Quilt Camp 2026

by Dawn Posted on November 12, 2026

Ah, it feels good to be back.

Last week I was at Quilt Camp, my first trip back in five years. (The Dear Husband, who died in May, had a very bad fall in early 2022 so I didn’t spend any nights away from him from that point on.) It was lovely to reconnect with quilting friends, some of whom I have known for at least 25 years, and to meet some new ones.

Our group meets in early November for two full days and two partial days at Camp Tilikum, a retreat center outside of Newberg, about an hour’s drive from my home in Portland. We are served delicious meals three times a day, leaving us with nothing to do but sew to our heart’s content on whatever projects we have brought along.

I can’t wait to show you what I worked on. First up is my test block for a Halloween quilt:

Is that not one of the most beautiful witches you’ve ever seen? She has company! I bought this panel of 16 witches at Montavilla Sewing Center in Lake Oswego, where I teach:

Making a Halloween quilt was never something I wanted to do, probably because most Halloween prints include spiders. There are no arachnids in this panel, I’m happy to report, just a group of winsome witches and a few black cats.

My test block is from the pattern Dandelions at Dusk, which happens to be the pattern I used on my last quilt top (completed in August but still waiting, alas, for me to piece a backing and turn it over to my longarm quilter).  I’m showing the top again here . . .

. . . to remind you how the focus fabric blocks are arranged with half-square triangles and two different sashing fabrics. You might think when first looking at my test block for the witches quilt that aqua was an odd choice for one of the sashing fabrics but I loved the look of the narrow aqua strip around each witch in the panel. I had to eliminate those strips to fit the pattern requirement so I decided to pick up the color in the sashing strips.

My fabric for the second set of sashing strips is a darker aqua that I hadn’t bought when I went to Quilt Camp. It will be revealed in my next post. The 16 blocks are mostly pieced at this point.

On to my second test block:

Except for the red triangle, the prints are from the “Something in Blue” collection by Tilda that was released in June. I succumbed to fabric lust and bought prints from the entire line, enough to make several quilts (and a bathrobe!). This block is from the Fig Tree pattern Papillon, which I have had for years. While I like the look of my test block very much, I think I am going to switch gears and make a fan quilt with larger blades. Stay tuned for my next test block using a different pattern.

My next project at Quilt Camp was to put a binding on my name tag made by a fellow member of the Metropolitan Patchwork Society, a guild I have belonged to for several years now:

Using the same aqua fabric you see above in my witches quilt, I applied single-fold binding using my own tutorial and fused it to the back with Steam-a-Seam 2, a double-stick fusible web. Then I added a neck strap. It will be a pleasure to wear it to the guild’s next meeting.

Another project I worked on needs a bit of explanation:

What you are looking at is a wheelchair transfer cloth made for my friend Lisa, who lives in Atlanta. The sides of the transfer cloth are rolled up as Lisa’s caregiver transfers her in and out of her wheelchair. The satin fabric on the underneath side makes it easier to slide her in and out. Lisa designed it herself and had several made but they are wearing out.

Using one of her transfer cloths as a pattern, I made this one at Quilt Camp using flannel for the center top and corduroy for the sides. The transfer cloth is fortified by a length of cotton canvas that goes in the middle, where batting would go in a quilt sandwich. The cloth measures about 17″ x 34″.

I mailed my sample to Atlanta so Lisa could inspect it. She pronounced it “absolutely wonderful and super slide-y!” so now I can forge on and make her a few more. As it happens, I am spending the second half of November in Atlanta with my twin Diane, who is a dear friend of Lisa’s, and I can work on the transfer cloths at Diane’s house because I keep a sewing machine there along with a set of all my sewing and quilting necessities. Diane and Lisa and I will have occasion to get together and celebrate; champagne may be involved.

 

 

 

Posted in family, garment sewing, Metropolitan Patchwork Society, quilt retreat, single-fold binding, tutorial, update | 2 Comments

Mission Accomplished

by Dawn Posted on September 3, 2026

Behold the bespoke sink skirt!

I’m back home in Portland after an all-too-brief visit with my twin in her home in Atlanta. Diane and I are both very pleased with the sink skirt I made for her “refreshed” powder room. In fact, we agree that it actually exceeded our expectations.

