilt now.  I hit a little snag this week when I tried to snip off a stray thread on the binding and accidentally snipped into the binding!! Ugh.  First I tried to roll the binding over a little extra to fold in the snipped part, but realized that was not a good fix.  So I took off about 12 inches of the binding around where the snip was, and replaced it.  Sometimes I don’t want to tell you about these goof ups, but they are all part of quilting.  I do like to pretend I have it all together.  But you know the truth. 

I really enjoyed seeing all of your pictures last week, and I read all of the blog posts.  I’m looking forward to seeing progress when I see your posts this week.  Please remember to include a link back to this blog post somewhere within your blog post.  Thank you.

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Design Wall Monday - February 11, 2019

Happy Valentines Week!  My small Valentine quilt and her larger counterpart are out this week in celebration.  You probably remember this quilt when it was on my design wall:

Here's the little one, 14" by 15", which is hanging in the dining room:

My large postage stamp Valentine quilt just came back from the long arm quilter, and is now waiting for final binding and a hanging sleeve.  Here it is on the railing by the front door, and as a bonus; Penny Lane is in the picture too.

The top half of it is seen down the stairs, but is upside down.  I need to get the hanging sleeve on it, so I can hang it on a wall, all right side up.

Measurements are 81" width by 77" height.  Since each square is an inch, it must mean there are 6,237 pieces in the quilt, although I didn't count them.

Here is the cross-stitch pattern from the Internet that I used:

And lastly, and sweetly, here are our initials in the center of the center heart.  Awwwww......ain't love grand?

What's on your design wall this week?  I have been away from home most of last week, and didn't get a chance to look at every one's walls, but I plan to this week.  Show us what fun is happening on your design wall.  Only request I have is that you refer back to this particular blog post somewhere within your post.  Thanks!


  

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Design Wall Monday - January 28, 2019

This past week was one where I jumped from project to project with lots of partial progress.  Some weeks are like that.  Here’s what I mean:

1)  The cheddar baskets are sewn into groups of three for sashing and the quilt top is on the design wall right now.  I found I had one basket left over.  Maybe it will go on the label on the back.  Assembly of the quilt top is next.

2)  Lori of Humble Quilts (Here) is having a string quilt linkup at the end of every month this year, so when I saw this project in my stash, I added a few blocks to the pile.  These are small blocks that measure 4 x 4 inches unfinished.  Crazy small, but a friend started me on them, and they are fun to make.....well, fun if a few at a time.  I'm making them on muslin, so there are no papers to pull off the back.

3)  My postage stamp Valentine larger quilt is away being machine quilted, and I made a small Valentine wall quilt to go with it.  This is 14 x 15 in.  I like to have a small one to match every large quilt I make.  I don't always do it, but that is the plan.  It wasn't very hard to make, as all the squares were cut and ready in my 1.5 inch cuts box of squares.  I just had to sort through and pick out red ones and shirting ones.

4)  I continued making small 1.5 inch half square triangles to sew into broken dishes blocks (4 per block).  Here are 400 of them which will make 100 blocks.  I am trying to make 100 blocks a week, and they go pretty quickly.  This batch will make the count of finished ones 600 out of 1300.  Almost half way!

See what I mean about working on several things this week?  Hope you were able to get some projects moving along too.  It's going to be a snowy Monday here in Grand Rapids (predicted up to 10 inches) so I will continue on with my sewing fun probably stay inside all day.

Please join in the Design Wall Monday photos fun.  I love to see your pictures, and read your blogs.  As always, please refer back to this particular post somewhere within your blog post.  

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Design Wall Monday - March 26, 2018

Thank you to all who encouraged me this week!  Your "Go Judy Go" cheered me on to the finish line!.  Here is the Valentine Quilt,for the last time, on my design wall, all in one piece:

The center heart has a little message in the middle, can you see it?

Four little initials, signifying "Judy Hansen loves Lloyd Hansen".  Here's a closeup on the one inch square with the embroidery:

For those (like me) who count things, there are 3,807 one inch squares in the quilt.  I could have cut larger squares where the same color red was next to another square, but it was actually easier to make all the squares the same size, and not have to think about what size square went where.  The quilt is 47 inches long and 81 inches wide.

