Quilts From the Cabin: New Collections, Hand Quilting, Appliqué & A Quilt for My Own Bed
Welcome to the blog—I'm so glad you're here.
I'm Kim, quilting and indigo dyeing from an old cabin in the woods. This is where I share beginner-friendly tutorials, quilt patterns and stories from a life stitched by hand. I hope you find something here that feels like home.
A cozy Quilts From the Cabin update with new quilt patterns, handmade collections, appliqué projects, hand-stencilled fabric, and a queen-size quilt for my own bed.
Welcome back to Quilts From the Cabin.
It has been a little while since I sat down for a proper podcast episode, and honestly, life has been a lot. I have still been showing up in small ways — posting here and there, sharing little bits on Instagram, making when I could — but sitting down to record a full quilting podcast felt like more than I had in me for a while.
Sometimes you just have to take the time you need.
So now I’m back in my little old log cabin in northern British Columbia, surrounded by fabric, half-finished ideas, new patterns, finished goods, appliqué samples, and about five thousand thoughts at once.
Which feels very much like me.
This episode is a big studio catch-up: new collections, quilt patterns, finished handmade pieces, appliqué experiments, hand-stencilled fabric, and a very exciting quilt I’m finally making for my own bed.
Yes, my own bed.
Because apparently I am a quilter who has somehow not made herself a quilt for her own bed yet.
Finally Making a Quilt for My Own Bed
One of the things I am most excited about right now is a large quilt I’m designing and making for myself.
For years, I’ve made quilts and quilted things for pattern samples, gifts, customers, collections, and finished pieces — but I don’t actually have one of my own quilts on my bed.
I ended up buying a cheap comforter just to have something there, and after washing it, it had that weird polyester feeling that I just do not love. It felt plastic-y and uncomfortable, and I finally thought, “Why am I doing this when I literally make quilts?”
So I decided it was time.
I’m making myself a big quilt.
This quilt is inspired by old, dark Amish quilts — the kind with deep blues, greens, earthy tones, and rich traditional colour palettes. I have always loved old quilts, but those darker Amish-style quilts especially light me up. They feel bold and simple at the same time, which is exactly the kind of thing I’m drawn to.
For this quilt, I chose a palette that feels old, earthy, moody, and cabin-perfect. The design is made with squares, not HSTs, because I’ll be honest: I did not have it in me to trim a mountain of half-square triangles for a queen-size quilt right now.
I love HSTs.
I do not always love trimming HSTs.
So this one is made from squares, with one block idea enlarged across the whole quilt. It creates a big diamond-like design with colour moving around it, and I am so excited to see it come together.
The quilt will be around 108″ × 108″, so it is going to be a big one. I have most of the cutting done, the design drafted, and the math worked out, which is always the part that takes my brain a little longer.
Now I’m just excited to piece it, baste it, and get it ready for hand quilting.
Why I Love Hand Quilting in the Summer
There is something about hand quilting in the summer that makes my heart so happy.
I love quilting at night when the house is quiet, the window is open, and I can hear the crickets outside. It is one of my favourite feelings in the world.
I do machine quilt smaller projects like pouches, bags, potholders, and table runners, but big quilts are where hand quilting really shines for me. I love being able to gather the quilt in my hands, sit at the table, and slowly stitch my way across it.
I don’t really enjoy machine quilting big quilts. I understand completely why people send large quilts out to longarmers. But for me, hand quilting is the part I look forward to most.
It is slow, quiet, useful, beautiful work.
And honestly, it’s one of the main reasons I do all of this.
Working in Collections
Lately, I’ve realized that I really love working in collections.
Instead of making one random thing, then another random thing, and feeling like I always need to come up with something brand new, collections give me direction. I can build around a colour palette, a block, a feeling, a memory, or a season.
It makes the work feel more connected.
It also gives me breathing room. I can design a group of patterns, make the samples, photograph everything, release the collection, and then step back into slower work — like hand quilting or designing larger quilts.
That rhythm feels really good to me right now.
It also means I can create matching or coordinating pieces across Exshaw Quilts and One Trick Pony Goods. Some pieces become sewing patterns, some become finished handmade goods, and some become both.
The Avocado Green Collection
The first collection I shared in this episode is built around a beautiful avocado green that I have become completely obsessed with.
And it turns out a lot of you love it too, which makes me so happy.
