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16-patches and X-blocks in a quilt surface.

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Last autumn, I decided to make two different projects that would feature hundreds of 2,5-inch squares. The first one has already been quilted, and I should only label, trim, and bind it. In this post, I’ll tell you more about the second one. Both projects launched in September 2025. For this one, I made a test block of 16 squares and one half of the needed X block: That is how far this project progressed until the end of December. The first project was almost done and I needed to review the situation. I had quite a few 16-blocks left over: And I also wanted to make more, using a different design. The blocks in the other project always had four same-hued squares running from corner to corner. In the new project, I wanted the 16-patches to be more random. As soon as I had a few complete blocks done, I made a small composition on the floor – just to see how the blocks might look together: Soon, I had a few more blocks, and wanted to set up a “mini quilt” with the intended design....
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How I plan my quilts (Spoiler: I mostly don’t)

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Over the years, I’ve often been asked how I plan my quilts. Do I have drawings? Do I plan my colours in general, or for the quilt blocks? What exactly is my design process? The short answer is that I don’t plan, not really. Usually I pick a block design and figure out how many blocks to make for a certain size, then I sew enough blocks and arrange them into a pleasing (enough) design. I use what I have made and that's it. For smaller pieces, the designs tend to grow organically. In this post, I share four examples on my processes. 1. Starting with a flimsy idea Here is an example or my creative quilting process from 2013 when I created a mini quilt for a competition. The theme was “Patchwork Dance”. My whole work was based on a flimsy idea of the graphics used to describe dance steps. I’d also seen an image of a quilt where multicoloured and white strips alternated, and decided to use a similar approach for the surrounding area. I had a vision of joyful, salsa-like colours ...
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First make of the year: Quiddity zipper bag

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If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’ll know that I like to share my own quilted makes in Tilkunviilaaja’s Instagram. It’s a pleasure to share more details of their stories here as well. The most recent finish is a zipper bag which I named Quiddity (or Olemus in Finnish). It is also the first zipper pouch that I’ve sewn this year. A milestone! I put together the surfaces quickly, to have a project for an upcoming quilting day with friends whom I first got to know in social media – through their blogs or Instagram accounts. And because I wanted a quick make, I just took whatever fabrics that I found on or at arm’s length from my sewing table and made “scrap-in-a-box” squares. The squares end up being of different sizes, but I trim them so that several of them are of the same width or length. Then they can be sewn together as columns (or as rows), to make a surface that is of suitable size for a zipper bag. I’ll have to share an image of another project to show you...
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