Watershed moments in my quilting journey

This simple, little scrappy lap quilt could be a turning point for me.

Up until now, quilting has been a learning experience. Nearly every quilt I have made has been a challenge, which is why I still consider myself a quilting newbie, despite the 25 years I have been making quilts.

Nothing drives me more than a challenge. It is personal for me. I have no desire to enter shows or to win ribbons. I just want to continue to do the best of my ability and to perhaps enhance that ability along the way. There are so many skills I have yet to master. That can only happen through diligence and often times, repetitiveness. I haven’t given myself that opportunity. For varied reasons, I haven’t devoted myself to quilting. I’m afraid this attitude has limited me. I struggle way too much to enjoy the absolute joy of quilting. This little project may be a signal. That may be changing.

In addition, I have always had a desire to design my own quilts, rather than simply following someone else’s pattern. I want to change that, which circles back to this quilt.

It started years ago

This quilt was a fun project in that many months and maybe even years ago, I just started sewing pieces of scrap fabric, of which there is a mountain of it, into configurations that could be trimmed down into blocks. The exercise is very enjoyable. I put on an audio book and listen while I sew. It is mindless work, which makes it easy to concentrate on the book, rather than what I’m creating. Once enough pieces are sewn together, they are trimmed to make blocks. While doing this recently, it occurred to me that I had enough blocks to make a small lap quilt.

I added a few border pieces around the blocks, added sashing and corner squares to ‘round it all out,’ and I ended up with a quilt.

When it was all put together, I had no idea how I’d like to quilt it, so I started with the dense quilting on the bottom border. I wanted to create a shadow effect, so I wanted the bottom border to be darker than the side border. I tried to achieve that through quilting. When I finished that, I wondered what to do about all those wonky blocks. The answer to that was pretty simple – stippling.

Stippling was a turning point for me

I remember the first time I encountered a quilt that was machine quilted with stippling. It was during my journalism career when I covered a quilt show for the local newspaper for which I worked. It was a long time ago – back in the 1990’s – when machine quilting was just starting to compete with the long held tradition of hand-quilting.

I fell in love with the effect. It is so simple; it is one of the first stitches new machine quilters learn. I asked the quilter about it and right then and there, I was hooked.

That was the day I decided I wanted to make my first quilt.

I have no idea where this journey will take me, but so far, I’m enjoying the ride.

It is GAME ON for 2026

 

It is a new year and I have been looking forward to The Quilt Show’s 2026 Block of the Month (BOM).

This year, the quilt, left, designed by one of my favorite quiltmakers, Becky Goldsmith, is called Game On!

Becky is mostly known for her applique work, but I doubt there is anything she can’t do, and do it well.

She was also the designer of one of my

favorite quilt projects, Sizzle, right, the last quilt I finished last summer. I wrote about that project in a previous blog post.  Sizzle now resides on the day bed in my sewing room/spare bedroom.

Becky’s design for ‘Game On’ was inspired by an exhibit of carnival game boards she explored during a visit to the Folk Art Museum in New York.

‘Game On’ has so many colors and different fabrics.

One of my favorite things to do with a new project is to pick out fabrics I’ve collected through my quiltmaking years. Normally, this is a fun exercise, but for this one, I couldn’t actually envision how I would make this in different colors. So, I decided that for the first time, I would just buy the kit and make the quilt as it is.

I have bought only one other quilt kit, many, many years ago. Admittedly I have yet to finish it. Someday I will get back to it, though my tastes have changed since I first bought it. Perhaps there will be more to say about that project at another time…

The ‘2026 Game On’ quilt kit comes in two options, one in solid fabrics and one in prints. I chose the latter.

When the package came with about 17 yards of fabric, all broken down into mostly fat quarters, the term used for approximately ¼ yard pieces, it was very exciting. I spent some time arranging the pieces according to the swatches in the enclosed printout. All those delicious fabrics with a mix of small prints, large prints, polka dots, and more, all the delicious colors, really made my day. I love new fabric and have bittersweet feelings about cutting into those pretty pieces, but once the first cut is done and the first seam sewn, I’m hooked.

Lots of quilters and podcasters and others offer BOMs. The way this BOM works, is that every month for the entire year, new directions are revealed at thequiltshow.com, along with instructional videos by the designer. And if that isn’t enough help, Barbara Black, a blogger, teacher, and Quilt Show employee offers her take on things through a live video every month and through her blog. She explains other methods of doing things and offers shortcuts and hints and tips that she has picked up over the years that are very helpful. She also answers quilter’s questions on The Quilt Show’s forum.

The pattern is free to members of The Quilt Show Star Members, of which I have been since Aug. 2020. I consider this to be one of the very best resources for quilters.

Most of the quilts I have made in the last six years have been Quilt Show BOMs. The designers of these projects are some of the best quilters in the world. I won’t lie; these projects have all been a learning experience for me. I still consider myself to be a newbie quilter, even though I have been quilting for about 25 years. There is always so much to learn and learning new skills always require practice.

I have always loved a good challenge, so I have made it a point to devote myself to this one project every year even if I never make anything else. Life often simply gets in the way of my quilting desires. But this year, I feel a renewed sense of creativity and productivity coming on. I can’t wait to see how that goes…