This collection has that traditional patchwork feeling I love: green, cream, leather details, quilted texture, and useful everyday pieces.
One of the most loved pieces from this collection has been the Beatrice Book Tote. It is a simple, useful quilted tote that fits books beautifully, and it has become one of my bestselling patterns.
I also made a matching pouch, which pairs so sweetly with the tote. I love when a collection has those little companion pieces that feel like they belong together without being too matchy-matchy.
The collection also includes an e-reader sleeve, a quilted book sleeve with satin ribbon ties, toiletry-style pouches, larger bags, and a few ready-made pieces through One Trick Pony Goods.
Some of these are available as patterns through Exshaw Quilts, and some are finished goods at One Trick Pony only.
Leather Straps, Useful Bags & Handmade Details
I also played around with leather colours in this collection.
At first, I tried a lighter camel-coloured leather, and then I tried a darker leather. You all seemed to really love the darker leather, so I went with that option. It gives the pieces such a classic, sturdy, heritage feeling.
One of the reasons I love genuine leather is that it can be reused again and again.
I’ve taken leather straps off older quilted bags and reused them on new bags. There is no reason to throw good leather away when it still has life left in it. I love materials that can be used, repaired, reused, and carried forward.
That feels very in line with quilting to me.
A lot of the One Trick Pony Goods pieces also include a hand-stamped interior logo, which has become one of my favourite little details. It gives the inside of the bag a vintage feed sack feeling, and I just love opening a bag and seeing that small handmade touch.
Book Sleeves and E-Reader Sleeves
One of my favourite pieces from the green collection is the quilted book sleeve with satin ribbon ties.
It is such a sweet project, and it makes a beautiful gift. People use book sleeves for novels, journals, planners, and even Bibles, which I think is really lovely.
I also shared one of my old quilt books in the episode — The Weekend Quilt by Leslie Linsley. I love collecting older quilting books, especially when they have handwritten notes inside. There is something so special about finding someone else’s marks, reminders, and little thoughts tucked into the pages.
Those things make me feel connected to the women who made before me.
That is one of my favourite parts of quilting. It is practical, yes, but it is also personal. It carries memory.
A Note About Pattern Questions and Kindness
I also talked a little bit in the episode about pattern questions and customer messages.
Most of you are so incredibly kind, and I genuinely appreciate that.
When you send me photos of what you’ve made, leave a review, email me with a kind question, or tell me that something you made became a gift, it truly means so much.
Those messages matter.
Especially during hard seasons, a thoughtful message or kind review can land at exactly the right time.
And if you ever have a question about a pattern, please email me. I am always happy to help. If something doesn’t make sense, or if you are more of a visual learner, I understand that completely. I’m a visual learner too, and I’m happy to explain things in a different way when needed.
Kind questions are always welcome.
Thelma Quilts and My Appliqué Experiment
Since my last podcast episode, I also opened a separate shop for appliqué patterns called Thelma Quilts.
I love traditional appliqué so much. Old-school floral appliqué, folk art-inspired shapes, Baltimore-style quilts, big appliqué wall hangings — all of it lights me up.
I had created a whole group of appliqué patterns, including e-reader sleeves, book sleeves, pouches, totes, table runners, wall hangings, potholders, and even a denim shirt appliqué pattern.
And I loved them.
I still love them.
But the separate shop didn’t take off the way I thought it might.
The appliqué patterns that were already part of Exshaw Quilts had done well, so I thought creating a separate appliqué-focused brand would make sense. But after giving it a try, the numbers just weren’t there.
Rather than keep investing time and monthly website costs into something that wasn’t growing, I decided to close the standalone website and move the patterns over to Etsy.
That doesn’t mean I’m finished with appliqué.
Not even close.
I still think those patterns have potential. I may remake some of them in more of an Exshaw Quilts colour palette and bring them into the main pattern lineup eventually.
Sometimes a design doesn’t work in one context, but it might work beautifully in another.
That is part of running a creative business. You try things. Some work. Some don’t. Some need to be reworked. Some need to rest for a while.
And sometimes you still love the thing, even when it doesn’t sell the way you hoped.
Playing With Appliqué for Fall
I also shared a few newer appliqué ideas in the episode, including a snake appliqué e-reader sleeve and some tiny horse-and-rider keychain wallets.
