Holiday Sewing Season / Beauties Pageant 335

Every summer, fabric manufacturers release their winter-themed fabric lines. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it may be hard to reconcile our longer days and ample sunshine with, say, a snowman project, but I think it’s always more enjoyable to tackle holiday projects in advance. Doing so makes for a saner November and December, and the holidays always seem to come and go so quickly ... I might as well get into the spirit in the off-season and then enjoy the fruits of my quilty labors when winter is here.

It’s little wonder, then, that we’re expecting a high of 84 degrees today in New England, and I am plotting my new snowflake pattern. 

But can you blame me? I picked up a fat quarter bundle of Kim Kight’s Merry Happy, and I am totally smitten. I love a holiday collection with a surprise or two, and this one features gummy bears, pickle ornaments, and a pink colorway. Nontraditional colorways get me every time -- I love a good Christmas line with blue or black -- and this pink is so, so good!

I was spinning my wheels on this idea for a while. When I couldn’t decide upon a layout, I took to Instagram for some instantaneous feedback. The masses spoke, and I took their advice: The third layout, with tight off-set rows, is what I am running with now.

Layout 1: On Point

Layout 2: Offset and Loose

 

Layout 3: Offset and Tight

I am calling this beauty "Festive Flurries" and expect to have a sample and finalized pattern ready to share next month!

It anyone else out there plotting winter- or Christmas-themed projects? 

 

Upcoming Teaching Event

 Register here! (Use code PP26MichelleC to get $20 off)

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Airing on June 14: Alex Anderson, Ricky Tims, and Me! / Beauties Pageant 334

Last summer, I had the opportunity to fly to Louisville, Kentucky, and meet with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, hosts of The Quilt Show. Doing this required taking a big step out of my comfort zone, but the experience was well worth the time, travel, and courage!

My afternoon with Alex and Ricky started off with an interview when we talked about how I got into quilting and where I draw my inspiration from. I showed them my quilt about my son with Down syndrome, the project that originated from seeing the shingles on my eye doctor’s roof (true story!), and many other finished quilts. 

Then we filmed two additional segments that focused on nitty-gritty techniques. In the first, I share with Alex my tips for working with jelly roll strips. In the second, I show Ricky how I finish my binding with chunky hand stitches.

If you’ve seen Ricky’s award-winning quilt The Visitation, it also features a special binding treatment. Ricky wrote a poem about the quilt and embroidered it into the binding with a technique he calls "free-motion bobbin embroidery." He takes us through this novel technique step-by-step in the episode.

How You Can Watch 

Truth be told, I can’t bear to watch videos of myself—but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t (ha!). These segments become available to Quilt Show subscribers this Sunday, June 14. If you don’t subscribe and would like to watch my segments (or hundreds of other episodes featuring talented quilters), you can sign up for a free seven-day trial here.

Thank You!

To all of you who’ve been showing up week after week to read my humble posts and peruse snapshots of my latest projects, thank you! I have had all sorts of new experiences over the past year or two—teaching at both guilds and regional shows, presenting to groups, publishing a book. In my mind, you share in those triumphs with me. I have appreciated all of the encouragement and emails and comments over the years. Truly, I am a better quilter for being a part in this little online community.

Related content: Read the post after I returned from Louisville last August.

Upcoming Teaching Event

 Register here! (Use code PP26MichelleC to get $20 off)

 

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Make a Date: Patchwork Power! / Beauties Pageant 333

Register here! (Use code PP26MichelleC to get $20 off)

How many times do I wish we could sit down and chat about quilts in person? Although I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many of you in real life, too many of you live in a different state or country! I think I’ve figured out our next-best option to grabbing a cup of coffee and gabbing about our latest quilting projects ...

I’ll be teaching at Patchwork Power, a one-of-a-kind virtual quilting event. My session is called Jelly Roll Boot Camp, and it’s all about making the most of those 2.5" strips with smart techniques and fresh design ideas. We’ll talk about:

    •    Precise strip-sewing methods for better results
    •    Ways to add supplemental fabrics with confidence
    •    Creative strategies for using leftovers
    •    New ideas, tools, and approaches for rethinking every jelly roll

This session is designed to help you see jelly rolls in a whole new way. I’ll be sharing practical methods and inspiring examples that show how versatile precut strips can be, so you can move beyond the basics and create quilts that feel fresh, striking, and uniquely your own.

