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.
We made it! It's time to ASSEMBLE your quilt top!
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| Grandmother's Autumn colorway |
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| Granddaughter's Spring colorway |
VERY IMPORTANT CUTTING UPDATE: SPACER STRIPS (A) ARE CUT 3” x 10.5”
The quilt is put together in a variety of sections. The directions are thorough and easy to follow. What could possibly go wrong??!!
You might not be surprised by now: I HAVE A TUTORIAL on mitered seam borders:
It is very EASY to get something turned around, between the design wall/area and your sewing machine. Just ask me how I know.
Here is what happened to me as I rushed to get my top assembled months ago:
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| What NOT TO DO! |
A friend pointed out I had turned the middle row section completely around, 180 degrees WRONG. She wasn't familiar with Laurel Ridge so she was trying to see the overall LAYOUT of the pattern. She spotted quickly what I couldn't see. Thanks, Nina!
I was willing to confess this to you on a LIVE broadcast, so that hopefully, you won't do what I did. Later that day Pat H. reached out to me with the sad news I had messed up 3 more blocks--those easy half square triangle blocks in the upper left section! Oh, no!! How did I DO THAT?! Thanks, Pat!
It was EASY. There is a LOT of sewing here, lots of sections, taken off the wall, sewn together, put back on the wall. One simple misplaced block will require hours of work to fix. The big section took 2.5 hours to fix, the 3 small blocks took more than 3 hours to fix because they were in 3 different rows.
It is EASIER TO DO IT RIGHT, than to have to FIX IT. My TIPS:
1. Take it slow.
2. If you're tired, stop.
3. Use photos to "see" what your eye can miss.
4. Get another set of eyes to check you out BEFORE you assemble the various Sections.
In my own defense, I did not have the MONTH 12 ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS until recently and my quilt was assembled in June. All I had to follow was the photo of the completed quilt, enlarged on my computer and IPad.
Fortunately, my mistakes were brought to my attention while it was still a top. If they had been found after the quilting I would have had to say "It was a DESIGN DECISION". But I would have been very disappointed in myself.
I added the borders with MITERED SEAMS, rather than straight seams. It allows me to make "border fabric" by sewing the inner border to the outer border BEFORE SEWING THE BORDERS to the quilt:
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| I tried to keep the floral fabric in the same orientation so I labeled them as I sewed |
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| Once sewn I carefully drew a 45 degree sewing line |
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| I had to piece the floral for needed length, it is not visible on the quilt |
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| Mitered seam sewn and pressed open |
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| I love the look of a mitered seam |
You might not be surprised by now: I HAVE A TUTORIAL on mitered seam borders:
MITERED BORDERS WITH TWO FABRICS Lots of photos and detailed explanations
My remaining TIP is that you make a LABEL for this, and ALL YOUR QUILTS. It tells the who, what, why, when and where of this quilt. The designer and quilter, if not you, needs to be recognized. See my Label Tutorial for more information:
It's time for my annual REMINDER: all the patterns for LAUREL RIDGE, both colorways, are ONLY AVAILABLE FREE TO STAR MEMBERS until December 31, 2025. After that date, all rights to the patterns return to the designer. No one on The Quilt Show, including Star Members, can give any of these patterns to anyone after the end of this year. That is copyright violation. We respect and protect our designers so we can continue to provide these valuable quilt projects FREE TO OUR MEMBERS. Any patterns you are missing you will have to buy from the designer.
If you haven't saved all the patterns, do it now. If you haven't started, but think you might "someday", save them now. There will be an easy link available soon to save all of the patterns at once. The GOOD NEWS is my blogs remain available free as always, with no ads, pop-ups or anything for sale. Just me sharing what I know.
If you are not currently a STAR MEMBER, JOIN any time before December 31, 2025 and you will have full access to ALL the LAUREL RIDGE patterns as well as the INTRODUCTION to the 2026 BOM--it's so good!
I hope you have enjoyed making LAUREL RIDGE. It may have taught you a lot, more than you know right now.
See you in 2026 with the new BLOCK OF THE MONTH--it's another great one!
Let's quilt.
Barbara
