291. Show and Tell

 You can never go wrong with a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, even though they are almost guaranteed to have a gazillion little pieces.

I fell in love with Show and Tell from the first time I saw it. What is not to love about cute animals holding up little quilt blocks?! 

 I really enjoyed making each block in this quilt. I knew from the start that it would be a donation to the MCC quilt auction in April 2026.

  

Probably my favorite photo of this quilt (cute grandson not up for auction...)

It's always fun to donate a quilt to an organization that raises funds for such a worthy cause--Third World Relief. It sold for $650.

Quilt Name: Show and Tell

Quilt Designer: Elizabeth Hartman

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Helene Shannon

Completed 2026

Size: 75" x 85" 

Donated to: West Coast Mennonite Relief Sale 

280. Flower Vase Embroidery

This is the second "embroidery" quilt designed by Tilda Fabrics. As soon as this version came out, I purchased the kit. With 47 different solid colors, although I probably could have made it from stash, I thought this would be easier.

These little bins made it easy to sort the colors.

Because I purchased the kit, there was not much waste of fabric.

I used the same method for each of the nine sections, which made the sections go together fairly easily.

This wideback fabric by Tula Pink had the perfect colors for the backing.

After the quilting, I attempted something for the first time--a scalloped border. It turned out to be easier than I thought and I'm very happy with it.

In Apil 2026, I donated the quilt to the West Coast Mennonite Relief Sale. I was thrilled to see it displayed in the front. Prices were very low this year, so I was happy that it sold for $500.

 

 

Quilt: Flower Vase Embroidery

Pattern: Tilda USA

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Helene Shannon

Completed March 2025

Size: 85" x 103"

Donated to WCMRS, sold for $500 

252. Squarevoiyant

 Squarevoiyant is a pattern by Amanda of Quiltcakes. Last fall she posted a photo of her pattern done in some very soft colors. I realized I had a stack of wovens in much the same colors and decided they would be perfect.

I had the option of sewing it together without sashing--

--or with sashing. I'm glad I chose the sashing option. I'm happy with the ombre effect too.

I sent it to Darby, and we chose a cute flower design.

I haven't purchased much fabric lately, but one time I was at my LQS I found this cool fabric and bought the rest of the bolt. It turned out to be just perfect for this quilt!

Quilt: Squarevoiyant

Pattern: Squarevoiyant by Amanda of Quiltcake

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Completed: December 2023

Size: 66" x 66"

Donated to MCC in 2025, sold to Courtney and Kyle Young, $200

242. Gradient

 Gradient is one of those quilts that is successful because of the perfect combination of design and fabric. Years ago, I had purchased four eight-step ombre bundles of Cherrywood fabric. If you have not worked with Cherrywood, it is a beautiful hand-dyed cotton fabric with the look of suede, headquartered in Minnesota (so Mark would of course say it has to be great!). Shortly after that, my dear friend Amanda @crazymomquilts designed several quilts for her second line of fabric and this one was perfect for the Cherrywood fabric. In addition to the four colors, I added pale gray to black, pairing the lightest colors with the black and the darkest colors with the pale gray.

It was now a rectangle about 30" x 33".  I'm not a huge fan of wall hangings so I knew some kind of border was in order.  I decided on an asymmetrical border with a few triangles here and there.

I had originally thought I would hand quilt it with white to black perle cotton. But then I decided to do a reverse color order in each quadrant--lightest perle cotton in the darkest colors, moving to darker thread colors in the lightest fabric colors. Honestly, I'm not thrilled with the outcome. The lighest threads look nearly white against the black borders. But it's finished and there is no changing it now. 

It wasn't until I was working in the blue quadrant that I realized one of the triangle units was incorrect. The quilt has kind of an Amish feel to it, so  we will call this my "humility square." 

I used big swatches of color for the backing. 

This was the first time I did a big stitch on the binding, changing colors to match each quadrant (but it really does look like white, right?)

We photographed it in front of one of my very favorite murals, Amazing Grace.

Quilt name: Gradient

Design by: Cindy Wiens (with center design by Amanda Jean Nyberg)

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Hand quilted by: Cindy Wiens

Size: 51" x 56"

Donated to MCC in 2025, sold to Jordan Wiebe and Gia Vang, $90

240. Embroidery Flower

 In 2021 or 2022, Tilda Fabrics released a free pattern called Embroidery Flower. It mimicked the look of beautiful old-fashioned needlepoint. This is what the website says: 

● Easy
This lovely quilt is quite unusual and is reminiscent of floral needlepoint embroideries, recreated here using a subtle mixture of solid fabrics on a dark peacock background. The design is made up of just squares in a single size, so there’s lots of easy cutting and sewing, although for the best result you do have to match up seams neatly when sewing the patches together.

There are 46 different colors in the quilt. Could I have made it with my own stash? Of course. Did I want to try pulling out all those colors and make sure they were just right? Not a chance. Also, I had not worked with Tilda solids before. I have sewed with solids from nearly every fabric manufacturer and had been wanting to try Tilda, so that was my justification. I can say that I look forward to working with Tilda fabrics again.

I think "easy" is an interesting choice to describe this quilt. It takes a lot of organization. We happened to have a lot of divided containers that we had never used before, and they were perfect for this project! I also ordered the numbered color dividers for a couple of dollars, very helpful.

Each square is cut at 2", finishing at 1.5"! Lots of trimming. Of note, there are 2,268 pieces in this quilt!

I had read several different methods of making this quilt, but ended up going with the pattern instructions. It is divided into nine different units, 14 squares across and 17 squares down. I put numbered post-it notes on my design wall, then added the squares in each horizontal line. 

Then I sewed each horizontal row together, and pressed each row in opposing directions so rows would nest together. Then repeated the process eight more times.

This was by far my favorite block, as it incorporated so many beautiful colors!

I had Darby do a simple loopy quilting design.

When it was time to photograph the quilt, a nursery seemed the logical choice. We headed to one of our favorites, Gazebo Gardens.

I always knew from the very beginning that this was going to be donated to MCC for the quilt auction. 

What I did not anticipate was that it would be one of the few quilts hung in the front.

I also did not anticipate that it would bring the highest amount of the day, $5,500!

This quilt was such a joy to make. Tilda Fabrics has released a second embroidery quilt design. Yes, I printed out the pattern and yes I ordered the kit. I just need a little more time before I'm ready for such an intense sewing session again.

Quilt Name: Embroidery Flower

Designed by: Tilda Fabrics

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Size: 63" x 81"

Completed: 2023

Sold at MCC charity auction: $5,500