Game On! is the 2026 Block of the Month quilt designed by Becky Goldsmith exclusively for THE QUILT SHOW: find Game On! information here. Join as a Star Member to get all the patterns and all the videos FREE. Membership is just $49/year and provides access to almost 20 years of shows and tremendous additional content. Join HERE
We made it to the last month of this 2026 Block of the Month project! This month we finish the last four narrow 3" borders. They are repeats of the narrow borders made in Months 4-7. If you used any of my suggestions for those earlier borders, here are direct links to make them easy to find:
Month 4 -- Pointy Triangles
Month 5 -- Squares on Point
Month 6 -- ZigZag border
Month 7 -- Another ZigZag border
My PRINT KIT version is done, basted and ready to quilt:
My SOLID KIT version is done, currently on the design wall:
There is a part of the narrow outer borders that may be a little confusing. Due to the math involved, there needs to be a 1" spacer fabric added to EACH of the 4 narrow borders. NOT ON BOTH SIDES of those borders, just to ONE side. These are cut 1.5" x 3.5". This is explained clearly in the pattern instructions.
I chose to make the opposite corners symmetrical. That means I added the 1" spacer fabric to the upper RIGHT and lower LEFT corners:
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LOWER RIGHT CORNER
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| UPPER LEFT CORNER |
On my SOLID KIT version, I did it on the Upper Right and Lower Left. See the photo of the quilt above.
If you prefer to add spacer fabrics to BOTH SIDES of all four borders, they simply need to be 1/2" finished--so they are cut 1" x 3.5". The choice is yours, you just need that additional 1" finished total.
The other thing you might notice in the pattern instructions is that designer Becky Goldsmith has two Half Log Cabin blocks side by side on ONE of her narrow borders, with the 1" spacer on the OUTSIDE edge of the quilt. I didn't do that. Here are my narrow borders on my PRINT KIT version:
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| Lower Right Corner |
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| Lower Left Corner |
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| Upper Left Corner |
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| Upper Right Corner |
However you choose to do your borders is the RIGHT WAY. As long as the borders are the RIGHT SIZE, it's all good. The Left and Right borders measure 3.5" x 58.5". The Top and Bottom borders measure 3.5" x 64.5".
Because I rarely choose to have points on the outside of my quilts, I added an additional 1" finished narrow outer border. In the PRINT KIT version I used the brown stripe. In the SOLID KIT version I used the red I added to the Kit. So my quilts are 2" wider than the pattern size.
If you want a larger quilt, feel free to make additional pieced borders. Or add more plain fabric borders.
THE QUILTING: Lauren Vleck did the beautiful Longarm quilting on Becky's quilt. Alex Anderson did an Interview with her. You can find it here, and I recommend watching it for great information. Watching it again now I have lots of good ideas for how I want to quilt my other two:
I quilted my smaller version, the one I made from my Favorite Print fabrics:
Detail shots:
I just played around with different motifs in the various sections. Natalia Bonner of
Piece N Quilt has lots of free Stitch A Longs and I have learned a lot from them. That is where I got most of these motifs.
The area I found most challenging are the wide white sections. I used a cross hatch grid but the angles are not actually 45 degrees nor 60 degrees, so some of my sections are different sizes from each other. When I quilt my two larger versions, I will do something completely different on them. Probably something swirly to fit the space evenly.
I've been asked about back fabric. Usually I choose something from my stash to try to use it up. That is what I did with the smaller version. This is a leftover piece of a wild print. To make it the correct size, I added a deep teal all around it. I don't know where I got it or what I used it for in the past. It was just colorful and using it took it out of the closet:
For my PRINT VERSION, I pieced a back of YELLOW DIMPLES from Andover Fabrics--I had a bolt of it and this used it up. Bright and colorful, it worked just fine:
For my SOLID VERSION, I expect to use a PRINT. Something on the light side. I might use a variety of prints for a "Scrappy Back". Machine quilting isn't my Super Power so a print will help hide any "less than lovely" stitches or OOPS. As long as the back is not so DARK that it shadows through to the front, any fabric you like for the back works.
Now for the annual REMINDER: this pattern is only FREE FOR STAR MEMBERS until December 31, 2026. After that all rights to the patterns/instructions go to designer Becky Goldsmith. No one from The Quilt Show nor any member, can legally give these patterns to anyone. That is simply a Copyright Violation.
To make it easy to SAVE ALL THE PATTERNS, there is a direct link to allow you to DOWNLOAD it ALL AT ONCE. SAVE IT somewhere you can find it again. Warning: it is 148 pages long if you are planning to PRINT it:
These borders can add so much to future quilts. I plan to use them again. I hope you learned a few new ones and enjoyed making GAME ON!
Let's Quilt!
Barbara
