I recently became aware of Manx quilting when I saw a project using it in a library book. This is a traditional technique from the Isle of Man, where fabric strips are sewn onto a fabric backing and then folded back, leaving some fabric past the seam for a lovely and tactile pleated appearance.
I wanted to make a pouch from it, so I vaguely watched a Sugaridoo video and half read this Diary of a Quilter blog post. That post includes interesting info about the traditional way the squares and strips were measured, and the first blog post in the series gives the history of Manx quilting.
I like the Courthouse Steps block, so decided to use that as the basis for my Manx quilting. I also decided that I wanted to machine stitch my blocks, rather than the traditional hand stitching. My two blocks both started with a 12" foundation fabric, a 3 1/4" central square, and 2 1/2" strips, cos that is a quiltalong bingo call 
. I followed the folding instructions on the blog post, which were to fold the fabric into quarters diagonally and crease these lines in place, then use the creases to put the square centrally in the middle of the fabric piece, pinning it with one pin in the middle. I then folded each raw edge up to the edge of the central square, pressed in a crease, and then folded that crease up to the middle again and pressed. Repeating this on each side of the foundation fabric gives three creases pressed into each side.
My instructions are for making a Courthouse Steps block, the blog post was for a log cabin, and I think this could be adapted for many blocks where the strips are added sequentially. I want to try a variation on a coins block next.
You need to choose a set of fabrics with good contrast; I used strips from the Adorn fabric line by Rashida Coleman-Hale which I got in a Ruby Star Society scrap bag. I chose a set of pink and a set of yellow-orange patterns, and tested them out by arranging them from light to dark to ensure I had good enough contrast. If you take a photo and change it to black and white, you can see how strong the contrast will be. Some of the central square and each fabric strip is covered by the next round; I have included a note on that in the instructions below. It is worth bearing this in mind when picking fabrics.
I cut all of mine into 2.5" strips, and the longest strips I needed were 2 x 10" strips per colour per block, because I was boxing the corners of my pouch. If you were making this as a quilt block, for a cushion, etc., you would need 2 x 12" strips per colour per block.
I used a coloured fabric for my foundation, and chose a bobbin thread that coordinated with the foundation. As the block is sewed onto a foundation, you don’t need to use wadding and a backing. It is surprisingly weighty when finished, making it a good option for pouches if you are willing to french seam or bind the internal seams.
Once you have your foundation fabric creased, measure the length of your foundation square, and cut two strips of one fabric. I started with the pink/my dark fabrics for each round. Line one strip up with one raw edge of your central square, with the raw edges matching, and sew it in place. If you have ever done stitch and flip, it’s a similar principle. Stitch along this raw edge, then line the other strip up with the raw edge on the opposite side of the centre square, and stitch this strip in place too. (The blog post talks about not hand stitching the beginning and end 1/4 of each seam. I found this wasn’t neccesary when machine sewing, apart from on the last round if you need this gap for sewing into your final project.)
I only started taking photos once I had done a few rounds, so these are partial instructions, but you follow the same steps for each pair of strips, so this should be easy to follow.
Here is the Manx magic! In the photo, I have just added the two yellow strips at the top and bottom of the photo. Now, fold the strip you just added up so the raw edge lines up with the next creased line on your foundation fabric; in my photo, this is indicated by the piece of red washi tape with arrows on it.
I used a seam roller to press the fold in place. I tried ironing the first folds, but I felt the sharp crease took away from the soft look I was going for. Repeat this fold and press for the other strip.
To add the next pair of strips, rotate your block 90 degrees so that the strips you just added are on the left and right. Measure the length of the top and bottom edges, and cut two strips of the other fabric colour, which is pink in my case. As I was making two blocks, I made them at the same time; this project lends itself well to batch making.
Line these cut strips up with the raw edge, and sew in place. I found it helpful to pin, but you don’t have to.
I was working on this project in lots of little bits among work and coping with a heatwave, so my little assistant stopped by to make sure I was doing it right.
When you are choosing your fabrics, it is important to note that part of each round will be covered by the folded fabric in the next round, and part will be under the fold you make in this round. For my block dimensions, this was about 5/8":
I also took care to make sure that the same side of my patterned prints were facing in towards the middle of the pouch when pinning, for a symmetrical appearance, e.g. the flowers in this photo:
Repeat these steps of adding two strips, folding them back to the crease line, rotating your foundation and measuring the new strips, then adding till you get to the outside edge of the fabric. This is my finished block, with gaps at the corners to allow for the pouch to have boxed corner seams:
At this point, if you are making a quilt block or cushion, you are done. Enjoy the beautiful texture and colours of your block 
I went on to make mine into a pouch. I’m not going to go into full details here, as I need to get ready for work soon, and there are lots of pouch instructions around, so here are the high- and low-lights:
It took me a whole hour to get zip tabs on my zip, which was frustrating. I sewed the box corners with a 1/4" seam, but ended up with these flappy raw edges when I turned the pouch. (Having finished all the inside seams cos I was a doofus and didn’t check!)
I fixed this by folding the raw edges in and slip stitching them all closed by hand, but I think this could be better approached with a larger seam allowance and better planning.
The pouch handle is the last little bit of the only tablet woven braid I have ever done, and I love that it is on such a beautiful project, I think it really makes it feel finished.
To stitch it on, I measured the width of the top strip, and marked the width of the braid, centralising it with a 3" gap from the outside of each side:
The foundation-fabric-as-lining worked well: I like that I used coordinating thread. Next time I will use a fabric leader or have longer thread tails to prevent bobbin bird nests, but it’s fine.
Here’s a couple more pics of the finished pouch:
I love it. I really enjoyed learning the Manx technique (albeit modified to machine sew it), and working out how to turn the finished blocks into a pouch. This was a practice for another Manx pouch I want to make, with lots of pink and purple fabric and a Ruby Star Society octopodes print in the middle.
it was really fun to make too, and the texture is interesting to hold.
Here comes the sun! 