When I first saw the Roma Quilt, designed by Quiltd Studios, I knew I wanted to make it. I love mosaic quilts that are reminiscent of tiles, and I couldn't figure out just by looking at it how it was put together. Which means it was interesting. I bought it and squirreled it away until I was ready to make it. That time came this year, when I was preparing to go to Sewtopia San Antonio. This was my second Sewtopia event and I wanted to take a project I was excited about, but that wouldn't require a lot of brain power since there's so much going on and so much socializing at Sewtopia.
At first, I planned to take the Interwoven pattern, by Lo and Behold Stitchery, but after I purchased fabric and had pressed it and was preparing to cut it, I realized how difficult the pattern was. Maybe that sounds dumb; I probably should have realized it would be a difficult pattern before getting that far. But I didn't. I thought, oh, strip piecing...precision, but mindless sewing. Perfect.
Wrong.
So wrong.
I opened it up and started trying to decipher the directions and was SO confused.
Guys, I have sewn, like, 70 quilts. I've created my own patterns. I don't do crazy hard stuff like applique, or really super technical stuff, but I'm a decently advanced quilter. And I could not figure it out. I realized right then that it was not going to work for Sewtopia. So I switched gears and pulled out my Roma pattern. I used my Kona color board to pick out some colors I thought would be great and bought them quick so I could get it all cut.
Because I was in such a hurry, I didn't buy enough background for the binding, because I hadn't chosen a binding color in advance. So I had to bind it with a different color. It worked out, and I think it looks great, but I had wanted to bind it with the background so it would blend in and not be such a frame.
I still did a bit of messing up during Sewtopia; while it was mostly mindless sewing, I didn't make quite enough blocks, so I didn't get nearly as far as I could have. This quilt uses alternating blocks, and with them set on point, it has a bunch of different block types. So I just messed up on final counts and couldn't figure out why I had so many pieces leftover. Oops! I of course got it all worked out just fine. But one thing I really loved about this pattern is that she designed it with specific edge piece blocks. She didn't have you make extra blocks and cut them in half, which I loathe, because then the edges don't ever finish quite right. You still have to cut off part of the block, but it's intentional and drafted specifically in the correct way. I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another of her patterns, because I really respect that design choice.
long arm quilted by Abby Latimer
Completed July 15, 2025
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