Trash Basket Batiks Another quilt from my Batiks Vault. You won't believe the origin of this! I had been quilting for YEARS and never used batiks until my guild got together for a sew-in day early 2000s. I saw people throwing away scraps of batiks in the trash can and I was horrified. I wasn't sewing with batiks because they were SO EXPENSIVE and I saw BIG pieces go into the "dust bin" (for all you Brits).  I ran over and scooped them up and then made: Trash Basket Batiks! Yes, you read that right. All those flowers and stems were made from beautiful batik scraps. Now go get inspired on this 4th day of the Batiks Hop! Seams To Be Sew Words & Stitches Banks of Frog Creek Quilted Delights

Yes, I lived through the 1960s (junior and high school years - please don't do the math). Today we revisit the 1960s and what I remember, living in California at the time, is FLOWER POWER. (Click here to view this in your web browser)  But, first some pics of me in the 1960s. Notice this first one; I kept the date on it so it would be believable. LOOK AT THAT CAR IN THE BACKGROUND ON MY STREET!!! In 1965 I was 13 years old, living in San Jose, California. SEE THAT CAR?!!  How about Christmas morning? I'm with Kathy on the left (about 6 years old) and Janet on the right (about 11 years old). Get a load of those rollers! No wonder my dad spent most of his time out in the garage (4 daughters and a wife). I don't think it did a lot of good, but a girl has to try! How did those curlers work out? (Me, a few years later - did I really have that much hair?) Oh, and did I say that my mom was an Avon lady who sold makeup door to door? There was a LOT of teasing

Washington Puzzle Quilt using my Magic Stax© technique What's in my Batik Vault today? My Washington Puzzle quilt, using no funky rulers. Just a stack of squares, four cuts, shuffle the squares and you get 9 blocks at once. Just like sewing a 9 Patch together. And guess what? NO fabric waste, no bias edges, neat and tidy without any templates. Let's hop on over to see what our bloggers want to show us with their batiks! September 26 Freemotion by the River Pig Tales and Quilts Marlas Crafts Marjorie's Busy Corner Moose Stash Quilting

Sugarloaf Jewels quilt, my first batik quilt using my Magic Stax technique Today is the first day of the Twist with the 60s and Batiks Blog Hop.  I am digging into my Quilt Vault and sharing a batik quilt each day along with giving you the schedule of our bloggers. The Sugarloaf Jewels quilt was made about 10 years ago, right after I discovered the beauty of batiks. I swapped 10-1/2" squares with my guild and had a pile of 24 squares that wanted to become a quilt. It is a class I've taught for years and believe it or not, we do NOT use templates. We draw a few lines on freezer paper then stack squares and cut, shuffle and then resew these back together into uniform blocks. Sugar Loaf is a pattern I sell at my Craftsy site . (8-1/4" blocks; 53" x 62" quilt) No templates, no bias edges. Start with 6 squares, make 5 cuts, end with 6 blocks You can read about it here: Sugarloaf Jewels Quilt Here are our shining stars today. Let's see what they

Just a few scraps can become something beautiful (If you can't see this post as a web page, click here ) I get a lot of sample fabric from various places. After all, I earn my living by using fabric! Blank Quilting had a lovely line called Lava in a variety of colors (about 18). I had some in sample books and tore them out and was able to get exactly 6 pieces from each color. Enough for a full hexie GFG for each. Wow - there is a god in the fabric heavens! Here is my start . . . Five full blocks with a few others in process I am teaching an English Paper Piecing class through the Fall and into the Spring and Summer for the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo. You know I have to have samples. And more samples . . . Little scraps from Timeless Treasures. Just enough of each print for a block. I have been tearing apart the old sample books and using them to make some coordinating blocks. Not sure what I'll do with them; maybe join them block to block. Who knows? I&

Betty Lou Marbles - come see how to make this block It's Technique Tuesday at the Benartex blog, Sew in Love with Fabric . I am the guest designer and I have some fabulous fabrics to share and then show how to make this block. Come take a visit, won't you?   Stack 'em up before I chop 'em up! Hop on over to Benartex and see how I make this block into a cute kitchen runner.

More from the "A is for . . ." Collection by Windham Fabrics . Blocks are about 9" x 9" Take a peek at my progress with that collection from last week . Took a few letters from last week and turned them into some pretty large Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. Here is what they look like from the back, both before trimming and taking paper out and then after: One stitching is complete, remove papers so they can be reused. And then remember those letters I made for my grandson? I decided to leave the paper in and back them with wool felt. Used a machine buttonhole stitch for quick work. What do you think? Almost done with the EPP. Then I'm backing each letter so he can learn the alphabet Did you know that when you view all these fabrics at the Windham Fabric Gallery pages, you can click on a swatch and find out which stores carry that exact fabric? Isn't that neat? Go try it. "A is for . . ." Collection . Select the large le

Arrowheads Quilt - No templates, no waste, no kidding! I'll be back on the road again teaching this Fall, beginning the first weekend of October. I'm busy preparing my patterns and kits. The first city will be Fredericksburg, Virginia teaching for the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo . The Arrowheads Quilt is AWESOME. This only LOOKS hard. You make the block using three triangles of fabric (two light, one dark). Sew them together and then slice apart in a VERY strange (and frankly, scary) way. Sew the wedges back together to form this block! The Arrowheads Quilt is a Bring Your Own Fabric (BYOF) class and I supply the pattern and two-template set for the kit fee. This is one of 4 quilts I bring to class - and I show a bunch of other block options that the templates can get for you. Remember this from the Dare to Dresdens Hop ? The Modern Vortex Quilt - 20" block; 28" x 28" quilt This class sells out in every city I teach it in. (Another BYOF; students