Month: November 2024

‘Tis almost the season…

Not the one with Christmas trees and mistletoe…no not that season.  No, you know the First-of-the-New-Year Quilting Season – Blocks-of-the-Month (BOM) and Mystery Quilts.

That season.  More specifically, Mystery Quilt Season.  It seems that a lot of quilt shops, quilt guilds, online quilt shops, and Facebook/Instagram groups will start their Block-of-the-Month Clubs or Mystery Quilt seasons at the beginning of a new calendar year.  Blocks-of-the-Month can vary greatly from year to year.  It seems some years there are very few attractive BOMs.  And other years – such as 2024 – have a bevvy of wonderful BOMs.  So much so that it’s easy to get sucked into too many.  Blocks-of-the-Month can be a neat experience.  Sometimes you are given the pattern and have to choose your own fabrics.  With others, the fabric is provided with the pattern.  Recently I participated in a BOM that not only supplied the fabric and the pattern, but also the fusible web.  I joined one a couple of years ago which not only had the fusible on the back of the fabric, but the applique pieces were laser cut.  All you had to do was fuse and sew.  To garner participation with BOMS, groups or quilt shops generally show a picture of the completed quilt so you know what you’re getting into.

Mystery quilts don’t.  Hence the term, “Mystery Quilt.”  You have no idea what you’re getting into.  Generally with these you supply your own fabric and have no idea how everything will turn out.  One month you may construct 140 flying geese and the next 250 half-square triangles, with absolutely no idea how these two units will play with each other until the final construction directions are given to you.  Mystery Quilts are great ventures of faith and trust.  And Zone of Truth here:  I like Blocks-of-the-Month a lot more than Mystery Quilts.  If my guild has a yearlong Mystery Quilt, I’m the guild member who will faithfully download all the instructions and wait until the final directions are given before I decide if I want to make the quilt.  Remember this quilt?  This is my Quilt of Rebellion.  Actually I have two.

Both of these are the result of a Mystery Quilt my guild did a few years ago.  The more block units I made, the more I realized this was a heavily pieced quilt and I don’t like heavily pieced quilts.  I made my units, set them aside, and designed the two quilts above.  The Mystery Quilt was supposed to look like this: 

Mine definitely took a detour. 

But there’s no denying Mystery Quilts are fun.  And I would encourage you to try a couple during your quilting career.  However, I’d also like to throw out some advice from a quilter who loves to get involved with lots of quilting groups and who has had more than a reasonable number of Mystery Quilt opportunities.

First, Google the Designer.  When the internet throws information your way, you want to look for a few specific items.  Has this designer been designing quilts for a while?  Are there complaints about the directions (do they give clear directions?)?  Remember, with a Mystery Quilt, you only see parts at a time — the block units and then sometimes the completed blocks.  You have no idea what the entire quilt looks like until the end.  With few visual guides, the directions should be super clear. 

You also want to know if they have designed Mystery Quilts before.  Writing directions for a Mystery Quilt is a bit different from typical quilt directions.  I also click the Images tab when I Google a designer to see how some of their other quilts look.  This way you discover what the designer’s “vibe” is.  For instance, If the designer loves applique, chances are that Mystery Quilt may have some applique in it.  If you’re not a fan of applique, then you may want to opt out of this Mystery Quilt.  If there is one particular type of block or block unit you honestly can’t stand to make, email the designer or the person in charge of your guild’s or the shop’s Mystery Quilt to see if it’s part of the quilt.  Sometimes they’ll tell you straight up.  Other times they may indicate the quilt may involve a few of your-not-so-favorite things.  And still other times you won’t be given any information. 

This brings me to another consideration about the designer or the person in charge of the Mystery Quilt:  Is there a way to contact them if you have a question or problem and will they answer you?  This is pretty important.  Because they know how the quilt will look once assembled, they should be available to answer your questions. 

Second, highlight the information you’re given.  You should be told how big the quilt will be.  Really good Mystery Quilts will give you the option of a couple of different sizes.  The directions should also be specific about the type of fabric to use (if the fabric isn’t provided).  How many lights, mediums, and darks do you need?  Will yardage or fat quarters work better?  Can you make it scrappy?  Will batiks work?  What about prints?  Is there a chance to showcase large prints?  What about a focus fabric? Above all else, make sure you love working with the fabrics you choose.  Many Mystery Quilts are months long commitments.  That’s quite a long time to be sewing fabric you’re not crazy about.

