Almost There on this Epic Quilt

Years ago - I don’t even remember when - I started marking the places I’ve travelled to for quilting. They started as samples for my Improv Lettering class, and have continued to be so. Folks, I am so close to finishing the Canadian place names. Just one more left to do: Carseland. After that, it’s the challenge of puzzling them all together for a quilt top.

Not too long ago I put them all up on the design wall, just to see what they looked like. As a single quilt it would be massive. Bigger than king sized. And frankly, I don’t want a bed quilt of the places I’ve travelled to for quilting. Not the bedroom vibes I am going for. That being said, if I split up the Canadian places and the international places I will have a generous quilt top, and a smaller one that I can add to for a backing. A double sided quilt!

While I only need one more Canadian location, I need at least a half dozen on the international side. Just a little bit more sewing to do.

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.