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.
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.
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:
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.
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!
And just for the record, Granny Squares seem to be making a comeback. Here are two I saw while in France last week:
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.*
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.)
You knew this was coming, right? After you saw that last post about squircles, I’ll bet you knew I’d go hunting and fall down a rabbit hole. You are very perceptive.
This is a squircle grapefruit from designer Tai Tan. I found it on Dribble, which is also a website I didn’t know about before.
A squircle is not a rounded square, apparently. There is some design technique that can explain it, and it has to do with the flat edges. In a rounded square there are flat edges. In a squircle, they may LOOK flat, but they are every-so-slightly rounded (from here). John Uttley also has a nice grid of squircles to admire, and here’s more to see if you want.
Lisa, my quilty friend in the previous post, was as happy as I was with these quilts, so we thought we cook up a project. It went like this: 1st idea: make blocks and swap 2nd idea: swap backgrounds but still do your own appliqué 3rd idea: set up a challenge to do *so many* each month, and check in with each other.
Third time’s the charm. We’re doing a Squircle Challenge. So I went looking and besides the designers, I found some quilters:
Marla Varner’s blog, Penny Lane, feels like the OG.
I did an image search and was able to source this image to Zippy Quilts, my friend Mary’s blog. This quilt alternated squares on squares, and squircles on squares. It was made by Carolyn Brown.
Last quilt I found was from Amanda Jean Nyberg’s website, and she calls it “dot your i’s quilt.” This is different because of the low-value backgrounds.
So here’s the story. I started the PatternLite with using a 5″ block (5 1/2″ with seam allowance) and that’s the first one in the pattern. But then in my stash box, way in the back of the closet, I found a stack of Charm Squares in Painter’s Palette Solids, my favorite brand. The 4″ squircle just looked too crowded.
So I redrew the squircle, to be more squircle-y, with slightly rounded sides. Then I resized it to fit — making it a 3 1/2″ (finished) size. That seemed to fit the backgrounds much better. So you have two sizes and two shapes in the free pattern.
I spotted my purple/lime green polka dot fabric at the top of this photo of Machelle Preston’s quilt, in the current Springville Quilt Show (see previous post).
I have been hoarding collecting polka dots for years now. This is why: Come A-Round, from earlier in my making (Quilt #90).
However…I noticed that I seem to have plenty more dotty fabrics, so why not use them again, borrowing Machelle’s idea?
So here are the first three, courtesy of one of those sleepless nights that come along once in a while (if you haven’t seen Melanie, you are missing out). Now I just have about 177 more to go, but don’t worry, in the pattern there are two sizes (the 5-inch requires fewer blocks), and a helpful chart so you don’t panic. Just tote this project around to doctor’s offices, pick it up while watching TV, or while you are hiding from your family in a quiet room.
Because we dreamed this collaboration up in August, and everyone’s going back to school, that’s our theme. Our hashtag is #backtosquircle, a play on Back To School. We have an easy schedule, for who needs more pressure in their lives? The drill:
choose your block size/quilt size
make a bunch
every 20 blocks made, post it up on Instagram with our hashtag #backtosquircle (if you use that social)
take it slowly!
Here’s your free 5-page Squircles handout. It has the templates for the 5″ blocks, for a 4″ block and some basic directions.
You know the usual: send your friends over here to download it, rather than making copies for them.
The Meaning of Round Corners (with this great line: “In interface design, the rounded rectangle is sometimes called “the happy rectangle”.) I can always use some more happy in my life.
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 