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Monday, May 25, 2026

Curves in Quilts = A New Project

The program for last week's guild meeting was "Tackling Curves in Quilts" presented by Mary Ruth Hudson. She shared a great variety of different designs that all featured curves. The next day, she taught a workshop with the Blue Onion pattern by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts.


That pattern might look familiar to anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile. I made the Blue Onion pattern back in 2021, renaming my version "Blooming Onion," and it is still a favorite of mine. I really need to get this one quilted and finished!


There were a few reasons that I took the workshop even though I had already made this design before. One was the fun of enjoying a sewing day with guild friends and learning some new tricks from an excellent teacher. Another was the fact that the class fee included the ruler that the Blue Onion pattern was designed to use. (The pattern does include instructions for cutting the pieces without the ruler, and that is how I made my earlier version.


I didn't choose any fabrics for this project until two days before the class. My plan was to make a smaller version of the pattern, and I knew I could pull enough fabrics from my stash. I started with these three coordinating prints that I've had in my stash since around 1999, then pulled other fabrics to go with them.


We had a great time in class, and most of us got at least six blocks made. As expected, I did learn some new tricks from Mary Ruth, and I continued making more blocks after I got home on Friday and through the weekend. I still have one more set of six blocks to finish piecing. I've started playing with possible layouts. 



This is going to be an extremely bright quilt! My plan is to use 20 blocks for the quilt top, which should finish at 40" x 50". I hope to get the last group of blocks made today, and maybe even get them all joined together into a quilt top too. 


I'm  linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Musings at Songbird Designs
Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA
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6 comments:

  1. Cherie MooreMay 25, 2026 at 8:55 AM

    Oh wow, you definitely need to get your Blooming Onion top finished….it’s spectacular! I like the diagonal setting for your new blocks. You didn’t mention, was the ruler helpful?

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  2. NannMay 25, 2026 at 10:55 AM

    I won your Blue Onion leftovers in one of Cynthia's UFO swaps -- a long time ago! They're still in the mailing envelope. Maybe I need to try those onions for myself.

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  3. MissPatMay 26, 2026 at 7:56 PM

    I really like the braided version in the second layout. And your first blue onion is spectacular. You do need to finish it. I've never done and curved quilting. I suppose I should at least give it a try.
    Pat

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  4. Brenda @ Songbird DesignsMay 30, 2026 at 11:30 AM

    Oooh, Julie! I love this. It is a really cool pattern and I like the way you are changing it up for this quilt. Sounds like a great class. I bet that ruler makes it much easier! Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings.

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  5. KateMay 31, 2026 at 8:55 AM

    You picked some fun fabrics! I really like that second layout, it has a lot of movement in it. Enjoy your new project.

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  6. Jennifer Fulton Inquiring QuilterJune 1, 2026 at 11:06 AM

    What a lovely quilt! When you showed the three prints you'd selected, I thought they looked busy but it turned out that you picked exactly what this quilt needed. It turned out perfect. I can't wait to see the finish. This is going to be lovely. Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
    https://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2026/05/27/wednesday-wait-loss-486

    ReplyDelete