Rib Stitch

I've been very slow getting around to blog about quilts I finished last year.  I finished Rib Stitch in December, just after a lovely, unusually early snowfall.  The snow made for a pretty photoshoot!

Rib Stitch by Canuck Quilter Designs

I designed this in the wee hours of the morning at some point last year during a bout of insomnia. I booted up my EQ8 software and started playing with HST.  Obviously, I ended up with more than just HST, but HST is what I started with and there are still quite a few of them in the quilt.

Making them a tad oversized and trimming down to perfect size is a bit tedious but worth it in the long run for accurate piecing and making everything fit together just right.  That said, after trimming 189 HST, I decided to add triangles papers to the pattern to give you the option of making the HST more quickly with less fuss and trimming.  If you're not familiar with making HST using triangle papers, you can read more about the technique here.

The two at a time method with trimming does give you a cute little trimming monster though!

Many of my patterns use stitch-and-flip techniques to avoid cutting and sewing individual triangles.  I tried to come up with a way to do that for this design, but it would have used almost double the fabric and left me with a lot of "bonus" parts to figure out how to use up in something else. I gave in to the triangles!  Look at all tose cute little triangles, lined up and waiting.

Sewing triangles requires an accurate 1/4" seam.  Also, when you're first joining things together it may seem as though things aren't fitting together properly.  Just trust my math and take a look at the detailed diagrams in the pattern that show you exactly how things should look, even if it seems wrong!

I chose to quilt Rib Stitch on my domestic Sewing machine using my walking foot.  I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to quilt, but I knew it would start with stitching in the ditch, so I started with that.  It might seem daunting to stitch in the ditch around all those triangles, but it really isn't difficult.  The key was to not stitch every side of one triangle at a time, but rather stitch a series of lines in one direction all they way down or across, then stitch all the lines in another direction.  Eventually there's stitching on all sides of each triangle without turning the quilt a bazillion times.  (I discuss examples of this approach in my guild presentation "There's More than One Way to Quilt a Quilt".  Please reach out to me if you think your guild would like me to visit by Zoom!)

After finishing all the ditch stitching, I had a better idea what I might quilt in the large parallelograms.  I used my hera marker to mark and audition my idea.  This tool makes a light indentation in the quilt sandwich, which is a great way to audition what the quilted texture will look like.

At this point I ran out of thread.  Well, out of the color I needed.  Of course this happened over the two days of the week when the local quilt shop is closed.  I didn't want to interrupt my momentum on this project, so I moved on to quilting the borders, as I had matching thread for those.  You can see below that the quilting in the borders is minimal, just straight line 1/4" in from each edge of the border. 

Once that was done, I figured it was safe to bind the quilt.  Generally, it's best to quilt the center first, then the borders, and only trim and bind the quilt after all the quilting is done.  In this case the ditch stitching and the quilting in the borders seemed like enough to be sure the quilt wouldn't wave or shrink from additional quilting.  So, I bound the quilt.

After a quick trip to the quilt shop for thread (did I buy too much, just to be safe? - yes, yes I did) I finished the quilting and headed out into the cold with my ever helpful quilt husband for a photo shoot.  It did not go quite as planned, as the tape I had used to tape rods to the back of the quilt to keep it straight failed.  I had done this with other quilts in the past with no problems.  However, this photoshoot day was well below freezing.  Even tape for "hard to stick surfaces" isn't rated for that cold.  Go figure.

Tape failure 

We regrouped without the rods, though the wind did move the quilt around a lot more without the weight of a rod at the bottom.

The lighting was great to sow off the quilted texture.  Unfortunately, it also really showed off fold creases.  

Here a look away from the creases so you can focus on the quilting.

This quilt, which I chose for the pattern cover, uses 4 fabrics plus a background.  If you use seven fabrics, you could acheive a lovely ombre effect.  Here's the seven-colour version featured in White Owl Textiles' winter catalog on page 90, pictured in their Botanical Sketchbook collection. (Check out Boxed Kisses on page 89 and Surface Curves on page 86 too!  Botanical Sketchbook fabrics will arive in shops in early fall 2026.)

For a much more exhuberakt look, I love rainbow brights on black.  The ones below are Micheal Miller Fabrics' Patina basics.

Which version would you make?  Let me know in the comments.

I'm off to bind a new quilt I'll be sharing later this month.  Can't wait to show you!

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Find the pattern as a PDF download in my Etsy shop
or ask for a print version at your favourite quilt shop.

Hidden Dimensions: a Quick Strip-Pieced Quilt

I shared a quick peek of Hidden Dimensions in this post and in a reel on social media in December.  I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long for more pictures and more details.   The fabric in the cover quilt is now arriving in stores, so it's a good time to share more!

Hidden Dimensions by Canuck Quilter Designs
Fabric from Rosy Blooms by Island Batik for Lumin Fabrics

It's bold, graphic, and quick to piece. Strip piecing makes the chevron shapes super easy to make.  

Hidden Dimensions by Canuck Quilter Designs
Fabric from Rosy Blooms by Island Batik for Lumin Fabrics

Pressing directions for the strip sets help you nest and match seams where the diagonals meet in a point to achieve crisps points.   

Hidden Dimensions by Canuck Quilter Designs
Fabric from Rosy Blooms by Island Batik for Lumin Fabrics

Be aware that the squares on point between two chevrons are formed by 4 triangles coming together so fussy cutting a favourite print for that square element is not an option.  Though it occurrs to me a I write this post that you could use a stack and whack method to cut the triangles and end up with a cool kaleidoscope effect in the squares.  I'm tucking that thought away for future experimemtation!