At the beginning of the year Diane updated the petite powder room in her lovely home. The powder room measures 5′ square; fortunately, the 9-foot ceiling makes the small space seem larger than it is. But the original fixtures were rather large for the space. Diane replaced the old pedestal sink with a smaller wall-hung sink and chose a smaller scale toilet as well. Even the light fixture is smaller than the one in the original bathroom. She also had the level of the wainscoting lifted and the walls repainted a very pale sage.

Diane was pleased with the update but didn’t like the look of the hardware visible under the sink:

Enter her sewing sister. While visiting me in Portland a few months ago, Diane and I talked about the desirability of a sink skirt and I was totally on board with making it. She started looking online for fabrics and we both looked online for design inspiration. She soon found the perfect fabric in this lovely toile, purchased from https://www.fabricguru.com:

I knew it would be hard to make the skirt from my home going just on the measurements so I decided to wait till I could be there in person to make adjustments as I went along. The first thing I did was determine there should be four pleats in front with the fifth pleat on each side breaking at the corner. That dictated that the pleats needed to be 4.75″ wide. And I could measure and remeasure to my heart’s content to make sure the back edges of the skirt snuggled right up against the wall.

Here’s a process shot with the indispensable blue painter’s tape holding the sink skirt in place:

I like a deep hem (3″) on most home dec projects so I allowed plenty for a doubled hem and wound up trimming an inch off the bottom.

The hardest thing about this project? Those covered buttons! Here’s a better look at them:

The buttons come in a kit (these are by Dritz). Each button is a curved metal disc with teeth on the inside to grip the decorator fabric, which has been cut in a circle and then wrapped tightly and smoothly around the disc. A second disc with a shank is then pressed firmly against the first one and the two are supposed to snap together. The directions make it look so simple. It wasn’t. I confess I resorted to a hammer to get those discs “snapped” together.

The kits come in multiple sizes; the buttons on Diane’s sink skirt are 7/8″ in diameter. You can see five in this photo; there are two more on the right side of the skirt but none on the left because the skirt is so close to the wall buttons wouldn’t even show. Lucky me not to have to make two more!

We attached the skirt to the sink using a product new to us that we found online: a double-sided mesh tape made for wood or fabric that is supposedly removable without leaving any residue. We applied it to the top of the sink skirt on the back side and carefully wrapped it around the sink. With the two of us working together to guide the skirt around the sink, the application went very smoothly. I guess we can say this project is a wrap!

 

 

 

Posted in family, home dec, update | 5 Comments

Something’s Happening Here . . .

by Dawn Posted on August 30, 2026

What it is ain’t exactly clear.

Or is it?


A few fun facts (or maybe hints):
— I’ve been in Georgia for a few days visiting my twin, Diane
— I keep a sewing machine at her home
— I love making things for Diane’s home
— I’ve never made one of these before

I’m sure you’ve already figured it out:  a home dec project is in the works.

Care to hazard guess as to what it is?

 

 

Posted in family, home dec, update | 6 Comments

Sashing Strips and Cornerstones and Borders, Oh My!

by Dawn Posted on August 21, 2026

They do make a difference. The sashing strips and cornerstones in my current work in progress (WIP for short) set the blocks apart nicely, as you can see:

But wait till you see what happens with borders added! Take a look:

Is that not the perfect fabric for the borders? Just the right shade of cornflower blue and just the right amount of pattern to augment rather than compete with the quilt blocks. This lovely piece of fabric has been in my stash for oh, a mere 18 years:

If I walked into a store tomorrow and saw this fabric, I would buy the entire bolt in a New York minute.

Now I need to take another dive into my stash to find some suitable fabrics to make a pieced backing.

It feels good to be back in my sewing room.

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, update | 6 Comments

Bonus Years

by Dawn Posted on July 22, 2026

Two months is a long time to go between blog posts. Five days after my last post of May 22, my husband Charlie, known to many of you as the Dear Husband, died. He had been diagnosed in 2022 with congestive heart failure, a condition that was managed very well with medication until his heart simply started to wear out.