Third, make an appointment each week to work on your quilt.  I do this with both Mystery Quilts and Blocks-of-the-Month.  I have a dedicated time each week to work through the block(s).  When I made my 2023 Temperature Quilt, every Monday night was devoted to a block.  With my first Dear Jane, it was Saturday mornings.  It helps to have a specific time blocked out to work with these quilts.  This keeps you caught up, which is so important.  When you fall behind, it can seem you’ll never get back on track.  And as long as you keep up with the program, questions can be answered much more easily now than six months down the road when everyone else has completed the blocks.

Fourth, make sure you read the rules.  With some groups, you must show you’ve completed the previous month’s block before you receive the directions for the next month’s block.  Some quilt shops require you to do this in person.  This is really a win/win situation.  You get to see the new block, ask any questions about it, and see if the shop has any gadget which could help you (as well as peruse any new fabric or patterns).  It’s good for the quilt shop, too. It brings in more foot traffic and helps their bottom line.  Some shops just require a picture from your phone.  Some groups require nothing more than picking up or downloading the next pattern.  However, there still are some questions you need answers to:

1.  If the shop or group requires you to pick up the directions, what happens if you miss a month?  You may have every intention of picking up every month’s block, but we both know life can happen and sometimes at the last minute something will come up.  What happens if you have to miss a month?  Can you pick the block up later?  Can a friend pick up the directions for you? 
2. Who do you contact if you have to miss a month or have a question? 
3. Are the fabric requirements and quilt size clearly listed?  What are the measurements for the unfinished blocks?

Bottom line is this: You at least need the contact information for someone in case you have questions.

Finally, know the Mystery Quilt’s expectations and your limitations.   If the Mystery Quilt requires several blocks of the month and you don’t have that kind of time to allocate to it, you may want to pass on that opportunity.  If the blocks are small and you aren’t a fan of small blocks, it’s good to know that kind of information before you sign up.  It’s also good to know the quilting level the quilt considers.  If you’re a beginner quilter and the pattern is geared more towards the intermediate level, be aware some of the techniques may be new to you, but I wouldn’t necessarily let that deter me from signing up.  Ask the shop or group if there is someone who could help you if you have questions.

If you try out a Mystery Quilt and discover you really enjoy this process, there are Facebook Groups and Website which cater to only Mystery Quilts.  Some of these quilts even have their own mystery stories to go along with the quilt – which are really fun.  You solve the mystery as you construct the quilt.  Really, the skies (and the mysteries) are limitless. 

Until Next Week, From My Studio to Yours,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

Okay, before anyone reads too much into the blog topic, let me assure you that it’s a G-rated, family-friendly blog.  While strip or stripping or stripped may be a verb in most languages, for quilters it can be a verb or an adjective, as in I plan to strip this quilt, or Where did I put those strip units?

For quilters, stripping means sewing sections of fabric together and then subcutting them into block units.  I am a long-time fan of this method for reasons I’ll get into in just a bit.  I’ve been quilting for almost 40 years, and I was introduced to this technique early on in my career.  As I began research for this blog, I wanted to find out what blocks could use this technique, what is the best way to prepare your strip units, and  how do precuts fit into strip piecing?  However my first burning questions were who came up with this technique and how long has it been used? 

Who Developed Strip Piecing?  How Long Has It Been Used in Quilting?

According to the International Quilt Museum, the strip piecing technique was developed in the early Seventies by engineer-turned-quilter Ernest Haight.  He receives credit for this method because he was the first to publish directions on how to implement it.  As an engineer, Haight wanted the most efficient and accurate design process.  He tried out lots of different ideas, but once he developed strip piecing, he knew this was a keeper.  The process was extremely accurate and easy enough for even a beginning quilter to grasp.  He also realized that most of the new quilters (who were drawn back to quilting via the US Bicentennial in 1976) were not being taught to quilt by their mothers or grandmothers.  Because of this, Haight wrote books to teach quilters new construction methods.  But was he really the first quilter to use strip piecing? 

We may never know for sure, but we do know that he was the quilter which popularized the technique.

What is Strip Piecing? Can It Be Used with All Quilt Blocks?

Strip piecing is a quilting technique that involves sewing long strips of fabric together to create a pieced strip set, which is then cut into smaller units.  This technique cuts sewing and cutting time in half, so quilts which look like this:

Aren’t as daunting as they would be if you had to cut each square out individually and then sew them all together, one at a time. 

Strip piecing can’t be used with all quilt blocks, but those which have squares, rectangles, or other types of quadrilaterals are fair game.  So blocks such as

Rail Fence

Nine Patch

Four Patch

Some Pinwheels

Irish Chain

And Lone Star

Can employ strip piecing well.

