Simple, Sneaky Patchwork Method / Beauties Pageant 243

I’ve noticed a resurgence of a simple and sneaky patchwork method on Instagram lately. Have you encountered it? It’s the hack where you iron squares to a piece of webbing and sew entire rows of patchwork together in one fell swoop. It’s a clever shortcut—one I cannot take credit for developing—and it produces a panel with perfect points in a fraction of the time.

My Experience 

I explored this technique years ago in my Cross My Heart quilt and the corresponding tutorial. If you’re looking for a quick and easy Valentine’s-themed project, I recommend checking out the write-ups. One heart requires 49 squares and some webbing. Add in a little fabric to frame out the patchwork and make a backing, and you can sew yourself a pillow in no time!

A Perfect Pattern for the Technique

The pattern that caused social media to revisit this technique more recently was Embroidery Flowers, a free pixelated design from Tilda pictured at the top of the post. Instagram users in particular were excited about this design, and Pink Door Fabrics quickly sold out of kits for the quilt.*

Veruschka, of Pride and Joy Quilting, tackled the pattern and its more than 2,000 squares using the simple, sneaky piecing method. The big difference between her approach and mine, aside from the sheer enormity of her project, was the webbing she used: TenSisters EasyPiecing Grid Panels. Whereas I manually marked out my grids, she used a preprinted product that accommodated Embroidery Flowers’ 2-inch squares.

As Veruschka explained it on Instagram, she likely wouldn’t have been able to take on such a project without the shortcut method and the preprinted webbing. She designs complicated paper-piecing projects, and all the cut and organized fabrics for Embroidery Flowers were not something that could linger in her workspace. She needed to finish the top, clean up her space, and move on to her other work.

There’s no longer documentation of Veruschka’s process on Instagram—probably because she’s now teaching students how to design and sew their own original pixelated projects. Kaitlyn, of Knot and Thread Design, however, has posted a three-part series on how she assembled a panel with TenSisters’ panels. Check out her method on Instagram in these posts: part 1, part 2, part 3. (Spoiler alert! Kaitlyn added the step of using a glue stick to keep the squares in place while transferring a panel to the ironing board. Brilliant!)

My Advice

If you think you’d like to implement the webbing shortcut in one of your projects, I recommend doing a test first—like, make a small piece of patchwork with the technique before committing to an entire quilt with it. I say this because I did not like the results I got on my throw-size Cross My Hearts quilt. The webbing changed the hand of the finished quilt, so much so that I decided to interface the solid squares in mine. 

I have a kit for Embroidery Flowers, and when I get around to sewing it, I will machine-piece it without webbing. With all the seams necessary to sew thousands of squares together, Embroidery Flowers will be a heavy top even without a webbing layer.

This is not to say I won’t employ this technique again. If I had a patchwork pillow on my to-do list, that would be a different story. A pillow could benefit from the extra substance the webbing layer contributes to the final product.

Have you tried this patchwork cheat before? Let us know in the comments!

* The kit for Embroidery Flowers is long sold out, but there’s a second pixelated pattern from Tilda that Pink Door does have in stock as of this writing, called Flower Vase Embroidery Quilt.

Related links:

• Less-Work Patchwork Hearts tutorial
• Embroidery Flowers PDF pattern download
  
• Flower Vase Embroidery Quilt download
• Pride and Joy Quilting’s Class Offerings 
  
• Knot and Thread’s videos on Instagram: part 1, part 2, part 3

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Elizabeth Hartman's Legendary Pattern / Beauties Pageant 238

Back in 2017, Elizabeth Hartman released her Legendary quilt pattern, and I was dubious. It was a cool design, but was there really a market for a Sasquatch quilt pattern? 

Six years later, I realized that, with a few palette decisions, I could transform Sasquatch into a yeti, and obviously, I need a yeti quilt in my life.

Yetis, or abominable snowmen, are a running joke between me and my older son. Over the years, I have bought him yeti Christmas ornaments, yeti stuffed animals, yeti washi tape, you name it. As his 15th birthday appeared on the horizon (and by this, I mean it was just three weeks out!), I knew I had to move into high gear and get this project done.

Essex Linen

Thankfully, I had already cut out almost everything, including five different green fabrics for the forest. The dark greens are two prints from Cotton and Steel past and present, and the lighter, brighter greens include a solid, a blender, and a print from Kate Spain’s Grand Canal collection.