Even though I am profoundly sad at losing my husband, I celebrate the fact that we had so many bonus years together. You see, Charlie lived to be 101. When we got married in 1981, he was 56 years old and I was 30. It was the second marriage for both of us, and we are proof that love is indeed lovelier the second time around. The age difference was never an issue; he was active and vigorous in his 50s and remained so well into his 90s. He was also young at heart, which made living with him a joy.

Because of Charlie’s age at the time of our marriage, I had the reasonable expectation that we would have at least 30 years together. That would have taken him to age 86. Every year after that was a bonus year. I never dreamed he would live long enough for us to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary! (I wrote a post in April which includes a photo of Dream Weaver, the quilt I made for him as an anniversary gift; you can read that post here.)

My twin sister Diane arrived in early May for a month-long visit and postponed her departure when it became clear Charlie’s life was coming to an end. She’s back home now but her presence before he died and for the six weeks following his passing was a great source of comfort, and I’m so grateful she was here.

Now you know why my posts have been few and far between. It wasn’t just the extra gardening chores I took on for Charlie. It was because caring for him was my number one priority. I will miss him every day for the rest of my life but I have many happy memories of our time together to sustain me.

He would be happy to know I’ll be returning to my sewing room — but I won’t neglect the garden! My promise to him was to keep our urban vegetable garden going. As a matter of fact, I picked our second tomato today, the bush beans are coming along nicely, and the herb garden is doing splendidly. The Dear Husband would be delighted.

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, family, home dec, Ribbon Box quilt, update | 17 Comments

The Post is Slow

by Dawn Posted on May 22, 2026

No, I don’t mean the U.S. mail. I’ve been slow to post on my blog. The final four blocks of my current Work-in-Progress have been done for a couple of weeks yet here I am just posting about them now. All I can say in my defense is that the garden is looking good! The weeds haven’t been totally vanquished yet but the herbs and plants that have gone into the ground all seem to be doing well.

But let’s get back to quilting! Here are blocks 21 and 22 . . .

. . . and blocks 23 and 24:

And here is the final 4 x 5 layout, just as I planned it with no last-minute changes in placement:

Next up are the sashing strips between the blocks and rows, and then the border. I found the perfect border fabric (from 2008!) in my stash. I’m looking forward to finishing up this quilt top but the forecast is for three more days of warm sunny weather before the rain returns and I really must take advantage of that.

Never fear, I shall return!

 

 

 

Posted in faux-kaleido quilts, Ribbon Box quilt, update | 6 Comments

One More Row to Hoe — er, Row to Sew

by Dawn Posted on May 2, 2026

The month of April — my favorite month of the year — flew by so quickly I can hardly believe we’re into May already. So what did I accomplish in my sewing room in April? You know from my last post that I completed Dream Weaver, a bed runner for the Dear Husband as a 45th wedding anniversary gift. Here’s another look at Charlie’s quilt, with me in the photo (and I swear it’s a total coincidence that I’m wearing a matching outfit):

Because I spent most of the unusually warm and dry April pulling weeds in the front and back yards and preparing the three raised beds in the backyard for planting, I managed to get just four more blocks sewn on my current Work-in-Progress based on the pattern Dandelions at Dusk by Blue Bear Quilts. Here are the first two blocks . . .

. . . and the second two:

These four blocks make up the fourth row, bringing the total to 20:

One more row to go to get to 24. Then I’ll be ready to add sashing strips and cornerstones. As a reminder, this is the original pattern design by Blue Bear Quilts:

This is a fun project. The only thing keeping me from getting to the finish line faster is warm weather! According to the weather app on my phone, the temperature in Portland, Oregon for the next 10 days will be in the 70s. I can see where I’ll be spending most of my free time . . .

 

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, bed runners, family, faux-kaleido quilts, Ribbon Box quilt, update | 4 Comments

Happy Anniversary, Dear Husband!

by Dawn Posted on April 11, 2026

On this day in 1981 — 45 years ago — the Dear Husband and I were married. During those 45 years I’ve made him numerous aprons and several bathrobes. I even made him a couple of short-sleeved shirts in our early years together. And I’ve made dozens of shirt pockets for this man. As it became harder and harder to find short-sleeved shirts with two pockets (his favored style) I would buy long-sleeved shirts, cut the sleeves off at the elbow, and make pockets out of the lower halves, which then got sewn onto the shirts. I wrote a post about it back in 2012 which you can read here.