Precuts and Strip Piecing

Precuts are wonderful fabric additions to the quilting world.  While they average slightly more in price than yardage, the cutting process is done for you.  You simply take it home and begin sewing.  There are so many different precuts:  Jelly rolls, layer cakes, charm squares, honey buns, fat quarters, crackers…so many types and so many sizes.  For the purpose of strip piecing, we will concentrate on two types of precuts – jelly rolls and honey buns.  Jelly rolls are probably the best known, and they log in at the popular 2 ½-inch size.  Honey buns (also called Sashing Strips) are 1 ½-inch wide.  Both kinds can be used for strip piecing.

These strips come rolled up like this:

Many times the edges are pinked and sometimes there are a lot of loose threads on the outside of the roll.  I’ve found it’s a good idea to take my Jelly Roll or Honey Bun outside with a lint roller.  After I take the wrapping off, I run the lint roller over the fabric several times.  This helps keep all those loose threads off the floor in my quilt studio.  Once this is complete I open the roll up and measure a strip from peak to peak.

Sometimes this measurement is the 2 ½ (for the Jelly Roll) or 1 ½-inch (for the Honey Bun) measurement.  If it is, you know the peaks are the part of the fabric you need to have lined up with your ¼-inch mark or the phalange on your quilting foot.  If the measurement from peak to peak is greater than 2 ½ or 1 ½-inches, then you know the valley must be at the ¼-inch mark.  This is important to know because in order for your strip set to come out at the exact needed size, the ¼-inch seam allowance must be precise.  Keeping the seam allowance consistent and accurate assures the sub-cut units will all be the same, consistent size – which is important if you’re mixing these sub-cut units with other sub-cut units.

Let me also add this tidbit.  For the most part – the majority of the time – the Jelly Roll and Honey Bun precuts are great.  However, the measurement can vary from roll to roll and manufacturer to manufacturer.  So just because a Maywood roll maybe 2 ½-inches at the peak, a Fig Tree roll maybe 2 ½-inches at the valley.  Sometimes even if you have two rolls from the same manufacturer, the measurements can vary.  Always measure one strip width from each roll just to be sure.

Sewing the Strips Together

Sewing these strips together can be nearly mindless.  It’s a great thing to do while watching a movie.  However, it’s not completely mindless.  Yes, this is a great quilty thing to do at the end of a long day or a long week when you don’t have the mental energy to put into anything more complicated, but it’s super important to keep a consistent quarter inch seam.  I really recommend using a seam guide or a ¼-inch quilting foot for this.  Along with this thought, you may want to consider that speed may not be your best friend.  The faster you sew, the easier it is for the 1/4-inch seam allowance to wobble and not be consistent.  A steady speed with a steady hand can produce yards of stripped units, accurately sewn, waiting to be sub-cut into block units. 

The last aspect to consider is the sewing directions.  You want to alternate how the seams are sewn.  For instance, if you sew the first seam from the top to the bottom, you want to sew the next seam from the bottom to the top.  This keeps the fabric strip unit from bowing.  And bowed stripped units cannot be accurately sub-cut. 

There are two schools of thought about pressing these fabric units.  Some quilters press after each seam is sewn, pressing towards the darker fabric.  If a third or more strip is added, the seam is pressed after each addition, to the dark side, so the seams will nest.  Some quilters wait until all the seams are complete and then press the strip unit.   This is really a personal preference thing.  I press after each seam, simply because I think it’s easier to get the tip of iron down one strip at a time. 

Cutting the strips into block units isn’t a whole lot different from cutting any other block unit.  However, because these are pieced units, there is more bulk.  I don’t tend to stack my stripped units on top of each other and cut multiple layers.  I don’t think the cutting is accurate this way, because the bulk of the seams can cause a rotary cutter to wobble a bit.  I cut one strip unit at the time. 

Cutting Your Own Fabric for Strip Sets

Chances are you won’t be able to use a Jelly Roll or Honey Bun to make all of your strip sets.  You’ll have to cut your own fabric.  And in many ways, slicing and dicing your own fabric is better than using precuts.  It’s more economical and you can even vary the strip widths (which can be super creative and we’ll get to that at the end of this blog)  Cutting fabric for strip sets is no different from cutting fabric for any other block unit.  Accuracy is key.  The first step is to square up your fabric.

If you’ve read my series on squaring up, you know that even though fabric manufacturers try to be as careful as they can be, sometimes the fabric is rolled onto the cardboard bolt a bit off-kilter.  This means when you fold the fabric in half on the crosswise grain (the way it comes off the bolt) so the selvedges meet, the sides look a little wonky – like below.

