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

February 20, 2026 Elizabeth E.21 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 Quilts

Sing for Joy • Quilt Finish

November 10, 2019March 8, 2025 Elizabeth E.20 Comments

Sing for Joy • Quilt #226

This is the second of my Three Hard Quilts to Make for 2019. It’s a lovely day now that Sing for Joy is finished.

Here was my recipe in a few easy steps:

I decided I wanted to make a quilt with words, so I bought every quilt book there was on words.
Then I decided I wanted mine a bit wonky and NOT paper-pieced.
I sent around an email to see if anyone else was interested, and some colleagues in a former online bee jumped in, so we ran the Spelling Bee ran for one year, all of us making words for each other.
I follow Kviltstina on Instagram, and she has the sweetest little creative shapes on her feed, so I put some of them in this quilt.
Here’s a blog post, with free pattern, for the hearts around the edges.

I posted the how-to’s, one by one on Quilt Abecedary.blogspot.com, where they still live.

The back, showing the signature blocks of my beemates. I had to remake one, when the ink started running down the block when I pressed it; I guess she grabbed the wrong pen. (It’s always something, right?)

My husband and I went out for some photos in our neighborhood park, and several of the walkers asked about it, wondering how long it took to make it? (Why is that always the first question, when people talk to us about our quilts?)

I began in 2016, and finished it this year (some early photos, above). I had to remake some of the words and cut down others, so I could fit them evenly on the quilt. I hand wrote a label and pieced it in with the signature blocks, but if I printed one out it would say:

My brother and I had an active discussion last week about whether or not there is such a thing as a soulmate. I said I believed there is no such thing, as it was the stuff of movies and greeting cards. What is possible is that you find yourself a partner and you work to build a relationship and sustain each other and the family. Soulmates are ephemeral, I said. Of course, he disagreed with me, as so might some of you.

But what I think I do believe in is a cheerleader, someone who has your best interests at heart, who encourages you, listens to you when you’re sad, upset, cheers you on in happy times and is steady and consistent. Someone who is always on your team, and for who you’ll do the same.

This quilt is a tribute to my cheerleader of a husband, who 30 years ago married me and my four young children, raising us all.

He makes me Sing for Joy.

First Hard Quilt of 2019
Second Hard Quilt of 2019 is this one, Sing for Joy
Third Hard Quilt of 2019

Quilt Bee

Spelling Bee 2016 Wrap-Up

December 31, 2016December 14, 2024 Elizabeth E.10 Comments

UPDATE: This blog has migrated to quiltabecedary.blogspot.com.

Last year I had this idea that I wanted to try, and so I rounded up some willing participants and we made ourselves a Spelling Bee.

I started it by creating a blog that was dedicated to free tutorials to make these free-form letters, without the use of patterns or papers. Some were pretty wild, but it was a great challenge. And then we all started by choosing a phrase or a poem or a group of words and entered them into a Google Spreadsheet (we were all tired of trying to use Flickr). This is the wrap-up post, showing our collective work of The Spelling Bee ( found as #spellingbeequilt on Instagram, where we posted our photos).

This is my phrase, done in reds, creams and pinks. I do have plans for it.

Lisa (aka Nymblefyngers on IG), a first-time bee participant, decided on lots of bug words for her quilt, and people carried out the theme by making them in bug fabrics.

Mary, who writes the Needled Mom blog, made fun sewing-themed blocks to add to the words in her quilt.

Carla, of Grace and Favor, recently opened a yarn shop in her town, and requested knitting terms.

Susan finished her quilt the first, showing it off here and on her blog, PatchworknPlay. This truly typifies Susan’s attitude towards life!

Just to keep us on our toes, Kerry of PennyDog Patchwork, decided she wanted us to try her “digital” alphabet, and we made the names of the provinces of Canada, her new country. While the how-to’s for the regular alphabet are free on the blog Quilt Abecedary, this style is Kerry’s own.

Simone, of Quiltalicious, tried to make us all go crazy by asking for color names, but in different shades. A couple of us dutifully cranked out our word, only to realize that we sewn it up in the wrong color. We were all getting pretty good at this point.

Mary (aka maryonlakepulaski on IG) wanted the names of her family.

Since bee-keeping was a new passion for Rachel (The Life of Riley), we all sent bee-words to her.

Brenda (aka brendaandblue on IG), requested words that describe all those things that make her happy: “comfort words.”

Cindy of LiveAColorfulLife, is doing the words to one of her favorite songs; unlike her name, she went with black, white, cream and grays to put together her phrase.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this wrap-up of our word adventure! If you ever jump in and make a word or two, drop me a note as I’d love to see them.

Coming soon: a new bee!

Quilt Bee

Final Bee Blocks for 2016

December 4, 2016December 2, 2016 Elizabeth E.9 Comments

And….that’s a wrap!

The Mid-Century Modern bee began four years ago, and I recently sewed the final blocks in Anna Maria Horner fabrics (as per the Queen Bee’s request). We were supposed to do the blocks we’d requested for her, but I didn’t think mine would translate, so I obtained permission to do these: some Chuck Nohara blocks, writ large.

You’ve perhaps seen this logo, nestling down on the side of my blog for a while. Cindy (who had the idea for this bee) and I developed it one night while sitting side by side at this computer. I do think we collaborate well.

And…that’s a wrap for The Spelling Bee, too, although some members are still cranking out their words. This bee ended officially November 30th, and I hope that everyone has their words by the end of the year. All of mine are above; because of the length of my verse, about half of them were made by my beemates, and I did the rest.

My original intent for my wordy quilt was to have it be done all creams and pinks and reds for a Valentine quilt, but as soon as I got it up, I realized it needed some color. On the side I pinned some fabrics to audition for the quilt, and I have some ideas.

You can find a how-to for every letter over on the Quilt Abecedary Blog, which I wrote when I got in my mind to free-form create an alphabet. Have fun.

I plan to do a year-end wrap-up of the two different bees, so then you’ll see what we’ve all been up to. I like doing bees as I’m exposed to new ideas and new blocks and a different way of looking at the world. Who would have known that an enlarged Chuck Nohara block in AMH fabrics could look so fabulous? Now I do, thanks to my beemate.

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