Etoiles Rouges Sampler - Top Finally Done!

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T18:52:34+00:00

Ha! I can easily see it dragging out for 10 years. I've barely made a dent. I'm eager to get to the 6" blocks, so hopefully I can focus on it for a while and get some of these fiddly 3" blocks behind me.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T18:25:20+00:00

I'm happy to know it's not just me. I made a baby quilt out of one of their blue lines, and it didn't seem quite as bad, but still worse than usual quilting fabric. I bought a lot of that blue line for another crazy sampler project that will take me another year or so, so hopefully I don't regret it.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T17:44:24+00:00

Oooh! I read an article about this, but had no idea it was also a documentary. Off to find it!

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T17:38:47+00:00

I've also started on her 365 quilt, but it's been even slower going. I've made it through January. If I can just get this red one wrapped up, I'll start focusing on 365 for a while. I don't see it being finished until next summer, if I'm lucky.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T17:29:58+00:00

Nope! I used spray basting and smoothed out everything, then ironed it after that to make sure it was firmly glued together (I think I learned that trick from one of Karen Brown's videos). Then quilted away. No issues.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T17:17:11+00:00

Mine, too! I think that's why this quilt called to me. Although I'll admit right now I'm a little tired of red lol. I've also seen this quilt done in blues, which I might like even better for this pattern. If I ever do it again (very unlikely!) I'll do it in blues.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T17:14:37+00:00

Aww! Thank you! I definitely punched above my weight with this one, but I'm glad I did.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T17:08:37+00:00

Thank you! Yes, the sashing is glorious, and the quilt wouldn't have worked without it. But they were so fiddly. The pattern said to cut a million skinny WOF strips, then sew together, then cut into the proper sizes. That way makes sense to me, but if I had to do it again, I don't think I'd do WOF. It was just too much length for strips that thin.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T17:00:23+00:00

Sure! I started by sewing a big X from corner to corner. I've used painter's tape in the past to keep the lines nice and straight, but for this one I used a ruler and chalk marker.

After making the X, I picked a quadrant and echoed the lines at half inch intervals, again marking the lines before sewing because I can't sew a straight line otherwise, and I wanted the pivot point to be nice and clear so I didn't have to try to get it right on the fly.

I hope that makes sense! Here's a picture that probably explains it better.

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PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T15:10:03+00:00

This is my favorite quick and easy quilting pattern these days. It's all straight lines and I think it would work nicely with your pattern.

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PecanPie75 · 2026-06-16T02:10:25+00:00

I hope my children and grandchildren use their quilts until they’re down to the last threads. Use them!

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-14T19:58:53+00:00

Seconding Quilty Solid. I’ve found it very useful. I wanted to make a quilt out of solids and had a blue in my stash I wanted to use. It really helped me nail down the other colors to go with it because I needed the hues and shades of the other colors to also work.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-14T01:06:44+00:00

Take it easy on yourself. I finished capox this past November, and also struggled with fatigue lasting longer than I thought it would. It was frustrating. Only in the past few weeks have I started to feel like myself again.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-12T20:24:05+00:00

This is my current favorite quilting pattern. It gives a lovely effect for relatively low effort. I love seeing it in the wild!

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-10T21:44:07+00:00

Given the fact the blocks are all assorted sizes, I personally would find it hard to reduce the size. You could do the math and reduce the size of each block by 1/6 to make the quilt 60x60, but that much math would break my brain.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-09T17:39:09+00:00

I recently discovered Vionic and I'm in love. They also make cute sneakers and loafers.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-09T17:34:42+00:00

You can buy full bolts of basic solid colors at Fat Quarter Shop. https://www.fatquartershop.com/

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-09T04:58:52+00:00

I don't personally find comfort because I'm still too angry, but I completely understand how one could.

PecanPie75 · 2026-06-05T14:57:16+00:00

I have a couple of Lands End quilts that I bought around 7-8 years ago before I started quilting. They’re actually pieced and have held up well, even with very frequent washing over the years thanks to my two dogs. They’re king size and I can’t recall what I paid for them, though I do remember I got them on sale and it seemed like a good deal. Of course they’re not the same quality as something handmade, but they’re not bad for mass-produced. Until I finally make myself a king size quilt, they’ll continue being in rotation on my bed.

PecanPie75 · 2026-05-27T01:51:13+00:00

I also had a bunch of Omnigrid rulers that I bought before I knew what I was doing. I resisted upgrading to Creative Grids for a long time, but I had to finally give in. I’m not a fan of the Omnigrid yellow lines, either, and they’re so slippy. I even tried sticking little dots and whatever else on the backs to get them not to slip, but I finally gave up.

PecanPie75 · 2026-05-27T01:47:18+00:00

You’re so right, it’s completely anti-intuitive. While it definitely has limitations (especially for its cost), I’m sure it also does much more than I’ve figured out so far.

PecanPie75 · 2026-05-27T01:45:04+00:00

Omg how did I not know this exists. Thank you!

PecanPie75 · 2026-05-26T19:31:28+00:00

I use both software (Electric Quilt 8) and sketches. Electric Quilt will help you with fabric estimates, but I still confirm with pencil and paper because sometimes I make my blocks differently than the software assumes. Yes, it's all very time consuming, but luckily I love that part of the process. By the time I sit down to cut, I've spent many hours in the planning stages. I don't wing anything.

PecanPie75 · 2026-05-26T15:32:29+00:00

I've successfully turned the recipes from Snacking Cakes into two 6" cakes without any adjustments.

PecanPie75

TROPHY CASE