This and That • MarAprilMay 2026

May 16, 2026May 18, 2026 Elizabeth E.16 Comments

Let’s begin this overdue missive with the mundane: the stair rails in our house. This sticker belongs to Bryan, who I finally called in to finish the project after mucking around with it since March 6th.

I need a sticker that has the words “finisher” and “quilter” in it, although I haven’t yet figured out in which order the words would go.

This is when I called him. We’d had other recent attempts at this project of refinishing the stair rails, including a feeble attempt by Yours Truly, but in the end I called Bryan of Fine Wood Finishers to get the job done. It was needed as they probably hadn’t been refinished in the life of the house (about 50 years).

Do we exude this kind of confidence and fun? He spent some time trying to get it in his shorter van, and in the end needed a bit of a red flag. I’m your gal! I called as I zipped upstairs, ripped off a strip of red fabric and brought it back down to him. Now we just let him do his magic; I’ll keep you updated. (He does have a bigger van for delivery; no worries.)

Apparently all our businesses are in warehouses now. I took my husband to his physical therapy and was off by one block. We were at Jump and Shout Therapy, instead of Marketplace Therapy. While he was in there, I sewed squircles while I waited in the car…

…but first I took a walk around the complex where I took photos. (I’m always taking photos.)

That skeleton of metal reminded me of this sweet little chapel in the Blois Chateau in Blois, France, where even the ceilings were amazing. And this reminded me that I wanted to show you this:

Now that you know there are 640 of them, and that she made each one different, you’ll want to see some detail shots (click to enlarge any photo):

This is a quilt from the Pour l’Amour du Fils show in Nantes, France. I did include some more photos in the most recent post, but rather than overwhelm you, I’ll drop some more in here and there over the next while, like this one with 640 different little purses and dresses.

My sister Susan also did some traveling, but to London. She’s become an avid sewer, getting me interested again in garment sewing. She’s a fan of Merchant & Mills, so traveled out to Rye to see their enterprise and buy fabric. While there, they photographed her for their well-known inspiration called Social Club, and put her up on Instagram. Wow! (Doesn’t she look fabulous?)

I squircled while in doctor’s offices this month, too, keeping vigil while my husband was there. I’m really getting close to done, as I’m trying to keep up with Gladi, who has finished her squares.

Our church is dedicating a new temple not too far from our house, the Yorba Linda Temple, and we had a chance to go for their Open House to tour the building before it’s closed to the public. As always, I’m drawn to pattern and visual texture, so I loved the stained glass, done by Holdman Studios.

My photo at dusk, on the left. Another photo of this motif, from the Holdman Studios’ Instagram, is on the right (which also has more pictures). That would make a marvelous center to a quilt, right?

I tend to carry home smaller things from my travels, like stickers and an elegant candy box. Sadly, I ate the last one of the little sweet bits inside while writing this post.

But water bottles are also a prime souvenir for me, as they remind me of my experiences. Oh, and tote bags for my grocery shopping (our state has a no plastic bag rule), but I won’t show you my collection at this time.

One last quilt from Nantes: a granny square-inspired quilt, with “granny lanterns.”

Granny Square Updates

Oh Granny Original Post

Oh Granny Update Post

Besides the one you saw a couple of weeks ago, here are four more. I need to make eight total for May’s allotment, so have a few to go. Others who are playing along have posted theirs, too, on Instagram:

Since hashtags are dead in Instagram, if you want to join the gang, either leave a comment on this post, or on This Instagram Post, and I’ll add your account to the list I’m keeping on that post. If you have a a photo and don’t use Instagram, I’m happy to post it up here, or link to your blog. I’m also on BlueSky for those who have left Meta behind, although I don’t know if you need to join to see my blocks on there.

I’ve also reworked some earlier handouts and patterns. This is a digital image of four pinwheel blocks, but I really only made one. The original post shows it in red and white; here’s the free download, if you want it:

Pinwheel Quilt_OPQuilt Download

I also had a request for a really oldie-but-goodie quilt (original post)(original post in green), so I drew up a pay-what-you-want-but-free-is-okay download for that. It’s in my pattern shop.

One last photo of France’s rapeseed fields and I’m off:

300 and Beyond · Free Download · Quilt-A-Long · Quilts

Oh Granny 2026 • Quick Update

May 1, 2026May 16, 2026 Elizabeth E.18 Comments

Oh, my! We are already seeing blocks on your design walls, in your IG feeds and on your sewing tables. We’re happy to have company for making Oh! Granny squares. This post is just a quick update, before I start writing/posting about my trip to Nantes and the quilt show there.

Carol and I were finally able to touch base about the timing. The following schedule is just a suggestion…if you need to slow it down, or if you are on a hot take and Want This Thing Done, please make at your speed.

Can you manage two a week?

