One stack of 8 triangles (spinning kitties) One stack of 8 triangles (climbing frogs) Remember the piece of fabric I showed last week? These two blocks are digital images of two of the 8 stacks of triangles. Do I have your attention now? I'm going to show you what happens with another fabric that I cut up into 8 squares and then again into 8 triangles. This will work with any large scale print! This technique is not unique with me. I saw it demonstrated 10 years ago by Kay H. in Atlanta when we were part of a local quilt guild. But this sure beats the Stack 'n Whack method in simplicity. Here is a scan of the original fabric. Start with a 9-1/2" square. Cut 7 more with EXACT print placement. 1. Cut 7 more squares of fabric that look exactly like the original. Yes, you will have large "holes" in your fabric. You are looking for repeats of the pattern, but you only have to cut a total of 8 squares 9-1/2" x 9-1/2". 2. Stack the 8 squ...

So much sewing, so little progress! As an adult with ADHD, I am very comfortable to have more than one project going at a time (OK, I typically have no less than 20 projects in some sort of completion). So, while my head is planning, my little hands can't keep up. But here are the projects I am working on NOW and do plan on posting about in the next several weeks. If you are not a regular follower, what are you waiting for? Be the first to know when I've posted a new quilt. City Traffic Quilt by Pam Rocco, with permission from Quilter's Newsletter Magazine I have one grandson, any day now a second one. I have made 5 blocks of this wonderful, improvisational piecing quilt (using foundation piecing plus just strips). I asked and received permission from QNM to post my blocks and a link to their free pattern. Coming asap! Pinwheel quilt using pre-cut squares of EXACT pattern Boy, did I get a lot of requests for this pattern last week on the Wicked Blog Hop. I pulled...

Wicked is usually a word I associate with bad things, people, the devil and other scary and BAD things (I think I said that twice, didn't I?). But my friend Jeannine suggested I add the word "cute" so I could manage this HOP. I'm going to start with a picture of one of my favorite Halloween quilts from previous years and then introduce you to my blog for this posting. I do want to thank Madame Samm and Wendy for coordinating this, with all their hard work and encouragement! Just a cheap piece of fabric that I bought for $1 a yard at Walmart! 1. I cut 8 squares 9-1/2" x 9-1/2" so that all of them were exactly like this one. Cats as seen, the frog climbing the pumpkin, everything. 2. I put them all in one pile and then sliced the 8 squares along the horizontal, vertical and both diagonals. Now I have 8 piles of triangles. 3. Then I did the same thing with a stack of 4 blue 9-1/2" squares. 4. I added some blue 2-1/2" strips and made pinwheels....

I have a winner in my Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch. I'm waiting for Sherry B. to send her snail mail address. I have 3 more giveaways on Thursday for my Wicked Blog Post, so please check back for an awesome block (with free pattern), another halloween quilt, and 3 freebies. What's Halloween without costumes? When my 3 girls were young, I refused to spend longer than one hour on any costume. I had to devote my precious sewing time to quilting. Now my middle daughter makes costumes for my favorite grandson (he will be 2 in November) and here is the conversion of a hooded sweatshirt (that came with the mohawk fringe) into a rooster. Isn't this the cutest thing! Hooded sweatshirt transformed into an awesome rooster! Now, how about a Halloween quilt? Here is a simple one from my book Supersize 'Em Quilts . Trick or Treat Mice - 30" center block See you on Thursday for the Wicked (cute) blog hop!

I try to feature Windham Fabrics on Wednesdays and today I'd like to go back to the future. My book, Supersize 'Em Quilts , features a fantastic ROTARY cut LeMoyne Star quilt with variations on the star block. This uses a beautiful collection of fabrics from years gone by, but I'm sure you can find a variety of fabrics in your stash that would work with such an easy to piece quilt. The "easy-ness" has to do with NO templates and ONLY rotary cut diamonds. What? Rotary cut diamonds? Impossible. Not so. Texas Stars - 20" block!! Can you see the 3 different blocks? 1. A simple LeMoyne Star with 8 diamonds 2. A LeMoyne Star with a single diamond and a 4 Patch diamond 3. A LeMoyne Star with 4 Patch diamonds in all 8 of the units Three different LeMoyne Stars Don't you just love it? Why do you think you have those 45 degree angle lines on your acrylic rulers? To help you rotary cut these strips. Check out my web site to see the special price on thi...

Update: My contest for 3 giveaways in the "Leafs Me Happy" blog hop closed at midnight last night, October 10. I am out of town teaching until Saturday, but will select and notify the 3 winners by Sunday. Many thanks to all who shared such nice comments! I blogged about the Addison Collection a few weeks ago by showing a step by step tutorial for Garden Maze units. Some of the Addison Collection by Windham Fabrics Aren't these beautiful? I asked a quilting friend and fellow teacher, Nancy Bills , to help me with an idea. She is an awesome designer using the AccuQuilt cutters. She thinks like I do (yes, a little crazy at times, but always with a new quilt in mind) and realized that she could get extra patches from the cutter if she loaded larger pieces of fabric. She took home my box of these fabrics and used the 60 degree template/die and cut a huge stack of beautiful diamonds. Accurate, beautiful 60 degree diamonds cut with the Go Cutter But what do I ...

I like Columbus Day. I'm half Italian and one of my sons in law is from Spain. A quick historic recap: Christopher Columbus was Italian and got his funding from the Queen of Spain so he could come over to America and "discover" us. No politics discussed on this blog; only quilts, a universal, happy language! What do I have today? I wanted to post about Mariner's Compasses because that is the tool that kept many a mariner from sailing off into a watery death. In fact, my next book features a dozen compasses and I will post about that soon. Galaxy Compass - 16" block (fabrics from a 2007 Blank Fabrics collection)  This is my simplified compass, easy enough for beginners. There are only two points in each of the four corners of the block. They are foundation pieced and then set into the curved background. 1/4 of the compass block - can you see my quilting? The last patch to be added is the center circle. I faced the circle with lightweight interfacing...

Day 4 - My Day! This is my favorite, absolute favorite time of year. And October - well, it's just the best where I live. I am so excited to blog about a theme with autumn and leaves in blocks and quilts. Many thanks to Madame Samm and Cherry for organizing this. They are just the BEST! I loved Autumn so much when I was growing up I even dreamed of a Fall wedding. And I got one - in April of 1977. Huh? That's Spring, dummy. Not if you live south of the equator. I was living in Swaziland, Africa at the time; met, fell in love and married this awesome man from Texas named Phil. And April in Swaziland is Autumn. See - dreams are possible! OK. Here is my block for the hop: Winding Ways. I used the Sonoma Collection and Gilded Greenery from Blank Fabrics . Aren't these gorgeous? I bought a bolt of each!! Winding Ways Block - 10" My first block uses colors that are warm and rich. The Winding Ways block is not an easy block to sew. I ordered a template set fr...