Category Archives: Patterns

Progression Panel Quilt

Here is another project that I recently finished. This quilt uses 3 panels. Two of the panels are cut into strips with background fabric using the Ricky Tims Convergence block technique.

I will eventually be teaching the process in a workshop at Quilters Common in Wakefield, but for now the pattern is available at the shop, or you can purchase a digital version of the pattern in my etsy shop.

I quilted this with a pantograph. The one I used is called flames, but I loaded the quilt on my longarm frame so that the panto actually looks like clouds/waves to complement the panel.

Improv Placemats

I have been playing with improv blocks and arranging them together to make placemats. This is going to be a workshop at Quilters Common in Wakefield, MA as soon as we can be comfortable and safe in the cozy classroom area there. It is a fun way to introduce folks to improv if they haven’t tried it yet.

SnippyScissors Diagonal Thinking Genius

My friend Susan is a quilting pattern genius. She looks at things with an open mind and suddenly has an amazing new way to construct a block that avoids fussy bias warping triangle hassles.

Here is a her latest diagonal thinking genius breakthrough in pictures.

looking wonky and unconventional!

This method is wonderfully precise and does not wast that much fabric. My big question: HAS ANYONE EVER SEEN THIS METHOD BEFORE???

I think NOT!!!

Improv with Rules!

This is a block plan for my do.Good Stitches Hope Circle group. Look for us on Instagram, #dogoodstitcheshopecircle to see what we are up to.

Each block will be a 12″ block (12 1/2″ with seam allowances). It will consist of four 6″ (6 1/2″ with seam allowances) improv blocks.

Start out with four 8″ squares of fabric, two light and two dark. Use fabrics that will all work together. Also have two, three or four 8″ long strips of contrasting fabrics that are between 1″ to 1 1/2″ wide.

Layer each light fabric with a dark fabric, both sides UP! Then slice through each set, being careful not to slice too close to the edges. Next swap the fabric pieces in each pair to set up four blocks.

The next thing to do is add in the strips … or not! Plan to add a strip to at least two of the four blocks. Decide for yourself how many of the four you want to put strips into, and also decide how many blocks you want to slice twice, as shown below.

Not adding a strip? Just sew the two pieces for that block together. If you are adding a strip then go ahead and sew it to the edge of one of the pieces, and then sew the other piece on. If you happen to have cut a curve when slicing, just straighten it out when you are sewing the strip in.

Then go ahead and trim the blocks you are finished with. I trimmed three of the four. Trim the blocks to 6 1/2″

I am going to slice the fourth block again and then add a strip to it. When piecing this block you are going to want to try and line up the seams from the first slice. Just hold the seam down 1/4″ in with your thumb and flip the fabric over to see if it looks like it will line up. No worries if not perfect! No one will notice with so much going on in these blocks! Press your seams towards the strip, and then trim to 6 1/2″.

Once you have your four blocks completed play around with how you want to arrange them and then sew the four blocks together into a 12 1/2″ block. Here is my completed block:

I am asking everyone in our circle to make two 12 1/2″ blocks. One of the blocks should be predominantly cool colors (purple, blue, green), and the other should be warm (red, orange, yellow).

Here are the rest of the blocks I made to give you an idea of the different ways you can slice your blocks and arrange them.

Be Kind Bee Blocks

Hello to my Boston Modern Quilt Guild friends, and to anyone who comes across this blog post. I have put together a couple of block designs for our next Be Kind Bee quilt.

Both of these Blocks finish to 12″ square.

Here are instructions for the X Block:

Fabric and Cutting: For these blocks please select a white or white on white fabric, a dark solid or dark blender fabric and a medium print fabric.

White Fabric: You will need to cut 8 pieces that are 1 ½” x 2 ½” and cut 8 pieces that are 1 ½” x 4 ½” or use a strip piecing method as shown below and start with 1 1/2″ width of fabric strips.

