Quilt Alongs Through the Years

2014

I had followed along and participated in several online and group quilt alongs over the years and this was the year I decided to design and lead my very first MYSTERY quilt along. It was shared with my local guild as I was the “Block of the Month” person. I decided if I was going to do all of the work (this was before I was using EQ7-now EQ8) why limit the fun to the guild? I hosted this on my 1 year old blog at the time and was thrilled with all of the new friends I made! I’ve received so many beautiful photos and sweet comments regarding this pattern. It is floating around on Pinterest and internet as I get requests every year for it. This was a fun experience and motivated me to continue the series!

2016

This design was found on the floor mat at the retreat center where my guild visits every year. It was a metal pattern for scraping the mud off boots before entering the building but I snapped a picture and went home and sketched it out. It was another quilt along on the blog and then this quilt ended up in my first book! I machine quilted this using rulers and it is a great example of beginner level ruler work. It has traveled far and wide with me while teaching and it’s even though it’s beginning to show its mileage, I still love the memories this quilt reminds me of.

2017

I’m surprised I can’t find a finished photo of this quilt, but I’ve slept under enough nights to know for a fact that it is finished and very warm and cozy! This was one of the first quilts I quilted on my longarm and I’ve quilted quite a few others made by friends who also quilted along with this one. It’s a whole quilt made from 2 1/2” squares but it is sewn using 9 patches, so it goes together quite easily!

2018

Once again I was asked to design the Block of the Month for my local guild, so I chose a medallion style. I figured folks could quit whenever they reached the size they wanted. I was truly surprised by how many folks sewed all the way to king size like I did! It was really fun to see the variations folks made when we got to the curved piecing round. It’s amazing how much creativity can be used to prevent sewing a curve. LOL It was wonderful to my idea translated into so many unique and beautiful quilts.

2019

This was my first time experimenting with a new setting idea. I wondered if we made blocks (with variations provided) and then assembled those blocks into several different panels that were 18” x 24” if we could really increase the variety of results? It was so much fun to play with the panel arrangements. Sew the panels together and then arrange those, turning them and rearranging them until the perfect layout was achieved. I plan to go back to this method at some point and use different blocks, but the same idea. The variety of these quilts continues to amaze me every time I see another one!

The pattern for this quilt is available HERE.

2020

This quilt was also designed as a quilt along for my local guild and also shared online through the blog. I wanted a row quilt and I wanted to again let folks choose the size they wanted to make. These easy units were sewn together at a retreat and I’ve enjoyed sleeping under this quilt for a long time. I do hope to have the pattern available for this at some point.

2021

This quilt was designed as a MYSTERY. We started with a square for each block and added strips around the block (log cabin style) and repeated that 3 times before slicing the block across the middle both directions. Adding the sashing strips created the design. Leftover strips were used for making the pieced border. This was so much fun because the piecing was so easy!

The pattern for this quilt is available HERE.

2023

I nearly fainted when Quiltmania called and asked me to design the Block of the Month Sew Along for them for 2023. I was excited that I knew I needed to choose one of the quilts that I designed in EQ7. Quite a few quilts live there and are waiting to made in fabric, but this is one of my favorites to date. We sewed a section of houses each month and when I saw the designs friends around the world were stitching I could not have been more impressed! The varieties of these quilts ranged from Christmas to super-bright and even one that had the large house labeled as the QUILT SHOP and the houses were all homes of quilters. How fun is that?

This pattern for this quilt is available HERE.

2024

This year was flying by so fast and I knew I once again wanted to share a quilt along. I also love the no-trim method of making HST (half square triangles) so I decided to dive into my 2 1/2’’ strips bin and get busy! This is a block I’ve used before in this quilt but on a different scale. By making the units smaller, I could add sashing and have more fun with it. If you want to see all the variations I shared from EQ8 go to this post. You can find all the information on the blog if you would like to make any size version of this quilt. I will definitely be making this again in another size!

What will the sew along be next year? Who knows, but I am already looking forward to it!!

I hope you will join us! Diane