Batiks are my favorite fabrics. I love to see them paired with a super traditional pattern. I’ve been sewing since I was 10 years old and quilting since I was about 31. One of the first books on quilting that I bought focused on the Jacob’s Ladder pattern. I didn’t really like the book all that well. It’s hard to get excited from a bunch of black and white drawings. But I liked all the different ways the standard Jacob’s Ladder block could be arranged.

Two years ago, my sister Bekkie married her long-time boyfriend Joe. At that point I thought, here is the perfect time to make that pattern I’ve been wanting to make for the last 20+ years.

Sections Ready to be Sewn into Squares

I sorted my batiks into lights and darks. In one case, I had a fabric I used as both. I was planning a queen size quilt, so I drew up my pattern on graph paper and figured out how many of each section I needed to make. I cut strips for the 4 square sections and triangles for the half square sections. Weeks of sewing ensued. (Since I have a full time job and a soap business on the side, it takes me a while to do something this large.)

Sorting into Squares

The Design Wall & Table

The Design Wall

My goal with each color choice was not to duplicate the same fabric in any single square.About a week was spent on the layout. I ran out of room on my design wall, so I worked on the table as well, eventually sewing sections together as I went so didn’t lose track of what went where.

In some places the edges seemed to blur, and in others, it was very defined. Just what I was hoping for. But, as I usually end up doing, I had too many final squares in the end. It’s like those things that mysteriously multiply in your closet. You can’t figure where they came from, but you look at it as a bonus! So I made 2 matching 16″ pillows (12″ squares with 2″ borders added.)

It was done in time for a first anniversary/Christmas present.

Front and 16″ pillows

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