Red Sky at Night - A Sampler Quilt Even I Would Make!

I tried making sampler quilts when I first took up quilting. I really did. I just loved the look of them and the imagined feeling of accomplishment. I signed up for the quilt-alongs and bought the books, and then I would get about 6 blocks in and quit. I wouldn't have a tantrum or throw in the towel or anything like that. I would just start thinking, “I really should choose the fabrics for the next block” or “I really should get the book out and look up the instructions for the next block" but I wouldn't. Instead, I would pick up something in the flow. Something prepared, that didn't require me to think. 

I used to think this was laziness, or that I was too easily distractible, or that I was too eager to dive into projects and never finish them. But over the years I've gotten to know myself better. I've finished a lot of quilts. I've kept a business going even when it's hard. I've kept children alive and loved even when it's hard! ;P

What I've learned about myself instead, is that head-space is a limited resource. I've got my 100 tabs open in my head: what's for dinner and who needs picking up and the washing that's in the machine and the emails that need replying and whether there's enough money to cover the groceries if I pay that other bill now. I need quilting to be my refuge from all that. I need to make a few decisions at the beginning and then enjoy getting lost in the process.

So when I went back over my old Red Sky at Night Quilt and got the hankering to make it again, I immediately squashed it. I know that once I was a few blocks in, I'd hate it. I'm not doing that to myself again!

The hankering however, went undeterred. I just couldn't get this quilt out my head! I became like my 10 year old, trying to find work arounds or bargains after I've said no to her making a fish tank in her room out of one of our huge storage tubs. The conversation in my head went something like this:

Keen Me: What if I set it up in a way you would like it? 

Wise and Experienced Me: Ok, what would that look like? 

Keen Me: Well, we could prepare a bunch of the units beforehand, like all the Flying Geese? 

Wise and Experienced Me: Yes, but the blocks have all different sized units. I still don't think that would flow nicely. 

Keen Me: Well, what if we just chose blocks that had the same sized units? Like… what if they were all 9 patch blocks, and were 9" finished? Then all the Flying Geese would be the same size, and you could make them at the start! 

Wise and Experienced Me: Actually, that's a pretty good idea… 

Keen Me: We could add some EPP blocks in the mix so you could still enjoy your stitching in the evenings or during swimming lessons? 

Wise and Experienced Me: Ok. Deal!

And so Keen Me was set loose to make a quilt Wise and Experienced Me would actually enjoy making. I went through my old patchwork books, chose blocks with the basic 9-patch format, picked out my favourite designs that were better suited to English Paper Piecing, and came up with the new Red Sky at Night Quilt!

I took the approach of a 2 colour quilt - much easier to batch units if everything's the same colour. But once I started sewing my 2 colour version, I realised it would work for scrappy! Not scrappy in the traditional sampler format, with 2 or 3 colours per block, but in an all-over scrappy layout, one where I cut the squares from all different colours at the beginning, make the units, and then put them together at random. 

Now this quilt had me, hook, line and sinker.

The new Red Sky at Night is made up of 49 machine pieced blocks, all made up of common units - HSTs, hourglass, squares and rectangles, etc. There are 90 flying geese in this quilt, and all are prepared, using the fun and easy “4 at a time” method, before you make any of your blocks.  And those little half square triangles can be daunting, no matter which way you face them, but I'm so glad I didn't have to stop, cut out 6 squares in each colour, sew them into HSTs, make the block, for each block. I cut them all at once, sewed them in a long chain, then cut, pressed and trimmed them. It was a big job, but it was made easier by the fact that I just needed to start each process once, and then get into a groove, with a good movie or fun audio book for company.

Once I'd gotten my head into the machine sewing, I started to prepare the EPP blocks. The English paper piecing is a completely different headspace, and I found myself wondering if I was being silly, just trying to be 'on brand' by including it, but I ended up being completely chuffed with it for 2 reasons. One is that I really enjoy my evening routine of EPP and either an audio-book, or some TV. I just couldn't sit at my machine in the evenings and relax! Having EPP that still made progress towards this quilt was perfect for that evening stitching, plus the other regular times in my week like Finlay's Tuesday night swimming lessons, when I get fidgety and impatient if I don't have some stitching to do.

The second reason was the interest it gave to the quilt. I love the big centrepiece Star of Bethlehem, and the other EPP blocks and how they add just a bit of extra interest and focus to the quilt. I love the version without them also, but it feels a little like it's missing something. That focal point to rest the eye.

I'm surprised and delighted with myself that, using this batching method, I've finished not only one, but TWO Red Sky at Night Quilts, with a third, made up of only the EPP blocks, and a 4th, which I made during the 2024 Quilt-Along! Making these blocks was a joy and so darn satisfying, like finding the right puzzle pieces. The perfect mix of focus and repetition, with interest and variety. I've you've always loved the look of sampler quilts, but just known you'd never finish them, you're going to love Red Sky at Night.