New York Beauty quilt top I follow a Facebook page of antique quilts that recently featured a few New York Beauty quilts. I love that many of them are NOT flawless. There are imperfections, just like the one above. I had wanted to include this quilt in my recent book Paper Piecing Perfect Points and had asked a fellow teacher about quilting this for me. She insisted that I take it apart and "fix" the flaws in the side spikey borders, in particular, the one on the left. . . And I did (take it apart) 3 years ago! And it still is in parts. All the paper pieced parts.  All sorts of parts and it has broken my heart. Sits in a dark box in the basement. Never did "fix it." I'm going to the basement this morning. Find the box. Take it to my sewing room. Sew the parts back together JUST LIKE THE PHOTO. And I will make sweet promises to the quilt that she will get quilted JUST LIKE SHE APPEARS and will take her around and show her off JUST LIKE SHE IS. Yes, my...

Going home to live with Meg Meg is my daughter Audrey's best girlfriend. They went to graduate school together (Georgetown U) and have remained friends for maybe 10 years (what does a mother remember?) Meg comes over with Audrey occasionally when Audrey wants to sew and raid my stash. Meg saw my unfinished Gee's Bend quilt last year and thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen (as far as quilts go). I knew then that it would find a home with her. I had to query about 200 quilt shops to find the red for the borders. My dear friend Connie longarm quilted it a few weeks ago. Instead of wrapping it up,  I had it hanging on my kitchen wall last night when she walked in. It took her almost 10 minutes to notice not only it, but the big sign with her name on it! Yes, she was speechless. That quilt is just as happy as Meg is. And you can bet that I had the greatest time getting it ready to go on its journey. I still have a smile on my face! Yes, these Gee...

Sunflower Blossoms My publisher (Martingale/That Patchwork Place) suggested I post about my book, Paper Piecing Perfect Points. Besides needing a diversion from the 8" of snow we received on Monday, I also needed a happy quilt to feast my eyes on with a LOT color. Where is Spring? we are all asking!! Sunflower Blossoms is really a remake of a quilt that was stolen in 2005 (along with 29 other quilts and samples). It was in a suitcase that was in a locked car in a "sketchy" parking garage in California. It was my first Dogwood Blossom quilt, based on a tradtional design and probably one of the first projects I made using foundation piecing. Dogwood Blossom Quilt - hanging on the Giant Quilt Rack in the sky Print ad in a quilt magazine - Sunflower Blossoms! Yes, I know. Some of you are rolling your eyes. "Paper piecing? Are you nuts? I'd rather scrub toilets or go to the dentist!" All I can say is that you've never had a teacher to show yo...

Hexagon Log Cabin Block (yes, I got the date stamp wrong!) My longtime quilting friend and former editor at Quilt Magazine (I worked for her for 14 years) has developed several new quilting rulers for Creative Grids. Jean Ann Wright has been quilting for a few decades and now has 3 trim tools that take the guesswork out of several awesome blocks. (I've been quilting for a few decades, too!)  One of them is called the Hexagon Trim Tool. It makes an 8" (high) log cabin block in the shape of a hexagon. And you know how much I love hexagons! The beauty of this tool is that you don't have to cut the exact size strips. The ruler trims them for you after you've sewn an entire round of strips. I decided to make one this week to see if I could do it (what? are you kidding? this ruler is for everyone from beginner to advanced). I decided to "square it up" so that I can join other blocks without using a y-seam. How did I do that? You can use the Hexagon Trim...

East Meets West Beautiful fabrics from the Sakura Collection by Benartex Today I am blogging at the Benartex site and give a great tutorial for how to make these lovely circles without any hand work. I put them into a small quilt that I hope will inspire you. Butterflies remind me of Spring. Are you coming, Spring? You can find out about the giveaway at the Sew in Love with Fabric blog. They will create the parameters for the contest. I will be giving away a set of fat quarters of the Sakura Collection. Good Luck!

First attempt at a skirt for my 6 week old granddaughter! Welcome to my day for the Ruffles Blog Hop. Many thanks to Amy of Sew Incredibly Crazy and Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt . They do their best to keep us all in line. I spent several weeks sweating bullets over this hop. I didn't want to do another quilt, another pillow, or another apron. I got inspired by a tiny applique block I've had for years (I share it later) and then when my daughter Audrey asked me to make a dotted skirt for my new granddaughter Eva last week, well - I remembered the 10 yards of ruffled eyelet I bought at a thrift shop a few years ago. BINGO! The first skirt went down to her ankles. Ooops! Back to the sewing machine. Second skirt. More ruffle than fabric. Well, you really can't tell how cute it is until you see it on my cute granddaughter, Eva. (That is pronounced A-va, not E-va; my son in law is from Spain) Aren't I just the cutest little girl? And how about those shoe/so...

Twisted Hexagons Table Mat, option #1 I'm starting my teaching cycle for 2014 with the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo and it begins on Thursday, March 6: 4 days on, 3 days off for 6 weeks in a row! Yikes! Can someone check on my husband and dog? Actually, it's a good arrangement and I work with some of the most wonderful people on the planet. What are my classes? Twisted Hexagons, see above pic. And this class has the option to select to make the table runner: Three Block Table Runner I share various other projects of inspiration. But, I have to move on to my next classes . . . English Paper Piecing: Grandmother's Flower Garden Blocks No sewing machines. No hurry. No kidding! Handwork and relaxation. Never thought I'd say those two words together, but this class is a wonderful addition to my busy sewing machine schedule of classes. What else do I show? Double Hexie How to applique this to a background square! Now for the machine quilter: Fr...