My version used a light background, but the design is just as effective with a darker bakground, as in the mockup below.  I love this navy and teal colorway.

Hidden Dimension by Canuck Quilter Designs
mocked up in Twilight Realm fabric from Island Batik for Lumin Fabric.

I also really liked the version I mocked up in the Salsa collection, also shipping from Island Batik now.  It's bolder than the pink and purple Rosy Bloom Island Batik selected for their catalog.

Hidden Dimension by Canuck Quilter Designs
mocked up in Salsa fabric from Island Batik for Lumin Fabric.

This alternate version from my fabric stash is still in the "to be quilted" stack.   This was the test quilt top I made to make sure my math was correct before I cut into the Island Batik fabric.  That fabric was advance yardage from the company and I couldn't replace it if I goofed.

You may notice the top set of chevrons here use a different set of fabrics than the lower set do.  I had nothing in my stash with enough yardage to make the quilt exactly as written, so I mixed it up a little more.

It was just a matter of making enough strip sets in each combo to be able to cut enough units for one set of chevrons.  The pattern has very detailed instructions and diagrams to cut the sections from the strip.  It's the same technique as I described in this tutorial about cutting 45 degree shapes.  Just substitute the strip set for the plain strip used in the tutorial, using the measurements detailed in the pattern.  Also, take care to orient you strips as directed to keep your fabrics in order.

I'm sure you can guess from this pattern that I love strip piecing, but I'd love to know how you feeel about it.  Love it, hate it, never tried it? If I write a strip pieicing tutoruial, what questions should I answer? Let me know in the comments!

Happy quilting,

Joanne

The Hidden Dimensions pattern is available as PDF download in my Etsy shop or ask for a print version at your favourite quilt shop.

My top tips for scrappy quilts

How much "scrappy" makes you happy?

Do you like every color and type of fabric thrown together in a glorious explosion of colour or are you happier with what some us like to call a "controlled" scrappy look?

Quilter's Scrapbook

While I appreciate the glorious scrappy explosions, as a maker I find this kind of project makes me anxious.  There are just too many possibilities and I overthink the choice and placement of every disparate scrap.  I need to reduce the chaos.  

If you also need some way to narrow your choices, consider one or more of the following strategies.

1. Pair your scraps with constrasting background or sashing.

This gives the eye somewhere to rest and helps the scrappy bits stand out.  Keep scrolling to see multiple examples of this.  Also, keep in mind that though most of mine use a light background, you don't have to.  Just focus on contrast between your scraps and your background or sashing.

2. Choose scraps from just one colour family.

While you might think a single color would lack variety and make a bland quilt, selecting a range of values adds visual interest, as does using a variety of print designs and scales.  

Half and Half

3. Repeat a single fabric for a particular element across the whole quilt.

In this scrappy version of Shining Lace, I used a single fabric for the tips in the starburst and the floating squares on point.  Just one constant element across the quilt can help anchor the design.  

In the pattern as written for yardage, there was a definite distribution of fabrics in the starbursts, but in the scrappy version I chose to let different values and prints fall randomly.  The one repeated element returned some order to the design.

Shining Lace - scrappy version

4. Choose scraps mostly from one colour group but add a small pop of a different color.  

Scrap Garden was meant to free up space in my bin of green scraps.  Adding just a touch of warmer colors (red, orange, yellow) in the cornerstones livened up the whole quilt.

Scrap Garden - similar to Hovering

4. Choose scraps from just a few color familes that play well together. 

Trimmed scraps for Starlit Picnic

I originally planned to use ALL the colours for Starlit Picnic, but once I had them out of the bins I found the variety overwhelming.  Narrowing them down to just three colour familes seemed more manageable.  I picked three because things tend to look good in odd numbers.  One was too few, five were too many, and three fell into the perfect middle. 

Starlit Picnic

Hmm.  I guess I should count that white accent fabric too.   In my mind I considered the white a neutral and not part of my scrappy selection.  In addition to illustrating the limited color scrappy palette, this quilt is a second example of using a single fabric for a specific element in an otherwise scrappy quilt.

5. Choose different colors for individual blocks.

Grouping scraps of each color into larger elements lets you use multiple colours while still imposing some order on the design.

 Butterfly blocks from this tutorial

This one is still in progress.  It stalled out, partially quilted, when I fell out of love with the setting and borders, but I still love the scrappy blocks.  Each block uses many scraps in a single color.  These blocks will be rescued and repurposed into a different quilt!

6. Pair super scrappy color explosions with a regimented setting.

Quilter's Scrapbook

Careful, orderly sashing is an effective counterpoint to the busy, colourful and radomly pieced hundred-patch blocks in Quilter's Scrapbook.  In this quilt I chose a fancy pieced sashing, but plain, tidy sashing would be equally effective.

7.  Embrace a scrappy backgound.

You don't need to limit yourself to yardage for the contrasting background.  You can see the background in my scrappy Shining Lace is made up of assorted white tone-on-tone prints.  The variety of prints adds subtle interest to this background.

Using a variety of values and prints in a scrappy background adds an extra design element.  I love the way the grey scraps in the quilt below add interest to the background of this quilt while still letting the sunflower block pop.

Adapted from the pattern Soak Up the Sun by
 Sew Kind of Wonderful in their book Mini Wonderful Curves. 

I'm thinking about writing a few words about how to tackle a pattern written for yardage when you'd like to use scraps instead.  Let me know if you would find this useful.

In the meantime, I'd love to know how much scrappy makes you happy.  Drop your thoughts in the comments!

Happy quilting,

Joanne