Once I have my selvedges even, I pin them together across the selvedges and take the pieces of fabric to my ironing board.  Often the fabric will need to be re-pressed across the fabric fold.  If this step is skipped, you’ll have a V-shaped cut fabric strips instead of straight ones.  Once this is done,  cut off a strip to even up the sides of the fabric, and then proceed to cut your strips the desired width.  Lay the fabric on the mat with the folded side at the edge of the mat closest to you, making sure it is straight and rotary cut across the width of the fabric. Be aware you may have to even up selvedges from time to time, as they may slip out of alignment.   Personally, I find it’s easier to work with smaller “chunks” of fabric for this than a lot of yardage. 

Why I Like Strip Piecing

I like strip piecing for three reasons.  First it’s fast.  If you can strip piece block units, you have seriously saved yourself some time.  I can’t imagine making a Nine-Patch or Postage Stamp quilt without stripping it.  It would take so much time. 

The second reason I like strip piecing is because it’s accurate.  Again, let’s think about the Postage Stamp quilt above.  Think about all those tiny one-inch squares.  Now think about cutting each one out individually.  Not only would it take a great deal of time, but you’ve upped the chances of inaccurate cutting enormously.  With strip piecing, you’re cutting out strips, sewing the strips together, and then cutting out the block units. 

The third reason I like strip piecing is, besides being fast and accurate, it allows for a great deal of creativity.  If you think about it, when you’re strip piecing, you’re actually making another piece of fabric out of several individual pieces of fabric.  This means, if your stripped piece is big enough, you could cut any shape out of it and use it in the quilt.  You take strip units and sub cut them into squares to use in the center of star blocks.

My favorite way to use strip piecing (besides block units) is triangles.  Those fabric strips just add a bit of sparkle to plain old triangles, especially setting triangles for an on-point quilt. Make your stripped units large enough and then cut per normal for your side and corner triangles.

And don’t forget you’re not limited to squares and rectangles with strip piecing.  Use the angle lines on your ruler to cut out strip pieced diamonds. 

Diamond units are much, much easier to make this way than individually diamonds and then sewing them together.

I hope this blog has shown you how wonderful this technique is.  It’s accurate, quick, easy, fun, and can be so very creative.  The next time you begin a new quilt, take a long look at the blocks and see where you can use this quilting method.  Even if the pattern doesn’t call for it, you can still employ strip piecing in construction.  Remember, directions are a great guide, but they’re not the Ten Commandments.  Make your quilt your way to reflect you.

Until Next Week, From My Studio to Yours,

Love and Stiches,

Sherri and Felix

Most quilters know what quilt borders are.  And most quilters also realize that not all quilts have borders.  We also recognize quilt borders can vary in widths and can be designed as strips of fabric, pieced blocks, or applique. 

Yup.  We know what quilt borders are, but what are they supposed to do?  We will look at all the answers to that question as well as work with some quilty math to make sure our borders look the way they’re supposed to.

Borders perform the following important functions:

• They help square up a quilt.

If you have followed the “Sherri’s Squaring Up Process”, your quilt should be squared up – which means it’s the same measurement on both vertical sides and the top and bottom are the same size.  So if the pattern states the quilt should measure 75-inches wide and 102-inches long, this means the left and right side will measure 102-inches and the top and bottom will measure 75-inches exactly. 

However, we all know technically this can be difficult to achieve.  If you square up each step of the way – meaning you measure each block unit, each block, each sashing, and each row to make sure they’re the right size – before sewing them together, everything should come out  correctly.  By squaring up at each step, it’s easy to find where you may be off a bit and fix the issue then, not after the center is completed.  If you do this now, when it’s time to sew on the borders, the center should be pretty much dead on the correct size. 

.

However, sometimes, no matter how careful you are, the center isn’t square.  One side may be a half inch longer than the other one.  This is when borders can really help square up the quilt center.  The process isn’t difficult.  You simply need your quilt center and a space large enough to lay your quilt out flat.

Step One – Measure the quilt across the left, right, and center vertically.  Then average your three measurements together.  So taking the quilt above as an example, let’s say the three vertical measurements were 102, 102 ½, and 102.  Add these three figures together and then divide by three:

102 + 102 ½ + 102 = 306 1/2

306 1/2  divided by 3 = 102 1/6, which I would round to 102 and then add 1/2-inch for seam allowances.

We make the borders 102 1/2-inches long and sew those onto the left and right sides, easing in any fullness. 

Now to deal with the horizonal borders.  The center is supposed to measure 75 across, but since we’ve added left and right borders it will be bigger.  Let’s say the borders are 5-inches wide each (finished).  That allows us to add 10 total inches of additional width to the 75-inches of the original center.  So now our center should measure 85-inches across.  Again, get out that measuring tape.  Take a measurement horizontally across the top, bottom, and middle of the quilt.  Let’s say our measurements are 85, 84 ¼, and 84 ¾ inches.  Let’s add them together and average.

