In ballet, “en pointe,” means that the dancers are up on their toes in what are called “pointe shoes.” While spelled differently and lacking shoes, putting a quilt on point is essentially the same concept– instead of being lined up in rows and columns along their flat sides, the blocks are stood up on a corner to make diamonds. There are a few extra considerations when arranging blocks this way, so let’s talk about how to set a quilt on point.

I think just about every quilt can “work” with different quilting plans, but it has been my observation that once we see a quilt pattern quilted a certain way, it can be hard to imagine an alternative. One of the gifts I’ve observed with Lanterns of Hope, though, is that changing the color palette dramatically changes the appearance of the quilt, making it easier to see new quilting possibilities.

As much as the rotary cutter improved cutting for quilters, the Stripology rulers take fast, accurate cutting to a whole new level. Today, we’ll talk about how the Stripology XL ruler works, its pros and cons, and a few patterns that are perfect ways to practice using this amazing tool.

Once you finish cutting all your yardage into squares, rectangles, triangles, etc, it’s finally time to sit down and piece your quilt top! However, without good project organization, it will quickly become difficult to keep track of which fabric correlates to which color in the pattern, which piece is which, etc. Let’s talk about how a bit of labeling and a good ol’ project tray can save the day.

Lanterns of Hope is a modern traditional deconstructed log cabin quilt set on point. It has very large setting triangles, and much smaller block centers, as well as a whopping eight colors. Let’s use the key principles of value, color, and scale to discuss ways to choose colors and fabrics to make your Lanterns of Hope quilt.