Quiet Beginnings

The first workshop, the nine-patch, and beginning again

I’m sharing these notes for anyone who couldn’t be in the room, but is quietly considering beginning a quilt.
This feels worth offering outward, for anyone standing at the edge of starting.

The coldest morning in Central Texas this winter—just below freezing. A day that delights me every year. The air becomes sharper, sounds travel farther, the barometric pressure shifts. It was a morning like this that brought on my labor with Chappy, December 1, 2020.

It feels like a quiet holiday. You never know when it will arrive, and when it does, I celebrate in my mind’s eye winter’s threshold. And here in Texas, the sun is almost always bright and warm. That contrast feels life-giving.

The perfect weather for a January workshop—quiet beginnings and endings. Beginning something new. Beginning again at sewing. Ending the wait to be here. The idea no longer just an idea—it’s actualized.

This was the first class in a series on foundational quilt blocks, starting with the nine-patch, which is built from nine equal squares (or sometimes not-so-equal shapes). The nine-patch is one of the easiest patchwork blocks and a wonderful entry point for making your first quilt—or returning to quilting after time away. I adore this block. It’s a timeless classic that becomes entirely unique to the maker through color choices, fabric selection, and the way the pieces are arranged. When the blocks are set together, those choices can create beautiful secondary patterns.

The tender part for me was realizing how comfortable I felt helping first-time quilters—not only with making their first quilt block, but also with learning to use a sewing machine. I breathed a real sigh of relief after working through sewing machine hiccups together. Either I know enough about sewing machines now, or they’ve improved greatly since my childhood.

It felt like another threshold crossed. Not just teaching, but trusting myself inside the role. Watching people arrive uncertain and leave holding something they made with their own hands. Quiet work. Small squares. A cold morning. Something beginning.

It was everyone’s first time making a 9 patch quilt block. Over three hours together, all eight of us reached our goal, completing between one and four blocks.

I gathered inspiration from Pinterest to show the wide range of compositions possible from such a simple block. Apologies for missing credits—if this is your work, please holler. I love it.

The handout from the workshop

The reference and inspiration books I brought to class: The Patchwork Quilt Design and Coloring Book and It’s Okay If You Sit on My Quilt are two of my favorite go-to teaching references. Also, Yours Truly Publications is a rad name.

Examples I made to show scale: 6”, 9”, and 12” blocks

Cheers to hyper-local community and connection. Deeply grateful to this beautiful new studio, Loom Creative, for opening its doors to creative workshops in our area.

XO, Maura

P.S. Something I picked up from conversation in the workshop: Luck Star Art Camp for women in Hunt, Texas. It sounds a lot like a Slow Stitching Retreat, but located here in Texas. Worth checking out if you’re looking for a creative retreat this November. Have you been?!

Also, Sara B at Farm and Folk has a wonderful step-by-step tutorial on Nine-Patch quilts: you can find it here