Tilkunviilaaja®

This quilt project saw its first public appearance in June, when I shared what was on my sewing table just then. It’s fascinating that I’d written this when I only had ten blocks ready: “My vision is to sew the nine-patch blocks together somewhat at random – only creating pools of colour that flow across the quilt surface.” – When you see the picture of the finished quilt top, you can see if I achieved that vision! In my July greetings from the sewing table, I was completely taken by this project. This is what I said: “I've been working my way through my many containers of leftover fabric pieces (they hold resource pieces, not scraps) and pulling out everything that's large enough to yield at least one 2" square. Quite often I find pieces large enough for me to cut three squares but not four. Why is that? It’s so inconvenient because I need two sets of four squares for each block.” In that post, I described the process of making these blocks and shared several p...

Today, it’s time again to share some of my “quilt thinking” and reflections on one of my earlier quilts, and today’s quilt is Gone with the Wind / Tuulen viemää from 2013. When I look at Gone with the Wind now, I notice immediately that quite a few blocks repeat the same fabrics. My present-day me would probably pick more fabric variety! A larger selection of fabrics might make the quilt even more interesting to the eye, and in that sense, the quilt might be “better”. But I’m very happy with the choices that I made back then. Though I was inspired by a quilt image, I figured out the actual block measurements myself because I was still working with a centimeter ruler! I never even tested the original tutorial by Coriander Quilts, so I don’t know if there is a big difference between my measurements and theirs. Though I always wanted quick progress back then, but I still took the time to make t est blocks. I made four versions before I was happy with the proportions. These were t...

My quilt studio has been unusually quiet since mid-August. First, I spent a relaxing summer vacation at a cottage/villa by a small lake, then had a short mini-break in a hotel, and then my first working week included a lot of activity and a few long days. The first quilting project by the lake was a hand-sewing one. I made hexagons out of scraps using the English paper piecing method and cardboard shapes that I've made many years ago. Though most hexies don't have a specific role yet, some are already attached together into small pieces that I’ll later use as details on my zipper bags. Here’s one example: Of course many of the hexies will become the end pieces for the zippers in pouches that I make for my Open series. Second quilting project. Back at home, when I finally had the energy and opportunity, I worked tenaciously to finish all the nine-patch blocks that I still needed for the quilt surface. I cut squares, sewed nine-patches and pressed. Here are the last 16 bl...

This month’s look back doesn’t see very far because I’m sharing rather a recent finish, the Chartres quilt. I introduced it in this blog in October last year (in 2025) when I was still blogging in Finnish. I thought that you might like to see it and know a little bit more about it! Chartres is cute because almost all of its fabrics are super pretty! (Note to self: use your pretty fabrics; it’s worth it!) What's behind the name "Chartres"? You may want to know why I named this quilt Chartres. I did consider inventing a name that would have been related to the other quilt that inspired me. My friend Soile had sewn a gorgeous quilt called Erica, and it might have been nice for the name to give a nod towards it, but I just could not come up with anything. This quilt was nearly called Eeny Meeny, which would at least have had the same initial letter, but then I realised that the nine-patch blocks reminded me of cathedral windows. And a specific cathedral at that. ...