trees, not hearts

finally, something other than pink to share, even if it is dreadfully out of season. i finally got a chance to work on the quilting of my last batch of basted quilts. first up was "bright forest" because of the color that was on the machine that had the walking foot attached.

this golden tan-ish aurifil 2318 was on the machine that d1 was using to attach her binding. the correct foot was also on the machine, so i looked over the available quilt options to see if any of them would look good with this color and save me the trouble of changing thread.

at first glance, none of the quilts were obvious candidates, but as i thought about what it would look like on "bright forest," i decided it would be a subtle golden holiday touch to the otherwise very bold and bright quilt. using a more intense gold color would compete with the fabric colors in a way i didn't fancy but the soft gold would add a touch of holiday sparkle without competing or clashing. and i'm happy with the results, so i approve of my choice.

i chose a simple quilting pattern: straight lines through the middle of all the sashings and cornerstones and then straight lines through the horizontal and vertical centers of each block.

with the quilt rolled in at the sides in preparation for feeding through the machine, you can see the different fabrics of the backing and how well they compliment the random collection of colors i used on the front. i'm really so very pleased with how this back turned out and feel like it just makes the quilt. i was rather ambivalent about the top once all the blocks were done, then the sashing and cornerstones helped me like it more. the backing makes me like it a lot now. those boxy bears and the trees were worth the price i paid for them for the way they elevate the overall quilt and enhance the vibe. plus, the selvage, which is included and shows in the backing, has "2020" printed in it, the year this quilt and its companion got their start from a random collection of kona colors i ordered at the same time.

i'm not even minding the christmas colors and motifs in the month of hearts and flowers and all things love. it does make me think i should pull out those "cute betsy hearts" since it's february, but we'll see what i get around to in what's left of the month. knocking out a few more hearts would be fun . . .

what was not fun: finding a pin stuck in the quilt while i was working on the quilting. d5 was sitting at the machine across from me working on her 16-patch blocks and i thought she'd let a pin go astray, but on examination discovered it was actually embedded inside the quilt sandwich. i must have accidentally let it fall on the backing which was spread on the floor before i added the batting to it. so very odd! fortunately, i discovered the pin by the smallest of pokes to my finger while moving the quilt around under the walking foot and at an early enough point in the process that no unpicking was required to reach my hand inside the sandwich and remove it.

this is all worked up now, so which quilt do you think i put under the walking foot next? hint: it's not from the same batch but from a previous basting batch. if you look under the "quilting queue" on my "wips" page, you might be able to guess.

wip wednesday 2026.7

 

i think i failed to mention in my last post that this blog is now fifteen years old. that means i've been quilting nearly a third of my life, which feels so strange since i took it up in my later 30's, well into adulthood. in the end, i will have been a quilter longer than i wasn't one. i didn't see that coming.

what have i accomplished in 15 years of quilting? take a look at my "quilt gallery" page to see what i've completed and my "wips" page to see what i'm still working on. the ratio is about 2:1. it’s not just about the finishes or the endless WIPs  it’s been about a whole lot of fun and learning and fabric and friends mixed in with a lot of mistakes and miscuts and frustrations. quilting has taught me a lot, given me a lot these past 15 years.

the opening photo is of a project nearly as old as this blog: my "london wardrobe" epp project. i began these hexagon-and-square-and-triangle wheels in 2013, planning to make 100 of them. currently, i have 22 full wheels, 2 sets of 3 interlocking wheels, and one middle piece complete. there are about a dozen hexagons and an innumerable amount of triangles and squares basted and even more cut, ready to baste. i have large cuts of a few feature fabrics for the backing and of the low-volumes for background for the front.

i took the project back out a few months ago to assess what can be done with it. i no longer have an interest in completing 100 wheels. i'm trying to figure out what i can do with the wheels i have complete instead. the answer to that question is not simple because of the state all the pieces are in. i wish i had it in me to keep at this project and see it through, but even a shortcut version is going to a lot of work at this point.

i'm still undecided on a layout. putting the wheels in rows will require making a lot of middle/half wheel/connecting pieces. making more interconnecting cogs for one big slab will require more work than i even want to think about. there's no quick fix way out of this mess. 

what am i to do?

maybe i just set it aside until such a point in my life as i have the motivation and time to keep making it into something like i originally planned?

