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

Register here!

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! 

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

Pivot! Pivot! / Beauties Pageant 328

I can’t use the word "pivot" without thinking of the episode of Friends when Ross convinces Rachel and Chandler to carry a couch up flights of stairs to his apartment. (Spoiler alert: Things do not end well for the couch.) The story I’m about to tell you about pivoting, however, features neither furniture nor nineties TV-show plot lines ...

 

I started a new project! After finishing four baby quilts for charity, I thought I deserved to embark on something new, despite the small pile of WIPs staring me down each day. I chose Stara, a pattern by Taralee Quiltery because I had already purchased the corresponding acrylic templates from Cut Once Quilts back in 2025. 

 

I planned to use some black Starry scraps for the spiky triangles (see them in the full design here), leftover Ruby Star basics for the nine-patches, and white-on-white Punch Hole Dots from my stash. Are you picking up on the theme here? All the fabric was from my stash or scrap bin, and everything was Ruby Star. What could go wrong?

 

I started with piecing the white background with spiky Starry triangles and, after an hour or two of sewing, realized Something Very Bad was happening. Because of my light background and the sharp angles of the triangles, the black Starry would show through my pressed seams. 

 

In the past, I haven’t realized comparable shadowing issues until the project at hand was quilted. In other words, it was too late to address the issue. I knew I wouldn’t be pleased with my finished Stara, so I pivoted. My order for different background fabrics should arrive on Monday.

 

Often a snafu like this one would call for a time-out—I would need a break from the problematic project. The issue with placing a quilt top in process into time-out, though, is that it will most likely become just another WIP. To maintain the momentum I had built up for Stara, I persevered with the nine-patches. Playing with colorful fabrics did my heart good, and I made good progress while waiting for the new background options to arrive. Phew—background-fabric crisis and potential WIP averted!

 

Are you able to pivot mid-project like that, or are you more of a time-out kind of quilter?

 

Also, something else I’m curious about ... The Starry scraps were from wideback yardage. I know that fabric manufacturers use different gray goods to produce widebacks and that widebacks tend to shrink more than standard-width quilting cottons, so I treated these scraps with Retayne, a color fixative, and dried them on high. Have you ever used wideback for piecing? Please share your insight in the comments!

 

As for the other quilt of mine with shadowing issues, it was my own design: Set to Spin. I was able to come up with a workaround for that particular pattern, but I noticed the problem too late in the process to save my sample. Of course, you don’t notice the shadowing unless you’re curled up with the quilt ...

 

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

One Weekend, Two Quilt Shows / Beauties Pageant 327

In general, there are not that many big quilt shows in New England. This is disappointing on many levels—first, because this area was once a hub for textile production and, second, because I live in Massachusetts and it’s nice not to have to trek states away to hang out with a quilty crowd! Last weekend, however, there were two quilt shows happening simultaneously. 

On Wednesday, American Quilt Society (AQS) opened its first-ever show in Hartford, CT. By the time the show started, however, I was already beat! I had trekked down the day before to help my friend Taz set up her Camberville Threads booth in the vendor hall. I cannot express how much physical labor this was. We pushed and pulled and lifted so many bins of fabric, and man, fabric is heavy.

But the effort was well worth it. It was a joy to hang out with Taz and watch quilters interact with the collection of fabric and notions she has curated. (Camberville Threads is an online retail shop, so seeing it as a physical store was a treat that happens only at shows like this.) From Bolt to Beauty was well represented in the booth, too. Five of my designs were displayed, alongside my book, Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts, and the complete line of printed FBTB patterns.

There were also, of course, quilts hanging at the AQS show. I had time to visit some of them. The modern section was QuiltCon in miniature, and I was delighted to see work by Audrey Esarey, Betsy Vinegrad, and Susan Braverman displayed at the show with ribbons. (The full list of winners can be found here.)

Then I headed back to Massachusetts for a day to recuperate before venturing north to the New England Quilt Expo in Manchester, NH. There I taught Five-Star Experience, the cover quilt from my book, as a three-hour workshop. 

It was a great teaching experience! Because students received their books the day of the class, I started our time together with a mini trunk show, looking at many of the book projects and explaining how my take on jelly rolls differs from other patterns out there. Then we segued to the talking about the challenges of working with jelly rolls—including those annoying pinked edges—and how to overcome them. Finally, we started on our own throw- or baby-size version of Five-Star Experience.   

Would you believe that I headed back to Connecticut on Saturday for another day of vending with Taz and then breaking down the booth? It’s true!

A big thank-you to everyone who made the effort to seek me out at either show. I saw guildmates I didn’t expect to run into and quilty friends from way back when. I even got to meet one blog friend—Kathleen from Kathleen McMusing—in real life! 

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