For the background I used Essex Linen. It was something I purchased for a different quilt, one that requires a lot of fiddly curve sewing, and I am thankful I used that cut of fabric here instead. 

Now, I am not an Essex Linen novice. I’ve used it a variety of projects, most of which are bags, not quilts (see the links at the bottom of the post). In other words, I know Essex Linen’s lovely, textured hand can be annoying to work with. It’s malleable and stretchy and not nearly as well behaved as quilting cotton. So I took precautions: I washed the Essex Linen (and all the other fabrics, for that matter) and I gave it a good press with starch.

I chain-pieced 12 of the 14 tree blocks right off the bat. As I squared the blocks, though, I realized that I would lose some points when I sewed them into the quilt top. I blamed this (ahem!) on the fact that I did not mark the diagonal seams before sewing them and instead just eyeballed everything. But then I cut and sewed the final 2 tree blocks, diligently marking every diagonal seam with my hera marker, and they were not any more accurate than the first batch I sewed. Sorry, Essex Linen, it’s not me, it’s you!

The Quilting

There was no way I was going to quilt a project with this much Essex Linen myself. On one hand, I think Essex Linen merits a good amount of quilting to stabilize it. On the other, too much quilting could result in a top without much drape.

I decided on a pantograph called Ramble, and I couldn’t like it and the scale my longarmer decided on more. I had considered different designs that played up the forest theme, but this modern geometric seemed more appropriate for its 15-year-old recipient.

I’ve been second-guessing my thread choices of late (remember this quilt?), and Legendary was no exception. My usual rule of thumb is to use the lowest value in a quilt top as the color for the quilting thread. Instead, I went with a medium gray option here, which makes the quilting recede on almost all of the blocks and the background. Don’t get me wrong: I really like it. I can’t help but wonder, however, what Ramble would look like with an off-white thread.

The Backing and Binding

A flannel from Tula’s Holiday Homies collection was the perfect foil to all that Essex Linen. And I finished everything off with a solid binding, also from Tula, in matcha.

I knew I would miss an opportunity to add another layer of texture if I machine-finished the binding, so the time required to sew these chunky stitches was well spent, even if I was still at work on it the day before I planned on gifting the quilt to my son! (For a tutorial on chunky-stitch bindings, click here.)

I divide Elizabeth Hartman’s pattern design into two phases. Her earlier work, including the designs in her two books, is mostly geometric. The ones that do have a novelty feel to them (like these cats, which are freebies on her site) are fairly simple to make. Most of what she designs now is much more complicated. I’ve heard friends talk about all the pieces required to sew her sloths or her dinosaurs, and I cringe. Legendary may be part of her later work, but despite my woes with lost points, it’s pretty easy. If you have a reason to sew a Sasquatch quilt or, like me, a yeti version, I recommend it!

Other quilts from Elizabeth Hartman’s patterns:

• Valentine
• Neighborhood
• Me-Wow!
  

Other quilts made with Essex Linen:

• Birds in Blue
  
• No Latitude
• Me-Wow! (yes, it’s an EH pattern and I sewed it with Essex Linen)

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Two Postcards from Sweden / Beauties Pageant 232

I love the processing of checking things off my to-do list. Right now, I have three (digital) sticky notes on my desktop: one for life administration, one for stuff to get rid of (that oval mirror! that plastic basketball hoop!), and one for quilty projects. I can get downright giddy as I delete things from these lists. The one where items linger, however, is that third sticky note ...

The timeline for the projects I’m unveiling today was a year—a whole year to finish two easy quilts! In early October 2022, I started cutting into a huge bundle of bright and beautiful Free Spirit fat quarters, in preparation for a guild retreat, and it’s just recently that I finished binding the Postcard from Sweden quilts I sewed with that fabric.

You may be thinking, Michelle committed to two of these quilts up front? Yes! If I am going to pick out and cut 36 fabrics for a project, I might as well cut a second identical project simultaneously. My only regret is that I made the 360 half-square triangles with the two-at-a-time method. If I had to do it over again, I would have invested in an Accuquilt GO die and avoided trimming all of those HSTs. 

