Arches patchwork
2026 Tapestry Garden Sampler
It’s quite unlike me to save the most puzzling blocks in my sampler quilt for last. I’ve been steadily bringing Tapestry Garden quilt to life, truly enjoying all the easy patchwork and simple constructions. Now it was time for a challenge: the Arches blocks.
Cool, right? But how to sew them?
I could think of at least three methods. From the start I ruled out curved piecing. These curves would be a pain to piece. Applique is about 5 times easier!
So, I created three black ovals to applique onto the block base. The ovals will cover the seams between the colored fabric, creating a lovely, streamlined effect. The only remaining question was how to approach those light value triangles between the colored fabrics?
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It almost got complicated. I was considering templates and y-seams for a second there. And then I realized - stitch and flip triangle corners! YES! So easy, so painless, no templates, no fuss! Yay, I love it when something complicated becomes amazingly simple. That’s a really good feeling, friends.
Here you can see the block base before I added the applique ovals. I actually really like the look of this too. It has an elegant gem-like shape that also reminds me of castle windows. I could imagine a quilt made up of these jewels without the applique ovals. If you stagger the blocks the triangles even create a cool zigzag effect. Hm…. Future quilt?
That’s so like a quilter, jumping with inspiration from one quilt to the next. But first, I’ll finish this one, which still had my heart and my design wall. ;) I’ve placed the Arches blocks into the layout, where they create such a cool effect. This block is definitely a favorite.
Beautiful. I love the mix of blocks on the quilt. can't wait to make this quilt. Choosing colors will be a challenge for me. Imagine i will have to try each block with different colors.
Such a fun journey to follow as you design and make this quilt. My "Under the Maple Tree" is finished and bound. I just need to sew down the binding, which I do by hand as I'm totally NOT good at sewing down binding with my domestic machine. I do have a new foot to try out--Janome, bi-level foot. But I'll try on a placemat first. I used the same Tilda soft teal you used. And that gorgeous gold for the non-leaf blocks. But all the leaves came from my stash. They are brighter than yours I think. I'm getting lots of compliments on this quilt and will show it at my two monthly quilt meetings soon. I will make this quilt again most likely--in different color ways. Setting the blocks on point worked really well for me too. This quilt went on the longarm really square as a result--and quilted beautifully. I have mixed emotions about pressing the seams open, so I'm thinking about that. Also, on the little side blocks, I cut the one long strip longer and them trimmed it--and that made that block less fiddly. For whatever that is worth. I'll post pics to my blog when I have the binding on--it's in the coral family and is fairly soft.