This and That • June 2026

June 7, 2026June 6, 2026 Elizabeth E.10 Comments

Let’s go to the movies! The Oh! Granny movies! If I could wave a magic wand I’d change the world so you could see the congregation of Grannies we’ve all started together, but this screen capture video will have to suffice. If you make a Granny Square, I’ll add you to the group — just tag me on Instagram.

Here are my two starter Grannies for June:

Block #9 (above) and Block #10 (below)
If you want to jump in, it’s never too late. More info is on a previous post, plus a free pattern.

Obviously my micro-season of red, white and blue has influenced this last one. And by the way, I really enjoyed reading all your micro-seasons, left in the comments on the last post. After hearing my stories about my garment sewing (see below), Wendy came up with another micro-season: WWIT, or What Was I Thinking? I find myself in that season often.

Did you see this one as we rolled the movie? This is from Allison; she made a pictorial chart in Canva, and is adding in her grannies as she makes them.

I’ve got some more squares cut up in my sewing room, and will soon get to making more.

I keep running into Granny Square designs. This is from PomPom London, a purse maker. I may or may not have just purchased a red purse from them.

My apologies, this model in this color is apparently sold out, but I also like the one-zip City Bag in blue, if that suits you. I’t ‘ve had it for a few months now, and has the best cross-body straps (hands free!) and I can even fit a small, short water bottle in there. I’d say, if you’re hot for a red purse, check back as they replenish their stock often, or choose another (they have three different reds). I’ve now seen three different copycat ads for purses in my IG feed (see below about junk in our media feeds), but PomPom London is the original. And yes, each bag has a pompom, or tassel or whatever.

Short Story: Hair dryer died. Got a new, different (better) one, based on the dryer in my hotel room in Paris. (PS. I mention these items, but no one is paying me.) This year has seemed to be the Time Of Getting Things Repaired & Fixed/Replaced, and I’m getting a little weary, but there you go.

Chimney collar repair, with Tobi on top and David as assistant. And more great news is this:

Yes, the stair bannister was finished, and delivered (late one night, felt sorry for Bryan, but he’s a good guy and his IG feed is fascinating to look at, if you love watching other people work).

Short Story: router died.

Ending: We’re back on the internets with a new mesh network. The bigger problem is that home repairs TAKE TIME, even when you are not the one doing them. I mean, ~~gawking~~ checking on the guy up on the roof seriously takes away from the sewing, if you know what I mean. And don’t even get me started on the lengthy tale of getting the router up and running.

However…I finished up the final squircle!!

I started sewing these nine months ago.

And here they all are, sewn together. (Big smiles.)

Now to consider borders. I have one I’m thinking about, simply because the quilt is intended for a taller person, and more length is needed. Did I mention already that a partner in crime, Gladi, has also finished her squircles?

Now for the WWIT micro-season: a pattern review. And pattern-making review.

My friend Susan, in Australia, has made two of these jumpers, and because of her success, I decided to try. I was a pretty experienced sewer from back in the day, but my advice for this jumper is: Take Your Time.

First off, find the pattern. I went to the Internets (now that it was fixed) and found the pattern at Lakes Makerie. Usually I print off my PDF clothing patterns at Tape Free Patterns (recommend highly) but Lakes Makerie had an option where they would print it off and send it to me for a small extra charge. I liked this! It didn’t include an envelope for the pattern like Tape Free does, but their service was very convenient and fairly quick.

Top two (first two) photos are of the back pleat. I did a modified length — not too short, not too long — and didn’t like how they finished the pleat. I just did a standard finish. Third photo is the inside, and yes, I turned my pocket fabric right side out so I could see the beautiful fabric, hoarded since the Dawn of the Century. This is a navy cotton/linen lightweight fabric, with a metallic thread running through the slubby face (even though it looks grey in the last photo).

This jumper has a scoop neckline, which I lowered by 1/2″ (upon the advice of those on social media), two button plackets on either side, generous front pockets and (last photo) two back patch pockets which are getting unpicked soon. Why? Because while I tried it on and loved it (and see Susan’s post link for how her sister looks in hers), but on my smaller frame it just looked a bit too blocky; the pockets don’t help.

This is why I make my clothes, so I can make my clothes how I want.

So I added two self ties, and stitched them on about 6″ in from the side seams so they’d line up with the shoulders. They help define the waist area a bit more. Button shopping was a challenge without any sewing shops nearby, but I did find some at Hobby Lobby — cheesy plastic ones — but they’ll keep the dress on. On the advice of others, I also cut a smaller size. Do This.

On the left is the Box Box Dress (Merchant & Mills), and on the right is the Hope Dress (Style Arc). I’ve noticed that I tend to find the next dress I want to make from social media and blogs, so here are two that I have made and enjoyed. I did add pockets to the Box Box dress, as well as modifying the sleeve, as I like my sleeves a bit longer.

Here’s a pocket pattern (free download) if you need one.

OPQuilt Pocket_Pattern Download

Cut it out, hold it up along the side of your garment, and just try it for where you want it, making sure your fingers can touch the bottom of the pocket bag. I use a different method of putting in pockets these days (shorter video HERE, and the longer video is HERE). My first pocket installation using the newer method was a bit ragged, but now I’m getting pretty good at it, only because the volume of mistakes I initially made sent me on the Path to Knowledge.

Okay, that’s all for garment sewing — I try to put this topic on Instagram, but just couldn’t include a pocket pattern on that site for you. 🙂 According the latest, if we’re smart we’ll all get off of social media, given that most of what we see is ads, even when you think it’s just a someone-or-other showing your their favorite thing:

Click HERE to listen. I did want to read the article by Lane Brown, but can’t get past the paywall. Kai Ryssdal is good host on the Marketplace podcast, and the show is not political in the least. Which is how I’ll close.

I said something off-hand last week about the upcoming California Primary Election to a neighbor when we encountered each other during our morning walks. It did not go well. I was upset for days at how it blew up quickly, but then — the quilting world came to my rescue with this:

My Stars and Stripes
Probably made by Ella Evans
Made in Tennessee, United States; Circa 1900
Cotton
IQM 2013.025.0001

The International Quilt Museum writes: “In this piece, we see the American flag as an enduring symbol of American patriotism. Made by Ella Evans, this quilt holds identical Unions in opposite corners each with forty-five stars — an accurate rendition of American states in 1900. Evans made this quilt for a man named Otis Golden. Evans cared for Otis and his brothers after their mother passed away.”

Even on opposite sides, we can still be part of one entity. Our church did a nationwide discussion of the Constitution last week, and my husband and I took the opportunity (and reminder) to read the full Constitution. It was instructive, a bit over our heads in some places (the Senate’s interpretations on the side did help), but it reminded me, as does the flag quilt by Evans, that we are all in this together.

Thanks so much for reading, I appreciate you very much–

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

Oh Granny 2026 • Quick Update

May 1, 2026May 16, 2026 Elizabeth E.17 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.19 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.