Both quilts are composed of HSTs that finish at 4 inches, and the completed projects measure 48 inches by 60 inches. The two have the same quilting design—straight lines that travel along diagonal seams and bisect each HST—and a combination of pale pink and orange thread.

The perfect foil to the colorful quilt tops was Tula Pink’s ladybug wideback. This sateen is so soft and smooth. I was happy to use my yardage on the back of these projects, and I look forward to doing something fun for myself with the scraps.

What will I do with two Postcards from Sweden? One may go to my little niece for Christmas or her birthday. After all, she has received just one quilt from me so far. (Her big sister was the recipient of this Jolly Bar quilt, this Penny Patch quilt, this improv quilt, and this Little Lady quilt—and she insists on piling each one on top of her at bedtime. Considering that my mom also quilts, I have been cut off from making any more for that niece!) The other will go on my Etsy site, where I recently decided to—gulp!—sell some projects.

If you want more info about the Postcard from Sweden pattern (it’s a freebie) or how I approached the fabric pull, read my original post here.

Before I sign off, here’s one more shot of those sweet ladybugs. Any suggestions on what I can do with the scraps? I was thinking of a pin cushion, but I am open to suggestions. : )

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Double-Sided Diamond Quilt / Beauties Pageant 230

The Double-Sided Diamond Quilt is one of my Almost Free for Charity PDF patterns. 

It’s just $3 in my Etsy shop, $1 of which goes to an organization supporting the Down syndrome community.

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I’ve been on a roll these past few weeks with posts about precuts. First, I revealed a finished quilt of 2.5-inch strips. Then I followed up with some recommended jelly roll patterns and projects for 2.5-inch squares. So I thought I’d talk a bit about layer cakes today.

First of all, for any precut newbies out there: Layer cakes are collections of 10-inch squares. Each one usually contains 42 squares, but that number can vary from one manufacturer to another. 

I love layer cakes for their versatility—there are just so many smaller shapes I can cut from them! They’re also fabulous to use as 10-inch squares, however, and that was something I explored in this quilt ...

This is my Double-Sided Diamond Quilt, and it’s my love song to big blocks. The top uses 10-inch squares to supersize half-square triangles, creating a show-stopping project.

Because the top requires just 24 layer cake squares and the one I had contained 42, I designed a coordinating backing of small diamonds, making this project two quilts in one.

I’ve been meaning to make this pattern again but haven’t been successful fitting it into my to-sew schedule. The next-best option was to play with the design in Electric Quilt and explore the possibilities.

My original Double-Side Diamond Quilt was made with Little Ruby, a collection from Moda by Bonnie and Camille. Bonnie has since retired. Camille is still designing fabric, though, and most recent collection, Lighthearted, just shipped to stores this month. Lighthearted features the trademark B&C palette ...

I use so many solids as backgrounds, it was nice to see this design mocked up with those tiny hearts in the background.

And a backing that pulls out the pink (with just the slightest bit of orange) from the collection makes a beautiful companion for the front. Red and green is my favorite complementary pair. This mocked-up combination does not disappoint!

I’ll work on some additional mockups in the upcoming week. Do you have any requests? EQ and I are at your service!

The Double-Sided Diamond Quilt went out free to newsletter subscribers back in May. Now it is one of my Almost Free for Charity PDF patterns. It’s just $3 in my Etsy shop, $1 of which goes to an organization supporting the Down syndrome community. (To subscribe to the newsletter and receive future free patterns in your inbox, click here.)

On that note, next month is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. To read about my story raising a son with Down syndrome, read this post.

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Two Patterns for National Sew a Jelly Roll Day / Beauties Pageant 228

Have you heard about National Sew a Jelly Roll Day? (It’s a real thing, up there with National Golden Retriever Day and National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!) On the third Saturday of September each year, we’re encouraged to unroll those lovely bundles of strips and get to quilt making!

Thimble Blossoms’ Patchwork Sky

One jelly roll pattern I sewed recently and wanted to recommend to you is Thimble Blossoms’ Patchwork Sky. (Thimble Blossoms is Camille Roskelley’s pattern company.) This project turned me into a fan of strip sewing—that is, sewing the strips together length-wise and then cutting them into usable units for the quilt top. 

That technique makes the 16-patches in between the big stars go together much faster, while still maintaining the super-scrappy, I-pieced-all-these-little-squares-individually look.