I timed it out and either the 3-squares block OR the 4-squares block (see previous post for info and/or scroll down for free download) take me about 30 minutes. Of course, choosing your fabrics will take you some time, but as many of us are taking from the scraps from our already beautiful coordinated stashes (haha), so probably not as long as you think.

I’m using all the same white for my backgrounds so I can precut the rectangles, as I’m going to follow on the track of the image above: 5 blocks, six rows, 1″ sashing with corner stones at the intersections and a simple binding. Some of my illustration blocks are repeated. Some I went with the “criss-cross” effect and some I didn’t.

If we do about two a week, that’s 8 per month, which will take us about four months to build a quilt the size above.

Or, you could do it this way:

Whatever works for you. Then, by fall, you could have it draped over the back of your sofa, or wherever you put your newest quilts.

So I have two free downloads for you. The first one (below) is the complete package: how-to’s, pattern directions, etc. AND the schedule. I also put the illustration shown at the top of this post on the last page.

Granny Squares PatternLite_C Download

The second one (below) is JUST THE SCHEDULE, complete with little boxes you can check off as you go. Or scribble out. Or put stickers on, whatever floats your boat. Admittedly, I only did it for 30 blocks, but if you decide on a bigger quilt, write them on.

Granny Squares Pattern_Schedule Download

If you click on the title, you can see the download. If you click on the Download…(well, you can guess).

Please refer to the previous post for more information.

And welcome to May!

Quilts · Tutorial · Quilt-A-Long · Quilt Patterns · Free Download · PatternLite

Oh, Granny! • Granny Square Sewalong 2026

April 26, 2026May 15, 2026 Elizabeth E.20 Comments

Head’s Up: Tutorial Ahead!

Just for fun’s sake, I decided to do an Instagram search for samples of the ever ubiquitous and pretty famous Granny Squares quilt because the marvelous Carol Gillen and I wanted to do another quilt-a-long with each other in 2026. (I think this will be our fourth?) Come along if you want. First up: the eye candy. I put a conglomeration of links afterwards, and each image is named with the Instagrammer (right-click on any photo to see it in a new tab, and you’ll see the “name” that way, along with the number showing what slide it is).

I think there must have been a lot of Granny Square quilts made in 2020, as a lot of the pictures are from around then.

A bunch of Instagram links that have the quilt, but which don’t necessarily correspond one-to-one to the above gallery:

jandidean • olieandevie • shesewsseams • satomi_quilts • sugarbeequilts • zbinden6 • prairiequiltco • latimerlanequilts • tiltingplanet • lyrebird_lamb • gina_tell_threadgraffiti • happylittlecottage1 • penelopehandmade • pdxannie • pdxannie (again) • alisongamm (tiny blocks) • quiltingkaro • simplegirlsimplelife • sharonhollanddesigns • sekephart (a new method) • maureencracknell (block) • maureencracknell (full quilt)

From what I saw, there are two basic kinds: the three-squares-across version and the four-squares-across version — an iteration of the original. (Ignore the photo above with six blocks across; that maker may be an overachiever and she freely admits she only made this one block. And while I admire the quilter who did hers by EPP [shown in the top row], we’re doing Old School Piecing.)

The “OG” Granny Square is the block on the upper left. We also call the one on the upper right a Granny Square, but the original name (according to Brackman) is the Garden Patch block, published in Quilt World in the mid-1970s; the color placement does differ slightly.

I saw a lot of posts, and websites, and perused videos, but I never found the source of the urban legend that says that the center of the block represents the baby, the next row represented the mother (the baby had four mothers?) and the next row was the grandmother (now this child has 8 grandmothers?). Wherever that came from it certainly wasn’t on the radar of quilt historian Barbara Brackman. The block in her book (the Bible of quilt blocks) is called Grandmother’s Pride, and hails from around the 1930s, from a mail order source called Home Art Studios.

Another blogger had it the other way: the center is the grandmother, the four surrounding blocks are her daughters, and then on to grandchildren. Okey, dokey. I think the origin of this quilt square might have come from a quilter who was trying to mimic the ubiquitous crocheted granny squares whose first origins are from the 1880s, but I have no way of knowing.

On to the making. Here’s a slideshow with pictures of my first test sample:

Three-square row blocks using 2 1/2″ squares trims out to be 9 1/8″ which is a block size I can work with.

Here’s the test sample for the 4-square block, again using squares cut to 2 1/2″ EXCEPT FOR THE WHITE BACKGROUNDS, which I cut differently (info in the free handout, below):

The dimension after trimming is 12″ square. Again, while it feels counter-intuitive to not know the finished size of a block when you begin, it’s probably easier to figure out what size square you want to work with and cut those, and then figure out the dimension of the final block once it’s all trimmed up.

I give you more dimensions and block sizes in the PatternLite Download, which for a while, is free. After that, it will move to my Pattern Shop and will probablymaybepossibly retail for less than a fancy drink in your favorite restaurant. So download it now, while it’s free.

(This is the updated mini-pattern with the quilt-making schedule.)

Granny Squares PatternLite_C Download

Another Hint: color is the thing. Decide what you want in the middle (light, dark?) and in each surrounding row. I did like the quilts that had different colorations, so sometimes you could see crosses going across the block. Two ways to put it together: sashed? Not sashed? A million different tutorials out there in Quiltland. Once Carol and I get rolling, we’ll probably post up our ideas, but for now, let’s just get started on making blocks.

We’ll probably start somewhere in May-ish? We haven’t decided yet. We’ll put it up on my least favorite-which-used-to-be-a-favorite social media, Instagram. Here are our addresses: Carol and Elizabeth. I’ll also post my blocks up on BlueSky, too, and Carol has Threads. Which block am I going to sew? I’m learning towards the 4-square version, although the 3-square version is also tempting.

Final Throught: Hashtags appear to be pretty useless now in Meta’s world However, I will be tagging my posts for organizational reasons: #ohgrannysquare2026 It might be easier just to follow us on Instagram, Threads or BlueSky or type in the words Oh Granny Square and let’s hope for the best!

UPDATE: Check this post for an update on the Quilt-A-Long.

And just for the record, Granny Squares seem to be making a comeback. Here are two I saw while in France last week:

Happy Sewing!

What Were The Other Sew-A-Longs?

Oh! Christmas Tree was made by several of us who hung around at that time.

Pumpkins, 2021

Posh Penelope, where all three of us (Carol, Linda and I) nearly lost our minds, 2025

300 and Beyond · Creating · Free Download · Free Quilt Pattern · Journal Entry · Quilt Finish · Quilts · SAHRR 2026

Earth Was Once A Garden Place • Quilt Finish

March 21, 2026April 4, 2026 Elizabeth E.27 Comments

One Sunday morning, mulling over the stunning news from the day before, I drove to church along a residential road. I had a view of the low mountain range in my city, the hills turned verdant green from the winter rains. The sun was bright and clear, the sight was glorious. A favorite hymn was playing as the choir sang “This earth was once a garden place, With all her glories common.”

The song finished, I went into church, but the idea of a place so beautiful and fresh lingered.

I wrote in my journal that night: “All day I couldn’t help but think about Eden, and how much we mortals seem to have missed the boat. To live with ‘glories common’ would be the best….I thought then — realized then — that perhaps it was I who was below my best abilities in bringing about ‘all glories common.’ “

I paused, reflecting: the best of the earth, the most beautiful flowers, the clearest streams and tallest mountains — our glories. Shared all together, without rancor, viciousness, greed, cruelty and just plain old revenge and stubbornness. It felt like too big of a task; I closed my journal and went to bed.

With this experience as backdrop, I sat in the quilting room the next morning, trying to tackle one of the prompts in the Stay At Home Round Robin. I knew I wanted to figure out how to write those words of the hymn, and to let this quilt be a garden quilt, a reminder that I could bring about my own version of Eden in pieces, in bits, in my best moments. I struggled with the “how to” of the words, working it out letter by letter. Many times I was discouraged. With encouragement from friends and from my always-supportive husband, I finally finished and pinned the word borders up around the existing quilt.

Then I looked at the center: it didn’t work at all. So I took that out, went to remake a new one but couldn’t find the pattern. So I drafted up my own, remade the center and carried on. (There’s a metaphor here somewhere, I think.)

So here it is: Earth Was Once A Garden Place. And it can be again, day by day, moment by moment, with gallons of forgiveness, bushels of forbearance, and volumes of truth and charity. It’s that dailiness that can be the hardest: to not cuss out the driver who cut you off, to be more patient with those you live with, to speak up when necessary and to find stamina to do the hard tasks in our lives. I often turn to quilting to have a respite, as well as to be a part of a community of others who are exercising their creativity, planting their seeds, growing their quilts and creations.

Over time, working steadily at the task, we may yet find a way to have our glories common–

Earth Was Once a Garden Place Greatest Hits

First, a huge thank you to the co-hosts of the SAHRR for 2026 (names and links at end of post). It was wonderful! The final Link-Up Party of all the participants’ quilts can be viewed *here.*

Beginning: choosing the center
Round 1: Hourglass
Round 2: Double
Round 2, Part 2: I made it a Double
Round 3: Animal Kingdom
Round 4: Curves
Round 5: Two Color
Round 6: Quilter’s Choice

This is the SAHRR 2026 Final Quilt.
I’ve revised and cleaned-up the free tip sheets I made for this journey, plus a couple more new ones for the final quilt. Click to download. Please do not copy or digitally distribute, but send anyone who wants one to this website to get their own. (NOTE: The tip sheets will live here on this post; the earlier versions will soon be removed.)

Many thanks.