the only reason i'm even thinking about it is i'm a little "tired of pink" at the moment and needed a distraction.

i'm not truly tired of pink - just tired of blogging about it. the only thing i get done these days is a few more stitches on "pinky stinky" edna, which is turning this blog into a play-by-play in pink. who wants to keep reading that?

as wednesday approaches and i haven't done any new quilting, i think to myself, "i need to go quilt a little so i have something to post." this isn't very genuine, on the one hand. on the other, it's motivating me to keep the project moving forward, even a little bit at a time. there's nothing wrong with that, is there?

i've thought of doing something else, but i need to get the pink thread off the machine before i move on. i'm really making myself stick to these wips until i get them finished, which is great for finishes but makes for boring blogging.

this week i put the star points on the pieces above and attached the horizontal sashing strips to 3 of the 16 patches for row 4. it was actually a nice break from house design.

as i was leaving the room last night, i noticed this bit of silliness above. i put the same star points on two consecutive pieces. the set on the right is supposed to be bird points, like the cornerstone block under it. that's going to be some work for me. upicking coming right up!

"pinky stinky" strikes again, which is to say, "hydee messed up again." 

and somehow i still make quilts.

crew update 2026

size of my people in 2012

my family has always been a big part of my sewing life. i've included my children in my creative pursuits as much as possible, hoping to inspire their own creative journeys. when this blog started, there were six, and number seven showed up soon after. that was 15 years ago! my littles are all mostly full grown now. the babies around here these days are my grandchildren, which currently number three. i've updated this page every few years; to watch them grow visit the older posts (2012, 2014, 2021). let's see where they are in 2026.

d1, oldest daughter and child, 27

college grad in creative writing, married since the pandemic, sahm with three children affectionately referred to as "the babies" in our household. she's taken after my mother, marmee, and started sewing halloween costumes for her little people. most recently that was a cinderella dress and mouse ears. she has my old pink brother machine and has taken her sewing cabinet off my hands. one of her favorite projects is to make felt food for her children's play kitchen. we love these pieces!

grandson r, 3

likes to sew with granna when he's visiting. the bowl of sewing sweets helps. he pulls pins, snips some threads, runs the foot pedal, pushes cutting and needle buttons, and helps with handsewing. we are working on a quarter log cabin quilt together and made a pincushion for his mama for christmas.

granddaughter a, 2

started checking out what we're doing with pins this year. recently took an interest in helping me pull the needle when i handbind.

grandson t, 6 months

rolling everywhere, won't stay still on a quilt anymore. but does like to snuggle them. is mostly just very, very cute.

s1, older son, 25

college grad in biochemical engineering, working man, recovering patient. he's had serious health issues for about 4 years now, which peaked last spring. currently lives at home with us while he slowly adjusts to his new condition. creative pursuits: flower arranging for me and decorating his bedroom. he has an artistic side he's considered exploring again by taking up painting or pottery, but hasn't stepped into it yet. is the favorite of his niece, a.

d2, second daughter, 23

college grad in technical writing, just completed two years of language school in tokyo receiving her level two certification in japanese. while there she tried several creative experiences, including some fabric dying. she's returned to the nest as she plots her next move - more school or the workforce? creativity is mostly channeled through cooking at the moment. maybe we'll make that alice in wonderland quilt now she's pit-stopping at home for a minute. loves to hangout with the babies.

s2, younger son, 21

college student in finance/economics. creativity involves seeing how much volleyball time he can manage while maintaining grades.

d3, third daugther, 19

college student in creative writing. creative pursuit - writing.

d4, fourth daughter, 17

high school senior concurrently enrolled in college classes like physics 2 and calc 3. she made softies for the babies at christmas; all her own design, no pattern. draws and paints. likes to design personalized cards.

d5, youngest daughter, 14

high school freshman, rock climber. she's completed her first quilt and now helps me with projects beyond snipping things. i can trust her to piece and to press. she's my quiltcon buddy when it's in town. she loves sewing and crochet, which she taught herself. 

the mr, married 30 years

he's my financial backer and occasional quilt admirer. keeps me from falling too far down the rabbit hole of quilting when other things are going on.

still stinky pinky (ww2026.6)

are you "tired of pink?" if so, you'll want to skip this post! "pinky stinky edna" got a lot of work done on her this week. getting the pieces up on the design wall last week was quite useful and made assembly easy, at least until i made my slew of mistakes, but it made knowing where to put everything easy and was so helpful.

