Thursday, March 12, 2026

Growing SAHRR 2026 Quilt and I Quilted This!

Bonjour and welcome 😊 It looks like Spring is finally here. Last night I heard the Canada Geese coming back. That's such a good sign since they usually know what's going on. I'll have a huge job cleaning up my backyard since the wild rabbits have been coming by every day for apples and seeds! I'll have to wait until things dry up to tackle that 😁

Making extra blocks

Last week's SAHRR plan got rearranged a bit. The centre blocks have smaller 5" blocks on both sides. Well, that's actually not accurate. On one side are the new Chicago Geese blocks that I made to fit. I did a great job on the first block but then managed to make a few errors that I quickly changed into design options. So I have one 5" Chicago Geese block, and three variation on the Goose blocks (one is 6" while the other two are 5"). These blocks started off as an error but when I embraced the error, it got very fun! 😎 I'm really happy with my variations.

First 5" Chicago Geese block

Original 9" Chicago Geese block

Individual Variation on a Goose
block (top)

2 Variation on a Goose block

Individual Variation on a Goose
block (bottom)

6" Variation on a Goose block

While I was working on my project, I cleaned my studio since I couldn't find three of my hour-glass blocks.

MISSING 3
hour-glass blocks!

Replacement hour-
glass blocks

I ended up making four more hour-glass blocks and used the original one in the centre.

I had mentioned that I wanted to place my Anvil blocks on point. It took a bit of work but I managed to make this lovely block with 2 anvil blocks. I realised that my blocks had very little contrast, so I used a contrasting background fabric. It does seem to help a bit.

Two anvil blocks on point

Anvil block with borders and the quilt's upper border

Finally, after playing around with the layout, I realised that I needed at least one more larger block. In a book, new to me, I found an easy pineapple block. I've always wanted to make one, so I did!

My first pineapple block

So, here is how my quilt has evolved.

One set of side blocks attached

Centre blocks with both side blocks attached

Next steps:

Choose fabric for the 2" borders around the centre blocks. ✔ I've got these extending over the two vertical rows of blocks.
Make 4 5" x 5" blocks for the second vertical row - more hour-glass; ✔

or something different.

Make 2 5" x 5" Chicago geese blocks for the top row and choose background fabric; or ✔

Piece a few background fabrics for the top row as negative space.

Make 2 more anvil blocks on the diagonal for the bottom row; or

Piece background fabric as negative space

Choose fabric for the outer border. If it's 4" wide, the quilt would be roughly 41" x 45". If that's not big enough, I may either make it wider or add more borders....?

What I learned

This was a lot of work - and I'm far from finished!
It's a good thing that I've enjoyed the process 😀
Making the smaller Chicago Geese block went well, until it didn't! In the first block, I used a larger half-square triangle block and then managed to add too many sides. I decided to see what it would look like - and I love it. Do you think that this is how new quilt blocks get invented? Who knows, it might have already been invented, but I'm calling it Variations on a Goose.
How does someone loose 3 blocks? I guess if I knew, I would have found them! 😂I suppose I was meant to have a variety of hour-glass blocks in my quilt.
I really like how my anvil blocks looks on-point. They are so different. When I made them, the pattern showed a doll quilt on-point. They looked so cool. Thanks goodness I found a good tutorial - if I had winged it, it would have been a mess. I've made on-point quilts a few times, but not enough to remember the process of putting them together. The tutorial is in Related links below.
I have no idea if the pineapple block I made is different (since it was considered easy). It was easy but I doubt that I will ever want to make enough for a whole quilt.
The layout is interesting. I'm playing with a few ideas about how to make the top row. I'll be doing something similar for the bottom row. Then I'll probably be adding small side borders. I really am looking forward to cuddling up under this quilt - so it needs to be big enough! Thanks goodness I still have lots of Kona Cotton in matching colours.

I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it! Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and feel free to grab the button.

Deb, A Scrappy Quilter, finished up a whole bunch of baby quilts. Here are a few. You'll want to check out her post to see the others!

A lovely baby quilt with light green backing by Deb

A purple and green baby quilt by Deb

The back of the purple and green baby quilt by Deb

Melva of Melva Loves Scraps finished 4 quilts in February. Here are two of them. One is a cute scrappy green baby quilt while the other is her vintage linens quilt. The vintage linens are hankies and samplers made by her grandmother! You'll want to read about the making and check it out here!

Melva's scrappy green baby quilt

Melva's vintage linens quilt

Details of Melva's vintage linens quilt

Raewyn, the Stitching Farm Girl, made this gorgeous animal quilt with quilts. There's a great story behind it and I'm encouraging you to hop over to read about this quilt's Show & Tell! She quilted some of the quilts using ruler work, cross hatching and meandering.