There are two or three quilts in progress that could go up on the design wall, and it will probably be my Jane Stickle replica quilt.  I've been working on it forever, and it's time to finish it.  I will post about it next week.

But enough about my design wall, what about yours?  Let's see what you have been working on!

Design Wall link-up instructions are the same each week.  Please link back to this particular post somewhere within your post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.

Use this address:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/03/design-wall-monday-march-26-2018.html

and not the generic address:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

Thanks again for the encouragement!  It worked!

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Design Wall Monday - February 26, 2018

I will be watching basketball all this week, as I am a big basketball fan, and it's the week of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament.  Games Wednesday through Sunday.......and then the NCAA tournament is coming up after that.  Yeah!!

I feel I haven't much to show you in my quilt room, but I did work on two projects.  The Valentine quilt is partially sewn together, and I am making progress on it every day.  Here is the portion that is still on the design wall:

And here is the part that is now all in one piece - out on the carpeting in the next room:

Little by little, inch by inch, the final seams are getting finished.  I am also working on Lisa Bongean's Triangle Gatherings.  (see my last week's post for more information about both of these projects).   Here are four blocks laid out, ready to sew into 16 patches.  The half-square triangles in the picture are 1.5 by 1.5 inches before sewing them together.  The blocks finish at 4 inches square.

Now I have 60 of the blocks made, and about 30 to go.  When I started, I had half-square triangles left over from another project, but I've used up most of them.  So now I am using my shoebox of 2 in X 2 in cut squares to make more triangles.  I pick out 8 neutral and 8 dark or medium squares to make a Triangle Gathering block.  When I put two squares together, and sew down the middle, on each side of the center diagonal line, and cut them apart, it makes two half-square triangles that can be trimmed to 1.5 by 1.5 inches.  It's a very peaceful project, and I enjoy making these squares in between sewing the long connecting seams on the Valentine quilt.  

What are you working on this week?  

My instruction for the Design Wall Monday link-up are the same each week:  Please link back to this particular post somewhere within your blog post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.

When you set up the ink, use this web address:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/design-wall-monday-february-26-2018.html

And not the generic address of http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

Thanks!  Can't wait to see what you are sewing.

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Design Wall Monday - February 19, 2018

The Valentine Quilt is moving along.  Here it is on the design wall:










What needs to be done next is sew larger parts together, and I am doing it a little each day, as it isn't my favorite part of quilting - lots of pinning of seams involved.

So I took a break from seams and worked on the Lisa Bongean's "Triangle Gatherings" blocks.  I talked about this project (Here) and  (Here) .  It was free on her website for a while, but is now taken down, as she said she is going to do a book about them.  I have about 50 finished blocks, and I think she quit at 98.  Here is an example of one of the small blocks:

Each block is made of 16 half-square triangles, and each of the 98 blocks are different.  I am making them to finish at 4 inches by 4 inches.  I haven't decided on what kind of quilt I will make from them - just making the little blocks for now.  

It was a tragic week here in America, with the shooting at the school in Florida, and in times like these, quilting comforts my broken heart.   I am looking forward to seeing what you are working on, as it comforts me also to see your work.

As usual, my instructions are the same, please link back to this particular post somewhere within your blog post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.

When you set up the link, use this web address:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/2/design-wall-monday-february-19-2018.html

What have you been working on?

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Design Wall Monday - February 12, 2018

Valentine's Day is this week!  Here are a few of my valentine decorations that are out this month:  Two small heart pillows in my tiny pillow collection on top of a doll sized dresser, in the entry hall:

My small heart doll quilt made a few years ago:

It is hanging in the dining room, and I love changing out the little quilts each month on this wall.

The large postage stamp quilt is finished down to the lettering on the bottom, and I tweaked the pattern a bit this week.  Original graph paper design:

And the revised final version, which I worked on this week:

I had a goal of getting all the piecing finished by Valentine's Day, and I might still make it in two more days.  Here is my progress so far:

On the graph paper, I divided the wording into 18 sections, and sewing the squares together in one direction and then the other direction meant that I was dividing the project into 36 tasks.  I have 22 tasks completed, and 14 more to go.  For example, the "en" of Valentine is sewed together column to column, and has yet to be sewn row to row.  Hope this makes sense.  I took the top part off the design wall, as the incomplete part was getting too low to the ground to make it comfortable to work on.