with the top row complete, i started working on the horizontal sashing pieces next. they needed the side star points added first. i got reacquainted with how to get the directional prints on the way i wanted them to be oriented, then added the 16-patch blocks.

i'm still making bonus mini hsts out of the little corner cut-offs. i'm still unsure what i'm doing with them, but i'm not wasting them! if i don't add them to the back of the quilt somewhere, i'll either make a feature patch out of them for a hazel-style improv quilt or make a small bean bag for the grans to play with. either way, i'm making them and putting them aside as i go.

i had an early walk with my seester, katee, who lives in the neighborhood, so the house was really quiet when i got home. i didn't want to do anything noisy (dishes) and didn't feel like starting house design work just yet, so i decided to put a few pieces together. once i had these two done, i decided to work on the rest of the row.

i'm having a little trouble with the V at the intersection of the star points, and i don't know why. this one turned out pretty well, but it's also puffy. i just don't know what i'm doing wrong, but i'm keeping at it and not worrying about little things like this too much.

there were some other problems with lining up of seams when i added the vertical sashings to the 16-patches that i did unpick and re-do. those were too glaringly off and did not align with my intergrity-but-not-perfectionist mentality, so i fixed them. 

 by the time the rest of the household was up and moving, i had the sashings complete and the first two rows of 16-patches attached together. it felt really good! the only "stinky" i had in that whole process was one set of misaligned seams i redid and my thread was being tricky. but overall, it was smooth sailing. 

after breakfast and a few other chores, i decided it was going to be a quilting day after all. i went back to the sewing room to proceed with the next set of sashings and row. that's when i realized i didn't put the star points on the bottoms of the vertical sashing pieces. oh, shoot. that definitely needed to be done. 

so i unpicked the rows a few inched past where the points needed to be added and got to work making star points on all the corners. it was more difficult wrangling the whole row around for each of those small seams than it was doing each block individually, but i managed.

i was quite relieved to have that done! i soothed myself with a mini strawberry ice cream cone from trader joe's. that was nice pick-me-up before i moved on the the next set of hotizontal sashings. 

i haven' t looked at the pattern in months. at this point, i just know how everything is supposed to go together and am making my way through it based on my guesses and experience. there might be a much more efficient way outlined in the pattern, but i haven't taken the time to look it up.

things just got stinkier from there: i put the wrong star points on a sashing set, i nicked the center of a star with my snips when cutting a stray thread, i had one sashing set cut too long and didn't realize it until after i put the points on, which then had to be redone also, and i had another block not line up with the 16-patches with had to be unpicked and corrected. 

i took deep breaths, kept calm and carried on: never give up, never surrender, keep making that quilt.

on sunday, i was on the phone with d3, who is out of state at university currently, for 3.5 hours, and part of that time i worked on "pinky stinky" to keep my hands busy while we chatted. i got row three assembled and row four's star points added to the pieces and some of it attached, but i'm waiting for d5 to finish the 16 patches before i can progress any further. she wants me to take her shopping, but i think she's going to have to do a few blocks for me first.

(the photo looks confusing because row three is layered over row two so i could fit more on the board, and that's hard to see in the photo.)

tip: directional prints on flip-and-stitch corners

there are lots of times when i want a directional print to be facing a certain direction when i'm making quilt blocks or components: hsts, flying geese, chevron blocks, economy block corners, snowball corners, diamond block corners (like wensleydale), and more. in the star cornerstones for "pinky stinky edna" i want the pieces in the star points to be going the same direction as the center block. this is completely personal preference in this case, but it's an effect i'm aiming for.

these corner triangles are made with the flip-and-stitch method where a smaller square is placed right sides together on the corner of the base, a diagonal seam is sewn to create a corner triangle, the excess of both fabrics is cut off 1/4" away from the seam, the new corner is flipped out to replace the part cut off, right side up, and is then pressed into place.

so how do i get the print going the same direction from each side of the star?

this is the square of the strawberry print i want to add to the bottom left corner of this two-strip sashing piece. the piece is vertical and i want the strawberries to run in the direction shown in the photo.

first, i identify the direction the piece should be facing and then the part i want to show in the corner. for this one, the part i want showing is turned in the bottom left as shown above.

