On the Diagonal

Half square triangles and the second workshop in this slow study of quilt making.

Feb 26, 2026

Sitting down to write to you about this month’s workshop, I realized something I hadn’t fully named yet. This isn’t just about teaching quilt-making — it’s about becoming.

As we worked through the half square triangles, I had the quiet realization that this is the kind of teaching I’ve been wanting to grow into. Not only large retreats or far-flung travel — though those have their place (and yes, I’ll be sharing two summer workshops soon) — but small, local gatherings. Women I know. Friends of friends. Familiar faces around a table.

There’s something deeply grounding about teaching at this scale. Bite-sized. Close to home. Built into the rhythm of ordinary life.

It feels less like building something outward and more like settling inward — into a way of working that fits who I am right now.

I’m not focused on scaling, performing, building a brand, or chasing reach.

I’m drawn to something local, embodied, relational — small enough to feel real and sustainable alongside mothering and art-teaching.

That’s a quiet kind of self-actualization.
Not loud ambition, but alignment.

And maybe that’s what foundations are really about.

We think we’re learning how to piece a half square triangle — two squares, one seam, one cut on the diagonal — but what we’re really practicing is how a small shift can change the whole structure.

The diagonal transforms the square. Movement appears where there was once stillness. Pattern emerges from something very simple.

Maybe becoming works that way too.

Not by expanding outward endlessly, but by choosing what fits. What can be sustained. What can be repeated without burning out.

Starting small. Returning to basics. Building something that can hold.

This month we worked on the diagonal. Next month, we’ll make flying geese.

Below are images from the workshop, along with the step-by-step handouts for those who’d like to try making half square triangles themselves.