Animal and quilts made by Raewyn

Ruler work detail by Raewyn

Brenda from Songbird Designs has made block 12 of this amazing quilt! The pieces are appliquéd and then she quilted the block. It's stunning and you'll want to read the story behind it and check out her other blocks here.

Brenda's block 12 - quilted in the hoop

It's now your turn!😍

Thursday, March 05, 2026

Planning my SAHRR Quilt and I Quilted This!

Hi and welcome 😁 I was out of town for my semi-annual visit to Toronto. I'm very happy to say that all is well with my eye. The vision isn't better but that's not what it's about. I'm very thankful that I have my eyes and that they are well. Since I've figured out how to thread a needle using a clip-on magnifier, I can just keep on going. Thanks for joining me today...better late than never.

Planning my SAHRR 2026

I didn't make my Round 6 block because I had no idea what I was doing and what I needed for my quilt. I'd rather take my time and think it through, than make blocks that I won't use. You've seen some of my other SAHRR finishes (or not quite finishes) and I tend to just put the blocks around the centre. Because my blocks this year are very different in sizes, I know that I need another strategy.

SAHRR 2026 - a flexible plan

When I saw Kathleen's layout after Round 6, it finally dawned on my that I didn't have to make rows of blocks and that I could add negative space into my design. So that's what I'm sort of planning. Below is the very flexible plan.

The top row will include my two larger blocks. In the space between them, I'll make one or two smaller versions of the Chicago geese block, depending on how much negative space I need. I'll use a solid Kona background that matches the centre blocks. I'm also thinking that I could use a few colours of the Kona background for that area. I'll try these options on my bed (my design wall is too small) and see what ~~looks~~ I like best.

will make four more 5" x 5" blocks for the other side of the centre block. They may be hour-glass blocks that I can alternate with those already made, or they may be other blocks (i.e. Round 6).

Under the centre blocks, I've decided to put my two purple blocks (called anvil blocks - thanks Daryl!) on the diagonal. This is a mockup, just to make sure that it would look OK. I'll be putting these two blocks together. I love how they look....another cool option would be to make more of these as a row. It's just too bad that there is so little contract in the blocks.

Anvil blocks (from Round 5) on the diagonal

Here is the last photo of all of my blocks so far.

Centre blocks and Round 1 to 5 blocks

Next steps:

Choose fabric for the 2" borders around the centre blocks. I've got these extending over the two vertical rows of blocks.
Make 4 5" x 5" blocks for the second vertical row - more hour-glass;

or something different.

Make 2 5" x 5" Chicago geese blocks for the top row and choose background fabric; or

Piece a few background fabrics for the top row as negative space.

Make 2 more anvil blocks on the diagonal for the bottom row; or

Piece background fabric as negative space

Choose fabric for the outer border. If it's 4" wide, the quilt would be roughly 41" x 45". If that's not big enough, I may either make it wider or add more borders....???

March One Monthly Goal (OMG)

This project is my March OMG. I really want to finish it on time for the parage on March 25th. At the very least I will have a flimsy done, but ideally the whole thing! It'll just depend on what else is happening in my life.😊

A finished flimsy for my March OMG

What I learned

I knew when Round 6 was Quilter's Choice that I had design decisions to make.
It takes me a lot of effort to find a block and then make it and I really didn't want to waste that time.
One of the first decisions to make is how big and what do I do with this quilt? I often don't really consider this but the project will be too large for a wall hanging and I'm not sure that the colours are great for a kid's quilt. That means that I'll have another lap quilt - Yay! but I do want it to be useful. I'll be deciding on the finished size once I've put most of this plan together.
I would have liked to put the blocks on the design block as I've sketched them but the design wall is way too small.
I'm sorry that my post is late but I'm really glad that I got to think this through. Now I have a plan, a list of things to do....so let's get it done!

Related links

Kathleen McMusing - 2026 SAHRR - Round 6 Quilter's Choice
SAHRR so far
- Project Quilting 17.4 and SAHRR, Round 5, February 22, 2026
- SAHRR Round 4 and I Quilted This! February 11, 2026
- Project Quilting & SAHRR Round 3, February 07, 2026
- A Quilter's Cove QAL Link-up and SAHRR, January 31, 2026
- SAHRR Round 1 - hour-glass block, January 26, 2026
- Starting Things and I Quilted This!, January 15, 2026

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties, including March's OMG. You may want to check some out! Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday,

I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it! Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and feel free to grab the button.

Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts created this lovely quilt, Forget Me Not. It was published in Quilters World Spring 2026 Issue which focuses on "Modern Quilts with Classic Roots". The colours are so adorable! You'll want to read her article to find out more.

Forget Me Not quilt by Preeti

Preeti's Forget Me Not quilt in Quilters World Spring 2026 Issue

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué posted pictures of 7 lovely BB quilts made by Muriel. These were donated to the neonatal unit at their hospital. You'll want to check them all out!

