The Twisted Trail Quilt

The Twisted Trail Quilt was my last flimsy finished in 2021 and I waited until this month to finally finish it so I could write a tutorial (yes, I’m joining Kathleen McMusing’s Tips & Tutorial on the 22nd #25 Linky Party) on how simple and quick this quilt is to make and even more nicer, a great stash buster. If you’re like me who has been quilting for over twenty-five years and started out as a traditional quilter, you may still have a stash of Thimbleberries, Kansas Troubles or Civil War or primitive/country prints which you still love even though the colors and prints are not as fun as the new modern prints-this would be a great pattern to use for these fabrics.

Last November, I posted my Hocus Quilt which was inspired by Gudrun Erla’s Locus Quilt which is a layer cake pattern for 10” squares of fabric. The Hocus Quilt used a different size square because I had at one time cut up a bunch of smaller squares with my Kansas Trouble stash. I named this quilt Hocus as in Pocus since I thought it was so magical that these rail blocks were made from squares and not from strips. I also mentioned in this post that I wanted to make another quilt like this but would use strips instead of squares and also use my stash of Thimbleberries fabrics. I love making quilts with strips, usually 2.5” that I die-cut and rail fence blocks are one of my favorite because of the fast and simple construction and it goes really well with lots of different types of fabrics. Rail Fence Quilts are my go-to pattern for baby quilts, quilts gift/donation quilts  and also the best for quilts you know are going to be used/abused a lot which in house means that they’re going to be thrown on the floor or one of our dogs can be found snuggling with it. These are the quilts I like to lay on a couch or chair.

I decided to name my follow up to the Hocus Quilt, the Twisted Trail Quilt since it is made with strips,  the blocks are larger and the layout is different, plus I wanted to allude to it being a rail fence pattern. I originally pulled fifty-six prints from my Thimbleberries stash which was easy to do since there was a time, especially when I worked at the quilt shop, I used to buy prints from every collection when it was released and only stopped buying them almost twenty years ago when I left the shop and by that time acquired a nice stash.

I had planned to make the Twisted Trail quilt 84” long but had to reduce it to 78” (which I will explain later in the post) so I ended only using forty-four prints which was still more than needed. This is where the start of my tutorial on how to make the blocks begin once you decide on your fabrics. Like with most rail fence patterns, there should be good contrast between the fabrics, like light and dark, etc.

• Block Size: 6”x 18” wide
• Two different fabrics are used for each block and there are two block layouts, Type A & Type B
• Three strips measuring 2.5” x21” in each color is needed and will make (2) blocks. If your strip are less than 21” then you will need additional strips

My color palette for the Twisted Trailer quilt used blues and greens paired with beige/tan lights for my Type A Blocks and reds and browns paired with gold lights for my Type B Blocks.

For the Type A blocks, sew two strip sets, one with the color fabric on the top and bottom with the light in the middle and the other strip set with the light on the top and bottom and the color print in the middle. Press the seams according to the yellow arrows.

• The strip set with the color fabric (blue) on the top and bottom should be cut in (2) 9.5” segments
• The strip set with the color fabric (blue) in the middle should be cut in (4) 5” segments

Per the top pic, sew one 5” segment on each side of the 9.5” segment and press the seams towards the center segment.  These blocks should measure 6.5” x 18.5”.

For the Type B blocks, sew two strip sets, one with the light fabrics on the top and bottom and the color print in the middle and the other strip set with the color fabric on the top and bottom and the light fabric in the middle. Press seams according to the yellow arrows.

• The strip set with the color fabric (red) in the middle should be cut into (2) 9.5” segments
• The strip set with the color fabric (red)  on the top and bottom should be cut into (4) 5” segments

Per the top pic, sew one 5” segment on each side of the 9.5” segment and press the seams away from the center segment. These blocks should measure 6.5” x 18.5”.

In the top pic of the two block types, you can see how they alternate with each other once they are sewn together and in the bottom photo, the seams of the blocks will nest with each other when sewn together whether horizontally or vertically.

The Twisted Trail quilt measures 54” x 78” with three blocks across and thirteen blocks down; a total of thirty-nine blocks, (20) Type A and (19) Type B. To determine how many strips to cut, you will first have to decide on what size you want to make the quilt. As mentioned earlier, three strips of two different fabrics measuring 2.5” x 21” will make two blocks. For this quilt, just 10 strip set of each color combination needed to be sewn; there was one extra Type B block left. This quilt sews quickly as long as you remember to sew and press your Type A and B correctly . And this, ends the block tutorial and I hope it is not confusing.

I had wanted to make the Twisted Trail Quilt longer, especially since I had enough fabric but the reason why I had to reduce it was because of the above fabric which is an almost twenty year Marcus Bros. Print called Story Dogs which I purchased a whole bolt of it when I worked at the quilt shop. I love these hound dogs since one of them reminded me of our dearly departed blue tick coonhound and I had previously used some for a backing for a quilt made with Thimbleberries fabric. I still had enough left over and was planning on using it for the Hocus Quilt but when I saw the colors, I knew it would go better with the Thimbleberries fabric which is another good reason why the Twisted Trail Quilt needed to be made—the backing was cut and already sewn for a 78” long quilt and which is why this quilt couldn’t be any longer.

