I gave a Zoom presentation last week and the title of my talk was "Turning 60: The Joys of Hex." A little provocative, huh? Some of us remember that scandalous book in the 70s called the Joy of Sex. My quilts are NOT considered sexy! I shared several of my Double Hexie Star quilts and showed them how I fussy cut motifs for the center hexagons. I've taught the workshop about a dozen times and I'm ready to retire it. Let me show you some of my quilts. Here's my first one, done in Christmas fabrics. Holiday Double Hexie Star What does just one block look like? Aren't those awesome cardinals? But, don't sweat - there are no y-seams! Those red kite-shaped patches are really two 30 degree triangles. Single Double Hexie Star block This is one of my workshop samples for Double Hexie Star. You can see the steps for making those kite shaped units in a recent post. Check it out ! Nordic Holiday Double Hexie Star I cut 30 degree triangles and had some leftovers. Stud

This week I want to feature a quilt made by Sylvie N. of Canada. She wanted to make something special for a friend and former work colleague who was moving. He collects old wooden birdhouses and she felt that my set of paper pieced birdhouses would be the perfect solution. Birdhouse Quilt by Sylvie N. of Canada I have made all of these birdhouses at one time or another. I have taught workshops on how to paper piece a variety of these. Here is one quilt where I combined birdhouses and fabric panels from the Home Grown collection by Benartex. This was the basis for a workshop a few years ago. Birds and Bees at Home Here's Sylvie's Country Cabin Birdhouse almost finished. She used the small size that I have on my Paper Piecing CD (117 Paper Pieced Patterns). Another quilt is from a student (or maybe a customer), sent to me in 2016. Nancy surrounded a beautiful panel with birdhouses. What do you think? I shared another quilt made with my Birdhouses back in June (here's the blo

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 is the basis of an upcoming workshop in Fredericksburg, VA for the Sewing Expo. Scrappy Diamonds to Jewels : 48" x 52" Of course, no y-seams! Let me show you one of the blocks which takes the mystery out of the whole thing. Scrappy Jewels block I first cut diamonds using my standard 6" x 12" acrylic ruler. Then I lopped off a tiny triangle from one of the pointed sides. Cutting triangle to create a jewel And my stack of jewels ready to be combined with small plain triangles. I've made various blocks using English Paper Piecing (which I shared here before). The next photo is a smaller quilt made in 2016 using a novelty collection. Can you see how two jewels of the same fabric create a heart?! I wish I had carried out that theme to the outsi

Last week I asked you to send me photos of quilts you've made from my workshops or even just a pattern. I got this beautiful rendition from Connie D. of the Annapolis Quilt Guild. She took my Modern Vortex Quilt class in 2016 and sent this to me to share here. Modern Vortex by Connie D. of Annapolis, MD I designed this quilt based on a vintage quilt made in red and white (I've shared it here before several times). I began teaching this workshop in 2013 for the Sewing Expo. I think I've taught it at least 2 dozen times. It's really a variation on a traditional Dresden Plate quilt. The one below was made using a 5" charm pack of squares. You can get two blades from each square! Charming Dresdens Here is another one in process. I only have this student's last name (Bernard). She knows who she is. I love it in the blues, too! Now, this one from Dawn P is a real treasure! She went to town and made 9 blocks! What a fabulous quilt this is. 9 Block Vortex Quilt by Da

The name of this vintage block is "The Good Luck Quilt." It originates in the early part of the 20th century (ie, probably 1930s). I have made it many times and it was a very popular workshop for a few years. Here are two recent quilts that I made using some reproduction 1930s fabrics. 1930s child's  Good Luck  quilt And the mirror image quilt. Again, notice how the color patches are in relation to the cream. They were donated to our local Young Lives chapter and some lucky children are going to enjoy seeing those dancing bears and bunnies and geese! Second 9-Block Good Luck quilt I first published it in 2006 (or so) and she actually made the cover. I can say she's a Cover Girl! Good Luck Quilt  on the cover of Quick Quilts Notice those blocks. Looks like I used some funky templates (as was done in the original pattern). But, I saw that it could be pieced in strips and then cut into squares and then . . . Good Luck Quilt  as it appeared in Supersize 'Em Quilts (Ma

I've been busy stitching on those needed 120 hexagons (1" size) to create that Math Horizons magazine cover. Do you remember what it looked like? Here is a digital rendition of what I'll be making. Are you interested in sewing this along with me? Let me know and I'll consider making it a Sew-a-Long. There actually is a method for stitching this in rows and units. My guild friend Diane is brilliant and advised me how to do it!   Quilter's rendition of the Hosoya Triangle Let's see where I am now. First, I auditioned colors. I obviously didn't include the pink! Then I cut a LOT of fabric hexagons out of blue, green and yellow 1930s prints. This is because I already had quite a few stitched. I punched a hole in the center of my hexagon papers and pinned them in place. The Clover clips keep things from slipping. Then I got busy and stitched! I counted and cut. And stitched and cut some more. And some more parts: I'm creating units that should be manageable

Here is the last block in the Ocean Breezes Block of the Moment. I hope you've enjoyed making these blocks and are near to completion on everything. If you'd like to share your own blocks, send the pics to me and I'll have a blog post or two next week about them! (send to: kratovil@his.com) We only make one of the Sailboat (whew!) and it's appliqué. Let's see it finished, and then I'll show you some steps. Sailboat from the Ocean Breezes quilt I use raw edge appliqué exclusively. But I am "religious" about the steps I take to ensure it looks nice to the eye. Here is my stitching on the mast up close. I first practiced on scraps so I could get my "zig" and "zag" to behave. Close up of stitching I also used the full size printed pattern underneath my 8-1/2" cream background square to assist me in lining up my patches. Once they were in the right place, I pinned, removed the pattern and then fused my patches in place. And here