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After a much-needed, two-year rest, my vintage tree blocks were pulled out of hibernation so I could start putting the top together.

Before officially starting, I made three ugly-fabric mock ups to work through the cutting and sewing details, determine sashing width, piecing order, and setting triangle size. After a couple weeks of fiddling around and fine-tuning, I was finally ready to cut the good fabric.

The first step was to make a template, which would be used to help cut the setting squares from this homespun plaid:

I aligned the straight edges of the template with the lines in ...

Welcome back for Week 2 of the Arrow Stone Quilt Along. This week, we’re going to cut all of the pieces for our quilt. Of course, I have some great tips for you when it comes to cutting fabric and keeping it organized.

If you’re seeing this for the first time, it’s not too late to join us! All of the past content for the Arrow Stone QAL can be found below:

• Introduction Post
• Week 1 – Choose fabric

First Tip: read the pattern first

Before cutting any fabric, there’s one thing you should always do. READ ...

It all started here, with the Great Granny Squared quilt pattern. Simple enough, right? Everything's cut out at one time and after this one is pieced together (72" X 85") there are enough left over pre-cut squares to piece another, bonus, quilt. Who doesn't love a bonus? And here it is! This one measures 54" X 66", a perfect lap or picnic quilt. Easy-peasy, right? Think again! If only it had been

It all started here, with the Great Granny Squared quilt pattern. Simple enough, right? Everything's cut out at one time and after this one is pieced together (72" X 85") there are enough left over pre-cut squares to piece another, bonus, quilt. Who doesn't love a bonus? And here it is! This one measures 54" X 66", a perfect lap or picnic quilt. Easy-peasy, right? Think again! If only it had been

In last Tuesday’s post, I showed a variety of products you can apply to your rulers to help prevent slipping while cutting. This week I will talk a little bit about rulers that are designed to stay in place and a cutting technique that will help.

My favorite long ruler is the Quilter’s Rule. This was the first ruler I ever purchased over 30 years ago (well, not this exact one, haha!). Maybe I like this ruler so much because it is the one I learned with, but I continue to use it all these years later.

It ...

I’ve been making productive use of my quilting and sewing time since the vintage tree block for March was completed early in the month. I’m working on the pieced outer border for the plaid stars quilt, (which you can see here) although it has been a bit slow going.

Starting with the ¼-yard cuts of the homespuns used to create the star centers and points, I whacked a chunk off the end which had already been cut into to create those patches. The satisfaction of taming all those loose, floppy, uneven edges felt good.

Homespun count = 115, excluding ...