Upwords Inspiration and Benartex Contest

As you know, I have the privilege of being a Sewcial Ambassador for Benartex this calendar year (2025). I share this title with 11 other very talented people (mostly quilters). That means a lot of things (and fabric) and one of the first collections I received was a set of charm squares by Kimberly Einmo. These have a deep connection with her Christian faith (up-words) and she uses some well known Bible verses in colorful patterns.

(Info on Benartex contest is at end of post; you can win a FQ bundle of their beautiful fabrics!)

Here's the set of charms (5" squares) from Upwords by Kimberly Einmo.

5" charms

I wanted to keep the charms intact (not cut them up) and had an idea in mind. But, what about some blenders? I have a box of Fossil Ferns in my sewing studio and pulled some coordinating colors to go with the charms. Notice the background - Designer Spotlight on Kimberly in the Fat Quarterly (Benartex publication):

Fat quarters of coordinating Fossil Ferns

Using a Tri-Recs ruler (or Triangle Squared by Creative Grids) or even my own ruler (not available for sale), I cut out the triangles which will "tilt" the 5" squares. Some tilt left, some right. You've seen this treatment here many times:

Charm square and tilt triangles

Things generally went well, but there's always an "oops!" moment in any given project.

Take care when sewing! Uh, oh!!

These get trimmed just a tad to 6-1/2", leaving an accurate 1/4" seam.

Another trim:

And 4 blocks with 2 tilting left and 2 tilting right. I have a total of 16 blocks which will finish to 6".

4 Upwords Tilt blocks

One Benartex quilt made using my Tilt method is from Oh, Fudge. (to give you an idea of how they tilt left and right):

I Love You quilt using my tilt blocks

This quilt is one of my favorite Valentine's quilts.

I finally put the borders (from the Blessed Nest collection) on my Upwords quilt. As I didn't have any companion fabrics (though Benartex would have sent me some), I realized that some other collections were perfect. Those swirly sashings are from Geo Pop!

Charming Upwords quilt: 40" x 45"

I will quilt this in a few weeks and add it to my pile of charity quilts.

Now for the contest! Benartex wants to see your projects made with their fabric. Check out their Facebook page for the I am Benartexian challenge. It is monthly and it is real! I was the winner last month and all I did was share a few projects (you only need to share one) made with their fabrics. It's not judged; it's a lottery.

The I am Benartexian Challenge