if i fold the top right of the square under the bottom left corner, i can see how the shape will appear once sewn together, flipped down, and pressed into place. the bottom left corner my finger is on is the part i'll use to orient myself when putting the right sides of fabrics together for sewing the seam. 

when i turn the square over so right sides of fabrics are together, i want that bottom left corner to now be in the upper right corner. that same corner that was under my finger in the upper photo is now where my finger is pointing in this photo. no matter the orientation of the corner, the thing to remember is:

 the corner of the square that you want to be the finished corner piece of the triangle needs to be placed in the diagonally opposite corner when you have the square flipped for right sides together. 

so again, here that means the lower left corner (when the square is facing up and is in the direction you want the fabric to appear in) becomes the upper right corner when it's flipped over and the fabrics are right sides together.

when fabrics are right sides together, i mark the diagonal line i'm going to sew the seam on. don't forget to mark and sew the seam for the bonus left-over hst from the corner, too. 

once both seams are sewn and the corner cut off, the new corner piece if flipped out and pressed into place. and you can press open your bonus hst as well. 

voila!

i figure out these little tips for myself, often through trial-and-error, then i tend to forget them when i need them again. i'm going to start recording them and gather them together on a tips page for myself so i can remind myself what i've learned when i need it again. maybe it'll help someone else, too.

wip wednesday 2026.5

i've been eyeballs-deep in house design this week, but i took a break one afternoon to put "pinky stinky" edna up on the design wall to get a feel for where we are and to make assemble easy when i get a chance to stitch some.  the available wall space could only fit 4 of 6 rows, the first of which is already assembled but needs a block moved. i was surprised we have enough 16 patch blocks for those rows. there is still a fat stack of 16 patch blocks to be completed, so i didn't think we'd gotten this far along. after seeing everything on the wall, i went over the remaining blocks sets and discovered i have far more than is needed to complete the quilt.

so the good news is d5 only needs to assemble 10 more blocks before i can complete the top. there are an additional 12 sets, which means she can make a small quilt of some sort incorporating them whenever she wants. that resolves our debate about what to name this project. i call it "pinky stinky" edna because i had dozens of problems when starting the quilt (almost all user error, not the pattern). it's pink and it was being stinky: pinky stinky. but d5 likes to call it "tired of pink," a comment i once made after several days of working on nothing but this quilt and i was craving some other colors. she thought that was really funny and a good name for the quilt. but i'm not tired of pink now and i don't think it's a very complimentary name, so i disagree. if she makes her own quilt with the extra blocks, she can call it "tired of pink" and i can call this edna "pinky stinky," which also doesn't necessarily sound complimentary but it's a term of affection used in our household when our girls were little and were being silly or sassy.

i did the handquilting for two more of the interior blocks on "groovy liberty," bringing the total up to 6/42 complete. i'd like to stitch in the sashing, as well, but haven't decided on a color yet. i think something besides white would work better with the creamy/grey grunge fabric, but i haven't decided what yet.

i bought nothing quilt related nor cleaned anything in my sewing room this week, so that sums up my report. i might have some time to get those "samiches" quilted soon, but i'm also hot on the house design front at the moment and might keep focused there.

some backs in detail

 

this older alexander henry print (circa 2010) of mod flowers in warm, deep pastels is a major fabric crush of mine. once i used it for an apron. scraps of it appeared in the original hst block for my gypsy wife quilt and subsequently in the gypsy child hst quilt. a few years ago when i was going at the hst quilt full throttle, i looked to see if i could find yardage of the print for the backing. i got lucky and found an etsy seller who had used it in her custom-order business for household goods and still had some on hand. it's been patiently waiting on my fabric shelves ever since. getting it out and spreading it down the hall to let the folding wrinkles relax a little before i pressed it made me so happy.

when i'm preparing to use large pieces of yardage, usually for a backing, i tend to spread them out to full length while i'm working my way up to them. this particular weekend i was hoping to back a couple of quilts, so there were several pieces laying about in the afternoon sun as i worked.

although the hst top was the first completed of the grouping, it ended up being the last one i basted together. it was well past midnight by the time i got it done, but i pushed through and saw it to completion. i knew i wouldn't have another chance for a while to do this and had no where to store all the big pieces, so it felt necessary. 

