By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador

My most recent UFO piecing was intense. I finished up Hexie Framed and Vintage Zigzag—and both gave me headaches.

Hexie Framed, a design by Emily of Quilty Love

The patterns were clear and well-written. I had plenty of fabrics to choose from and because of the pandemic, plenty of time.

Maybe I underestimated how long a big quilt made with small hexagons and skinny frames would take. By the time it was over, I had ugly feelings toward it.

Vintage Zigzag

Vintage Zigzag from F&P Love of Quilting, May/June 2007

From there I moved to Vintage Zigzag. I had all of the printed units with yellow bits made when it became a UFO. Why did I put it away when the bulk of the work was behind me?

I made myself stick with it. I knew if I put it away again I would never EVER finish it.


There was a lot of easing and pinning and even some swearing because of the miles and miles of bias edges, but I love the finished product and I even have an idea for quilting it.

Wouldn’t it be fun to fill each of those green squares with a different quilting design? I must talk to my machine quilting coach Mary Beth Krapil, to see if she thinks that would work. Mary Beth is a Handi Quilter National Educator and a longarm whiz with years of experience in machine quilting, and I count on her to guide me.

I pieced both of those tops on the HQ Stitch 510. Its speed (1,600 stitches-per-minute), automatic thread cutter, easy needle threader, and knee lift are wonderful. I’d hate to be without this machine.

Making Waves

First blocks for a wave quilt

Coming off those intense piecing projects, I wanted something easy and mindless to sew next. I stumbled onto this wave design and loved the big patches.

Do you see how the blocks look lumpy? That’s because I’m waiting to press them until I settle on a final arrangement. That way the seams can nest.

I’ll use these blocks (and more to come) to show you some principles of color and design in upcoming posts. And I’ll share the block pattern with you, too.

In the meantime, quilt on!