Disappearing Block Quilt Finish

Disappearing Block Quilt Finish

Long ago I looked at the disappearing block methods as hokey. Please don't judge me, but I was totally turned off because mine came out with so many inaccuracies. I figured if I was going to all that effort and the points disappeared, I did not like disappearing blocks no-thank-you-for-that! And as I've matured, I see the value in them along with the fun of the discovery of how we can manipulate them by flipping fabrics, cutting, and producing a complicated block with little actual effort. Yes, I'll even give it a little more and say there is magic in the method. (Or more correctly, its art and geometry.)

This quilt was another of my UFO's. Yes, you're shocked, I'm sure. It was a large block quilt made by cutting 3 wide strips, and pairing with another block oriented to a right angle and cut diagonally. Somewhere I have a block leftover, and I will post the sizes I used. I would make this quilt again because the pattern was so graphic and interesting. The surprise was a big factor in the enjoyment of making.

Christmas Door Hanging: Pineapple Log Cabin

Christmas Door Hanging: Pineapple Log Cabin

If you're local, this is a door hanger or even a wall hanger. I prefer 'hanging', but will list the search labels under both. I put it together to test out an Accuquilt die some time ago. Yes, another UFO here.

My mom has lived with some level of care for several years. It's just a cheery gesture to add some new things to her door as the seasons change. She enjoys it, and I think it livens the hall up for everyone. I've had the same Christmas hanging for her on repeat, and despite my best efforts this didn't get done in time for Christmas 2025. I have yet to add corners and a dowel rod, and it will be ready for 2026.

HST Baby Quilt from Scraps

HST Baby Quilt from Scraps

The saga continues as I open boxes in my studio, and deal with the contents. This was a little project that focused on a template I bought for cheap at a Quilter's Corner. Two fabrics were placed with right sides facing, and you used the template to mark it. It had openings you could draw diagonal lines on, and then you sewed all the triangles at once. Then you cut them out, pressed, and assembled into a block. 

Child's Quilt from Panel and Strings: Finish

Child's Quilt from Panel and Strings: Finish

This is one of my favorite quilts I've ever made. Yup, I'm saying that about a quilt made from scraps, and a cut up panel. I can't believe it, but it's true. It's just fun, and I got to add so many tidbits of old favorite fabrics in the string piecing too. It's for my granddaughter, but it's staying here. I don't often do that, but I'm a little attached to it. Maybe because it took a lot of creative and mental energy to piece, but this one is special.

Orphan Block Quilt for Cold Husband

Orphan Block Quilt for Cold Husband

Our evenings are pretty much replays. Dinner, showers, and a few minutes to catch up on whatever show is on our radar. Quilts come out to keep us warm, but even so we tend to wilt fast. It's a time to relax and unwind, but here's the problem. My husband uses a lot of heavy hand creams and ointments especially in the winter to keep his hands from cracking, and it's hard on my quilts. Instead of me walking into the room panicking that he'll leave big greasy splotches on a good one--might have happened before and was not relaxing for me, I decided to make him his very own. And because it was so unique, he couldn't mistake it.

Simply Sparkly Quilt Finish

Simply Sparkly Quilt Finish

There is joy in finishing a project started long ago. One perhaps you didn't know the intended recipient, and felt no great pressure to complete. This artsy, ombre quilt came together in March of 2023, and then it languished. It needed a special someone, and I kept thinking a teenage girl or perhaps a bit younger would love it. I knew none, and so it settled into the unfinished pile.

Sampler Blocks to Quilt Top: 150 Canadian Women

This is a process post so photo intensive. It does us little good to look at a finished quilt top, and try to figure out how the quilter did it. Mine happened organically, and may not be the right way or your way, but it evolved into a quilt I both like and will use. Let me explain.

Vintage Orphan Blocks to Wall Hanging & Blocking

Vintage Orphan Blocks to Wall Hanging

A recent finish in the past weeks has made me really happy. I had these four orphan blocks for several years, and months ago put them together to form a larger piece. The original piecing was by hand and machine both, and a bit wonky. Remember everything in this era was cut with a pair of shears or scissors. The tiny squares came from a stack of precut solids, and I feel gave it a bit of a Mennonite feel. (Why Mennonite? Amish quilters didn't use prints.)

Kaffe Fasset Nine Patches and How to Quilt for Friends

Kaffe Fasset Nine Patches

&

The Continuation of Swedish Death Cleaning My Sewing Rooms

The second shoe box was about half full of 2.5" squares I'd cut to make these nine patches sometime in the past 10 years. There were about 9 done, and I think I made about 57 using all the squares up. My plan now is to add brightly colored solid setting triangles between the rows to resemble zigzags. 

I remember shopping with a friend many years ago, and she loved the Kaffe fabrics. She would enjoy these wild fabrics a lot. I'll make it my way, and hope she likes it.

Years ago I would try very hard to make quilts for people that they might specifically like, and they may even have contributed ideas. Maybe it was a specific color or theme but so often it was something just out of my wheelhouse. Not all, but many of those times I wound up not enjoying the project. I've learned to make what I like. It makes the whole thing fun if love the fabric, the style, and even the vibe. There's almost nothing worse than investing your time and effort--and money, into a project you don't love. Life is short. Quilting should be fun.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Feathered Star from Who Knows When

Feathered Star from Who Knows When

During December while bloggers were showing their Best of the Year posts, and New Year's Goals posts, and huge stacks of UFO, WIP, and all the other names for personal quilting baggage, I put my head down, and I worked like a mad quilter. The pictures I've accrued--the stuff I've uncovered and gotten done is honestly a little amazing even to me. I am Quilter on Fire! Yeah, maybe not quite that, but you folks should know I've taken myself to task. It's been harsh.