Les Bleus d’Alsace 2026 Quiltalong

For our 2026 quilalong, I had a plan but after visiting Alsace, a region in France, my brain led me a different way. 

So here we are- my inspiration was this lovely gray/blue I kept seeing!

Just a little peak on the right.

 

This was the airbnb my daughter and I stayed in 2015. Blue shutters have stole my heart!

Swatches at the linen museum.

And, of course, this quilt displayed in France from the International Quilt Museum.

I've gathered up a few bits of gray/blues and blue printed shirtings. I have one print that is a dark blue. I had to dig deep! I wish I had more French General blues. The quilt will measure about 22" square. 

If you want to sewalong, start digging for the fabrics you'd like to use. 

The name of our quilt is Les Bleus d'Alsace or The Blues of Alsace. Feel free to rename it if you decide NOT to use blues. 

Let me know, either in comment or email to humblequilts@gmail.com if you plan on joining!

Have a lovely week!

PS, I have vintage linens from France in my Etsy store! Check it out HERE  if you'd like. (search linen) 

Parsonsfield Humble Quilts Quiltalong

Are you ready for this years' sewalong? 

This year will be a little different than the past few years. It's not a mystery!

I was inspired by an antique done in "low volume" circa 1920's

I wasn't sure how I was going to like it but I really do! 

It has SO many shirtings!

I'm calling it Parsonsfield. 

I've put together a little starter pack of 3" strips (12 different ones) to help you add variety to your little quilt. The cost is $6.50 plus shipping.

These range in length from 18-22" but equal 1/2 yard. 

If you'd like to purchase a pack please email me with your name and address at humblequilts@gmail.com and I'll figure out postage and send a total.

If you would like a piece large enough for the backing I can sell you 2/3 of a yard for an additional $6.50. 

 I take paypal, venmo, cash, or check.

No problem if you have plenty! We will start next Wednesday and I sure hope you'll join in!

 

Land That I Love Finale!

The finished quilt as shown will be approx 18x26.5

Many of you were concerned about the busy prints and fabrics. I chose blue (like the antique) which does calm it down a bit.   (do you find my error humble design element? I only noticed after it was entirely completed.

Choose your fabric and cut:

(2) 6 1/2" squares

The following are a tad oversized to give you some wiggle room for trimming after getting your top together. 

(2) 5 1/2" squares then cut once on the diagonal to make 4 triangles. These will be your 4 corners. 

Cut (2) 10" squares, then cut twice on the diagonal for 8 triangles. (we will only use 6) 

Lay out your pieces as shown. We will assemble them on the diagonal, row by row. When attaching rows to each other I use a pin right at the seams so the blocks will be lined up. Once you get the top together make sure to admire your lovely creation!

Layer your top, batting and backing to prepare for quilting. (if you are a new quilter and don't really know what that means ask, please!) 

I machine quilted the long seams in the ditch  and hand quilted the rest. 

I hand quilted one direction about 3/4" apart. 

I used a red print for the binding.

Here is the vintage quilt I used for inspiration.  You can see the backing was folded over to the front to bind. 

It is so charming! I hope you had fun and love your quilt! I'll have a linky party in a couple of weeks so we can all share in the finish! You can add your quilt even if it isn't quilted yet. 

We went camping last weekend and I brought my little quilt to the Land That I Love for photo ops! 

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends.

 

Quilting and A Glamping

Ever heard of Glamping? Its a mix of camping and glamour. Inside our large tent was a bed and a lot of amenities for those who may not like to camp. It was a lovely gift from our employees. 

I'd like to point out on the empty chair is the 2021 Humble Quilts quiltalong that I am hand quilting! 

On our way to our weekend of glamping we hiked to Green Lakes in the Three Sisters Wilderness. 

This is South Sisters which is a popular mountain to summit. (I've done it twice) 

Looking the other direction is Broken Top. All part of the Cascade Range. 

There's Elsa cooling off in the lake too!

Not much quilt content going on in my life right now. When I'm not working I'm enjoying all the daylight hours of summer before it is over. I noticed already it is so dark at 8:30. Boo-Hoo.

Much love

 

50 Shades of Brown Linky Party!

I am so thrilled to see so many of you sewing along making this little quilt! I thought it may be too simple, but maybe that is what we needed this year.  Thank you so all so much!

My inspiration is Central Oregon in late summer.

Now it's time to share your quilts with me and each other! 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

50 Shades of Brown Finale

Here is my finished top! I used 4 different directional fabrics for the border! 

Fun and humble!

My border is cut 2 1/2" wide. Depending on how you want to add your border, you'll need to figure out the length for your quilt.

I lightened this up so you could see the quilting. 

The top border has unmarked diagonal lines. The left border has the same unmarked lines going in a different direction then the top. 

The right border I quilted straight lines across  the little "arrows" randomly spaced apart. 

The bottom has quilting lines going across from left to right.

The center I quilted in X's and in the ditch between the squares. 

I didn't mark anything! Only eyeballed it.

I bound it in tan muslin. 

And.....BOOM!

Here is the adorable original antique!

How can you NOT love that stitching on the top??!!

I hope you had fun making 50 Shades of Brown!

I'll have a linky party next week so we can see them all together!

Much love

 

50 Shades of Brown part 2

Now cut 18 2 1/2" brown squares using various shades and prints of brown. The original little quilt has quite a bit of striped and one way fabric in it. 

I layed mine out somewhat like the original, having the 2 pink blocks near each other and the blue off by itself.  There was no rhyme or reason/light and dark on the layout.  It was super scrappy and humble!

 

Then piece the top together.  I don't have a photo without the border. But this layout is how I piece most of my quilts. 

What makes this quilt super charming is the border! The antique uses 4 one way fabrics! For now, look through your stash and see what options you have then meet me back here next Monday for the finale.

Make it a terrific week no matter your circumstances!

50 Shades of Brown Part 1

 Good morning! I had such a wonderful week away!! 26+ miles backpacking, then 3 days in a cute little cabin with my honey to recover and be ready to get back to work. It was pretty amazing!! I'll share a few photos on Wednesday. 

For now, we are going to make 4 patches for 50 Shades of Brown.

I told you there was a smidge of pink and blue. This is what is in my quilt. I did NOT strip piece these because I want a big variety. These are 1 1/2" squares. If you want it like mine, make one with 2 blue patches and make 2 more with 4 pink patches. 

Then using a variety (it really doesn't need to be 50 different browns- lol ) make 14 more 4 patches using 1 1/2" squares.  Your unfinished size should be 2 1/2".

Admire your cute little patches!!

Have a terrific week!

50 Shades of Brown Quiltalong

If you would like to sewalong here's a sampling of the various shades of browns I used. The quilt is going to measure approx 14"x18" so it's likely you really won't need 50!! LOL 

If you watched the video from last Friday you know I mentioned a teeny bit of pink (4- 1 1/2" squares) and a teeny bit of blue (2- 1 1/2" squares) 

You'll be surprised at how many different shades of brown there is. Some are tinted with yellow, some are a bit more red. If you lay them out and one keeps looking out of place, then just pull it out. Find a nice variety and be ready to start a super easy quiltalong when I return on Monday September 21st. 

As for the name: 

This is my world late summer- lots of brown!

Most recently our usual amazing blue skies are brown!

It got so thick not even the sun was peaking through. 

So many shades of brown! 

No matter what's going on, have a terrific week.