The breadfruit is the symbol of abundance. To try your hand at fold, cut and sew appliqué you can use the breadfruit pattern. But what does it look like? Breadfruit Block : 18" The method for cutting out this appliqué block is to first do some paper folding. I shared some of those steps the other day when I showed the Lover's Knot. The Breadfruit block has an 18-1/2" background square. I also cut an 18" square of freezer paper for the appliqué design. We need to fold the template into 8ths. Look at these diagrams from Quilt Magazine 25 years ago (and they still work!) The key is to make sure your pattern is aligned as shown in Diagram 7. I'm going to show you my own folded sample. I folded my paper as shown in Diagrams 1-6. Then I cut out the paper template in the pattern and clipped it to the folded template material (I like to use Reynold's Freezer paper). Since I am going to stitch this by machine, I will remove the seam allowances in gray. If you want to ...

Sometimes we think we know what we're talking about and even publish it - yikes! Here is a page from Quilt Magazine 2004. Isn't this a beauty? But it's NOT a Hawaiian quilt! Vintage red and white appliqué quilt owned by Polly Mello I did some consulting on the Vintage Quilts Facebook page (which is filled with the best and brightest and most experienced in these things) and what I found out is that it is a Pennsylvania quilt! But doesn't it look Hawaiian? I heard from several antique quilt experts who verified that it was indeed from PA and that it is wool appliqué! Here is an identical quilt, but only a top, owned by Polly Mello. I share it here with her permission. Wool appliqué quilt top owned by Polly Mello But, why does it look Hawaiian? Because of the influence of 18th century American missionaries who went to Hawaii and shared their skills. "Fold, cut and sew appliqué is a technique used extensively in early Pennsylvania quilts. It was brought to Hawaii by 1...

I came upon a beautiful quilt featured in Appliqué Quilts Magazine Fall 2005. I was an editor at the time but I didn't do the feature or pattern on it. It's based on a vintage block called Lover's Knot. It is not Hawaiian, but that style block influenced Hawaiian women. It's interesting what is said about this particular block: "Fold, cut and sew appliqué is a technique used extensively in early Pennsylvania quilts. It was brought to Hawaii by 19th century missionaries, inspiring those elaborate and fascinating Hawaiian quilts."   Here is a fascinating read about  Hawaiian History of Quilting  - click the link to learn more about how these beautiful motifs were created by Hawaiian women after learning a few things from the missionaries.  What do you think of this quilt by Katy Sweigart? Lover's Knot by Katy Sweigart: 48" x 48" I decided to make a block and try out the method again. It's been awhile, but here are the easy steps. I first traced...

Today is a special day for Americans as we celebrate our sweet land of liberty and especially as we celebrate 250 years of growing into that liberty for ALL. I can't imagine how noisy the fireworks will be tonight . . . I've made several Americana quilts in my 40 years of quilting. Here is one from LONG ago. I even hand quilted it (what did I know?) the photo is from 2014, but I stitched this in the mid 1980s! It's the same concept in the next 2 quilts. I put stars in the top left corner and the stripes are wavy. I made this quilt almost 20 years ago using a reproduction coverlets collection from Windham Fabrics. It was designed by Leslie Sonkin (marketing director for Windham at the time) and I stitched and then patterned it. American Beauty : 43" x 53" I also used the design to work with another collection by Windham (Stars and Stripes): Stars and Stripes : 42" x 50" Click on the links to get the patterns - FREE! Yes, I've shared it here before but...

Welcome July with me as we welcome the second block in the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian's Quilt-a-long . It is designed by Cissy Serrao who is a Hawaiian native and has created many beautiful Hawaiian quilt designs for many years. You can also have the FREE pattern for this block by clicking the link under the photo. This will take you to the Smithsonian site; scroll down, look for Cissy's photo, then you can download the 16 page pdf pattern with LOTS of great details about making the block. Block 2: Kanani O Ka Home (10") I have been thinking of my own Hawaiian inspired designs and many that were featured in our magazine pages over the years. So, I will be sharing those throughout the month of July with several of them FREE! But, first, let me show you (again) some authentic Hawaiian fabric squares that were scraps from making Hawaiian shirts. These are over 60 years old and my grandson Matteo helped me separate them into piles of matching prints. 300 Quilt...

I have a new book about American quilts through the past 150 years and I want to share a bit about it because it is SO awesome! This comes just in time for our 250 year celebration on July 4 next Saturday. Commemorative American Quilts by Sandra Sider I knew it was coming because the author ( Sandra Sider ) contacted me 2 years ago as she wanted to include one of my quilts! This quilt is over 35 years old and isn't my pattern, but it features some commemorative fabrics from our American 500 year anniversary. They are the Discovery collection by Jinny Beyer. And it's all about Christopher Columbus and his 3 boats, etc. The book is a celebration of our American history from 1876 until today. It is brimming with every sort of quilt and so much beauty and diversity of talent and design.  Sandra Sider  is an historian as well as a quilt enthusiast. She shares quilts that tell stories of family and friends, politics and celebrations. Here's my quilt. I tried to capture the vario...

Many times I like to revisit my traditional patterns and traditional fabrics. They comfort me like no other! Constitution Oak is one I created for Windham Fabrics in 2015 based on an historic quilt. It was published many years ago in a magazine: Constitution Oak Quilt, unknown date I have used this block pattern in my Block a Day calendars. I love the symmetry of the blocks, don't you? And I also love appliqué - when I can do it using my sewing machine! I actually took the plunge and made the quilt from the digital pattern (which you can find the link for below). The center is a 64-patch of squares. The corners are appliqué. I used an older Windham Fabrics collection called The Coverlet Collection . Constitution Oak quilt top - 57" x 57" I selected my fabrics for the center 64-patch and made that checkerboard. Then it was time to make my templates for the corners. I printed the templates and then copied them to freezer paper, which I then can attach to the fabric by iro...