I had hoped to have my Patchwork Sky all quilted and bound for a National Sew a Jelly Roll Day debut—after all, it’s been basted since June!—but here you see the project as a flimsy. I am planning on quilting double lines on an angle all over this top and binding it with Grunge in wild ginger (the stars are Grunge in blue steel). Here’s hoping it crosses the finish line before the end of the year!

Ridiculously Easy Jelly Roll Quilt

Regular readers are familiar with the second pattern I wanted to showcase today. It’s my own Ridiculously Easy Jelly Roll Quilt. This humble pattern has been my most successful to date, and the ombre version was so well received that I recently updated the cover of the PDF version with it.

Patchwork Sky is not a weekend project, but the child and lap sizes of Ridiculously Easy are. Personally, I think the lap size is the project’s sweet spot, because it calls for 29 strips and jelly rolls usually contain 40. In other words, there is a little wiggle room for you to select the fabrics that work best with your background fabric.

The pattern requires sewing long columns together (it is not a block-based pattern) and includes tips on getting great results. If you’re a new sewist, I recommend making one of the smaller sizes before embarking on one of the larger sizes.

Will you be at your machine on National Sew a Jelly Roll Day? If so, we’d love to hear what you plan on making!

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A Finally Finished Jelly Roll Quilt / Beauties Pageant 227

** The Still Pretty Simple Jelly Roll Quilt pattern is one of my Almost Free for Charity PDF patterns. One dollar from each $3 pattern is donated to a nonprofit that supports the Down syndrome community. **

Last fall, I broke into my black and white fabrics to make this project. I call it Big Star, but it’s really a version of my Still Pretty Simple Jelly Roll Quilt. The pattern makes 16 log cabin blocks, and one of its four possible layouts is this star configuration. 

The Fabrics

I went all-out super-scrappy for this project. If you look closely, you’ll spot selections from many different manufacturers. Perhaps most noteworthy is the OG Cotton and Steel fabrics (those little birds, pictured below, are my favorite!). I won the Cotton and Steel prints through a guild event, and they have been aging nicely in my stash, just waiting for the perfect project. 

I had never sewn a black and white quilt before, and it was fun—and satisfying—to cut up those fabrics and put them to good use.

The Quilting

Although I fell in love with Big Star early in the making process, the black and white palette seemed stark to me as I considered the finished flimsy. Sure, there are some subtle hints of color in the low-volume prints, but I thought the quilting could provide some much-needed pizzazz. Eschewing my usual off-white quilting thread, I opted for a mustardy yellow. It’s such a departure for me that the friend who longarmed the project double-checked whether that was really my selection before she got started. (What can I say? My people know me!)

The Binding 

Now that the quilt is done, I think the binding alone gives the project the necessary infusion of personality; I could have stuck with my usual off-white thread and been satisfied with the results. And the nice thing about matching the quilting thread to the lowest volume in a project—which for me is almost always white—is that it is visible in parts of the finished quilt and nearly invisible elsewhere. The yellow here stands out uniformly throughout this project. 

That’s not to say I regret the yellow thread—I just forgot the power of a fabulous binding fabric and the beauty of watching quilt lines advance and recede over the expanse of a quilt top!

The First Washing

This past June, I posted about an unfortunate quilt-washing experience. I made a project with many of the same fabrics I used in Big Star, did not prewash anything, and had to deal with subsequent bleeding. At this time, Big Star was just a flimsy, and I knew it would likely bleed in the wash, too. Some of you suggested I try to wash it before quilting it. Others thought I should finish it and wash it as usual or wash it with a product called Synthrapol. It was helpful to hear how everyone would handle the situation—thank you for chiming in!

In the end, I decided to wash it in the washing machine with plenty of cold water and mild detergent, and hope for the best. After all, the Still Really Simple Jelly Roll Quilt pattern is an easy one, and I can always make another. The most precious aspect of the quilt at hand is the OG Cotton and Steel stash used in it, and I still have a bit left.

When I took Big Star out of the washer, I noticed some color transfer. It was minor—so minor, in fact, that I couldn’t photograph the problematic spots clearly. I wasn’t sure whether to try to fix the issue (and run the risk of making it worse) or to throw the quilt in the dryer, so I can up with a third option: I hung it up outside, hoping the sun would lightened the spots in question. 

I am not sure whether that accomplished anything, but air-drying Big Star did not worsen the situation. I’ll take that as a win.

For kicks, I measured this project before and after the machine wash and air dry. It started out at 63.5 inches by 55.75 inches and ended up 62 inches by 54 inches. I was surprised by the amount it shrank, especially since I opted for the air dry.

The Happy Ending

The ending to this story? I am going to keep Big Star for myself. I don’t like the idea of gifting a quilt that could bleed further, and I am unwilling to invest any more time in it—there are more quilts to make! Plus, because it’s not a pristine quilt, it will likely get used more than others at my house. In other words, furry family members will be allowed to nap on Big Star unsupervised. Ha!

** The Still Pretty Simple Jelly Roll Quilt pattern is one of my Almost Free for Charity PDF patterns. One dollar from each $3 pattern is donated to a nonprofit that supports the Down syndrome community. **

Linking up to Oh Scrap! ...

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Technique: How I Sew Chunky Stitches on Bindings / Beauties Pageant 226

 

It’s fair to say that I avoid hand stitching at all costs. I don’t enjoy it, it tends to be rough on my wrists, and besides, I’ve got some mad sewing machine skills ... Why would I hand-stitch something that I can sew by machine? 

The one exception for me is chunky hand stitching on bindings—I love the look of it!

This is what I am talking about, a thick line of imperfect stitches that contrasts with my binding and that reminds the quilt recipient an actual person made this object ... 

The technique is easy—so easy, in fact, that I hesitated to write this post. If you don’t already have this binding option in your quilty arsenal, I hope these instructions will help you make the leap.

Ready, Set, Go!

Chunky hand stitching is the final step of binding a quilt. At this point, I have already made my binding with 2.5-inch width-of-fabric strips and attached it to one side of the quilt by machine. Whether I attach it to the front or back depends on the project. Sometimes I like the look of the chunky stitching on the front. Other times, I prefer it on the back. Do whatever gives you the look you’re striving for.

Tools of the Trade

 

This technique requires notions you likely already have on hand ...

 

Thread

I use a 12-weight Aurifil thread when finishing bindings with chunky stitches. I’m sure less expensive thread would work just as well, and I think an 8-weight thread would be fine, too. (Remember, as the number of the weight decreases, the thickness of the thread increases.) I recommend trying what you have on hand and seeing how it works before purchasing something new.

I don’t use a thread conditioner, but if using one makes you happy, go for it!

Hand-Sewing Needle

There is nothing fancy about my needle. It’s sharp, has a big-enough eye to accommodate the thick thread, and is long enough that it feels good in my hand. If you’re savvy about needles (admittedly, I am not), I’d say something in the embroidery or crewel family would work. (If you have insight into needle selection, by all means let us know in the comments!)

Quilting Gloves

I do not use thimbles—I haven’t invested the time (or money) into finding one I like. Instead, I prefer to wear my Machingers quilting gloves. They help me grasp the needle, lessening the wear and tear on my hands.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Cut a length (say, 24 inches) of the chunky thread you’re using, and double-knot the end.

2. Insert the needle an inch away (or less, whatever the quilting lines permit) from where you want to start (or, in the case of the photo below, to continue) your lines of stitches.

3. Pull the thread through, burying the knot between the fabric and batting. This will not hurt the fabric! Sometimes I have to lift the fabric a bit to encourage the knot to go through more easily.

4. Start sewing, ensuring the thread passes through the binding and the fabric without peeking through on the other side. My stitches are about a quarter-inch long. I strive for uniformity, but part of the beauty of this stitching is the little wobbles and inconsistencies. : )

Sometimes I can get away with weaving the needle up and down and making multiple stitches at a time.

5. Secure the corners by stitching an X.

6. When you’re close to the end of your thread, tie a double knot a little beyond where your next stitch will end. Sew that last stitch, ensuring the knot lies between the fabric and batting, and bringing the needle through the fabric about an inch from that endpoint. Trim the tail close to the fabric.

That’s it! I think the hardest part of this process is making sure I don’t poke the thread through to the opposite side of the quilt. : )

There are plenty of times when I still finish my bindings by machine—especially when I’m short on time—but I do enjoy hand stitching a binding here and there.

Have you given this technique a try? If so, tell us about it in the comments.

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