Machine quilting was a combination straight and wavey lines with a golden tan Star Machine Thread. Doesn’t the backing look wonderful with all of the Thimbleberries prints? This quilt will be going to the Grandparent House. It turns out that Grandpa’s recliner, the most popular chair in the living room and coveted by the darling granddaughter and the four-legged creatures is the only chair that does not have a quilt covering it; yes, I expect this quilt will be thrown on the floor by you know who.

Even though I said that my stash of traditional fabrics would be great for the Twisted Trail pattern, I’m now thinking it would work well with my stash of patriotic fabric, I’m already envisioning making one with a slightly different layout, and also seasonal/holiday fabrics. You can also make this quilt just using like all blues and lights, just designate which blues are to be used for which block type. Also, a suggestion, do not use the same fabric for both block types because as Quilt Karma layout would have it, the blocks with the same fabrics will be next to each other and you won’t notice it until after the quilt is finished. I do think some of my modern stash which I usually reserve for my Ernie Quilts might work as well. It’s really a great pattern to use up the stash and makes a very happy, scrapppy quilt.

I’m having a pretty productive January so far as this is my third Finally Finish for the month. Cold, snowy weather makes great sewing conditions. I would have a fourth finally finish, Petal Pop, my January quilt for the Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge, but it’s only a flimsy right now. I had hoped to have quilted it by now but I ordered some white batting in which the first shipment was lost and the replacement won’t be here until the end of the month. Bummer, for a no pressure Challenge, I still hate missing a deadline.

Meanwhile, I started a new project—a new pattern (not an affiliate link) with mostly new fabrics. We’re experiencing some sub-zero temperatures for the next few days so I will be sewing me some fun. Good news, all the die-cutting and rotary cutting— I did not hurt my knee.

Linking up with: Kathleen McMusing Tips and Tutorial on the 22nd and My Quilt Infatuation/NTT

Postcard from Sweden sQALrrel

I started the New Year off with having no set plans or projects; just to continue participating in the 2021/22 Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and the yearly mmm Quilts Celebrating a Famous Canadian Birthday QAL which usuallly starts in April. Apparently now, I’m participating in two of Sandra’s QAL this year having just finished my Postcard from Sweden quilt. This one was really done under the auspices of a sQALrrel lead by madammmenabler my latest name for you know who.

I had just finished my flimsy for January’s CT UFO Challenge and had a few days to make another Brown Bear quilt for the darling Granddaughter before we left for the GP House, but what did my wondering eyes happened to see on IG on January 10th that Sandra was hosting another Postcard from Sweden QAL starting on January 16th. For a brief minute, I sort of shrugged it off having participated in the first QAL and thinking I didn’t need another one since I’m not a big fan of making quilts with solid color fabric. (You can see and read the details from the first PFS quilt Here.) But then my mind got to thinking of other possibilities this quilt could be made with like, Grunge or other tone on tone fabrics which I’ve amassed during the last months of 2021 but then realized that the latest Postcard from Sweden (PFS) quilt would be so interesting in Marcia Derse fabrics which I’ve been collecting for over ten years. I still had the pattern, fabric cards I made of the Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons and Peppered Cottons used for the first PFS quilt and the extra HSTs leftover which came in handy so rather than waiting to start on the official start date, I wanted to start right away to see if my idea of using prints would work. 

The color cards helped in in choosing which Marcia Derse fabrics were similar to the Shot Cotton/Peppered Cotton used before and I did not limit my selection to just solids but also included prints which I thought would add an interesting look to my second PFS quilt. (I might add thatI did this when I should have been working on the Brown Bear II Quilt of which I’m saying I took a brief “Paws”.) The original PFS quilt used 36 different fabrics but for PFS II I used 46 different fabrics since there were some Marcia Derse fabrics which I didn’t have enough of and used Shot and Peppered cotton HST leftovers of the same color number and mixed it with that. I did have to resort using one Lonni Rossi print for the one color I still didn’t have enough so there is one color number which uses three different prints which makes PFS II so interesting.

Even though the QAL did not officially start until January 16th, my blocks were finished by the 13th, right before leaving for the GP House with the Brown Bear II quilt in tow. I made my blocks one at a time to make sure the correct fabric was in the right place and the seams were pressed in the right direction. I normally walk over to the ironing board which is a few feet away to press but decided to purchase a TV tray to make an ironing station next to  my sewing machine in order to keep my blocks straight and to save time—what a difference.

Sandra “egg-couraged” me by saying that my PFS quilt would probably be finished by the 18th but only the flimsy was. It could have been done if we didn’t go to the GP House and although it would have been tempting to stay home it wasn’t enough for me to give up seeing my darling Granddaughter even though she had a cold/cough. Fortunately, we returned home with our health in check and the PFS II quilt was a finally finished on the 20th.

Like the first PFS Quilt, machine quilting was done with wavey lines, 1” apart and a CT Essential Thread in Magenta was used. While sewing this quilt, I was worried about the binding since I knew I did not have any yardage of a Marcia Derse fabric I could used but fortunately last year I inadvertently ordered a yard of V&Company ombré woven fabric in Magenta which worked well with this quilt.