LAUREL RIDGE -- MONTH 4

 Laurel Ridge is the 2025 Block of the Month quilt designed by Lynn Wilder exclusively for The Quilt Show.  Star Members have FREE access to the patterns starting January 1, 2025. Made in two colorways, the complete patterns are excellent. You will love making this quilt. Lynn supports the pattern instructions with Videos too. 

This month we make the Checkerboard Block, 32 of them. The pink fabric here is not part of the Spring Kit, I substituted it for the Pink Parchment:

First, my most important advice is READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Follow the cutting instructions; the number of strips to cut and how to sub-cut them are important. 

The only CUTTING CHANGES I recommend is to cut A, the large floral fabric, Ivory Amazing Grace, 6" rather than 5 7/8". And I also cut B, Pink Copper Trail, 2" vs 1 7/8".  I really like having just that little bit extra for trimming. 

NOTE: My first block was less than perfect. Things didn't fit. The problem was my SEAM ALLOWANCE. Check each step as you go. You want to find the mistake as soon as you make it, not when the block is done but not quite right.

AND I found it VERY HELPFUL to use Starch, Sizing or Best Press on the fabrics before I cut them. After my first sad block, I took time to use Best Press on all the fabrics for the rest of the blocks. 

Make the STRIP SETS as described in the pattern. BE SURE they measure the correct size! For example, ROW 1 has four strips sewn into strata--the strata must measure 4.5" high when sewn. Follow the ARROWS that indicate which direction to sew each strip--this insures you get straight sets of fabric.

ROW 2 measures 3.5" and ROW 3 measures 2.5"--just like it says in the pattern. 

One additional measurement I strongly recommend you check is as you sew the ROWS together. Pairs of rows need to be 2.5" wide. Place the 1.25" line on the ruler on the sewn seam--if the pair is a bit too wide it is easy to trim the outer edges so it is exactly 2.5" wide:

Two pairs sewn together will be 4.5" wide. 

Follow all the ARROWS--for the direction to sew the strips, and the pressing directions. They are well thought out and they WORK.

One last check I made before completing the block was to trim the "dog ears" off the diagonal edge, being sure the point where the PIECED HALF meets the FLORAL HALF was exactly 1/4" in. Using a Half Square Triangle Ruler made this easy: 

The BEST TOOL I now have is the 5.5" SQUARE RULER. What a good investment for this quilt! From simple blocks like last month's large Half Square Triangle to these more complex, "have many pieces" blocks, using the 5.5" square ruler to do the final block trimming is great. They are currently available in the SHOP:

Have fun making these blocks. They take a while but you have all month! 

And next month we will make the lovely BASKET BLOCKS. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

INTERNATIONAL QUILT FESTIVAL HOUSTON 2025!

 It's that time of year when teachers from all over the world find out if they will be teaching at "HOUSTON",  and, if so, what classes they will be offering to lucky students.

2024 Festival 

2024 Festival Red White and Blue Special Exhibit for the 50th Anniversary

I am thrilled to share my Class Schedule so you can PLAN NOW to attend if you see a class you just need to take. 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Festival is earlier than usual in 2025. Classes start Monday October 6, Preview night is Wednesday October 8, the show runs Thursday-Sunday October 9-12, 2025. 

Monday October 6, CHARMING SAMPLER, 9-5:

Kaffe Charming--my newest class sample

Tuesday October 7, DISAPPEARING PATCHWORK, 9-5:

How about Brights?

Want to try Neutrals?

Wednesday October 8, Sampler, 10-12 WORK FASTER, NOT HARDER--lots of tips to save time:

Wednesday October 8, 2-5 ANTIQUE ROSE STAR BY HAND: learn the joys of hand piecing

Thursday October 9, 9-5, OH MY STARS:  make ALL the stars or only one:

Friday October 10, 10:15--11:15 am, Lecture TIME MANAGEMENT FOR QUILTERS--you can pay at the door. My most popular Lecture: 3 of the Top Tips for Time Management, many more tips in the lecture:

Friday October 10, 4:30-5:30 pm. Lecture A QUILTER'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT--you can pay at the door. What we should do NOW to help our family when...

Got Stuff?

Saturday October 11, 9-5, WESTERN SUN:

My King Size version

Class size, about 45" square

I hope you see something you like and can start to plan your trip to Houston. We never know what life holds and I won't be doing this forever so now is the time to take these classes, while you can.