Jelly Roll Are Just the Beginning

Patchwork Power is a live virtual retreat designed to help quilters sharpen their skills, refine their process, and build more confidence at every stage of quilting. The day includes expert-led sessions on precision piecing, ruler work, digital design, curves, wool applique, one-block wonders, and more! Presenters include makers whose work you likely already know, including Amber Elliot, Karen Montgomery, Carolina Moore, Geraldine Wilkins, and others.

This Event Comes with Lifetime Access

Patchwork Power takes place live on Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 10 am PST / 1 pm ET. If you can’t attend the live sessions, recordings will be available after the event with lifetime access. Attendees will also receive bonus resources, a digital swag bag, and access to special event offers.

Use my code to save $20 on registration: PP26MichelleC 

I’d love to have you join me for a day of fresh ideas, practical techniques, and creative quilting inspiration.

"See" you in July!

Michelle

Register here! (Use code PP26MichelleC to get $20 off)

p.s. Want to see some of the quilts we’ll look at and talk about? Check out these beauties ...

Myriad

Pod Patrol

Meow Mates

Five-Star Experience

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Technique: How I Sew a Web and Save Time / Beauties Pageant 332

If there’s anything I’ve learned over the 13 years I’ve been quilting it’s this: What works for me works, and I see no reason to change my approach to cutting/piecing/pressing/quilting if it gets me the results I am looking for. But boy, have I been proven wrong recently!

When I am piecing blocks, it’s easy for me to lose focus just long enough to second-guess whether I’ve accidentally mixed up the pieces. To avoid confusion, I often resort to taking in-process pictures. That way, I have something to confirm that I am on the right track.

I recently tried the web-piecing technique I first heard quilters talk about at least a decade ago. (This is not the one where you use a thin piece of interfacing. I gave that technique a whirl years ago in this post.) With the web-piecing technique, I can keep my fabric—and brain!—in order without the need for pictures.

If you’ve never tried this technique, now is your opportunity! Here are the basic steps:

1. Lay out your patchwork block.

I used this technique on a 36-patch that I am sewing for the Falling Stars sew-along that has been released for Modern Quilt Guild members. (See my previous posts about this quilt top here and here.) 

I have seen some quilters use this approach for assembling an entire quilt, when all the blocks have been assembled and are being sewn together. I think that would be cumbersome. I prefer to use it at the block-piecing stage.

2. Sew the first two columns together without cutting the thread in between units. After the last second-column piece is sewn on, cut the thread.

I know it’s impossible to see on my white background, but in the picture below, the first two columns are now all connected. The four columns on the right have yet to be added to them.

3. Sew the third-column pieces onto the second-column pieces without cutting the thread in between units. After the last third-column piece is sewn on, cut the thread.

The result is that the unit on the left, below, has grown by another column. 

4. Continue sewing in this manner until all the pieces have been sewn.

The nice thing is that I often find myself stopping at this spot. Because all the pieces are connected in the correct order, it is easy to pick up the block again at a later date and continue sewing.

5.  Press adjacent rows in opposite directions, and sew them together.

This technique is not 100% foolproof, but it’s pretty close. I think I made 3 mistakes while sewing my 27.5 blocks and was able to remedy them before sewing the rows together. 

A few additional thoughts on this technique ...

• I found myself increasing the slack between units. Instead of chain-piecing one unit close to the next, I gave myself about a half-inch of thread, which provided some needed wiggle room when pressing the rows in opposing directions. It also helped in the final step—pressing the horizontal seams in the finished block—because I pressed those seams open.
• When I, say, ran out of bobbin, I would often resew over the last few stitches of the previous piece before picking up where I left off, just to keep things connected and orderly. 
• With these 36-patches, after everything was connected, I sewed the top 3 rows together and then the bottom 3 rows together. Then I sewed the top to the bottom. I wouldn’t bother doing that with a smaller block, but it helped in a block like this one with so many pieces.

If this is a new-to-you technique and you give it a try, let me know how it goes! 

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Take That, Scrap Bin! / Beauties Pageant 331

I am making good progress on my scrappy Falling Stars. I am even—ahem!—ahead of the sew-along schedule.

I’m past the halfway point of making blocks and couldn’t resist throwing some of them on my design board, just to appreciate the effect created by all that value play.

It’s pretty fabulous, right? What’s so much fun about scrappy projects is appreciating the overall quilt top and then getting really close and seeing the small parts that make it up. Take a look at these ...