In all our years together, though, I never made a quilt just for the DH. I guess it’s because I felt that all of the quilts that decorate our home are his as much as mine. But this year I decided to make one just for him and give it to him as an anniversary gift.

Can you guess which one it is? It’s the bed runner I’ve been posting about the last few months! You know, the one based on the free Ribbon Box pattern from Cloud 9 Fabrics. In my last post you saw pictures of it after it had been quilted, and I even teased you by telling you to come back to find out what I’ve named it.

Are you ready? The quilt is called Dream Weaver — most appropriate for a bed runner, don’t you think? Back in 1975 Dream Weaver was a hit song written and performed by Gary Wright. It’s been described as a “cosmic lullaby.” If you’re interested in hearing the song, this link will take you to the You Tube video.

Are you ready to see the bed runner now? Take a look:

My twin Diane took the photo above shortly after I finished attaching the label on the back. Here’s an earlier shot of the label being stitched on:

The bed runner measures 29″ x 64″ after its maiden voyage through the washer and dryer. I do love the soft puckery look that laundering gives a quilt:


I didn’t wait till today to give Charlie his anniversary gift. He got it on Monday of this week because Diane, who returned home on Tuesday, wanted to be there when he opened it. It was a special moment. He had seen the bed runner in progress but had no idea it was meant for him. It was quite the surprise.

And I got quite the surprise myself today! Look what was delivered late this afternoon:

Friends, you’re looking at 45 enormous pale yellow roses — one for every year the DH and I have been married. Thank you, Dear Husband!

 

 

 

Posted in aprons, bathrobe, bed runners, family, Ribbon Box quilt, update | 7 Comments

Ribbon Box #4 Back from the Quilter

by Dawn Posted on March 26, 2026

My fourth version of the free pattern Ribbon Box by Cloud 9 Designs is back from the quilter, and I am so pleased. If you saw my previous post, you know that I converted the pattern from a lap size to a bed runner by tweaking the number of vertical ribbons. Not only is #4 quilted now, it’s also bound, and I am almost finished hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt. Here’s a peek at the bottom half of the quilt:

The quilt motif by Quilts Complete is “Embellish,” one of my favorites. It’s especially appropriate for Ribbon Box because the swirls in the quilting look like ribbons.

I decided on single-fold binding that finishes at ⅜”. If you look at the left side of the photo above, you can see the binding strip attached to the edge of the quilt has not been folded in half. The binding strips were cut 1¾” wide according to the measurements in my tutorial on single-fold binding. The mitered corners turn out so nice and crisp! Here’s a look at one of the corners from the front . . .

. . . and from the back:

Here’s my fourth and final corner pinned and ready to tack down:

The only thing left to do after the binding is finished is make the label, and I’ve gotten a head start on that. The perfect name for this quilt popped into my head the other day but I’m going to wait until I’m ready to show off the finished quilt to reveal the name. I hope you’ll come back for that.

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, home dec, Ribbon Box quilt, update | 6 Comments

“Make Your Bed”

by Dawn Posted on March 11, 2026

Fifteen years ago I bought a quilt book called Make Your Bed, written by Leslee Evans and published by That Patchwork Place, an imprint of Martingale & Company. The book contains nine designs for quilted bed runners and also includes instructions for decorative pillows and shams. I never made a single thing from the book but the idea of making a bed runner has been percolating in my mind all these years.

In my post of January 25 titled “The Joy of Petting Fabric,” I mentioned I was planning to make a bed runner by transforming the free Ribbon Box pattern from Cloud 9 Fabrics from a quilt into a bed runner. I tested my idea by simply folding the cover page of the pattern to create a quilt with two vertical ribbons and four horizontal ones. As a reminder, here’s a photo showing the quilt as designed and what a bed runner would look like:

Here’s what my bed runner looks like:

I love how this turned out! I added 3″ to the top and bottom. It now measures 29½ x 65½” — the perfect size to drape across the foot of a twin or double bed. The quilt is intended as a surprise gift for a family member. Next up is a simple pieced back and then it’s off to my longarm quilter for her special touch.

Waiting to be made are the second 10 of 20 blocks needed for the other quilt I’ve been working on based on the pattern Dandelions at Dusk.

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, family, home dec, update | 6 Comments