Enrollment for classes will open in early Summer--some of the classes for Houston fill on the first day! So I will be sure to give you plenty of notice when enrollment is announced. You need to be ready to ENROLL QUICKLY when that day comes.  

I hope to see a lot of you there.  Let's quilt!

Barbara

MY JOYFUL JOURNEY RETREAT #6

 After much preparation and planning, the recent Joyful Journey Retreat #6 is over. It was very successful, with 16 happy attendees, Wednesday to Sunday:

Red Rooster Retreat Center is in Crane Hill, AL, about an hour and a half from my home. Good GPS helps to find it:

You know you are there when you see the Red Rooster:

Here are the best things about a Retreat:

1. The FRIENDS--6 new quilters joined us this time and immediately felt welcome and part of the "Tribe". New friendships were formed. Old friendships were renewed.

2. The FOOD: any meal I don't have to plan, prepare, serve and clean up is a great meal to me. Just a few of the meals I indulged in:

At home, I might have one glass of wine a week. Here I drank the bottle--with a good bit of Sprite to offset the not-sweet-enough-for-me bottle I brought. No rotary cutting after imbibing...

The Menu board was fun to read in line for our meals

Chicken Broccoli Cheese in a delicious dough

Chicken Chimichanga with all the usual fixings for Mexican night

Breakfast--my favorite meal of any day

TRUTH: I came home up 8 pounds--thanks in part to dessert at every meal, which I rarely have. And I ate my weight in homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies that were worth every calorie--thanks, Kathy and Sue! It took 5 days at home, back on track, to get rid of those pounds.

I did power walk every day. The terrain is very hilly, and really steep in several places. An hour and a half of Hill Work, had me burning lots of calories. The day I did the most hill work my fitness app said I climbed 47 flights of stairs--most days it was 30 flights.

The first day was chilly so I was bundled up:

3. For me, the TEACHING. I want to spend my days teaching what I have learned as a quiltmaker over 40 years to those who want to learn. Most of the attendees opted to learn to make the Lone Star from the pattern Oh My Stars, completely optional. We spent the first full day on that and everyone got a star done:

My big one, 97" square, still working on the binding--Kris can attest it's heavy!

My small sample-- enough to learn the block. We also did an optional Tiny Star Swap, each of us got 60 stars to use as we choose later

Student Stars after day One--great job, everyone!

4. For everyone, the TIME AWAY from our usual daily duties to just be creative. The rest of the week everyone kept "pedal to the metal", getting projects done or farther along. Here are just a few of projects that we got to enjoy:

Suzie is working on English Paper Piecing, which she claims not to enjoy...

But she kept going--many of these little blocks were done. The book is Alice's Wonderland Sampler Quilt

Lori attended her first Retreat ever and was the first to hang a quilt over the rail--Two For One she started last year in a class I taught locally--I am teaching this next week in Austin TX and the week after at Empty Spools Seminar in CA

Cyndi's quilt inspired by Laurel Ridge just blows me away! 

Julie got her star done

Julie finished her version of Charming Sampler, the quilt I designed and taught at our FIRST retreat, March 2020. It has become one of my most popular workshops chosen by guilds all over

Julie really worked hard to get the first Quadrant of Full Circle done--this I taught to 6 willing "testers" at our Retreat in 2023. She is designing a lot of the arcs with a Pittsburgh theme--can you see the 3 Bridges that cross the 3 Rivers in Pittsburgh? Amazing work!

Glenda was the newest quilter. She chose to learn how to set in the star with Y seams when everyone else learned the "easy" way. 

Glenda also wanted to learn to bind a quilt herself. And so she did!

Janey, Suzie, Cheryl

Conna worked on a long time project--only borders left to go!

Sue made this for an Air Force Veteran--the rank insignia and the name tags are from the veteran's uniforms--sure to be a well-loved gift!

                                                 

I tried to get photos of everyone:

Cyndi, Kathy, Lori, Sue

Susan, Beverly, Suzie, Maureen

Lisa got her star done!

Cheryl was at our first Retreat in 2020 then family life stepped in. I was thrilled to have her back. Here is the photo we got this year and at the first retreat.  We have held up well!

