Modern HST Quilt

I’ve got a backlog of miscellaneous quilts and have been starting to work through them with my new longarm setup — so here’s another one! This is my Modern HST Block of the Month quilt. The pattern was published (for free!) in 2021 by Steph Jacobsen and Zina Clark, and I made this top over the course of 2022 as the Houston MQG block of the month that year.

I assembled the top in January 2023. I quilted it last October on my old longarm…but never trimmed or finished it. In April of this year, I decided to rip out the previous quilting so that I could redo it with an edge-to-edge pantograph. And this month I quilted it again, trimmed and finished it. Hooray!

This was a fun quilt to make, and there are soooo many possibilities for the design depending on fabric choice. I wanted to sew from my stash, and ended up pulling out a bunch of Alison Glass Kaleidoscope remnants. I originally used these fabrics in my Trinket quilt, but I had a half yard bundle of all the fabrics so there was plenty left. The Kaleidoscope fabrics are more loosely woven than typical quilting cottons, and they do fray a lot…but it was manageable.

For the background, I chose the classic Widescreen print by Carolyn Friedlander. I had a couple yards of it that I’d planned to use for a different quilt, but never did — so it worked great with this one! It’s a white-on-white print, and while you can’t really see the print in photos, it adds a nice subtle bit of texture when you’re close to the quilt.

When I quilted this top for the first time last October on my old machine, I quilted one pass of diagonal lines. I had loaded the backing months earlier, and wanted to get it done before selling my old machine. The diagonal lines were fine, but after I got my new longarm and knew that I’d be adding computerization, I reconsidered. Since I hadn’t trimmed or bound the quilt yet, I chose to rip out the diagonal lines. They were about 2″ apart, so fortunately it didn’t take too awfully long to rip those stitches! After a good press, the quilt was ready for re-quilting.

This is the second quilt I’ve done with my Intelliquilter, and I’m very happy with the result! I chose the “easy peasy Baptist fan” pantograph. I like the contrast between the sharp lines of the piecing and the softer curved lines of the panto, and both HSTs and the panto have the modern traditional vibe that I enjoy so much.

I’ve already washed and dried it, and it’s so soft and snuggly now. And bonus — I’m happy to report that the reds and oranges did NOT bleed at all. I’m very happy with the finished quilt! I

The stats:

• Quilt measures 56″ x 64″.
• Pattern is the 2021 Modern HST Block of the Month by Steph Jacobsen and Zina Clark.
• Fabrics are Kaleidoscope by Alison Glass (colors) and Widescreen by Carolyn Friedlander (white).
• Backing and binding is Reverie Posy wideback by Melody Miller for Ruby Star Society.
• Batting is Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly.
• Pieced with Aurifil 50 wt thread in #2600 (Dove).
• Quilted on my APQS Millie with Glide thread in Linen.
• Pantograph is Continuous Baptist Fan from Urban Elementz.