Since Spring 2023 I have been trying my hand at quilting. I find it combines qualities of painting, garment sewing, and a nice warm hug—all previous areas of enthusiasm.

My first finished objects in July 2023 were potholders for my friend who owns a little black cat. I didn’t have a rotary cutter; each of these little squares were cut out with scissors. If you’re not familiar with quilting tools and workflow, please be aware that describes a woeful situation.

In November 2023 I started making a table runner for Thanksgiving. I did not finish it in time for Thanksgiving due to an unexpected layoff and subsequent flusteration. The table runner offered support and distraction as I toted it to craft meetups and hand quilted my troubles away.

I believe around this time I bought myself a rotary cutter, ruler, and cutting mat with a birthday gift card.

With my new tools, in January 2024 I made a tote bag for a different friend with a little black cat.

Quiltachusetts

From April to June 2024 I went mad with unemployment and spent some time making a 44″ by 44″ quilt for a Boston (technically Cambridge) baby, my partner’s nephew. It is a map of Boston and Cambridge that, should the parents wish, the baby could stomp around on like Godzilla.

The shoreline was hand-appliqued with a whip stitch and then reinforced with machine stitching for maximum washability. This quilt also includes hand-embroidered bridges and details on the castles. One castle is placed in the approximate location of the apartment the baby was brought home to. The other castle represents the family farm.

Other acts of creative unrestraint include dyeing a thrifted shirt several different greens (visible in the checked gingham squares above) and quilting roads into the map.

My next projects included a queen sized quilt for myself, which is still unfinished as of June 2025, and a wacky little improv wall hanging that I could take to craft meetups and hand quilt.

Two Stars Wall Hanging

I am charmed by eight-pointed sawtooth stars: by their rotational symmetry, by their classic “quiltiness,” by the way they frame and emphasize their center square, by their cartoon explosion pizzazz.

This wall hanging is 40″ by 29″ or so and was lightly inspired by Hilma af Klimt. It is sewn largely of completely unironable corduroy. Subsequently it is wrinkly and wriggly. Oh well. Begun in Summer 2024, it was finished in March 2025.

Custom sewing labels designed by me and produced by Dutch Label Shop.

The 2024 holiday season brought a few different little festive projects. Mug rugs are great practice for binding. If you’re getting into quilting, look up a video tutorial on mitering the corners of your binding; it is truly simple and I regret not doing it earlier.

Rainbow Baby Quilt

From February to May 2025 (not including April) I made a 44″ by 44″ baby quilt for my college roommate, my honorary bonus college roommate, and their new long-awaited very small roommate. The nursery theme was heavy on rainbows, clouds, and sky; the baby even has a constellation name. Thanks for the clear aesthetic, guys!

I appliqued the rainbow and clouds, even sneaking some extra batting into the clouds for maximum fluff. All the fabric of the quilt top was from my stash or acquired from my local Buy Nothing group. I dyed the sky blue central square myself. The only new materials were the batting (my first time using wool! Very fluffy but I did not baste it well) and a few of the thread colors. One of the parents is a quilter and texted me upon receipt “This is our best possession.”

Possum in the Garden

From March to November 2025 I made a 48″ by 50″ baby quilt for my neighbor friends (the ones with the little black cat). They requested “a possum so we can put the baby in its mouth.” They also like gardening and flowers.

Pattern sources:

• A lot of the florals came from BurlapBlossomPattern on Etsy.
• The bee came from HeartlandQuiltery, also on Etsy.
• The Tulip/Carolina Lily mashup was made from sight and on graph paper.
• The possum was originally drawn by possum_mood and I popped it into QuiltAssistant and made my first ever paper pieced pattern. Possum_mood never responded to my DM; as this is a gift for a baby and I’m not profiting hopefully they will not find and kill me.
• Everything else I made up! Inspired by garden staples and common California flowers, a mix of traditional and foundation paper pieced designs.

Fabric notes:

• There are a lot of Peppered Cottons in this, notably the Jadeite background
• The backing fabric is from a Sewing Guild bag sale. I’m a big fan of ditsy print backings for baby quilts because they hide a lot of sins (on my part and the baby’s part).
• Much of the pinks, oranges, and reds are from a great Buy Nothing score.

Many firsts in this quilt: buying patterns, foundation paper piecing, designing my own reproducible patterns, very dense quilting. I think it straddles the line between traditional quilt aesthetics and its nontraditional subject matter well. I am extremely proud of it.

Throughout the year I also made many more potholders.

Someday perhaps I’ll finish that queen-size quilt… keep an eye out!