The Over the Railing shot:

All in all, it was a great 5 days. Lots of laughter, learning and love. Plans for next year are fluid at the moment. These wonderful women will get first chance of signing up for the next Retreat. And the waitlist is growing for any spots that may open. Who wouldn't want to escape from the day-to-day to sew to your heart's content?!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

BUCKET LIST QUILT # 5 AKA MY NEXT LIFETIME QUILT

 As I try to make a list of the quilts I REALLY WANT TO MAKE, and EXPECT TO MAKE, it allows me to sort through the huge stash of fabric I own and make a plan to use it or lose it.

Here is the NEXT QUILT on on the list:

I bought this antique top in 2014 from quilt dealer Cindy Rennels,  of Cindy's Antique Quilts. I remember clearly buying it at her booth in Paducah--to treat myself for my "retirement" from H&R Block, and my 60th birthday. There was something about it that just spoke to me. The tag says "from Pennsylvania, 1860-1880 fabrics" Well, I'm from Pennsylvania too and I LOVE a quilt with lots of fabrics.  See many detail photos BELOW.

Once I decided to replicate it, I thought about the easiest way to cut fabrics for the 3" blocks.  Questions I asked myself:

1. What size quilt do I want? The original is 16 x 16 blocks.  Mine is 17 x 17, so I will have a CENTER block, more about that later.

2. Should each block be a DIFFERENT FABRIC? I have more than 289 Civil War reproduction fabrics, that's not the problem. At first, I decided to go with making 4 blocks exactly alike and then spreading them around the quilt. This requires 73 fabrics. Then I changed my mind. All of the blocks will be different. 

3. What background fabric to use? It will take 6-7 yards. The original used all the same cream solid. I only had one solid fabric in that quantity--Paperbag. Pulling the bolt out to the closet I found it had 7 yards on it--decision made!

It didn't take long before I was pulling fabrics and cutting. This makes the perfect LEADER/ENDER PROJECT. These 3" blocks practically make themselves as I am working on other projects.

One fabric I absolutely had to use was a small scrap--just enough to make ONE block. I decided it would be the CENTER BLOCK--which is when I changed the layout from 16 x 16 to 17 x 17. Here is the sketch from EQ8, when I learn how to make it that size, I will fix this layout:

;

This block is called the OLD ITALIAN BLOCK, Brackman # 2881. Here is that center block, laid out, ready to sew:

Here are ALL THE FABRICS NEEDED for all 289 blocks, all cut into the size needed, 6.5" x 8" to make 4 blocks from each. Then I pulled out the next big tub of reproduction fabrics and cut many more 3.5” x 5” pieces, enough to make ONE block, 289 DIFFERENT fabrics. No photo of that pile: 

Before I committed to making this I used completely different fabrics to test my plan. If it becomes another Workshop offering, I will need a smaller sample in more contemporary fabrics:

3" finished blocks

These are so much FUN to make!  

I was eager to make a few from reproduction fabrics--here are the first few done:

The only problem? If the idea here is to USE UP FABRIC, this is a fail! It didn't make a dent in the stack I pulled from the closet. At least I'll use up 7 yards of solid.  Here is what went back IN the closet after all cutting was done:

As promised, here are more photos of the original antique top. If you love 1800's fabrics as I do, it's quite a treat for the eye:

There is one SPECIAL BLOCK I am trying to research. I believe it is CENTENNIAL FABRIC, printed to celebrate 1876 in America. If you know this to be authentic Centennial Fabric, please let me know:

I am considering offering this as a Sew-Along project here on the Blog. I would provide instructions for cutting several different sizes, 3" might be a bit too small for some. It will teach you the 3 important BASICS OF PRECISION PIECING: the cutting, sewing and pressing. Let me know if you're interested...

There is no rush to get this quilt done fast. As a Leader/Ender project I can allow it to take years. It's my NEXT LIFETIME QUILT. Since I  can't die until it's done, it is smart to make it REALLY SLOWLY.

Here are more Blogs I have written on LIFETIME and LEADER/ENDER quilts:

Lifetime Top is Done

Lifetime Leader/Ender

Having a leader/ender project is always part of my quiltmaking journey, with every quilt I make. With this one, I can achieve BOTH  a BUCKET LIST completion and have a Leader/Ender project ready.  Isn't life grand?!

Let's quilt.

Barbara