Two Bucks A Block Quilt On My New Design Wall

The 2025 Two Bucks a Block quilt will be my first completed project in 2026. This Thangles Block of the Month came from Back Door Quilts, our local quilt shop. Since I’m a fan of quilts big enough to double as portable forts, I decided to make two identical blocks each month and work up my own layout. Here’s a New Year’s Day snapshot of the quilt on my shiny new design wall, which we’ll chat about shortly.

The picture below was taken on January 23, and the quilt is still on the frame and a little farther along than in this photo.  I had high hopes of finishing it in January, but I once again underestimated my quilty speed and my SQUIRREL quilting style.  Oh well, if I keep setting goals, one day I might actually surprise myself and meet one.  HA!

Okay let's have that little chat about the new design wall.  This room has seen many different design walls over the years and I'm pretty sure this won't be the last.  The grand plan for this design wall was to go as simple and big as possible. By the way we installed the new drop ceiling tiles and fan the last week of December.  

On New Year’s Day morning, armed with three yards of 108" wide white flannel from Hobby Lobby (naturally snagged on sale) and a trusty staple gun the design wall project began!

I didn’t prep the wall or draw any lines to ensure the fabric would hang perfectly straight, but I did make sure to square up the sides of the fabric. I folded the top edge of the fabric under by about half an inch, gave it a staple, then scooted over about three inches, folded again, and stapled...rinse and repeat until the top was secured in place.  As you can see, it wasn’t looking great with only the top edge stapled to the wall. At this point it crossed my mind to mark some straight lines on the wall.

But why stop now? Let’s live on the edge and see what happens! So....starting at the top left corner, I neatly folded under and stapled just as I had done on the top edge, keeping an eye on the perfectly straight imaginary vertical line until I reached about halfway down the left side.  I smoothed the fabric toward the right side, where I continued turning it under and stapling. Then it was back to the left side to rinse and repeat.  Much to my surprise it worked out great!  In less than an hour I had a beautiful new HUGE design wall.  The ceiling in here is almost 9' tall.  So that makes the design wall about 9 x 9.  Plenty of room for quilts/portable forts.

When I chose this wall for my design wall, my biggest worry was the heat duct lurking at the bottom. Would it launch my quilt blocks into orbit? I’m thrilled to say that after over two weeks on the design wall, not a single block took flight. This quilt held its ground like a champ. 

  

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Weeks Of No Blogging Catchup

 Hello, quilty friends! It’s been weeks since my last post. Life in Podunk is just fine, I’ve simply been suffering from a severe case of “can’t-be-bothered-to-type-itis.” Thank you to everyone who checked in to make sure I hadn’t been buried under a huge pile of fabric. Honestly, I didn’t realize my last post was over a month ago! From now on, during my bouts of type-itis, I’ll drop by at least once a week. Expect a few photos and minimal chatter, just enough to confirm the UFOs haven’t abducted me… yet. HAHA!  

A lot has happened over the past month, but for today’s blog post, I’m focusing on the most recent happenings. I’ve been making steady progress on the mini Cake Stand quilt blocks, and this stack of design boards with blocks ready to be sewn has been sitting here for about two weeks. The pile has shrunk a bit, but not by much.

The quilt needs a little over 150 cake stand blocks and slightly fewer for the alternating blocks. It will finish at over 90 inches, though I can’t recall the exact measurement off the top of my head—it’s written down somewhere in the sewing room.  Anyway...here's what I've finished so far.

Tiny blocks always bring a grin to my face.  Working with scraps can be quite the workout but it brings me so much joy to remember the quilts that made these scraps. It's hard to believe that after quilting since 1987—38 years!—every single quilt still makes my little old heart do a happy dance.

More about the last month’s fabric adventures coming soon!

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Snow On The Farm FREE - Limited Time

 Due to another overwhelming response for my Snow On The Farm quilt pattern I'm once again offering it for free for a limited time.  This FREEBIE will only be available until the end of the day December 25, 2025, EST.

Snow On The Farm finishes at 71 x 71 inches.   Click here to get the FREE PDF.

Merry Christmas!

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Two Bucks A Block Quilt Layout Plan

In my last post I had a set in stone plan to start pressing and cutting for the alternate block of my 2 Bucks a Block quilt.  I couldn't wait to see this quilt come to life.

The 2 Bucks a Blocks are all made from various lines of Lori Holt fabric so I pulled every Lori background print in my stash but came up one short of what was needed for my quilt. Well poo.  Oh well, any ole low volume print will work.  The green polka dot in the very back of this bin is a Moda print and it plays well with the other fabrics.

On Monday evening, right before heading to bed, the background fat quarters were starched and hung up to dry in the sewing room.

 

By the way, take a look at my fancy curtains...they’re one yard pieces of fabric pinned to tension rods. HAHA! They look good compared to the paint supplies scattered on the floor. The paint supplies should be out of my sewing room by Friday.  Yeehaw!

Tuesday morning, right after a cup of decaf coffee and still in my pajamas, the pressing party began. It took nearly an hour to press 38 fat quarters. I’ve been saving these for years for just the right project, I'm excited to finally put them in a quilt. 

You might be wondering about the plan for the Thangles quilt blocks. Nothing complicated, just a simple, scrappy chain block.

After coloring the chain blocks in EQ, the plan changed. The scrappy chain didn't set right with me.  It seems to take away from the blocks, so maybe using a single fabric for the chain blocks would work better?  Don't you think it frames the blocks and allow them to become the star of the show?

 Time to dig in the stash to find a piece of Lori Holt yardage. I don’t buy yardage much these days, but I knew I had a few larger cuts of her fabric. This green one was the only piece large enough, and I’m not too fond of the larger print for a square that will finish at1.5" in the quilt.

Maybe I could use the scrap pieces but stick to just one color. If I let go of the self-imposed rule of only using Lori Holt prints in this quilt, I might have enough of the green or light blue scraps. Of course, the cutting and piecing would be more labor intensive.  Then there’s always the option of buying new fabric! ...sigh... My excitement was quickly crushed by adult Lea Anne, who promptly scolded me for even thinking about it. She’s such a party pooper.  So, I guess I'm working with what I have on hand.  Maybe later today I'll look for non Lori Holt yardage.

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