I love inspiration from vintage blocks. Home Circle is a perfect pattern for many fabrics. I like good contrast and  that's what is happening in this orange quilt. Yes! I said orange! I had this quilted last week and just put the binding on yesterday. Blocks are 15" x 15". This is going to our local guild's charity outreach (probably an adult who doesn't mind orange). Home Circle : 45" x 52" Or maybe I should view it this way: Home Circle turned 1/4 Here is another version I've made (and have given away). This uses a gorgeous "marble" group by Michael Miller. Home Circle with 7 blocks: 60" x 60" Here it is lying flat so you can see all the blocks and sashings. Notice the top and bottom vertical strips. This makes for a "square" quilt because those strips are 1/2 the width of the blocks (2 half strips per row make for another "block.") Home Circle with borders And one made digitally using some daisy themed pri...

Well, I don't have any real ones to speak of. My wedding band has a few chips. I didn't get an engagement ring (my call). But I have FABRIC jewels and they are lovely! This is my  Scrappy Diamonds to Jewels  quilt which was a workshop for a few years. Scrappy Diamonds to Jewels : 48" x 52" Here is one I made almost 30 years ago where I incorporated some vintage crochet flowers and an awesome basket into the quilt. This now lives with my oldest daughter who loves things like this. Jewels begin as diamonds. You don't need templates. They are easy to cut using your standard ruler with 60 degree lines - any size. These were cut 4-1/2" from flat side to flat side. Taking the tip off one end (there is a formula for this!) Removing small triangle to make the diamond a jewel And my stack of jewels ready to be combined with small plain triangles. Then, I added some Kona Snow triangles to two short sides of each jewel and joined them in sets of 6. Of course, no y-seams...

 Yes, that's what I said! The same shapes in larger sizes, but not pieced by hand. This is a block I wanted to make from the perpetual calendar by Katja Marek. It appears on February 10. February 10 block stitched by machine Let's look at the parts:. Oh, no! There's going to be a y-seam! This is why I always make a sample block before I commit to the fabrics chosen for my project. 3 block parts in sample fabrics I was able to rotary cut the 3 patches easily. I wanted a 6" high finished block. Looks like I managed the y-seam! Here is my set of 6 pieced hexagon blocks with added triangles so that it would make a nice center: But, I ran out of the light print fabrics and had to piece one of the triangles. Do you think it will make a difference? Here it is from the front, up close and personal. I decided to add some borders. I began with a green from a Kaffe Fassett scrap pile, but didn't like it. Rip, rip! I found a wonderful stripe that goes well with the inner fabri...

Swallows in the Window is another vintage blocks that uses 45 degree diamonds. I hope you saw my Flying Swallows post earlier this week. Swallows in the Window vintage block Then, digging WAY back in my archives I came across Hearts and Swallows. This was made in 2001. I had to do a bit of fabric manipulation to make those diamonds behave in the corners, but it worked! Yes, these are also 45 degree diamonds. Hearts and Swallows This would not be hard to make today. Those 4 corner units are really half Lone Star blocks!  I always wanted to make another one.  It would be fabulous to capture a beautiful print in that center. But the center size will be dictated by the size of those corner diamonds. Trust me. That's the way math works! Swallows in the Window Here is the current project I'm working on using those Fairy Frost diamonds and a beautiful fabric collection called Romance by Windham Fabrics (2018). Yes, it took me awhile to cut into the set of fat quarters! The diamonds ...

Yum, yum! Cake! Oh, not that kind of cake (though I'm always game for cake). I mean those packs of 10" squares called Layer Cakes. This is a repost from 2 years ago and is something to revisit. Today I share a quilt pattern called  Washington's Puzzle . Traditionally made using funky templates, I converted it using my Magic Stax© technique. I posted about this in 2017 using some Benartex fabrics. I came up with the idea in early 2000 and created several patterns. Here is a set of 1/3 yard cuts I was sent to work with. They are truly color drenched! And if you stay with me, you can have the FREE PATTERN. Think "blender" or "batiks" or anything that reads solid. Color Flow fabrics by Carol Bryer Fallert While many others have done something similar, mine is unique in that the number of patches in a block determines how many squares are in a stack. The stack gets cut ALL at the same time (make sure your rotary cutter has a new blade.) AND - there will be ...

Day Two. Did you miss Day One? Here's the link from a few weeks ago. In case you can't remember how beautiful these Benartex fabrics are, let me remind you! I love basics! I love having a collection of fabrics that take backstage but without which, the "jazzy" fabrics couldn't stand on their own. They do what a perfect picture frame does for a prized oil painting. Equinox is just that sort of collection. Equinox fat 1/4s from Benartex I didn't have a particular project in mind, so I began by making blocks. One of these is my Royal Star. I first made this updated vintage block 25 years ago using Benartex's Fossil Ferns. It first appeared on the Cover of the Big Block Quilts (where I was an editor). This also appeared on the cover of my first book. But, you've seen that before. What I want to show is my Equinox Royal Star block (in process). What you see on the left border is that dark blue 9 Patch, which I didn't like. Glad I saw it before I stit...

Two vintage quilt patterns use 45 degree diamonds to indicate swallows. First, there's  Flying Swallows . (I'll be back with some Swallows in the Window quilts later this week). There seems to be a serious interest in this pattern. My Etsy shop has sold a few dozen in the past 2 weeks! Flying Swallows is based on an 8 Pointed Star, as seen here by one I created in 2002 for Quilt Magazine. Flying Swallows, 2002 I have designed a few digital quilts since then for a few fabric companies. Here's one I used for Blank Quilting in 2008: Flying Swallows using the Fun Dip Collection This is a class sample from 2020 using some lovely red fabrics by Windham. That center is a whopping 24" block! Flying Swallows . 24" center. 38" x 38" quilt Oh. Don't get nervous! There aren't any y-seams, I promise! Here is another of my class samples. I made it in bright colors. First - the 45 degree diamonds.  45 degree diamonds in bright colors How did I cut those diamond...