85+ 85 + 84 ¾ = 254 ¾ 

254 ¾ divided by 3 = 84 11/12  which I would round to 85 and add a half-inch seam allowance.

Make the horizontal borders 85 1/2- inches long and sew them onto the top and bottom, easing in any fullness.

If you follow this process, your quilt should be square and ready to sandwich and quilt.  However, let me also throw in a couple of warnings.  First, if the three numbers your averaging are off by ¾-inch or more, something is really off somewhere.  Take a long, hard look at the quilt and see if you can figure out exactly why it’s off so much and correct it.  This is why it’s important to square up as you go.  It’s a lot easier to determine why one block is off and it’s not as much to rip apart and correct.    Second, if your quilt averages are off more than ¾-inch, it’s super easy to just cut off some strips of border fabric, sew them on, trim off the extra, and then repeat on the other two sides of the quilt.

As a long armer, I’m pleading with you not to.  Unsquared quilts are really a pain to quilt and make them look pretty.  There are tucks and pleats and it’s just a pain-in-the-you-know-where to quilt.  And if the quilt is a wall hanging, it may look good with the initial hanging, but over time, the quilt will droop, making the longer side more obvious. 

• They prevent tucks and puckers along the edges of the quilt during the quilting process.

Personally, I love a quilt without borders as much as I love a quilt with borders.  Many of the 1930’s quilts I adore don’t have borders.  However, if you have a pieced quilt – especially if it’s a heavily pieced quilt – it’s easy for the edges of the blocks to get tucked under the quilting foot (either on a stationary or moveable head) and form a pleat or pucker.  The smooth surface of a border allows the foot and needle to travel over the edge of the quilt completely without getting hung up on a seam.  If you really don’t want borders on your quilt, then baste some removable strips of fabric (this is a great way to use up ugly fabric) to allow your long armer a “safe” area to exit the quilt and then return to it.  After everything is over, these temporary borders can be removed before you bind the quilt.

• Borders secure seams.

With some quilts this doesn’t matter as much as with others.  If you made a quilt which is pieced, often the blocks which line the top, bottom, and sides of the quilt will begin to become “unsewn” as the top as handled.  Seams will begin to pop.  This can be a real issue when the quilting process is started, as it’s easy for the quilting foot to get tangled up in these open seams.  This is especially true with heavily pieced quilts.  There are a couple of ways to get around these unraveling seams.  First, after the top is completed, stitch around the entire top, about 1/8-inch inside the outer edge to prevent the thread from raveling out of the seam.  The second way to prevent this is to add a border.  The border seam will encase the outer edges of the blocks and keep the seams stable. 

• Borders frame the quilt.

Borders can act as a frame for your beautiful quilt center.  It can pull out your focus fabric to pull the quilt together.  It can echo your applique theme, or the pieced blocks used in the center.  I’ve always said borders are the punctuation marks for your quilt sentence.  Make those borders an exclamation point, not a period or a comma.  Use the borders to enhance and frame the quilt center, not detract by overpowering it or by being completely underwhelming.

• Borders can increase the size of the quilt.

This sounds like such an obvious answer to the question, “What do borders do?”.  Of course, they make a quilt bigger.  However, this answer can save the day if you’re making a quilt which is size-specific.  When I made the hubs his “Everyday is a Good Day to Fish” quilt, he had a couple of definite requests:  He wanted it long enough that it would have a pillow tuck and wide enough that it would drop over the bottom edge of the mattress.  Since I was working with panels, my options for height and width were somewhat limited, but adding borders saved the day.  Eventually it became the perfect size.  You may experience the wonder of this border characteristic yourself.  If you have a limited number of blocks – such as some donated for a charity quilt – or you get elbow-deep into a pattern and decide after 10 or so blocks you really don’t want to make any more – adding borders can bring these blocks to a decent sized quilt for use. 

If limiting your stash is a priority, borders can be used to eliminate leftover fabric.  Because the options are always open to make several borders of different sizes, a great deal of stash can be used.  In one fell swoop you’ve reduced your stash, added height and width to a quilt, and framed it beautifully.  What’s not to love about that?

• Borders can create a desired look.

As well as echoing the quilt’s theme, borders can make your quilt look very traditional or very modern.  Don’t believe it?  Let’s take this quilt center:

This is a very traditional quilt, constructed in batiks.  Let’s throw on a very traditional border, such as one with swags:

Now it takes on a very traditional look.  Nothing wrong with that, but you can see how the traditional swag added to the old-fashioned look of the traditional blocks. 

Let’s add a more modern border and see what happens.

Suddenly those very traditional quilt blocks look much more up to date than the ones with the swag border. 