 

There are so many low-volume prints in the background. Really, that’s what instigated me to embark on this project: I have a small drawer full of low-volume scraps, and this project decimated it. I managed to squeak out enough black prints to fulfill the pattern’s requirements, but I did have to purchase some of the brown-grays. And of course, cutting into them creates—you guessed it!—more scraps. Blerg!

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

I'm In! Falling Stars Sew-Along / Beauties Pageant 330

April proved to be a time of RPI: rapid project initiation. This phenomenon had nothing to do with me and my weakness for the thrill of a new fabric pull. It had everything to do with the limited brick-and-mortars in my area.

This bout of RPI all started with my next crafty production-line obsession: drawstring bags. Two friends swear by their heat presses for speeding up the interfacing process, and I was intrigued. After investigating buying a commercial heat press secondhand, I placed an order for a more-compact new unit.

What did I do while I waited for the heat press? I started Stara—that colorful project from a few weeks ago. Once I discovered its issues with shadowing, however, I had to place an order for new background fabric.

What did I do while I waited for the heat press and new fabric? I started Falling Stars, the current sew-along from the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG). 

Falling Stars is a fun sew: It’s all about 2.5-inch squares and half-square triangles (HSTs), and requires an eye for value. I used the opportunity to bust through my low-volume scraps, pairing those mostly white and off-white fabrics with blacks and grays from my stash.

At first blush, the block seems humble enough. Once you pair two together, however, you can see the magic at work ...

If you’re an MQG member and considering joining, it’s not too late (learn more here). And I have some advice for you: I’ve been streamlining the cutting and piecing processes with great success. First, instead of making two-at-a-time HSTs per the pattern instructions, I used the HST die on my Accuquilt Go. This means I’ll be sewing bias edges, but still, I won’t have to trim anything—and I’d take bias edges over trimming any day. If you don’t have an Accuquilt Go, may I suggest making a friend who does?

I am also using the web-piecing method. Although I first heard of this technique a decade ago, I only recently tried it out. This is not the technique where you use a thin layer of interfacing to lay out and sew a block together. It’s the one where you chain-piece the first-column pieces to the second-column pieces, cut the thread, chain-piece the third-column pieces to those units, cut the thread, and continue until all the pieces are attached. (Then, that’s the point where you press and sew the rows together.) As a gal who has a habit of zoning out for just long enough to mix up the order of a patchwork block, I’m sold on the web-piecing approach. 

I know the linky focuses on finishes, but I want to hear about your new projects, too. What have you started up recently?

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Quilt Trade / Beauties Pageant 329

There’s something special about owning projects made by other makers. You can find such projects throughout my house—I have mini-quilts, pouches, and other items I’ve either been gifted or have purchased from other sewists and quilters. 

A few months ago, I laid claim to a friend’s finished Folk Blooms quilt (pattern by Lindsay O’Neil of Pen and Paper Patterns). "Laid claim" is the appropriate phrase. My friend didn’t offer to gift it to me. I didn’t offer to purchase it. But I was immediately smitten with the throw-size project and asked whether she had a recipient in line. When she said didn’t, we agreed to a trade.

Now the only question was, what would I make for this friend in return? At some point in the months that followed, she saw my in-process scrappy Quilty Stars (pattern by Emily Dennis of Quilty Love) and decided it would be perfect for her.

Pictured here is Quilty Stars, all quilted and bound and in the hands of its new owner. This project had been a WIP for a few years, just waiting for some free time in my sewing schedule to become a priority.  

Quilty Stars was my opportunity to use up dark-blue and low-volume prints from my scraps and stash. Some prints appear once, maybe twice, in the quit top. Many others appear in many more blocks. That’s how I like my scrappy projects: Repetition creates much-needed cohesion for me.

To counter all the scrappiness on the quilt top, the backing is a solid pale green. A friend quilted a figure-eight edge-to-edge panto over the collection of blue and white fabrics, and I used my last remnants of Denyse Schmidt’s Hope Valley for the binding.  

For the first time, my guild has organized a more formal quilt swap this year, called Secret Buddies, and I’m excited to take part in that. It’s not a person-to-person trade, though: The person you’re making a quilt for isn’t the person sewing for you. In addition to making a throw-size quilt, participants surprise their partners with a few gifts throughout the year. The quilt and buddy reveal isn’t until November, though, so don’t expect to see anything around here for a while! : )

Have you ever swapped finished quilts with another quilt maker?

Linking up to Favorite Finish at Quilting Jetgirl ... 

Event Tomorrow!

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter