Phagun

Welcome to my stop on the Sunflower Spice Blog Hop.

Phagun, 80" by 100"

When Jennifer Thomas of Curlicue Creations asked whether I would like to join the BlogHop, I did not say yes. I had to see the fabrics, first. 

OK, YES. 

These vibrant hues cover the entire spectrum of the rainbow. The design had to be simple so that the colors could truly shine.

Making Blocks

Ravishing Red

Design Wall

Adding Scrappy Borders

Ta Da - A Queen Size Quilt

Well, yes. I made a queen-size quilt, named Phagun. Phagun is made with two quilt blocks - the Shanvi block using warm colors and the Irish Chain block using cool colors. Both blocks finish at 10". 

Borders - Inner Skinny & Outer Scrappy

A skinny inner border and an outer 4" finished scrappy border complete the quilt. The background is Egg Shell and the binding is Fondant.

Egg Shell

Fondant

Close-up

The batting is Tuscany Cotton/Wool Blend generously provided by Hobbs.

Thank you, Hobbs

A queen size quilt is the perfect excuse to splurge on a wide backing. This multicolored layered lava lamps fabric was just perfect.

Wide Backing - Color Matching

I quilted using my walking foot, my favorite squiggly stitching, following the 2" grid. I am the queen of keeping it simple :-p

Quilting in process

Now, pushing a queen size quilt sandwich through a domestic machine is a challenge (ask my neck and shoulders), as is modeling it. The arm span of a tall Paul falls way short of 80".

Solution - I attached a quilt sleeve and inserted an adjustable curtain rod. The still shots became easy and the walking quilt video (check my Instagram) a breeze :-)

Crushing on You!

It was a beautiful sunny Spring day on the banks of the Potomac and I decided to get in front of the camera :-)

Basking in the warmth

Daydreaming

Perfect Spring!

For lunch, because a hardworking (handsome too) model deserves compensation, we went to a restaurant called Wild Himalayan Yak. It is a Nepalese restaurant with some Indo-Chinese dishes. Paul was interested in trying the yak meat. But that is not the point of this story. The napkins are.

Picture from the Restaurant Website

Unlike any other restaurant, they have the most beautiful napkins made from woven authentic Nepali fabrics. You get me, right. When others are looking upward at the monument/castle, us quilters will be admiring the tiles. 

Picture from the Restaurant Website

Me: These napkins are so beautiful.
Paul just nodded, amused.

Me: I could just swipe one.
Paul: Don't!!!
Me: Just one. No one will notice. They won't even miss it. Look it is already past its prime.
Paul: Such a bad girl!

Me (changing topic): How is the yak?

Paul: It tastes like bison. How are your momos?

Me: Awesome. Can we come here again?

Paul: Sure.

At this point, Paul excused himself to go to the restroom. He returned with a colorful napkin. My eyes were as large as the momos on my plate.

Me (shocked): Did you steal it for me?

Paul: No, silly. I asked the head waiter. 

Me (still in disbelief): And he just handed you one?

Paul: I asked nicely, saying that my wife is interested in fabric and crafting. They change them every so often and this one is at the end of its useful life.

I was still stupefied. 

Thank goodness for Paul. I am glad that he keeps me honest. But I am thrilled that he keeps me.

I came home and got to work.

Threadbare edges removed

Beautiful but will need some creative thinking

Later, I covered that hole with a strip of matching Green Solid fabric.

Stabilized with SF-101

Batting

Matching Zippers

I am thrilled with these two zippered pouches - made from a dinner napkin that would have most likely ended up in a landfill.

Happiness is a Quilt!

Paul: What is Phagun?
Me: Phagun is the twelfth and final month of the Hindu lunar calendar, corresponding roughly to February and March. It marks the transition from winter to spring and is widely celebrated as the month of  Holi, the vibrant festival of colors.

And that is exactly what Phagun Quilt is - a vibrant festival of colors.

The Sunflower Spice blog hop runs from today through June 10th.  Here's the list so you can visit all the blogs during the hop:

June 1:  Curlicue Creations 

June 2:  Freemotion by the River

June 3:  Lisa's Quilting Passion

June 5:  Textile Time Travels

June 6:  Lady Blue Quilt Studio

June 7:  Sew Preeti Quilts - You are here

June 8:  Quilted Delights

June 9:  Sew Cute and Quirky

June 10:  The Darling Dogwood

I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.

Forget Me Not

Say hello to Forget Me Not.

Forget Me Not

Forget me Not is a modern interpretation of an Irish Chain Quilt.  Designed in EQ8 and made with Island Batik Fabrics, Forget Me Not was published in Quilters World Spring 2026 Issue.

The issue focuses on "Modern Quilts with Classic Roots" and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

Published

Modern Irish Chain

Made using the fabrics from the Original Aurora Collection (by Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design), Forget Me Not finished at 76" by 100". The background is Glaze (Island Batik Neutral).

Forget Me Not uses one block, strip-pieced that creates a lovely secondary design when the blocks come together.

 

Basting

I am loving the gentle progression of blues and secondary designs in purple and green.

Fading Blues

The batting is Hobbs Cotton/Polyester Blend. I quilted using my Walking Foot, following the grid in my favorite squiggly stitch. Why do I use it all the time, you ask. Because it is so forgiving. When the seams are not perfectly matched the squiggle brings them together.

Crushing on You

Spring & Picnic Ready

A large quilt, Forget Me Not needed two people to model it. 

Two Model Job

Here they are. They are my friend's kids and they were properly compensated for their efforts.

My quilt models

Love you both!

And one last look, with my favorite model. He is speaking! Seriously, this is a silent role. My quilts do the talking.

Thank you, Paul!

But wait, there is more. Some scraps left over from strip-piecing were too large to throw away. They were promptly made into a small baby quilt. I have named him Sky. 

Sky, 33" by 36"

At 33" by 36", Sky will most likely go to Premie Baby Quilts donation for the Inova Hospital in Fairfax.

No Scrap Left Behind

Cute and bright giraffes on the back should fascinate some little guy! 

Cute Backing

_________________________________________________________

In other news, I have completed my Green Blocks for February's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

All scraps are Island Batik. 

Sharing with Angela's Linky Party and all the others. See full list on the sidebar.

These are strange times. I can't believe I have been saying that since 2020 or even longer. Each other is all we have. I am grateful for and to this community. Lots of Love & Squishy Hugs.

Granny Long Legs

Once upon a time, very long ago, when I was a brand new quilter, I came across the Disappearing 9-Patch Quilt Pattern. Sewing a 9-patch block and then cutting it into quarters for FOUR blocks was mind-blowing. 

Sewing first and cutting later was truly fascinating. It also meant less sewing, easier piecing and improved accuracy. This was a Win, Win, Win!!! Except for one small problem - it created a mindset. I am forever looking to simplify patterns such that I sew first and cut later.

Meet Granny Long Legs - completely strip-pieced. 

A Queen-sized Quilt

Are you smiling at the name? Me too :-)  It looks a tiny bit like Granny Square Blocks, but the block is rectangular (not square). Hence the name. That it sounds like Daddy Long Legs is an added bonus :-D

I began working on this quilt more than a year ago.  The pattern was created in EQ8 in October of last year.  I designed Granny Long Legs for the Island Batik's Spring Summer 2022 Catalog using Prairie Blue,  a Spring 2022 collection designed by Kathy Engle. This collection should be available in stores now.

Granny Long Legs uses 11 out of the 20 fabrics in the collection + Smoke, an Island Batik Foundation fabric. I started cutting fabrics in February of this year.

Slivers Monster :-D

I used my Accuquilt Go! Cutter for cutting and sub-cutting as far as possible.

Accuquilt - Ah yes!

The blocks overflowed my design wall...

And it was a beast to baste it.

It was a bitterly cold Sunday in March, when I took the first pictures. 

Beauty and the Blizzard

I used my walking foot for quilting using Schmetz needles and Aurifil 40wt thread. I wanted the binding color to match the border but dark thread on dark fabrics would be an absolute torture on my eyes. A faux piped binding with a skinny sliver of white was the perfect choice.

Faux Piped Binding

Yesterday, Paul and I went to Meadowlark Gardens where we took lots of pictures. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, complicated only by the fact that we had to deal with the bulk of a queen-size quilt. There is no easy way to photograph a 80" by 100" quilt. 

Granny Long Legs

Quilt in Motion

Sunny Day

An uphill battle

I chose to walk up a hill while hoping that the breeze would lift the quilt just enough to get the full picture. Paul, sometimes the model and sometimes the photographer, shifted effortlessly between the two roles. Here he is struggling in his role as the model.

You and Blue - Ooh!!!

Did you notice how the blues pop in the sun and the navy/darker fabrics stand out in the shade?

I saved the best for the last.

My favorite!

Granny Long Legs is now available as a pattern in my Etsy Store. 

There are ten pages of detailed instructions with colored pictures for every step.  

A full page of cutting instructions in a tabular form so that you can keep track and check as you proceed.

Strip piecing techniques ensure that cutting and sewing is minimized. 

Two pages of coloring sheets so that you can audition your fabrics/color choices. 

And it is on sale, at 25% off, till Sunday, 11/13/22. 

What is a pattern release without a giveaway? Since Granny Long Legs uses my favorite technique of Strip Piecing, please let me know in the comments, what is your favorite technique for piecing quilts. Only one entry per person. I will draw two winners and announce on Sunday 11/13/22.  I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.