You will then need to cut 4 squares that are 4 ½” x 4 ½”

Dark Fabric: Cut 4 squares that are 2 ½” x 2 ½”

Print Fabric: 1 square 4 ½” x 4 ½”

First I cut out all of the pieces for the block. I just cut 1 1/2″ strips for the pieced 4 1/2″ squares and then sewed the blue squares to the strips before cutting. After sewing the strips on all four sides I trimmed these to 4 1/2″ square. I then arranged the squares into three rows as shown. Complete each row and then sew the three rows together.

Press the seams towards the white squares in the top and bottom rows and towards the print square in the center row. When sewing the rows together press the seams towards the print square.

Here are instructions for the Twinkle Block:

Fabric and Cutting: For these blocks please select a white or white on white fabric, a dark solid or dark blender fabric and a medium print fabric.

White Fabric: You will need 1 Width of Fabric (WOF) strip that is 4 ½” wide. Cut 8 pieces that are 4 ½” x 4 ½” squares. Cut FOUR of the squares in half on the diagonal.

Dark Fabric: 1 WOF strip that is 1 ¼” wide and 1 WOF strip that is 1” wide. From the 1 ¼” wide strip cut 4 pieces that are 1 ¼” x 6 ½”. Cut 4 pieces that are 1” x 3 ½” from the 1” wide strip.

Print Fabric: 1 square 3 ½” x 3 ½”

Piecing:

Sew a tringle to each 1 ¼” x 6 ½” piece as shown. Then sew another triangle to the other edge of the 1 ¼” x 6 ½” piece as shown. Trim each of the four blocks to 4 ½” x 4 ½”. Press the seams towards the dark fabric for these units.

Sew the two 1” x 3½” pieces to the top and bottom of the 3½” x 3½” print piece, then sew the two 1” x 4½” pieces to the sides. Press the seams towards the dark fabric for these units.

Arrange these pieces and sew together into three rows as shown. Press the seams towards the solid white squares in the top and bottom rows and towards the solid square in the center row. When sewing the rows together press the towards the print square.

The thought is that we will create a quilt with this that will end up looking something like this:

Let’s see what we come up with!

Squares within Squares

I recently joined the Hope Circle of Do Good Stitches which is a group of 10 people working together to make quilts to be given for charity and comfort. I joined just in time to be asked to design a quilt for the month of October. I came up with the idea to have everyone make Squares within Squares blocks. These blocks all have a center square which is perfect for fussy cutting novelty and floral fabrics. Here are instructions for making the block.

These blocks are 8″ finished squares. I used white background fabric(s), a different dark colored fabric for each block and a different coordinating novelty and/or
floral fabric for the center of each block.

For each block cut an exactly 4 1/2” by at least 5” piece of
white fabric and one from one of the colored fabrics. Sew
together on the long edge. Press towards the colored fabric.
Cut 2 pieces from this that are 8 1/2” x 2 1/2”.

Then cut an exactly 2 1/2” by at least 5” piece of the same
white fabric and one from the same colored fabric as above.
Sew together on the long edge. Press towards the colored
fabric. Cut 2 pieces from this that are 4 1/2” x 2 1/2”
Fussy cut 1 square that is 4 1/2” x 4 1/2” from your novelty/floral
fabric.

Sew together as indicated in the photos. Don’t worry about the direction
of your fussy cut square if directional! Press seams towards the
center block.

Here are six of the finished blocks:

I had a few of design ideas in mind. These two are 7 x 7 blocks:

This design would require 8 x 8 blocks:

This is what I went with. The sashing is 1 1/2″ and the borders are 4″. The quilt finishes to 73″ x 73″. I will update this post to include a photo of the finished quilt.

AND … here is the update. This quilt was donated to the MassGeneral Hospital for Children.

Christmas Kaleidoscope Quilt Stack and Wack Method

This is a tutorial for Jason Yenter’s Winter Twist One-Fabric Kaleidoscope Quilt Pattern. The pattern is available from and uses fabric from In the Beginning.

Cutting Kaleidoscope Fabric:

Cut 6 Repeats of the Fabric. Each repeat is about 24″ long.

Cut each repeat of the fabric into 4 border strip pieces. Cut 2″ from the edge of each brown cable. You will have 24 border pieces that are approximately 24″ x 9 1/2″.

