Time Flies Whether You Are Having Fun or Not

February 27, 2026March 3, 2026 Elizabeth E.11 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 · Patterns by Elizabeth of OPQuilt · Quilt Finish · Quilt Shows · Quilts · SAHRR 2026

Two Quilt Finishes, SAHRR, and The Abyss

January 24, 2026January 25, 2026 Elizabeth E.16 Comments

Flowers for Madilyn was delivered to my granddaughter Madilyn this week, so now it can show up on the blog for reals. I love sunset photos, with that golden sunlight. When I get a photo of her with her quilt, I’ll put it up. She’s a charming young woman, nearly graduated from high school, with a life full of adventure ahead of her.

I stitched in some hearts here and there. Hope she finds them!

Thanks to my husband, Dave, for being a Quilt Holder, par excellance! This is quilt #313. If I’d written a normal label, it would have looked like this, but instead I went with a smaller one, sewn near the top.

Stars for Baby • Quilt Two

I mailed this one off in early January, but not like this.

Stars for Baby (quilt #314) went to my friends Camryn and Landon, who are expecting their first child in a couple of months. Camryn and I had planned to get together so I could teach her quilting, but then he got a new job, and it RAINED A TON on the day she was supposed to come, and then Christmas and New Year’s, so we’ll get together after her wee boy comes and we’ll work on the teaching part then.

Because I was thinking of a beginner quilt, I designed this pattern so a newbie could navigate it. In this pattern, they’ll learn these blocks:

a simple border with cornerstones
pinwheel block
nine-patch block
stitch-and-flip block
basic flying geese block
Sawtooth Star block

I also (as is typical) include another option. Since I was writing this during the holidays, it’s a red/green version:

This is where the Stitch-and-Flip corners come in (we used to call them “snowball corners”). I’ve simplified the centers of the larger Sawtooth Star block for this version.

I like to put this size out as a table topper during the year.

It’s a good pattern for teaching, and it makes up quickly if you are an experienced quilter. You can find the pattern already uploaded in my pattern shop on PayHip, and it’s a Pattern Lite.

Those of you who have been around for a bit, know that my Pattern Lite patterns sell for cheaper price than regular patterns. So grab yourself a bargain and make some small quilts, or teach a friend!

I’ve been at Road to California this week, where I saw my two quilts hanging up with a lot of other beautiful quilts. I visited some vendors, and a full write-up is coming.

SAHRR • Round One

Last week, in my Emergency Blog Post, I introduced the SAHRR: Stay at Home Round Robin, and thought I had a month to get the next bit together. Oh, no! This group is really cooking along, so the first prompt (hourglass) already dropped and the next one is a week after that. So you’ll see this SAHRR morph quickly.

I dug though my Orphan Block box and found a handful of hourglass blocks, so that determined the direction I was going to go. And the colors. But I usually like to put a coping strip in between my medallion borders to help stabilize and strengthen the quilt, so I sketched out two more possibilities:

The top one is the hourglass borders sewn right up against the center block. The one just above on the left has a wider coping strip, and the one on the right has two (1″ and 1/2″), in different colors. I studied them for a long time. I liked the top one, with the hourglass right next to the center, as they interacted with each other. The wider coping strip — necessary because the blocks were 3″ finished — looked as if the center was floating, a bit adrift. So I went with the two colors (and my partner-in-crime, my husband, agreed).

Wild, says the husband. Yep, and it will get wilder, says the wife (me). I’m trying to use up the blocks in the orphan box, so here’s the tally so far:

Four blocks: the center
Six blocks: hourglass border, and then I made some more to fill out the border, and now I have five leftover. I’m not making too much progress here.

The 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 I finished that section.]

I first wrote this post on Friday, and ended at this point with a cheery and chirpy little bit about what I was looking forward to next week. And then I went to Road to California.

And while I was there on Saturday, taking photos of beautiful quilts and hoping to capture some of them to show you, I accidentally flipped to Instagram and the news of Alex Pretti’s murder at the hands of ICE agents in Minnesota. I went out to the hallway to collect my thoughts (not doomscroll) and remembered the exquisite Cherrywood exhibit I’d seen that morning, an exhibit titled The Abyss.

One image stuck out. That of a young bearded man, sitting slumped over in a sea of deep dark, a small pink butterfly reaching out, perhaps to bring him some light, some hope. I post this now in honor of Mr. Pretti, a bearded nurse who was trying to help a bystander when he was ruthlessly killed. Be skeptical of the narratives you are hearing. Search out the truth yourself; watch the videos if you are able.

I leave you now with three images from the quilt exhibit The Abyss.

I will be figuring out to speak out about the recent deaths in Minnesota, seeking comfort in my home and quilting, and working, phoning, writing in order to extract our beloved nation from the horrific abyss where it currently finds itself.

Stay safe, everyone, and help your neighbors — ALL of them.

Low Hanging Fruit, by Katherine McCormick.
She writes: “This piece is commenting on the ICE raids. Low hanging fruit is the first picked. First they came for…”

300 and Beyond · New York Beauties · Patterns by Elizabeth of OPQuilt

New York Beauties • Quilt Finish

September 7, 2025September 7, 2025 Elizabeth E.12 Comments

New York Beauties took a long time to get here: about three years. Started in 2022 from the spark of an idea, with a pillow of four New York Beauty blocks, it quickly morphed to quilt size, with a series of block tutorials. Then it moved from there to the new rage of freezer-paper piecing, tired as we were of ripping off papers from the back of our precision piecing.