BB quilt made by Muriel

Another cute BB quilt made by Muriel

Frédérique also made this amazing play mat for her grand nephew who was born very recently!

Frédérique's play mat for a new born grand nephew

A close-up of the elephant by Frédérique

It's now your turn!

Saturday, February 28, 2026

A Quilter's Cove QAL for February

Hello and welcome to the second month of the Quilter's Cove QAL. Kat is organising it and I'm hosting the party. If you're looking for the I Quilted This linking party, it's here.

Green Houses in A Quilter's Cove

The colour for February is green. We are following Angela choice for the Rainbow Scraps Challenge (RSC). The linking party starts at the last Saturday of each month - so below you will find the February linking party.

I haven't quite completed my green houses but I'll update this post as I add the details to my house block.

February's green houses in Nyhavn, Copenhagen

These colourful houses are located in Nyhavn (New Harbor), along the canal in Copenhagen. The homes are from the 17th and early 18th century, when Nyhavn was a New Harbor and a sea port. It's where I took a boat tour of the canals around Copenhagen.

As you can imagine, Nyhavn was a happening place (and still is.) Even Hans Christian Henderson lived here, in three different houses during his lifetime.

Nyhavn as seen from the canal

More colourful houses as seen from the boat tour

Here are my two houses so far.

January's blue house and February's green houses

I said that I would work more on the block - and I did. Somethings will be added when FMQ the quilt, but I like this better.

Green houses on the Nyhavn canal in Copenhagen

What I learned

The windows in the houses are not just white - I think that this is what is making my Nyhavn houses so dull. I'll be FMQ around the windows, probably using black for one of them, and another dark colour for the other.
The houses in Nyhavn are not wonky😀 It wasn't my intention to make them so but that is how they turned out! The centre house looked a little wonky when I made it, but it sure is obvious in the photo.
As I was looking at the pictures of the houses, I noticed the gulls on top of them. I'll have to add some once the houses are finished.
I'm going to be more organised for the next houses. I did start a few days ago but things got busier than I expected, so I worked on most of the details on Friday night. I'm just too tired to keep at it but I will add my finished block's picture when it's done.
I added a black contour on the house in the middle and used variegated brown thread around the windows on the blue house. I added FMQ to the roof. Again, I find it so difficult to decide if the thread should match or stand out. For the rooves, I stitched wavy lines that matched on two of them while using a dark brown on the third house. I don't love the dark brown roof but then the others don't really show. I guess the answer would be to perfectly FMQ with contrasting thread...but that's not likely to happen.😂
I also tilted the block so that the houses look straight! No one will ever know if you don't tell.

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Quilting a Scrappy Quilt and I Quilted This!

Hello and welcome 😊. I'm glad that you've dropped by for a visit. I've got lots of projects on the go, but today I'm going to share with you the beginning of a scrappy quilt getting quilted. I finally finished piecing the backing - it just needed an extra strip of fabric, which luckily I had. If you're interested in reading about the construction of this scrappy orange quilt, see Related links below.

Stitching-in-the-ditch a scrappy quilt

I almost always start my quilting by stitching-in-the-ditch. This time, because I hadn't sandwiched the quilt as well as I usually do, I stitched starting only on one side of the quilt, as opposed to all around it. This way, if there is any puckering in the quilt, I'll be able to adjust it when I get to the middle or the other side (in theory anyways). I stitched about a third of the quilt and so far, everything is fine.

Stitching-in-the-ditch before FMQ

For those of you who are not quilters, stitching-in-the-ditch is often done to stabilize a quilt before doing more extensive quilting. With my sewing machine's walking foot, I sew between pieced blocks. The trick is to stitch exactly in the seams between each block (in the ditch). If you do this correctly, the quilting is invisible. Unfortunately, for me it's more hit and miss - most of the stitching is invisible but some can be seen next to the seam. However, when a quilt is finished, you can't see any of this unless you're looking for it.

The lines indicate where you would stitch-in-the ditch,
i.e. in the seams between blocks

From the back, you can see where I've stitched so far. As I mentioned, I'm making my way across the quilt, to ensure that the fabric is nice and flat.

You can see the stitching from the back of the quilt

I'm going to keep this post short since I'll be publishing another post on Saturday for A Quilter's Cove QAL linking party. Our March houses are green. I'm having a great time putting together some lovely colourful houses based on the Nyhavn (New Harhour) neighbourhood in Copenhagen.

What I learned

I've just re-read my original post about this quilt. It seems that I wanted to FMQ using dot-to-dot quilting à la Angela Walters. Sounds like a good plan😁
I had mentioned last week that I wanted to do more FMQ - so that's what I'm doing. This is the first step to starting.
Instead of using my dining table to sandwich the quilt, I used my bed. I placed a cardboard cover on it (the ones you use for sewing clothing on to save your table). It's not as stable as the dining table so that's why I've decided to stitch from one side of the quilt to the other - so that I can get rid of any puckers that come up. So far it's working out well.