I really enjoy seeing what you all are working on!  As usual, my instructions are the same, please link back to this particular post somewhere within your blog post.  It's the least you can do for me, and I appreciate you so much.

When you set up the link, use this web address:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/02/design-wall-monday-february-12-2018.html

What is on your design wall? 

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Design Wall Monday - February 5, 2018

It's almost February!  There are some cute free Valentine's Day quilt patterns on the internet, and I thought I'd show some links, if you'd like to make one.  Also, I made a bed sized Toile fabric/red heart quilt last year, and I will post the free directions for that one here.....later this month.  Here's a close-up picture of my Valentine quilt:

And where it is today, on the back side of the couch:

First is a small heart quilt, with the words "Be Mine" embroidered on one heart:
Click (Here) to see it.  Thanks to Cheri for sharing on her blog.  It is made of 30 easy heart blocks, and I am guessing it is about 36 inches square, but I'm not sure. 

Another small quilt is (Here)  This pattern is on a website called Craft Buds.  It's mug rug size, and is made with a pieced single heart.

And one that's on my long "list-in-my-head-of-quilts-to-make", from the Temecula Quilt Company.  (Here)  It's 24 inches x 24 inches.  The Temecula Quilt Company has great patterns, and I always enjoy going to their blog.

When each holiday approaches, I say it's my favorite.  But they all really are.  Just like each one of my eight grandchildren is my favorite one!  Each February, I put all of the Valentine cards on the mantle and bookcases in the living room.  Hubby thinks its great, because he says, I guess this means I don't have to shop for a card this year - but he usually does.  I tell him to just shop in the living room, and re-give it to me!  We've been married 54 years and I've saved cards from each of us, and some from grandchildren, not every year apparently, because there are not 108 of them.   It is lovely to read them again, as I put them out.  It gives me great pleasure as an old lady.  Here's three pictures showing all of the cards.

 

What's on your design wall this Monday?  I can't wait to see your progress, even if it's small progress.  We will get these quilts finished!

Please remember to link back to this particular post within your post.  This means the link back should be:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/02/design-wall-monday-february-5-2018.html

and not just to my generic site:  smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

Note just for those of you who do have my blog button somewhere on your blog (often on another page):  That's nice, but it doesn't help us link back quickly to this page to see the next design wall.  It is so easy to include a link back within your post.  Thanks!   

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Design Wall Monday - January 29, 2018

Worked on my Valentine Quilt this week, and here is where it stands now:

I only have two more "blocks" to put together before I start on the wording part at the bottom. 

Here's the next block, ready to assemble:

While it was on the design wall, I noticed a mistake, and corrected it.  That's what I like about having a quilt on the design wall - it helps me see these things.

Here's a picture of the design wall, and the mistake is in the lower left hand corner heart:

And now it is fixed:

I feel better, don't you?  LOL, probably not very noticeable to anyone else, but when you are making a quilt, you notice these things, don't you?

What are you working on this week?  I am hoping to be able to come back to the Internet this afternoon, and see some progress on your projects too!

Please remember to link back to this particular post within your post.  That means the link back should be to:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/01/design-wall-monday-january-29-2018.html

and not just to the generic site:  smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

For those of you who have my blog button somewhere on your blog, that's nice, but it is so nice to include the link back within your post.  I appreciate it so much.  Thanks!

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Design Wall Monday - January 22, 2018

Since Valentine's Day is coming up next month, I decided to work on my valentine quilt project and it's back up on the design wall.

Here is a picture:

The original cross stitch chart idea is here:

I am going to change the bottom wording, and have it charted out here:

This week I hope to sew together the rows and columns on the five remaining grids that I have sectioned off on the upper part, and also start on the Be My Valentine wording squares.  I have all the squares cut.  

This project is very peaceful and non-thinking vs. the Jane Stickle triangles I've been working on, so it's a pleasant change.  What's on your design wall this Monday?

Please remember to link back to this particular post within your post.

That means the link back should be:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/01/design-wall-monday-january-22-2018.html

and not just to the generic blog site:  http://smallquiltsanddolllquilts.blogspot.com

For those of you who have my blog button somewhere on your blog, that's nice, but it is so much nicer to include a link back within your post.  I appreciate it so much.  Thanks

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