this backing might have taken the longest because i decided to do one of my "large strip down one side and pieces along the other" backing, and had to hunt out and cut several pieces of fabric used in the top for the small side pieces. that took quite a while. the results are worth it, so no regrets. i included several selvages in the pieces and was pleased they showed up so well.

the first quilt i backed of this bunch was "fairytale meadow." after that, i went the easy(ish) route and backed "frosted forest star" because the top was already complete and was sitting on top of the gypsy child, making it more easily accessible. i had a few pieces of yardage i was considering for backing but was still unsatisfied with my picks. that large open-pane white-and-dark green plaid woven was going to be my biggest piece of the backing, but it needed some supporting pieces to round it out. it's not a wideback, so i had to supplement it somehow. the colors in the snowflake fabric went really well with the top except that the background color was a warm, creamy ivory color and this quilt is definitely crisp and cool. it just didn't work. the aqua print matched really well, but there was only half a yard. the ginghams felt woodsy, but the color tones were off. i pulled several more fabrics from stash and finally found the perfect pieces.

this random green from my stash, recently purchased as part of a christmas stashing buy, was just the right color. in that same christmas order i found a pinecone and sprig print that coordinated really well and fit the theme of the quilt. it felt so good to have these finally come together! i decided to do a 3-strip-striped backing, another go-to formation of mine. the strips had to be a lot thicker because of how much space i needed them to take.

because i was piecing the strips to be the length of the back (over 72" long), i decided to flip the outer two fabrics at the seam for a little interest. then i decided to make one more cut and do it again for even more fun in that party-on-the-quilt-back. which i later regretted because it started to feel patchwork-y and this quilt top has a very clean, crisp, modern look to it. ah, well. it's on the back and won't matter much.

why i felt the need to take this crummy night photo of me basting the quilt, i don't know. but there you have it - quilt number two for the night, three for the weekend, is a "samich."

"bright forest" took some more thinking and scheming. fortunately, i picked out two of the fabrics in advance in december while working on the top. the ruby star society bears and trees print was basically perfect for the blocky, modern tree top. the colors were just right, too. i have a fat quarter set of the "flurry" line from 2020 that the print comes from, which is how i knew it was just right for my trees. what was wrong was the perfect fabric was out of print, impossible to find in quantity, and too pricey. but i found just enough of it, bit the bullet and paid the cost, knowing i would supplement with something else when the time came. i found less of the "spark" multi-bright snowflake/star print from the same line, which also coordinated really well, but there was enough of it to work into the backing. 

the trees for the top were made in pairs, but my 7x7 top used only 49 blocks, so i had one extra tree for the back. i included the tree in a strip with the "spark" print, and sandwiched that in between the bear print and the perfectly colored deep teal green small checked print i found in my stash. 

whew! done. and i'm very happy with it. i think this backing levels the whole quilt up a few notches.

this post is all out of order for how i did this batch, but there is one more quilt i backed and basted (the day before these three): fairytale meadow.

the top is composed of orange, green, and low-volume heather ross prints. these were the components i decided to echo on the back. ages ago i knew i wanted the green floral print from the "trixie" line for the backing and got several yards, so i had that covered. for the orange, i had one print in enough yardage to make a strip across the width of the back, so that was an easy decision. same with the strawberry print for the low-volume. this one was probably the easiest to decide on and to put together. i was able to include the fun selvages from two of the prints, which i always like to do.

i think the "trixie" mouse detail is one of my favorites of the bunch. 

it was pretty exhausting to get these quilts processed in two days, and my body hurt for a few days after, too. but i'm so glad it's done.

seester stitching

d1 came over to finally machine attach her binding in preparation for handbinding it. i was helping with babies in the other room when i walked back in to check on her and found d5 seated on the floor next to oldest seester, conversing. my mama heart loved this little scene.

she's mastering that fine balance of keeping the stitch in the right spot while moving the weight of an entire quilt around. it's not easy.
 

i asked d5 if she could finish the two blocks she started the day before. they both needed one more seam to be complete. she agreed to do it while talking to her seester. i told her if she can do one block a day, we'd have all her blocks done within the month. she said, "maybe."

at this point cute little A walked into the room and climbed into her auntie's lap to assist with the pinning of blocks. i love all of my little women of various ages working on projects in my quilt room together!