As well as framing the quilt or extending its theme, borders can also “age” the quilt.  This is something to keep in mind as you design your quilt. 

Historically, antique quilts are shown both ways – both with and without borders.  And to complicate the border issue, some of those older quilts may have borders on either the top and bottom and not the sides, or on the sides and not the top and bottom.  Some of them have borders on three sides.  Our quilting foremothers were pretty fabric savvy.  They often would add borders only to the sides of the bed which would be seen.  So if only the sides of the bed were in view from the door of the bedroom, only the sides received borders.  If the top of the quilt would be covered by pillows, it didn’t have a border.  And if the quilt did have a top border, often it was covered by a piece of muslin.  These pieces of muslin were called “Whisker Guards.”  They protected the top surface of the quilt from the long beards some men had. 

Today, borders are quilty items which may come with a pattern or not.  If you’re designing your own quilt, they’re something you may choose to omit or add.  Are there rules about how many borders you can add and how big they should be? 

Nope.  There are as many border choices as there are stars in the sky.  Quilting has no hard, fast rules, but there are a few guidelines to consider.  Here are a few of them.

1.  Consider the Golden Ratio – Two of my most popular blogs are https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2020/06/03/destination-the-borders/ and https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2018/07/26/sashing-and-the-golden-ratio/.  Both of these go into more detail about the Golden Ratio than I will here.  The Golden Ratio is considered to be the perfect proportion and occurs in nature pretty regularly.  Mathematically, the Golden Ratio is 1.618.  It works like this:

To begin, with please note when we’re working these equations, we use the finished size of the block, then add in the seam allowances prior to cutting the fabric.

Let’s say you have 8-inch blocks, and you want to add a couple of borders, but you have no idea where to start.  Multiply 8 x 1.618 to get 12.944.  Now divide 12.944 by 4 (because the block has four sides) to get 3.236, which we round down to 3-inches.  The widest we could make the first border is 3-inches.  Now let’s see what’s the narrowest width we could make the first border.  To do this, divide 8 by 1.618, which equals 4.94438.  Now divide 4.94438 by 4 to get 1.23609, which we round down to 1.  The narrowest width we could make the first border is 1-inch. 

However the best news about the first border is that it can measure anywhere between 1-inch and 3-inches wide and look perfectly wonderful.  So pick any measurement between 1-inch and 3-inches and add ½-inch to it for seam allowances.  For the sake of this blog, let’s pick 2-inches as the finished size of the first border.  Now we want to add a second border.  How wide and how narrow could we make it?  This time we take the size of the finished first border (2-inches) and play with that.

Multiply 2-inches by 1.618, which gives us 3.236, which can round to 3.  The second border can be 3-inches wide.  Since typically borders progress in size, we won’t formulate how narrow the border could be, I just add ½-inch to the width for seam allowances and cut my border fabric out.  But let’s say we want a third border.  How do we work that?  There are a couple of ways I go about it. If I’m constricted by size (such as the quilt may be a wall hanging) or simply want a smaller quilt, I take the finished width of the second border (3-inches) and multiply it by 1.618 to get 4.854, which we round up to 5-inches.  However if I needed extra width on the last border, I can add the first two borders together (3 + 2 = 5) and multiply that sum by 1.618.  In our quilt, this means the final border could be as wide as 8.09 or 8-inches. 

•  Consider the blocks’ proportions – This method isn’t quite as “mathy” as the Golden Ratio.  It uses a fraction of the size used in the body of the quilt.  Using ¼ to 1/3 or ½ to 2/3 of the block size can be used to determine the border(s) size(s). For instance, if you had 12-inch blocks, the borders can be 3-inches (12 divided by 4), 4-inches (12 divided by 3), 6-inches (12 divided by 2) or 9-inches (12 divided by 2/3).  The size you select is your personal choice, and sometimes it depends on the border fabric.  If you have fabric which has a large scale print you want to keep intact and emphasize, you’ll want to have a wider border.  Just make sure the border doesn’t overwhelm the patchwork. 

• Consider the size of the quilt – This is really the “looks good to me” method, although I prefer the term “common sense” reasoning.  Smaller quilts need smaller borders.  Otherwise they look completely overwhelmed.  Larger quilts can handle larger borders.  Guidelines (not rules) for this are:

• Wall Quilts: 3-inches or less
• Crib Quilts: 3-inches
• Twin Quilts: 4-inches
• Full Quilts: 5-inches
• Queen Quilts: 6-inches
• King Quilts: 6-to-7-inches

When posing the question, “What do borders do?” the answers are numerous and sometimes they do more than one thing.  They can both frame and enlarge the quilt.  They can carry on the theme of the center and make sure your quilt center is square.  Like a lot of quilty parts, they perform more than one duty.  I hope this blog gives you a real idea of what all they can do, as well as how to put them on correctly.