While that took some time, to get all those blocks designed and drafted, then figure out a tutorial, then make the required number — it seemed to take longer to quilt it myself. Every block called for a new idea, a new way to outline the rays, or fill in the backgrounds, or sculpt the arcs. Many times I seriously doubted I was up to the task.

I unpicked some areas and re-did them. I’m still not sure about some of them, but it’s time to let this rest.

Quilt #300
Started June 2022 • Finished September 2025, with the label being sewn on this afternoon.

I’ve learned a lot about what colors are my favorites (butter yellow seems to be right up there, along with a bluey aqua).

I found out my machine’s limitations. Neither it — nor I — are high-precision longarm machines, although we do our best.

I remembered that sometimes simple borders are best, and that a ruler and a disappearing marker can get those designs sewn into cloth.

I thought about my very own New York beauty, born in the Empire State. She has fallen in the love with the Big Apple (New York City’s nickname) and tries to go there often. This quilt is for her….

…from me, her mother.

I was stitching the binding down while we were at her house this past week, so yes, you do see little binding clips. Kinda’ adds to the color, don’t you think? But I didn’t want to leave without a picture of her with this quilt, since the full title is:

Usually I do a round-up of blog posts at the end of a Quilt Finish, but this time I’ll just send you up to the New York Beauties page with everything listed, including a free block or two. The rest of them are in the pattern, found in my pattern shop on PayHip.

I will say that the border was cut 5″ wide, then mitered on. I will probably update the pattern at some point in the future, complete with new photos, etc. If you have purchased it, you can re-download it. I’ll announce it on here.

Lastly, I am now working on a visual index for my quilt blog. It’s called Blog Index, and it’s up at the top.

Take a look!

300 and Beyond · Free Download · Free Quilt Pattern · PatternLite · Quilts

Did Vasarely get there first?

August 16, 2025August 19, 2025 Elizabeth E.6 Comments

Maybe. Maybe Victor Vasarely got there first in the art world, but I’m guessing the origin of circles on squares, or even squircles on squares, may have come from all the mending the first woman did on her children’s clothes. Just a hunch. I really have no way of knowing this, but when my friend Dot mentioned the artist Vasarely as being reminiscent of our #backtosquircles project, I believe she was on to something. Have fun looking at his art.

My Tips and Tricks

Caveat: If you would rather fold laundry or scrub out the bathroom than do hand appliqué, I have a post on how to do nearly invisible appliqué on machine, using monofilament thread. It’s quick! It’s easy!

Back to the method I used *this time.* (I might change it next time.)

To cut out the shape: I would often iron on my freezer paper version of the pattern (I just printed it directly from the pattern). Other times I would just use a pin. Always I used my rotary cutter to slice around the fabric, and usually I was working with four layers of one polkadot fabric. (I learned in this project how many many many polkadot fabrics I have.)

In my past appliqué lives I have always cut out a bunch of the shapes out of freezer paper and pressed the fabric onto that. I would place shiny side up, and nudge the edges onto the shiny stuff and they would generally stick. When it was cool, I would take the pattern out and use it again.

This time I tried Old School Methods: spray some spray starch into the lid, and using a small brush, stroke it around.

Like this.

You can just see where it’s damp from the starch. Don’t use too much. I always lay down a piece of cloth on my ironing board to catch the dribbles.

Place a template (here I used mylar and punched holes in it — more on that later), pressing the corners and sides up over the template. The starch should dry and hold it in place. Let it cool, then remove the template. Duh.

I finger press some marks at the centers.

Then I arrange the cooled, pressed squircle by eye and pin it down. Sorry if this is repetitive for you experts — feel free to leave a comment if you have more tips; this is always helpful!

Sometimes you’ll get a little bump out. That just means underneath the seam allowance has its knickers in a twist. As you stitch along to this spot, with your needle, sweep the seam allowance away from the bump (in the directions of the arrows) and it should ease up and smooth out.

Sometimes I just put four pins.

Other times that squircle isn’t going anywhere.

I use the Thread Conditioner from Riley Acres, and I like the Super Bobs Bright Thread Collection. Rachel uses her own bees’ beeswax to make the conditioner, and I like how it feels, and it never gets hard.

I’ve sort of started evaluating my polkadots for this project. The ones on the left are rejects. The ones in the middle I was thinking about, but in the end, I only used the ones on the right: regularish-shaped dots, with not too much else going on.

Twenty-two done. I’m ahead of schedule, happily.

I made you a chart to keep track of our squircles. I added it to the pattern, and tweaked the pattern a bit, if you want to download it again:

Squircle_OPQuilt Download

Okay, that’s it for my squircle tips and tricks.

The mylar sheets can be found on the Great Store in the Sky, and I just slipped the pattern underneath and traced it off with a fine Sharpie marker. The Mylar cut easily with scissors. I punch holes in my Mylar so the steam doesn’t build up and warp the template. Although with the starch, I didn’t use steam this go round.

This little project will sink into the background for a while, so I promise, no more squircles posts for a while. But the pattern (free!) and the tips and tricks will stay here on the website for your use.

keyword search term on this site: squircles
hashtag on Instagram: #backtosquircles