Old Maid, new maid

You know what I love? When “start a new quilt” is at the top of my mental “to do” list. That is a good way to start the week! I had in mind to sew a more challenging quilt next, but wasn’t feeling it this morning. Instead, I gave myself the gift of freedom and have embarked on a feel-good, easy sew.

These are my fabrics. I started by rooting around in my big scraps, because using up leftovers is always a good feeling. My goal with this quilt is just that - feel good. After making a pile of maybe scraps, I started fresh, pulling just the ones that spoke to me most, adding a few fabrics from my stash to emphasize certain colors and creating this spread.

And the patchwork? I’m sewing a classic block called Old Maid’s Puzzle. I do wonder how this name ever stuck, given that women have historically been the power behind quilt-making and “old maid” was never a compliment. After all, quilting was something that many women did, married or single, young or old.

Well, no matter. I am a woman over forty who is not in a relationship, but I feel more like a new maid than an old one. Here’s to new maid’s everywhere, feeling good and creating beauty with their hands!

My first two blocks are twinkling! The one on the left is my favorite because it has high value contrast between the background and the triangle shapes. Note to self.

I am sewing 3” finished HST blocks for a 9” finished overall block. It’s a nice, medium size.

So, here is a row of possible future block combinations. I am appreciating that with Old Maid’s Puzzle you only combine two fabrics at at time. Sometimes it’s good to keep it simple.

xoxo, Rachel