20" Mariner's Compass, paper pieced on a coffee filter Remember this quilt? I made it last summer using a collection of reproduction prints by Mary Koval. You can see some of the details HERE . The center compass was drafted on a LARGE coffee filter (think: Starbuck's). Then I cut it apart and paper pieced the sections and stitched it back together. Added the geese halo. Now, we're talking BIG! This is a new class that begins at the Quilting LIVE! Show in Atlanta, GA (September 11 - 13). I realized that not everyone enjoys these colors and felt I had to make another one using today's fabrics (can you say "solid"?) and so this is what I got . . . Same compass, same geese ring, new fabrics Yes, there is a slight difference in the grays. The compass gray is a little lighter than the gray in the geese halo. My friend Jean Ann Wright (my former editor at Quilt Magazine) helped me with the color choices and the local quilt shop owner, Kathye Gille...

Twisted Hexagon Table Runner hand pieced and hand quilted Julia is in my local quilt bee. We meet on Thursdays and we all inspire each other and share good quilt stories and info. She took my Twisted Hexagons workshop in January which I gave for my guild, the Fairfax Chapter of Quilter's Unlimited. She quietly stitched for the three hours - BY HAND, did you catch that in the caption above?!! Wow. Truly beautiful. I am a high contrast person. Brights. Darks. Batiks. Fabrics that shout, "Look at me!" She took it one step further and hand quilted everything, finishing the last stitch this morning. She sent me a close up of her work . . . Julia's hand quilting I should say that Julia works at Jinny Beyer's quilt shop in Falls Church, VA. And we all know that Jinny hand pieces everything! I am the sewing machine queen and haven't ever hand pieced anything. (Well, I did once; I threw the pieces into the trash can and ran for my machine.)  I used to ha...

Just a teaser with some awesome fabrics I had my first lesson on the Handi Quilter last week at the Quilter's Studio in Fairfax, VA . I quickly pieced this Lone Star quilt using the Season's Greetings Collection from Benartex . (This will be a new pattern soon). Would you love to see this holiday collection and have a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the fabrics? Well, you must get on over to the Sew in Love with Fabric blog (Benartex) and see the fun projects I made with them (besides this Lone Star). Season's Greetings Collection by Benartex Visit the Sew in Love with Fabric blog and leave a comment about my use of the wonderful little panels included in this fabric group. Then come on back here and let me know, too. I will let Benartex select the winners.

Block a Day Calendar Today at the Martingale blog quilting calendars are featured. My block a day calendar is still going strong after 7 years! It's perpetual and not tied to any one year (not to be confused with the annual block a day calendars I publish with another publisher). You can read about it here: Quilter's Block a Day Calendar And you can see ALL of the blocks on my web site. Yes, all of them in full color. The CD has all 366 blocks in 2 sizes AND 12 quilt patterns made using some of the blocks in the calendar. AND I created 12 more patterns to go along with it. I sell the CD for  $12.95, plus $2 postage (USA only). If you are international, contact me to discuss postage to your country. You see how to order it here: Calendar Order Information Go see the blocks here: Debby's Calendar Blocks And you can also see the 12 quilt patterns here: Quilt Calendar Patterns And what's my giveaway? A copy of the Quilter's Block-a-Day Calendar in CD ve...

My first - and easiest - Winding Ways quilt Easy? Are you nuts? This quilt is NOT easy, you may say. But look closely. Those are TWO patches only for each block: a background square and a single applique patch that mimics the crazy, multiple patches of a traditional Winding Ways block. Well, what does a traditional block look like? Single Winding Ways block pieced with 12 curved patches - Yikes! Well, it LOOKS like it was appliqued. I don't believe you! Well? Do you believe me now? And can we see the seams in the back? Look close! Those are all seams and you really have to press them EXACTLY as shown. And did you make only one block? Of course not! This was a class a few years ago. But I spared my students the crazy nightmare of cutting out their patches. I supplied laser cut kits for all the patches, done for me from John Flynn's company. His daughter Kate handles this part of the business and my students were ecstatic (as was I) when we sat down to pie...

Patriot's Day (aka Regal Eagle) This appears as the July quilt in my 2014 wall calendar of quilts. Appropriate for our Independence Day celebrations today on the 4th of July. Liberty and freedom from government oppression. We still want it, have it (most of the time) and sometimes still fight for it when the rules get a little suffocating. I designed this for Windham Fabrics in 2008 and a certain magazine picked it up to publish it. Then the magazine went bankrupt and I never got paid (that's how it works when you're the little guy, even though without quilts there would have been no magazine in the first place). My nephew saw it in the calendar and loved it. It's his. I just discovered that Windham has put a FREE DOWNLOAD OF REGAL EAGLE on their web site. This was a pattern that was included in partnership with the National Coverlet Museum and their reproduction coverlet fabrics. It is the same as Patriot's Day. It is a 9 page pdf and yours to enjoy, eve...

Let's start with all the parts - The Angelica Collection by Blank Quilting For several years I have taught my easy method for making a paper pieced Palm Block (also called a Hosannah Block). Traditionally, it was pieced using templates. Then when it was converted to a paper foundation, it was divided into two sections down one diagonal. I drafted it into an off-center log cabin. I don't like to guess with paper piecing. I figure out what size fabric patch to cut for sections, label them and line them up, just like in the photo above. Here is my step by step process for making a single block. Let's begin with my pattern (as found in my book: Paper Piecing Perfect Points).  And the quilt . . . Hosannah Quilt from Paper Piecing Perfect Points We will be sewing on the side with the lines. The fabric is placed on the other, non-written side. To make it easier to place the patches, I like to use a postcard and quickly fold each line . . . All lines on the p...