Contest is over and I have notified my two winners (Sue and Diann). Thanks to everyone for all your kind comments about my crazy project! I was a pompom girl and cheerleader for Evergreen Elementary School in San Jose, California a bazillion years ago. Now, stop rolling your eyes and pay attention. Thanks to Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt and our super cheerleader Thearica of Pig Tales and Quilts for all their hard work. Here is the schedule for today, so make sure you go get some inspiration after I shock you today with my fireworks display. April 29 Accio Fabric Quiltsmiles Scrapbook-chickadoodle In The Sewing Basket life, quilts and a cat too Debby Kratovil Quilts (you are here) Just Let Me Quilt Jane's Fabrics and Quilts Meadowbrook WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Put your coffee, tea, soda, water - DOWN RIGHT NOW! And pull out your sunglasses. What I'm about to show you is an example of a project going wrong, taking on  a life of ...

I've been playing with my box of fat quarter Fossil Ferns from Benartex . I pulled 3 colors. . . 3 crayon box colors for my grandson's placemats . . . and added a novelty print from the Baby Safari line (Benartex, 2009) . . . 3 fat quarters and a novelty print . . . to make something for my awesome grandson. Yes, I know I swear not to do anything on my blog except quilts, but I am making an exception for Miles (2-1/2 years old) because of this amazing picture my daughter sent me last week. Miles ready for swim lessons, wearing his mom's goggles and swim cap Hilary, his mom, tells me that the lifeguard cannot keep a straight face when Miles shows up like this every Saturday morning for his swimming lessons. I can't keep a straight face! What did I make for Miles and his little brother Matteo (who doesn't need placemats yet because he's only 6 months old)?  2 Twisted Hexagon blocks with pinked edges 2 Twisted Hexagon blocks with bindin...

Following the Fossil Ferns . . . Box of fat quarters of Benartex Fossil Ferns I was sent this box of Fossil Ferns by Benartex over 5 years ago. I was working on my second book and I was sewing for several fabric companies. Benartex gave this to me to inspire me with projects for that book. They liked that the cover of my first book ( Bold, Black & Beautiful Quilts ) featured my Royal Star quilt made with Fossil Ferns . It was a beautiful cover, don't you think? Bold, Black & Beautiful Quilts Well, it's only beautiful because of the cover quilt . . . The Royal Star Quilt I decided to pull out the Fossil Ferns because of what I saw on the Benartex Blog - Sew in Love with Fabric . They had featured a quilt made by Wendy Sheppard and showed the box of Naturescapes she was working from. A Box Full of Color yelled at me from the computer screen: "GO GET THAT BOX OF FOSSIL FERNS!" I did. And I have already begun several projects using those lusc...

We have a winner! Bonnie Pfrimmer's name was chosen by Mr. Random Number Generator. Thanks to everyone who visited!   Welcome to my day on the April Showers Blog Hop, hosted by Erin at Sew Home Mummy and the ever industrious Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt . Thank you, ladies!! Just one pic of a previous ensemble I sewed and gave away. I absolutely love the timeless combination of blue and yellow and I made this using one orphan block (the flower in the star center) and then sewed some simple cup mats and tea cozy using my own teapot appliqué. The link for this FREE pattern to use any way you like is here: Tea Pot Applique . (This is just for the applique patch on the tea cozy; not the whole ensemble) Tea Time ensemble I remembered I had used my Pfaff embroidery machine to make a teapot with tea cup many years ago, but never did anything with it. So . . . 1. I found it in a box, pressed it, measured it and made a curved frame out of brown fabric. 2. Using fusible webb...

Bright colors always inspire me! I showed this pic last week. Just a small amount of fabric (5 fat quarters) of the Up in the Air Collection by Windham Fabrics . Just enough to do something I've been itching to do for awhile. So, what am I going to make? True Pickledish units. They are traditional and have a close affinity to the Double Wedding Ring. In fact, some historic block books call them the Indian Wedding Ring. Nancy Cabot, writing her famous quilt column for the Chicago Tribune wrote that this block dates back to the mid-1800s! I don't know; I just like them! The beginnings of the Pickledish pattern Not sure how far I will get because I only had a fat quarter of each (blue and yellow). But this is when I can get creative! Stay tuned. These will show up later this month. I call this Ezekiel's Wheel  Ezekiel's Wheel is a variation of this pieced arc. Not too many points. Only one block because I ran out of fabric - my typical mode of sewin...

From Geta's Quilting Studio - She has a love affair with hexagons Geta Grama from Brasov, Romania - has absolutely the most beautiful blocks, quilts and quilting. I was struck by her WIP (Work in Progress) today and asked for permission to re-post her block. It just takes my breath away; how about you? You simply must check out her blog and see her amazing quilting. She specializes in trapunto and her book is a powerhouse of this technique. Shadow Trapunto Quilts by Geta Grama Sometimes it's just good to sing the praises of someone else. Especially since she does such gorgeous work. Take a visit to her blog to see what I mean. Geta's Quilting Studio This week she has another tutorial on quilting. See what I mean (did I already say that)? Shadow trapunto tutorial from Geta Grama Geta has done a LOT with hexagons; and purses (she designs them) and trapunto. Hexagons I can do. Trapunto - I'd rather admire the beauty of what others do! And purses? I...

Ride Collection by Windham My husband bought a bike for me so we could ride together on Sunday (and sometimes Saturday) afternoons. I am an exerciser and walk 2-3 miles several times a week; it's a whole lot different when riding a bike! Gotta get up to speed on that. Here is a new collection from Windham and I hope to make a small "something" in the next week. Don't you just love those threads, too? More of my favorite colors! Hot air balloons. Again, by Windham. Windham sent me this fat quarter collection. I can see another quilt from my new book using these brights, along with some of their Spin and .Com collections. Will keep you posted. I'm still piecing more of these Pickledish units. I am very excited about teaching this class next season (beginning in the Fall with the Georgia Quilt Show). Very easy paper piecing. Gentle curves for adding the background pieces. More like a Double Wedding Ring than the traditional Pickledish (which I just redes...