2025 2 Bucks A Block Finish

 After nearly two months trapped on the quilt frame, she’s finally free. Now I adore her, but for those two long months, I was muttering curses like a sailor. She was innocent the whole time, it was me I was cursing.

My grand quilting vision for this quilt was crosshatching in the border triangles, fancy free motion feathers around each block, and a touch of free motion in the chain blocks. But somewhere along the way, I merrily crosshatched right through a few blocks, and rather than spend hours undoing my senior moment I decided the quilt clearly wanted to be almost entirely crosshatched.

The cursing ceased the moment she was off the frame. I adore simple quilting.  Sure, it took what seems like forever and left this old gal’s back hollering for mercy, but it suits the quilt perfectly. Let’s face it, simple quilting looks great on any quilt, while anything fancy is mostly just there for the big “WOW!” factor. Honestly, some of my favorite quilts are the tied ones with no quilting at all.

All three backing fabrics came from the yardage stash. The plaid is from Joann’s, the middle one is quilt shop quality though I can’t recall the manufacturer, and the bottom one is a Lori Holt Riley Blake.

The label was kept simple and sweet with no fabric framing.

For the binding, I decided to use the leftover scraps from the scrappy background fabrics in the quilt top. It wasn’t my original plan, since I usually love using ginghams or stripes for every quilt. But after going through all the gingham, plaid, and stripe options in my stash, none of them felt right. The white binding really let this quilt shine.

We all have our favorite aspects of quilting. For me, I enjoy designing quilts, but nothing compares to the satisfaction of hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.

It's exciting to finally be at the finishing stage of the quilt making process but at the same time it's relaxing and good for the soul.  

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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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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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Quilting Is My Therapy ~ Much Needed Therapy

After weeks without quilting, I was turning into a cranky mess. My back, grumbled from all the furniture shuffling during painting and staged a full protest. Clearly, it was time for a break and some good old fashioned fabric therapy. The 2025 Thangles “2 bucks a block” from our local quilt shop was just the ticket. I’m behind on my blocks, and the final one drops this week!

 Instead of making one block a month for this BOM, I decided to make two each month because I prefer making big quilts. So, the 12 block BOM has become 24 blocks for me. I made the blocks for 2 or 3 months earlier in the year.   For the remaining blocks it took a couple of days to cut the fabrics and prep them to be sewn with the Thangles papers.  I was in no hurry and took breaks as often as needed to rest my back. 

Normally, the mess in my sewing room would bother me, but not this time. I simply turned my achy back on it and enjoyed playing with my beautiful fabric...pure bliss!  

The tiny Thangle blocks finish at 7.5" in the quilt, which means they’re fidgety and leave little to no room for error. Taking my time, I pinned like my life depended on it and savored every moment. Each block took about 30 minutes, sometimes longer, thanks to the distraction of Christmas movies playing as I sewed.

By Wednesday of last week, I took a break from sewing and headed to the kitchen to start prepping the Thanksgiving feast. We spent all of Thursday visiting with family and eating. By Friday, I was back in my happy place making more quilt blocks and watching more Christmas movies...Elf...several times...I love it!

The quilt shop created a pattern for those of us who love big quilts and chose to double the blocks. The pattern was great, but I enjoy putting my own spin on things.  I experimented with designs using the 24 blocks. After six or seven ideas, I settled on a quilt set on point with an alternating block, but it needs 25 Thangle blocks, not 24.   I could have made another of any existing block, but instead, I decided to design a brand-new one, the one shown below with the arrow.  

I’m finally caught up on the quilt blocks and plan to grab the last two sometime this week and finish them ASAP.  I’ve pulled some scraps of Lori Holt fabric along with a few fat quarters with hopes to find time to start on the alternating blocks.  We’ll see how it goes, as my back is feeling much better after the week of quilting therapy, so it’s back to tackling the home updates.

 

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Lori Holt Fabric 2 Bucks A Block

 It's time to play catch up.  I'm six months behind on this Lori Holt fabric block of the month from my local quilt shop, Back Door Quilts.  

This block of the month is extra challenging for me since it requires Thangles.  The challenge is all in my head.  Silly reasons like...#1 the cost of Thangles...$7 is not going to break the bank. 

#2  Ripping off the paper...which takes almost no time.

Since I like working with starched fabric it took me a little longer to prep my precut fabrics.

But the magic happened after pinning the papers onto the fabric.  Within 15 minutes they were sewn, cut, papers removed and ready to be sewn into blocks.   WHOA!  That is quick.  I've never timed it before.  So now all I can really complain about is the cost which isn't much for 450 HST's.

  

Piecing the blocks took about 24 hours...HAHA!  I was in no hurry and had several interruptions.  My main goal for the week is getting the quilt on the frame quilted.  So, these blocks are just an added bonus.

There was some leftover fabric.  

I'm assuming it will be used for the sashing and cornerstones of the quilt top.  Below is the quilt shop sample quilt.  My quilt will be bigger because I'm making two blocks a month instead of one.  The yellow squares show are the blocks I've finished.

And here are my finished blocks.  The plan is to catch up before the last block is released in December.  This should be easier now that I've embraced the Thangles.

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Block One ~ 2 Bucks A Block ~ Back Door Quilts

 On Saturday I packed up the sewing machine and headed down the road about a mile to my neighbor Judy's house for a little sewing time.  We both signed up for the 2 bucks a block at our local quilt shop, Back Door Quilts.  Since Judy is fairly new to quilting, we will be doing these blocks together.  

This fidgety little block is not beginner friendly.  Normally I would suggest a new quilters first few blocks be a little larger, at least 12 inches.  It gives you a little more wiggle room for mistakes.  But we both loved the quilt, and she chose to jump in with both feet.  Way to go Judy!

The pattern uses Thangles to make the half square triangles.  I personally don't like Thangles, but as we all know cutting and sewing triangles can be tricky for new quilters. For now, she can focus on accurate cutting, pressing and maintaining a 1/4 inch seam.  Even with 30+ yrs of quilting under my belt these things can give me trouble from time to time.

In the image below I've blurred out the size of the Thangles and the fabric measurements just in case there's a copyright.  I'm sharing this image because I was disappointed in the pattern.  It took a little head scratching to figure out which fabric to use for color one and two.

Thankfully I had a picture of the sample quilt on my phone.  

Another disappointment...no pressing directions.  This could cause a new quilter some stress and unnecessary problems.  But, it gave me an opportunity to teach Judy a couple simple rules about pressing directions.

 Rule 1, press to the dark fabric.  

Rule 2, press to the piece with no seams or fewer seams.  

And of course, I also gave her the option to press all seams open.  We both opted to use rules one and two. 

 For my blocks I chose to pop open and spin the seams at the intersections, she chose to leave them and press them all in one direction.

The blocks turned out super cute and we had a good amount of scrap fabric.   I'm always grateful when a quilt kit is made with room for errors.  We didn't need it with this block, but we'll keep it handy just in case we need it for future blocks.

If you've never used or heard of Thangles, here's a video from the Thangles YouTube Channel.  Just click on the image below to watch.

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