Group these into 3 sets, each with 8 layers of fabric. Line up the layers in each set by putting a straight pin straight through the same place in the fabric design on each layer. Run a second pin through all layers next to the first pin to hold the layers in place. Repeat this process 3 or four more times along the length of the strip.

Trim the strip sets to 8 1/2″ wide. This is easiest to do with an 8 1/2″ wide ruler. From each strip set cut at least 3 sets of triangles using a 45 degree triangle ruler with a 8 1/2″ cutting line on the ruler. Make sure the ruler has flat top at the triangle point.

Make sure to cut 4 sets that have the cable at the base of the triangles and 5 that have the cable at the point. Cut selectively to get different areas of and colors from the fabric design. You should be able to get at least 4 sets of triangles from each set so you will have enough fabric for at least 12 blocks. This will let you pick and choose which ones you want to use and allows for errors in cutting, as well.

Piecing:

Take 4 of the sets of the triangles with the cable at the point of the triangle and separate them into sets of 5 for the side blocks and sets of 3 for the corners.

Refer to the pattern diagrams for piecing the blocks.

For each of the 5 center blocks sew four pairs of triangle pieces together. Then sew two sets together, and then the two halves together. I prefer to press all my seams open for these blocks.

You will have four blocks with the cable on the bottom, and one with the cable at the point. This one is the center block.

For the Side Blocks sew two pairs together. Then sew the two halves together. To finish sew a fifth triangle to one side of the block. I press seams open except for the last triangle. That seam is pressed towards that 5th triangle.

For each of the corner blocks sew a pair of triangles together and then sew the third triangle to one side of the block. Press the seams open.

Cutting and Piecing the Block Corners:

To make it easier to piece the corners I cut oversized pieces and then trim the block afterwards.

Cut three 6″ strips. Then cut 20 6″ squares from these strips. Cut each square in half on the diagonal. You will have 40 triangles for the block corners.

Refer to the pattern diagrams for piecing these corner triangle pieces.

After sewing these corner triangles you will need to trim the blocks. Leave a 1/4″ seam when trimming. A 16 1/2″ square ruler makes this much easier to do.

You can trim the side and corner blocks before you sew them into the quilt top. Be careful! Make sure to leave a 1/4″ seam. I used a 24″ long ruler to make this cut. For the side pieces: Place the block with outside triangles to your right. Line the bottom edge of the block up on the 45 degree line on your cutting board or on your ruler and cut 1/4″ past the center and through the triangles on the ouside. Pictures work best ….

Corner Blocks: line the longest straight edge up on the 45 degree line on your cutting mat. Line your 16 1/2″ Square ruler up so that it is 1/4″ away from the center of the outside triangles and cut.

Once all the blocks are prepared arrange them and sew them in diagonal rows as explained in the pattern.

When matching the seams as you sew the blocks together you can fold back the seam to see if you are lining things up correctly. Pin in place when you have the seams matched up.

If you cut the corner blocks before piecing the rows please be careful to piece the ends so that you leave a seam allowance for the border.

Borders: cut the remaining yardage into four 8 1/2″ wide border pieces that are each the length of the remaining fabric. Start by cutting 1/4″ away from the cable design for each of the four pieces. Then trim each to 8 1/2″ wide. The best way to manage the fabric is to roll it up and unroll as you cut along the length of the fabric. Be careful!

Follow the pattern instructions for sewing on the borders.

I pressed the border seams away from the border, but you will have to press the corners towards the border when cutting the mitered corners, then press them back towards the blocks after sewing the corners together. Here is a photo showing how to trim the ends of the borders.

Please note that becuase of the larger size of these blocks they are not going to be very flat. The triangles are on the bias and stretched no matter how much best press I used! My sewing machine cooperated and I was able to ease the fullness into the seams when piecing, but you can see puckering at the seams.

Let’s see how this looks after the top is quilted!

Kaleidoscope Magic

I have been having too much fun making kaleidoscope blocks lately. Every time I look at a fabric now I am wondering how well it might work for kaleidoscope blocks.

