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...

Welcome to 2025! As a Benartex Sewcial Ambassador, I have the pleasure of working with some of their latest collections. My first set out of the box (literally) is Blessed Nest by Shannon Roberts. The box arrived early December: And this is what I found inside! Blessed Nest fabrics ready for my pre-planned project There were butterflies in one of the main prints (top fabric behind all the others above) and so I remembered a quilt I patterned for Quilt Magazine about 25 years ago. I printed the pattern and auditioned it on a 12-1/2" square of newsprint. It fits nicely! Butterfly pattern sized for a 12" block Then I traced it onto freezer paper. This way I am able to cut out my fabrics: Butterfly traced onto freezer paper What's next? Time to iron the freezer paper to my turquoise fabric which I selected to be the 4 butterflies. The waxy part of the freezer paper goes onto the right side of the fabric. The fusible webbing has been pre-applied to the wrong side of a blue f...

Technically these were finished in 2024, but it wasn't until my guild meeting yesterday morning that I could turn them in! Simple designs letting the fabric do all the work. This first one uses a fish print by Brandon Mably (of the Kaffe Fassett crowd of designers). I've made this before. Just a simple Rail Fence block (10"). Fishy Rail Fence quilt: 44" x 44" Here's the first one I made in 2018. Yes, that's snow on my deck!! Fishy Rail Fence quilt: 44" x 44". 2018 And the second quilt uses a set of Owl themed panels I found on the free table at a guild meeting last year. How fun is this for some little kid, right? Owl Panel quilt: 44" x 44" The black owl print in alternating blocks is full of sweet motifs to keep a little kid from taking his nap! Uh, oh. I'm in trouble . . . Last year I kept a list of the quilts I made for our local charities: can you believe 40?!! Let's see if I can match that this year. I'm still pulling ...

Welcome to 2025! As a Benartex Sewcial Ambassador, I have the pleasure of working with some of their latest collections. My first set out of the box (literally) is  Blessed Nest  by Shannon Roberts. The box arrived early December: And this is what I found inside! Blessed Nest  fabrics ready for my pre-planned project This is the first time in receiving hundreds of fabric collections over the past 20 years that I had to decide ahead of time how much of each fabric I would need for a planned project! Planned? I never know what I'm going to do until I see the fabric! I took a big gulp and had to PLAN! I saw butterflies in that print at the back of the photo above and looked in my files for a butterfly pattern. Butterfly print That's all I'm saying right now. Butterflies! Hmmmm. Appliqué? Pieced? Just the borders? I will reveal my project on Monday January 6 and it will bring a big smile to your face! See you then.

Let's see what can be done with a coffee filter from a Starbuck's (or other coffee shop that uses the 100 cup makers). My youngest daughter gave me a few from the coffee shop she was working at back in 2013 (I did make her ask her boss!) She called me one day from Atlanta and said, "Mom. Don't you do something with coffee filters in your quilting?" She was thinking of my Coffee Filter Fans classes. Coffee Filter Fans, now living with my dear Mother in Law When she sent me the photo of the coffee filters next to her hand, I had to gasp! These things are 20" in diameter. 20" coffee filters Let's see them in my own hands! Pretty big, huh?! I decided to draft a more complicated mariner's compass on one. I had to divide it into 8ths. The next photo shows two of these together (which make 1/4 of the compass). You can see my pencil drawn lines. One quarter of my 20" Mariner's Compass Here is how this section looks with the paper pieced ring of ...

Today's the day - short amount of sunlight but it all gets better from here on out! I'm getting ready and want to let those short days of Fall know that I'm not going to take it any more. I want more of the sun and I'm going to get it! You've seen this quilt here before when I  first blogged about it in 2015 . It's been quilted and it's ready to hang and wag it's finger at those dark days. And shine and shine from it's place on my wall. Winter Solstice Quilt:  Here Comes the Sun!  26" x 28-1/2" Do you remember when I showed you how this was pieced so that there are NO y-seams? Just because it's a hexagon does not mean I have to have set-in seams. Everything was cut based on that center hexagon from Paula Nadelstern's Fabricadabra collection by Benartex Fabrics . That hexagon was cut using my multi-sized 60 degree triangle ruler. It will finish to 10-1/2". No y-seams here! Those triangles are based on that finished height of 10-...

She's done it before: "Debby. Will you make this for me?" Big sigh (because of big love!) First, it was a quilt from a kit she bought. I made it. Then a second quilt. I made that one, too. By the 3rd ask, I put my foot down and said a big NO. She learned to quilt herself! Here are a few small samples I made just to test drive a pattern idea she had. This blue and white star is something she saw online and asked me to pattern it. I did, made it and then quilted it. Blue and White Star Here's the quilting as seen from the back. Just some straight lines. She wanted another block to be patterned. She thinks I can do anything quilt related (ha ha). She told me the size, sent some Moda fabrics and away I went. Now she looks in my Etsy store. She sees a pattern and then asks if I can resize it (no kidding!) Only for her - I resize nothing for no one (unless they want to pay me $50 an hour - that usually silences the request. And yes, I do get these requests!) Then she bought...