Until Next Week, From My Studio to Yours,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word finite is an adjective that defines someone or something as having limits or bounds, such as “My fabric stash is finite.”  It has its limits.  Something which is finite cannot go on indefinitely nor automatically replenish itself. 

Time is defined in Wikipedia as “The continued sequence of existence and events which occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future.”  We measure time by seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, and centuries.  While time itself isn’t finite, we do put boundaries and deadlines on it.  Taxes are due by April 15. Christmas is December 25.  Your birthday date never varies.  Your age continues in sequence.  While time may continue long past our expiration date, the amount of time we’re allotted is finite. 

All of this musing about infiniteness of time and the finiteness of us brings me to this week’s blog topic:  If you could only make 15 more quilts in your lifetime, what would they be?  Besides the research in the definition of the words, I also casually polled a several of the quilt groups I quilt with.  I asked each member of the group the same question – If you could only make three quilts during the rest of your life (to shorten the response time I asked for three and not 15), what would they be?  I honestly believed some quilts would overlap.  I fully anticipated there would be overlaps of Dear Jane, Baltimore Albums, Caswell Quilt, or other popular quilt patterns.

Nope.

I honestly don’t believe (I didn’t keep notes with every group) the same quilt was mentioned twice – which totally ruined my original blog topic “The Quilts Everyone Wants to Make Before They Go to that Great Quilting Bee in the Sky.”  So what you’re getting from me this week are the quilts I want to make during the rest of my life.  There are fifteen.

• Love Entwined

I have actually started this quilt.  I have the center star completed and some of the applique prepped.  About the time I started this quilt, I had a trifecta of family health crisis, and it was set aside.  I have the fabric stored and I need to drag it back out and get busy. This is based on the 1790 Marriage Coverlet.  The original actually has no name and Love Entwined is Esther Aliu’s homage to the original.  If you’re interested, the pattern can be purchased from Esther’s website and there is a Block of the Month club on Facebook which will tackle this project in 2025. 

•  Sunbonnet Sue

This sweet girl with her big sunbonnet and perpetually positive attitude has been on my quilting radar since I began quilting in the early eighties.  I have the pattern, I have the fabric, and I really have to get started. 

•  If Mary Was a Quilter

I saw a picture of this quilt somewhere and it took my breath away.  The Madonna and the Christ-child, with the Child wrapped in a quilt.  This was one of those quilts I knew I had to make from the minute I saw the it.  I immediately began Googling the pattern, but was bitterly disappointed when I discovered it was out of print.  I casually mentioned this to my regular Tuesday night Sit and Sew, when my friend Karen suggested a store (in Ohio I think) which might carry it.  This wasn’t a quilt store, but kind of like a general mercantile shop.  Sure enough, a quick search on the store’s website yielded the pattern.  It’s laying on my cutting table…which is as far as it’s gotten since it arrived in the mail.

• City Sampler

This wonderful, small-block quilt is designed by Tula Pink.  I love Tula’s fabrics and have used them in many, many quilts.  However, this quilt caught my attention by the way she described it in the forward: 

“You will notice…that the blocks are not named but simply numbered. This is intentional. I may have designed the blocks and given you the instructions on what to cut and where to stitch, but I have not infused the blocks with any meaning. This is your quilt. The fabrics that you choose, the colors that you use and why you are making it are what will give the quilt a purpose. Name your blocks, write in the margins, cross out the ones that you don’t like, draw hearts around the ones that you love. In a perfect world, everyone’s book would end up looking like a journal, coffee stains and all. The more adventurous ones might rename the book and write their own introduction. Tula Pink’s City Sampler is a collaboration between you and me. I am the platform, and you are the speaker, so stand on my shoulders and tell the future who you are and why you make.”

This is a quilt which gives you a ton of freedom.  If you’re an advanced quilter, you can have a wonderful time changing up blocks and deciding which ones to make.  If you’re a newbie, the blocks are simple enough to allow you the same design choices an advanced quilter has, just on an easier scale.  With each block, you build confidence.  This is a stunning quilt, whether you make ten, 25, 50, or all 100 blocks.  The blocks are 6 ½-inches, which is one of the reasons it appeals to me, as I love small blocks.  I’m collecting gray and yellow fabrics for this one, and since the blocks are so small, I just need scraps (which I have plenty of), not yardage.

• The Bible Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird

There are many Bible quilt patterns.  I like Laurie Hird’s pattern, primarily because I have made her Farmer’s Wife Quilt (the first one), and had a blast.  The blocks are small – 6 ½-inches unfinished.  However, the range of blocks makes this a fun sew.  Some of the blocks are easy and others will challenge even advanced quilters.  A CD comes with the book which contains the templates and the paper piecing patterns, so you do have a construction choice. 

