Christmas (and more) in July All the fabrics are coming out and ready to strut their stuff! This FREE event will feature 11 different 2025  Sewcial Ambassadors for Benartex (me being one of them). I will be featuring Jackie Robinson's A Winter's Day Collection AND I will also have some Hanukkah blocks from my new calendar! Christmas and Hanukkah both appear in December and we want to be ready. A Winter's Day  by Jackie Robinson And here's a sneak peek at the 3 prints I will be working with for my Hannukah blocks (Elegant Keepsakes and Harvest Keepsakes): Navy, cream and Gold prints for my Hanukkah blocks You can attend by clicking this link:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/5517500818522/WN_Ble6B64YST-k5zZuGpW32w . (This is how you can reserve your spot ahead of time, too.) Christmas (and more) in July T his will be Tuesday, July 15 with six Ambassadors in the first slot (I'm one) . . . And five Ambassadors in the second slot . . . This is a virtual fabric show an...

 Today is June 19 - Juneteenth, to be exact! A federal holiday and a day to celebrate freedom. My friend Kathy M. chose today to make her Calendar Girls block, the Scrappy 4 Patch. Here is her fabric collection by Benartex: Find Your Way by Lisa Ruble Find Your Way by Benartex Here is the calendar block: Scrappy 4 Patch: 12" And Kathy's Juneteenth block, Scrappy 4 Patch: Scrappy 4 Patch: 12" I still have a few more calendar blocks for June. Stay tuned, and remember: If you want to be notified of what shows up here on my blog, send me an email and I'll get something out to you once a week. kratovil@his.com

Today is June 18 and the block featured in my new calendar is Glorious Blooms. I've made this many times because it's a super way to feature an awesome print in the large, 11" center! Here is how it appears in the calendar: Glorious Blooms: 20" Here's my most recent block stitched in three fabrics by Windham: Glorious Blooms: 20" in the Solstice and Moonlit Collections Here is the first quilt I made. It appeared in the Fabric Trends magazine many years ago: I also put it in my book, Supersize 'Em Quilts (2009, Martingale): Glorious Blooms with four 20" blocks I made another quilt and gave it to my guild for our local charities: And just a few more blocks to show you how fun those centers can be: Glorious Blooms with lots of prints! And the single block I made using an older Anna Griffin collection: This is a great way to get to a good sized center quickly! As you can see, I love making this block and think you will, too.

  (NOTE:   If you would like to be notified about my blog posts, send me an email:  kratovil@his.com . Blogger no longer gives you that choice automatically.) Today is June 17 and the block is Alaska Homestead. It's a simple block in a 10" size. This block was chosen by both me and  my quilt guild buddy Karen B. and she used two collections by Windham: Insectarium and Watermark . Note: these two collections don't ship to quilt shops until the end of the summer! Fat quarters of Watermark and Insectarium Here is Karen's block: Alaska Homestead by Karen B: 10" And here is my block, which I made with the Benartex blenders called Equinox: Alaska Homestead by Debby K: 10" I'd like to know the history of this block and why it's called Alaska Homestead! If you know, please tell me, won't you?

She sat quietly for many decades. She was tenderly put together, hexagon by hexagon - all by hand. They're 1" hexagons, btw. She was passed from family member to family member, made by an anonymous quilter, but I recognized her glory and rescued her from the Free Table at my local quilt meeting. Free? Really? Vintage quilt top: 65" x 76" The bottom was unfinished and I needed to square it up. I put Kona Snow under those wobbly edges and appliquéd the hanging hexagons onto it to straighten the edges. I straightened the hexagon side by slicing them - yes I did! I had plans and the quilt was SO excited to know it was going to be finished and loved. After quilting and before binding Go ahead - compare those two photos. They're upside down, but you get the point. Now let's look at the gorgeous quilting done by a master longarm quilter, Ada Gosser of 2 Tubs Quilting . She was so delighted to get to work with this quilt top. She knew what pattern to use, but also ga...

Today is June 13 and we're one day early for Flag Day. We learn a lot about our history in school and the American flag plays a big part. I drafted a block several years ago and called it Old Glory Star. I used some red, white and blue fabrics by Windham. Here she is in all of her glory (I couldn't help myself there)! Old Glory Star It is the block in my New Quilters Block a Day calendar for today, too! It's a lovely 18" size. This was also in my 2007 block a day calendar and here is the block as created by Patricia Bryant of Australia. I designed it in a 12" size. Old Glory Star by Patricia Bryant Don't you love those American Girl dolls, too? So - well - American! This block is part of my 3 block banner. I've shared it here before. You will see the other two blocks as they show up on the calendar. Thanks for stopping by, and remember, if you want to be notified of blog posts via email, let me know! kratovil@his.com . Blogger no longer gives you that cho...

Well, actually Bordered Puss in the Corner! This is a block made by one of my Calendar Girls, Leslie P. She chose the lovely Noteworthy Collection by Windham Fabrics. Here's the bundle I got from Windham: Noteworthy Collection by Windham Here are the fat quarters Leslie chose: Leslie's fat quarters She chose the Bordered Puss in the Corner block which appears on June 9 in my calendar. She wanted to sew something that didn't have points (ie, triangles) so that she could encourage newby quilters. I thought that was a great idea! Yes, there are some challenging blocks in my calendar, but also some that don't make you want to pull your hair out! Leslie's block in Noteworthy - 12" Many thanks to Leslie for making such a happy block. I'm not sure why this is called Puss in the Corner. I guess some kitty cat got time-out for misbehaving, do you think?