Bethany Reynolds has books on this technique which includes patterns for blocks with 45 degree triangle quilts as well as 60 degree triangle quilts, and she also includes patterns using diamonds and half square triangles. Her books are Stack-n-Whack and Stack-n-Whackier. Check out your local quilt shop to see if either is available. They might even order a copy of them for you. Or you can just make some blocks and create your own quilt or quilts with them.

This week I will be sharing my enthusiasm at Quilters Common in Wakefield, MA. I am teaching a workshop on the process for making these quilts. I also have a pattern available for this quilt which is available exclusively at Quilters Common.

Here is a quick rundown on the process.

I like to look for fabrics with large prints that have different shapes and colors. You need to pay attention to the repeat of the design on the fabric. You can work with any repeat, but I have found that I like working with a 24″ repeat, which is usually pretty standard with the larger print fabrics.

Since the classic Kaleidoscope block consists of 8 45 degree triangle blocks, you need 8 repeats of the fabric. 8 times 45 is 360, which gives you a full circle! Plan on buying at least 5 1/2 yards of fabric of your kaleidoscope fabric.

The first thing I do is cut my fabric in half lengthwise. This way you will be working with half of the width of fabric and this will allow you to have some flexibility with your fabric. You can either set up two sets of repeats of the fabric for cutting triangles, or you can use the other half of the width of fabric for length of fabric borders. What you do with the fabric depends on what you have in mind for a quilt.

You can snip and rip your fabric down the length or carefully rotary cut it. To do this I just rolled the fabric as I went to keep it out of the way. Snipping if faster and more fun, but it may pull at the threads in the fabric, so don’t do this if your fabric is not a robust weave!

(As you view the photos in this article remember you can click on each to enlarge it.).

Layer the 8 repeats on your cutting board with the salvage on top. The next thing to do is to carefully cut eight repeats of the fabric. Each piece should be about 22″ x 24″ and they all should be pretty much the same. Once you have all eight repeats cut, layer them and match them up by placing a pin through the same spot in all eight layers. Secure that area that you have pinned by placing a second flat head pin in and out of the eight layers. Repeat this process with a few pins about 2″ in and each about 3″ apart from the side of the layers of fabric.

Once you have the pins in place you can take a look at the edge of the layers to see how well lined up they are. Make some adjustments by repining if necessary. If everything is lined up then go ahead a cut one strip of fabric for your blocks. For my pattern I cut 5 1/2″ strips.

Next cut the triangles. Bethany provides paper templates in her book, but I like using a 45 degree acrylic ruler. Mine is the Simpli-EZ Ruler by EZ Quilting. You should get 7 sets if triangles from each strip of fabric. Cut through all eight layers at once. Be sure you have a new blade in your rotary cutter. I like using a larger 60 mm cutter because you get better leverage and a quicker cut.

Next step is to sew your triangles together. First sew four pairs, then two pairs together and then the two halves together.

Consider trying this! If the back of your fabric is suitable you can achieve a mirror effect by alternating the back of the fabric with the front! To do this sew each set with both pieces right side up.

These two photos will give you an idea of the difference between using all of the right side of the fabric and a block with every other triangle with the reverse of the fabric. The same set of identical triangle pieces were used for both photos. Both are beautiful! Which would you use?

To finish the blocks I cut two 4 1/2″ squares for each blocks and then cut them once on the diagonal. Then I sewed each half square triangle to the corners of the blocks. The triangles are over sized so that you can trim the blocks to the correct size.

Here is a picture of this quilt in progress:

And here is another finished version of the same quilt pattern. The blocks on this one are all fabric right side up which creates more of a spiral effect. Pictures show the front and back of the quilt.

The pattern is available for sale at Craftsy!

And a couple more finished using the same fabric.

… and one just getting started. (it’s addicting!)

Slice and Dice Piecing

I am working on a quilt with blocks that are based on a technique in Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen. The book has some great ideas and illustrations, but I thought it might help to see step by step photos. The tricky part is matching up the first set of strips after the second set has been added. I drew a seam line to help line things up when pinning.