•  Baltimore Rabbits

I love Baltimore quilts, and one has been on my quilting bucket list for nearly as long as I’ve quilted.  However, this whimsical take on bunnies added to the seriousness of a Baltimore quilt won my heart a long time ago.  For awhile the pattern was hard to find, but evidently it came back in print.  I purchased it this year and have a few fabrics ready to go.  It’s by Bunny Hill Designs.

• Hop to It

Edyta Sitar’s designs are yummy.  It’s difficult to resist any of her patterns.  Hop to It was published in 2009, so this is an early Sitar pattern.  I love the flowers and their settings in the blocks.  I have started this quilt.  I took an applique class with this pattern, but haven’t completed it yet.  I want to pull it out and finish it up.

• Vintage Valentine

I first saw this quilt years ago.  Stitchin’ Heaven introduced this pattern as a block-of-the-month a long time ago when I first began to applique.  While I adored the pattern, at that time in my life a block-of-the-month would put a serious dent in my budget.  So I added it to my “Want to Make” list and waited. 

Well, Stitchin’ Heaven decided to re-issue some of its favorite vintage block-of-the-months and this pattern was one of them.  I have almost all the blocks. It’s so sweet it makes your teeth hurt.

• Carolina Rose

This quilt literally snuck up on me.  While researching 1930 quilts and quilting publications, this pattern came up on my Google search feed.  I knew North Carolina had a star quilt block, but had no idea it had an applique quilt block.  These are very much like the Rose of Sharon blocks, which was on my Quilting Bucket List.  I just changed it to the Carolina Rose.  I have an outline of the block – applique pieces and a small placement diagram and was lucky to find these.

•  Country Inn

I’m oh-so-close to finishing this.  The blocks are appliqued, and I have begin piecing the quilt together.  I’m currently making the Dresden plates to go in the corners.  Many, many applique quilts are comprised of small pieces.  I love the boldness of this quilt – the large pieces and bright colors.  I think I’ll have a lot of fun quilting this one, too.

•  The Caswell Quilt

This pattern was drafted by Corliss Searcey from the Caswell Carpet (circa 1835) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I love the floral applique and the border treatment.  I have the pattern, and the reproduction fabric to construct the quilt.  Pinterest has loads of pins on this quilt in almost every conceivable colorway.   However, with the old-fashioned flowers, I think I want mine done in reproduction fabrics.  Now I just need the time to start this one.

•  The Minister’s Quilt

This quilt was introduced to me through The Applique Society.  We’re working on this as a block of the month, receiving five blocks per month. It is designed by Veronique of Waddlebird Designs.  The pattern is an authorized reproduction of an antique quilt held at the Historic Huguenot Street.  It does remind me a great deal of the Caswell Quilt.  The quilt pattern is available through Veronique’s website, Waddlebird.com.  The blocks are downloadable.

•  Poinsettia Bouquet

This is a Judy Niemeyer pattern.  While I love Judy Niemeyer patterns – it was by working my way through Blazing Star that I came to my Zen with paper piecing – I can’t do more than one every two or three years.  She’s just one of those designers I have to be in the mood for to make one of her quilts.  I do like this pattern very much, though.  It’s a bit different from Judy’s other patterns and I think it’s an unusual Christmas quilt.  I have the pattern, not the fabric, and this will probably be my swan song as far as Judy Niemeyer patterns go.

•  Sunflowers

I love 1930’s quilts by Marie Webster.  I love the fact she gives wide open spaces for quilting and gorgeous applique that’s not too fussy.  And since sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers, this quilt is just perfect for me.  As much as I adore 1930’s applique, it’s only fitting I make this quilt and…

•  Orange Blossom

One of my favorite quilting colors is orange.  I have no idea why.  I don’t use orange in any of my home dec.  I don’t wear orange – I look horrible in it.  But I do like orange in my quilts.  Anything from cheddar to pumpkin is my friend.  So I need to make this Mountain Mist 1930’s quilt.  I love the area available for quilting and the teal swags which perfectly off-set the oranges.  This quilt is primarily quilting, not applique.  It wouldn’t take long to construct, but it might take a bit to quilt. 

What’s on your quilting bucket list?  Do any of ours overlap?  Time itself may be infinite, but our own time is finite.  I think it’s a good idea to have a list of quilts we really want to make and work on those.  We can certainly add others too, but if you’re like me, there are a few quilts you really want under your needle before our finite time is up.

Until Next Week, From My Studio to Yours,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix