Earth Was Once A Garden Place • Quilt Finish

March 21, 2026March 21, 2026 Elizabeth E.11 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. It was wonderful!
After March 25th, I will include the corrected final Link-Up Party *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.

#1 Free Download: Double Square Border

Double Border_OPQuilt Tip Sheet Download

#2 Free Download: Trees for the Neighborhood
(Houses are from my pattern Merrion Square Mini Quilt, enlarged to the size of the finished trees)

Making Trees_OPQuilt Tip Sheet Download

#3 Free Download: Curved Leaves All Around, aka Orange Peel Blocks

Orange Peels_OPQuilt Tip Sheet Download

#4 Free Download: Making Letters/Words

Making Words_OPQuilt Tip Sheet Download

#5 Free Download: Center Propeller Block 9″

Propeller Block_OPQuilt Tip Sheet Download

Quilt # 315, 62″ square

200 Quilts · 300 and Beyond · 300 Quilts · Patterns by Elizabeth of OPQuilt · Quilts · Red, White and Blue · SAHRR 2026 · Sawtooth Stars · Shine: The Circles Quilt · Tiny Quilts

Time Flies Whether You Are Having Fun or Not

February 27, 2026March 3, 2026 Elizabeth E.12 Comments

250 years have flown by, to be exact.

Because I’m a traditional American, a put-out-my-flag sort of gal on the 4th of July, with maybe adding a rootbeer float and maybe a hot dog to go along with it, I’ve been thinking about how I want to celebrate the 250th of our founding of our country.

And yes, I want to make another quilt, and thought I’d throw out a couple of red, white and blue ideas for you and your 250th celebration.

It’s a long story, but this is the red, white and blue version of my EPP quilt, made during covid. The title is I Hear American Singing and references all of us, our differences and how we all sing the song that is America (minus the bad guys, of course). Most all of the block patterns are free here on this blog, so have fun downloading them. The page that has all this info is An EPP Quilt: Circles. Each pattern has a corresponding blog post that’s a tutorial, if you need it.

This hot mess was a Friends Quilt, but I like the idea of a bunch of stars. Very cool background, I must say, but this was in the days when I thought a bunch of random blocks equaled a quilt. I mean, it kind of does…in a way.

This is a better example of what a quilt of many blocks can/should be: Carol Gillen’s Sacajawea quilt; pattern by Minick and Simpson.

Carol’s pup on a red, white and blue: pattern is This is Land That I Love, by Amy Smart. If you can’t tell, Carol’s kind of my go-to for red, white and blue quilts.

My friend Susan designed a star quilt using blue and white stars, called Under Southern Skies (she’s from Australia). She has a free tutorial, if you’d like to make it.

I also like wee red, white and blue quilts. The free instructions are on this post.

Free Pattern and How-Tos

Two links on this one: Head here to get the Free Worksheet to make the quilt, and a look at the final quilt finish: Betsy’s Creation.

I have two quilts for this 250 Celebration I’m dithering between:

I saw this at Carol’s “Celebration Station,” a little display she changes out every month. It’s from Timeless Traditions, and is titled Flag Day. It finishes at 36″ square, so not-too-big. And I already have the pattern!

Another idea is just making a ton of star blocks in different sizes and arranging them.

Erica Jackman just did a Quilt-A-Long on this last year, another pattern I already have.

Anja showed this on her blog, and I love the randomness of this, as well. You can read about it here. If I were to do this, I might throw in a few of my Sawtooth Blocks from my pattern, as I like the different centers:

And of course, there are millions of Quilts of Valor designs out there on the web. I also plan to read a book in tandem with my historian sister Susan, someone who can guide me through understanding about just what our Founding Fathers were trying to get to. The one we’ve chosen was featured in an interview that Judy Woodruff from PBS did the other night.

There are many good books to read about our early history, and of course plays to see, parades to go to, quilts to stitch up.

But another aspect of How Time Flies has to do with the SAHRR 2026 quilt-a-long I’ve been a part of. As always, thanks to the organizers and hosts!

We’ve reached the last prompt, and it was “Quilter’s Choice.” I think Anja has experience in these, because Prompt #6 was just what I needed after a mad smash to get all the words created and stitched on to the four panels surrounding the quilt.

My choice right now is to rest, and get ready for the Top/Quilt reveal on March 25th. I have a couple of simple borders in mind to tie everything together. I am so happy you all encouraged me to keep going, go forward in stitching down the words. I love how they look!

The Stay At Home Round Robin 2026 schedule:
*January 14: Center Blocks, led by Gail and shared by each co-leader
*January 21: 1st Round: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
*January 28: 2nd Round: Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
*February 4: 3rd Round: Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
*February 11: 4th Round: Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
*February 18: 5th Round: Gail @ Quilting Gail
*February 25: 6th Round: Anja @ Anja Quilts
[An asterisk* means that prompt has been posted.]

This has been a sprint, but to think that just six weeks has passed since we started and there are so many lovely quilts to be seen. I’ll include the final Linky party when my quilt is complete, but for a taste, here’s a couple I loved:

Left is Emily, from The Darling Dogwood, and on the right is Wendy from Pieceful Thoughts. Many more, later.

