The Part of Quilting I’ve Been Loving Most Lately

Lately my cutting table has looked a little different than usual. 💛

Instead of seasonal fabric bundles and beginner quilt kits, I’ve been spending most of my sewing time working on several memorial T-shirt quilts — projects filled with memories, meaningful shirts, and a lot of careful planning.

And honestly? I’ve realized the part I’ve been loving most lately is the design process itself. 

Over the past few months I’ve been learning more in EQ8 and exploring the design-from-scratch side of the program instead of only using traditional quilt layouts. Being able to plan shirt placement, experiment with block sizing, test backgrounds, and visualize the quilt before cutting has completely changed the way I approach these projects.

For memorial quilts especially, that planning stage matters so much. Every shirt is a different size, color, thickness, and style, so seeing everything laid out ahead of time helps me make better decisions before a rotary cutter ever touches fabric.

One layout I’ve especially enjoyed planning recently involved a special Deutschland (Germany) T-shirt. Instead of simply placing the shirt into the quilt, I was able to design custom strips inspired by the German flag colored stripes to help the block feel more connected to the overall quilt design. ✨

It has also made me appreciate the “quiet” fabrics in quilting even more lately — the blenders, subtle textures, and background fabrics that don’t necessarily demand attention themselves, but help the important pieces stand out.

Sometimes the right black blender or subtle tonal print can completely change how the entire quilt feels.

While I’m still looking forward to cozy autumn sewing and beginner quilt kits again soon, this slower creative planning season has reminded me how much I truly enjoy the designing side of quilting too. ✨