The snake idea was inspired partly by a quilt border I saw while watching Alias Grace. That show sent me down a whole rabbit hole of traditional quilts, old blocks, historical designs, and quilt inspiration.
I love when inspiration comes from unexpected places like that.
The horse-and-rider keychain wallets were just fun. Sometimes I draft something because I want to see if I can make it work. I wanted to put little cowboys on something, so I did.
I haven’t decided yet if those will become a pattern or stay as a one-off experiment.
Sometimes making something just because you’re curious is reason enough.
Gran’s Kitchen: A Brown, Hand-Stencilled Collection
The next collection I shared is my July collection, inspired by my grandmothers’ kitchens.
I have really been missing that maternal energy — the feeling of being in a warm kitchen, surrounded by women who made things, cooked things, kept things going, and filled a home with comfort.
One of my grandmothers, who we called Nanny, loved brown. Her kitchen had so much brown in it, and that memory really stayed with me.
So this collection is built around warm browns, cream, chocolate, sandy brown, espresso, and hand-stencilled fabric.
I wanted it to feel nostalgic, useful, a little bit old-fashioned, and very much at home in the cabin.
Because I mostly work with solids, I wanted to create my own print rather than buying printed quilting cotton. Printed fabric can be so expensive, especially here in Canada, and I go through a lot of fabric when I’m making samples and collections.
So I decided to hand-stamp and hand-stencil the fabric myself.
And I loved it.
It was so much fun.
It was also a learning experience.
The first paint I used worked really well. It didn’t feel rubbery, and once it dried, the fabric still felt nice. But when I ran out and tried a more budget-friendly fabric paint, it dried with a rubbery texture and was awful to cut. It stuck to my ruler, felt strange on the fabric, and just wasn’t what I wanted for quilting cotton.
So I’ll be sharing a separate tutorial and review about the hand-stamping and stencilling process — what worked, what didn’t, and what I would do differently.
Because hand-stencilling fabric is such a fun way to make solids feel special, but the paint really matters.
New Kitchen Sewing Patterns
The Gran’s Kitchen collection includes several new kitchen and home patterns.
There is a double oven mitt pattern, a trio of potholders, a placemat, and a table runner.
The double oven mitts feature a traditional block that many people would recognize as a sawtooth-style design, although historically it can also be connected to an envelope block variation. I love those little quilt-history details, even if I still use the names people are most likely to recognize.
The potholder pattern includes three different designs, which makes it especially fun. I know many of you love potholder patterns, and I love designing them because they are useful, giftable, and a great way to play with traditional blocks on a smaller scale.
The placemat and table runner carry the same warm brown palette and hand-stencilled details, and I think they look so good in the cabin.
Brown is having a moment, but honestly, I have always loved brown.
It feels warm, grounding, nostalgic, and homey.
This collection feels like it belongs in a kitchen where the coffee is always on, something is cooling on the counter, and the good potholders are actually used.
Patterns, Finished Goods & What’s Coming Next
A lot of the pieces I shared in this podcast are available as sewing and quilt patterns through Exshaw Quilts.
Some of the finished handmade pieces are available through One Trick Pony Goods.
And the appliqué patterns are currently over at Thelma Quilts on Etsy.
I know that is a lot of places, and if I could go back, I probably would have kept everything under one umbrella from the beginning. But sometimes in business, you take advice, try things, learn from it, and adjust as you go.
That is where I’m at right now — adjusting, refining, paying attention, and making more of what feels true to me.
The biggest thing I’m feeling right now is that I want to keep making collections, keep designing more quilt patterns, and keep making space for hand quilting.
Because that is really the heart of it for me.
The old quilt blocks.
The useful handmade pieces.
The quiet stitching.
The cabin.
The feeling of making something beautiful and practical with your own two hands.
Thank you so much for being here, for watching, for reading, for buying patterns, for leaving reviews, for sharing your makes, and for cheering me on in all the little ways you do.
It genuinely means more than I can say.
You can find my quilt patterns at Exshaw Quilts, finished handmade goods at One Trick Pony Goods, and appliqué patterns through Thelma Quilts on Etsy.
And if you ever have a question about a pattern, please reach out.
I’m always happy to help.
Links
Quilt patterns:
https://www.exshawquilts.com
Finished handmade goods:
https://onetrickponygoods.com
Appliqué patterns:
https://thelmaquilts.etsy.com
Questions:
hello@exshawquilts.com