Until then, maybe give a wee thought about how you will celebrate the 250th celebration of our country? Part of it I will endeavor to work to ignore the noise and chaos generated artificially by pronouncements or tweets or truths or influencers. I will think about what I love about being an American, and how living here has shaped me, changed me, helped me. I will think about ways I can help others to see the beauty and joy (and work to change the things that are ugly or that make me angry).

And I will quilt!

This belongs to the quilt at the top of the post. Pretty funny to see what I wrote, since it was during our current president’s first term. I guess turmoil and chaos goes with his presidency!

300 and Beyond · Quilts · SAHRR 2026

If You Need Me, I’ll Be In The Sewing Room. Sewing.

February 20, 2026 Elizabeth E.23 Comments

This is the fantasy I had envisioned.

Our prompt for SAHRR Round Five is a two-color whatever: block, decoration, embellishment, anything quilty. And I wanted words.

I’ll explain the words when I present the quilt on its final QuiltFinish post, but suffice it to say they have meaning for me at this point in my life. Lots of words, it looks like, and how to get them there? I didn’t want to cut them all out and appliqué them, so I decided to take the Lori Holt approach, that I made in one of her quilt designs:

I checked all my notes, and cut the bias. I’m using the Dritz Bias Tape Makers, but first I do a test:

The one on the right is a 12. The one on the left is a 9. I’m pretty sure the Bee Happy is like a 7, which is why the curves are so smooth, and not bumpy like these. Obstacle #1, and in the spirit of the 2026 Italian Winter Olympics, can she get around it while slaloming downhill, looking at a deadline in 4 days? I did notice that the Linky party had NO entries until this afternoon, so maybe others are also swamped?

Obstacle #2: the printer. Why is it always the printers? It kept printing on both sides, even though I clicked the little box. I soon learned I had to click to Single in the Output, then the Tile Option, then race back and click the little box. Let’s just say we replenished our stack of scratch paper. Then I had to line them all up, by that I mean figure out where the center line was, the top line, the baseline, the x-height, yadda yadda…here ya’ go:

Yes, some are in black and white. Don’t ask.
No, I won’t be mimicking the typeface. I’m just using it for a general guideline.

Let’s just say I have a lot of work ahead of me as I have a lot of curvy letters. Do I use the monofilament-machine-zig-zag method of appliqué? Do I hand appliqué these? Do I switch to a narrower bias strip? Do I forget it all and just make some nine-patch blocks?

Do you ever get discouraged? Couple that with one of those weeks of too-many doctor appointments (or, as my sister calls them: tune-ups), planned events, and Other Complicating Factors, so that whatever time I did have is now greatly diminished, and I wondering whatever possessed me to think I could make a quilt from scratch (albeit with prompts) in six weeks? Is this state of crazy also part of the Stay at Home Round Robin?

Well, I’m linking up to the Linky Party, but my quilt and I are in states of duress, and I’m wondering if I’ll make it over the finish line in one piece, like the wonderful downhill run of Mikaela Schiffrin. Or the glorious freeskate of Alysa Liu in Women’s Figure Skating? I can only watch…hope…and sew.

The SAHRR schedule:
*January 14: Center Blocks, led by Gail and shared by each co-leader
*January 21: 1st Round: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
*January 28: 2nd Round: Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
*February 4: 3rd Round: Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
*February 11: 4th Round: Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
*February 18: 5th Round: Gail @ Quilting Gail
February 25: 6th Round: Anja @ Anja Quilts
[An asterisk* means that prompt has been posted.]

Final Quilt is to be revealed March 25 (if I get there in one piece, that is).

300 and Beyond · Carrefour Quilt Show · European Patchwork Meeting · Free Quilt Pattern · Quilts · SAHRR 2026 · Sewing

Curves take Stay at Home Round Robin #4 by Storm!

February 16, 2026February 17, 2026 Elizabeth E.11 Comments

This is where I left Round Three of the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR 2026), our last round. The new prompt for Round Four was “curves.” I’d been writing up my posts from the quilt show I attended in France last year, the Carrefour European Patchwork Show, and kept seeing some curvy eye candy from 2025 and 2024:

And I’d also been working on a new quilt (my Blossom pattern):

And these two borders (from earlier quilts) were running around in the back of my mind, too.

And if you can throw a rainbow in somewhere, why not? This was the sketch I drew up.

I am a fan of cutting my leaf/petal shapes out of freezer paper, putting the shiny side up, then ironing the seam allowance up over the edge.

Sometimes, if I cut the paper too liberally, I have to shave off the points to get them to fit. You can see the cuttings from this pair. I learned that it’s easier to sew all the background squares together, then appliqué the shapes.

Finished, and putting away my recent birthday present from my husband: red scissors. I often carry around a small image of what I’m working on, as I sew in many places. This round it was my son’s home, a long car ride, and a doctor’s office where invariably someone asks what I’m doing.

SAHRR Tip Sheet Round Four Download

Here’s the handout from this week, with the size I worked up (3 3/4″ petals) and a 3 1/2″ size (more common). Click on title to see the handout, and click on download to get one for yourself, free.

Even though I measured and measured, I still had to add on a coping strip on two edges. I think it looks okay, though. (Update 2/17/26: a daytime photo, plus two detail shots.) Dimensions: about 43″ square.