Mary - Uncovering an Old Block Design for a New Baby

Mary

48” x 48”

The matriarch of a close but spread out family. Cousins looking out for each other, uncles closer to brothers, babies of all ages. She did not live to see it all, but she knew what she set in motion. She created a life, a space, a family, that welcomed everyone. Her small frame held a big heart.

On of my husband’s cousins had her third baby last summer. I knew I would be gifting a quilt so was exploring my options of already made or at least pieced projects in the stash. But when the little guy arrived none of them felt quite right. With his name starting with the letter T, I decided to lean in to that and pulled a quilt block and book from the archives.

Back when Modern Quilting became something we capitalized, I contributed to a book called Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favourite Designers. The block was called To a T, because it was essentially a giant capital T. But put together gave you some cool secondary designs. I made up a big quilt, that, after some snuggles at home, sent it off to a kid’s cancer camp. It was a lot of fun to play with it again.

I dug into my fabric - both scraps and stash - to make an eclectic but soft version of it. I’ve got some fabrics in there that must be at least 15 years old, and some much more recent. I love mixing it up and pairing things in unexpected ways. Like classic large florals with modern geometrics. Keeps it interesting and not flat.

I dug into my fabric - both scraps and stash - to make an eclectic but soft version of it. I’ve got some fabrics in there that must be at least 15 years old, and some much more recent. I love mixing it up and pairing things in unexpected ways. Like classic large florals with modern geometrics. Keeps it interesting and not flat. I finished it with a simple loopy quilting in cream. Nothing fancy, but enough to give it great texture for snuggling.

The binding? Well, she’s a bit extra. Mary did love some statement jewelry at times. Instead of just simple big stitch finishing I opted for Xs, but alternated colours. It’s a lot easier to do than you might think and really doesn’t take much longer than normal hand finishing. I used Valdani 8W for the stitching. The solid fabric for the binding it out of my norm, but it was what I had in the stash that worked well.

The baby in question - Taz - was born in July and it wasn’t until winter started that I got myself organized to make the quilt. Then I moved pretty quickly to finish it. After that I procrastinated for months on sending it to them. I just really hate going to the post office. These pictures were taken in January! Finally, Taz’s Mama sent me a kind text asking if I would make a quilt for Taz, as I had for their other two. Wasn’t she in luck? I washed the quilt, wrapped it safely, and sent it out a few days later. Who am I to turn down a sweet request for something I had already done?!?!

Oh, and the namesake for the quilt? Baby Taz’s great grandmother, Mary Ross.

Log Cabin Play to Recover

In all my years of teaching I have never screwed up what class I was teaching. As in, taught the wrong class. Well, there is a first time for everything. Back in November, just a few days after I returned from my epic adventure to Buenos Aires, I was set to teach for a group in Vancouver. Indeed, a group that I’ve joined before. Well partway through our Zoom event I got asked a question which made me realize I’d been teaching the wrong class the whole time!

Yikes!

(To be honest, I was rather apoplectic, but I did a quick regroup for the rest of our time remaining and then recorded a session to share with the group to make up for what we should have been doing the whole time.)

What we were supposed to be doing is playing the One Colour Challenge, Improv style. Thankfully, right before my trip I had organized my scrap strips by colour so I grabbed them and we started playing.

These log cabins were that first bit of play. I wanted to show that within a single colour - blue - fabric gives us so many variations and by sorting our fabric accordingly when we use it, we can get some pretty great results.

Not every sample I use to teach becomes a quilt, nor every experiment. But this time? I couldn’t resist. I just had so much fun diving in to the scraps and making these improv log cabins. Do you see that single curved seam in each one?

Each block was squared up to 7”. An odd size, I know, but that’s what the first ones turned out to be and I stuck with it. You can’t always control the size when you are working with scraps.

At the end of each day after that, I would put on Stewart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe and make a handful of blocks. My goal was to use up the blue scraps. But some of the blues were a bit more teal, some turquoise. Which then led to green. I kept going. I dug in to my regular scrap bins when I ran out of strips. I may have cut a piece or two out of the stash but stopped myself from doing more. The quilt is this size because I wanted to stick to 99% scraps.

And any bits leftover? I’ve already pieced them to go on the back. Use it all up!

Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sewalong 2026 Quilt Tops

We wrapped up the Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong a few weeks ago. To be honest, it took me those weeks to both recover and finish the quilt tops. I knew I wanted to get the tops done quickly so that I didn’t lose any blocks or momentum. But let me tell you, I was tired! 30 days straight of live events is a lot. (How do streamers do it?)

Exhaustion aside, it was a truly fantastic month! I’m going to write more about it in the Quilters’ Playcation newsletter and I’m editing a longer video for You Tube. I just have to say, though, that it was such a heartwarming month full of connections and support. Whether folks were sewing along or just hanging out, it was a joy for all of us to be together. We shared the joys and sorrows of the world in the moment, the fun and challenges of making a new quilt block every day. Most importantly, we shared being together in play.

These are the three quilt tops I made throughout the month. Each of them have the same blocks, but showcase different fabric selections and layouts.

The rainbow version shows what happens when we pick a different combination of fabrics for each and every block. I chose a rainbow layout to keep it cohesive. All in all, it has both energy and order.

Using slabs I put together the centre version in the order the blocks were made. I loved the secondary patterns that developed as I went and wanted to keep that. Using the slabs was not difficult, as long as you pay attention when cutting and pressing. The result is absolutely worth it!

The 2-tone version was a definite challenge for me. To be so minimal AND in colours I am not generally drawn to. I kept wanting to throw in just a little bit of something. At the same time it was cool to see the graphic nature of the blocks really pop. I’m glad I stuck with my original intentions.

Now to get all these quilted!

Interested in making your own versions and missed the live events? Don’t worry, all the videos are saved on You Tube and available at any time.

Have You Always Made Slabs?

After inviting open questions on today’s Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong, someone asked me if I’ve always made slabs (hi Gail). The obvious answer is no, but at the same time it feels like I always have.

I can remember the first ones I made. The girls were babies playing in the bath. I needed to watch them, but they managed their splashing about without me. So I took my plastic baggies of scraps and sorted them on the bathroom counter into little piles of colour. It was so motivating that I put the girls to bed quickly (and early) so I could go to the dining room and sew. I took one pile and sewed all the pieces together. Then another. My first slabs. That was in December 2009.

Slabs have become a life-force all their own since then. That first blog post initiated a conversation with Amanda Jean Nyberg. That conversation sparked a collaboration and then a book. That book launched our careers. Thousands of people have made slabs for themselves, for charity quilts, for joy. They’ve become a go to block for many, for many reasons.

More than 15 years later, yes, I am still making them. I love them. They are a perfect way to use your scraps as they are. No need to force the fabric to do something it doesn’t want to do and you don’t want to sew. I love the meditative aspect of sewing slabs. I wouldn’t say that I could do it in my sleep, but it does not require a lot of thought anymore; just action, muscle memory. I really like using my scraps, period. Slabs use them, really use them. I love the design possibilities of this made fabric and have not run out of ideas for their use.

Case in point, I’ve never quite used them like I am this year, on the Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong. All solids, for one. More importantly, truly as a fabric. Paired with Kona Snow they are one of the two fabrics in one of my sample quilts. And I am loving the way it is turning out! Quite a few others are also making and using slabs, and also discovering/embracing the possibilities.

So, no, I haven’t always made slabs. But I don’t forsee ever not making them.