Related links

Orange Scraps and a Baby Quilt, July 02, 2025

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You might want to check some out, after you've linked up below. Monday Musings, Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap!,

I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it! Here are the posts from last week that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting. Thanks for linking up 😊 and feel free to grab the button.

Gwyned Trefethen made a lovely runner for the Project Quilting 17.4 Challenge, An other era. Here is her psychedelic and Op Art table runner which she called "Peace, Man". It sure has the right vibes!

"Peace, Man" by Gwyned

Sally from Crafts, Cavies and Cooking also participated in the Project Quilting 17.4 Challenge, An other era. She chose the Art Deco era and made this lovely rug mug using foundation paper piecing. This also has vibes from that era!

Art Deco mug rug by Sally

I also participated in the Project Quilting 17.4 Challenge, An other era but forgot to link up to my own party 😕 I chose to play with the Victorians by making a crazy quilt. I used lovely fabrics and then embroidered between the seams.

Crazy Quilt from the Victorian era by Andrée

It's now your turn 😍

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Project Quilting 17.4 and SAHRR, Round 5

Hi and welcome 😊After finishing the Cowboy Panel quilt, it was good to start a new small project and make another block for this year's SAHRR. Here is the link to this week's I Quilted This! party.

Project Quilting 17.4 - Another Era

This week's challenge is to explore another era - either through color and fabric choices or by style. After considering a few options, I decided to go play with the Victorians with a small crazy quilt. My crazy quilt is more subtle than some but I used lovely lush fabric like hand-dyed velvet and cotton by artist Elaine Quehl, vintage silk from Japan, upholstery fabric and other shiny scraps 😍.

Victorian era crazy quilt

I used 12 different fabrics for this piece. I started with the blue velvet and the Japanese silk fabric. From there I went through a basket of non-cotton scraps as well as another of hand-dyed scraps. After piecing the fabric, I added a fusible interfacing and used a pillow-case style finishing. I meant to stitch the piece on the outside, just at the edge, but ended up stitching it at a ¼" - a habit that's obviously hard-wired in me 😉.

Crazy Quilt created for Project Quilting 17.4

Once the piece was put together, it was time to do the crazy part, which is the embroidery 😍 I used Sharon Boggon's Creative Stitches for Contemporary Embroidery to figure out what stitches to use. However, since I had less than a week to complete this project, I didn't have the time or the energy to get very fancy. I mostly used my tried and true stitches. The threads used were almost all perle cottons.

In the photo below, i used a chain stitch - threaded with pink. The one below that, in a rusty colour, is a Chevron stitch - that I threaded in white (mostly to hide my poor chevron stitch). At the bottom is a stepped running stitch - in blue, threaded with a variegated pink and blue thread. Threading a chain or running stitch adds complexity to simple stitches.

Threaded stitches

In the photo below, an alternating buttonhole (or blanket) stitch adds interest. They are joined by small flowers in chain stitch (or lazy daisies).

Alternating blanket stitches with lazy daisies

On the left , the vertical line is a cable chain stitch. Unfortunately it's difficult to see the cable part because it's in the same ivory thread.

Cable and regular chain stitches

Finally, there are two types of feather stitches. The first light green one is a knotted feather stitch while the rusty one is a regular feather stitch.

Feather stitches

SAHRR - Round 5 - Two Colours

Gail of Quilting Gail is hosting this week's round of the Stay At Home Round Robin. We get to choose any block, as long as it's two colours, or two colours and a neutral. Since I had no idea what to choose, I turned to a few books that were close at hand. One was Granny Quilt Decor. I was intrigued by a doll quilt in the book. I have no idea what the name of the block is, but it consisted of half-square triangles and four patch. That fit my idea of simple. I made two blocks. You can see the different layouts below.

2 colours, 2 blocks, layout 1

2 colours, 2 blocks, layout 2

Here are my SAHRR blocks so far.

SAHRR so far - centre blocks and rounds 1 to 5

What I learned

When I play with scraps it seems that I'm too engrossed to take process pictures.
I should have used more contrasting perle cotton colours for my stitches. I sometimes forget that not everything needs to or should blend in.
Although my piece is finished, I reserve the right to keep adding stitching to it 😊The embroidery stitching doesn't all have to be at the seams, as shown by the lazy daisies.
As I mentioned, I chose the block for Round 5 based on a doll quilt in the book. Unfortunately the quilt layout is on point - so unless I put my blocks on point- it doesn't look like the picture. Maybe I'll figure out how to put them on point when I incorporate them in the quilt.
Do you know if you can put a couple of blocks on point while the other blocks in the quilt are not on point? I know that I would have to add fabric to the blocks to make them on point, but could that look good?