Broken Stripes Collection by Windham Fabrics THEY SAID : Laura and I were just talking about you yesterday!  Do you remember all the mini quilts we had hanging in the booth at Spring Market?  We are hoping to do the same this for this fall and wondered if you would be interested in sewing a mini quilt for us with one of the new collections? Rules are 18 x 18 inches, and be as IMAGINATIVE as you want!  :) I SAID : Sure. Just send some companion fabrics. Solids from the New Colonies Collection See those samples in the first picture? About 1/8 yard each (maybe)! That meant that I had to make sure my cuts were intentional. No mistakes allowed. But I love a challenge! What did I come up with? Tightknit Circles Tight Knit Circles by Debby Kratovil Now, WHAT DID THEY SAY ? WOW!! I am amazed!  I thought for sure you couldn't do anything that would look good with all those fabrics together , and boy have you proved me wrong!  Thanks Debby!  T...

Twisted Hexagons Yes, I'll be teaching two more classes of this popular technique. It only looks hard. There are no y-seams and the blocks are large. The table runner uses 12" blocks. TWISTED HEXAGONS Overland Park: Friday October 10, 12:30 - 3:30 pm Ft. Worth: Thursday October 16, 1 - 4 pm Twisted Hexagons Table Runner The Table Topper uses 10" blocks (6 of them) and a large, interfaced center hexagon appliqued on last. Twisted Hexagons Table Topper Then I have a class on FREE MOTION QUILTING, BASICS AND BEYOND : Overland Park, Saturday October 11, 12:30 - 3:30 pm Ft. Worth, Thursday October 17, 8:30 - 12:30 pm  This fun wreath is a stencil . . . Draw with a stencil; complete with free motion outside  What a FAT CAT! Of course! That's his name. My own pattern that we trace the simple outline shape onto freezer paper, iron onto fabric, stitch around freezer paper, peel off freezer paper and then fill inside this very fat cat! ...

The wheels on the bus go . . . Round and round . . .   All the kiddies are back in school, including my dear youngest daughter Valery (last year of college). Would you like to see what fun things I did with the Head of the Class Collection by Benartex Fabrics? Head of the Class Collection by Benartex Fabrics I cut hexagons, but how did I do it? Visit the Sew in Love with Fabric blog (Benartex) to see a detailed tutorial on cutting hexagons with a simple ruler.   Technique Tuesday with Benartex 5 hexagons from each of the strips I cut And let me know if this was NEW to you. And how much you love your 60˚ ruler now!

"Mom. I just want to sew all day . . ." Well, what can I say? That's how I feel. Can't always do it most days, but I WANT TO (sew: that is)! Never thought my oldest daughter (I have three of them) would ever get bit by this bug, but when you buy her a sewing machine (10 years ago) and then she has a baby girl - well, that's the combo-platter, as they say. She raids my fabric stash. Then cruises all over Kingdom Come on the internet and finds an idea. Calls mom on FACETIME - can you believe it? Asks me to pan the camera over my stash so she can select fabrics (I'm not making this up!) Made quite a pile to mail to her (she only lives 50 miles away) because she needed them RIGHT NOW. Asks a bazillion questions and you assure her that your directions are right (Hello? I've been sewing like this for 50+ years!!) She cuts and stitches and ignores your SIMPLE directions for turning a skinny tube of fabric for those suspenders (she prefers to reference t...

America's Star-Spangled Story Thanks to all of you who came and visited in my week long Star Spangled Banner Extravaganza. I just want to let you know that I DO have 7 winners (actually, 9) and they've all been contacted and they are very excited to get the fabrics and other goodies. Well, who are they? (No last names, of course). I am bundling everything for the post office this week. If you missed any of the days, click the links below. There was a lot of American history and pictures and neat quilts to fill the pages. And the comments were fabulous! Day 1 fabrics courtesy of Windham Fabrics : Day 1: Kathy H. of Pennsylvania  Day 2 fabrics courtesy of Windham Fabrics : Day 2: Mary D. of Missouri Day 3 fabrics courtesy of Benartex : Day 3:Mary S. of California Day 4 fabrics courtesy of Benartex : Day 4: Jenelle B. of Kansas Day 4 book courtesy of Jane Hampton Cook : Day 4: Karen M. of Minnesota Day 5 fabrics courtesy of Benartex ; cale...

LAST DAY OF MY STAR SPANGLED BANNER EXTRAVAGANZA! Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner and I hope you'll be able to catch some of the celebrations via the internet or television. Constitution Oak by Debby Kratovil - 64" x 64" Constitution Oak is another quilt I designed for Windham Fabrics. It uses reproduction coverlet fabrics which are some of my absolute favorite fabrics because of the motifs. You can easily make this in any colorway. This is our FREE PATTERN during my Star Spangled Banner Extravaganza this week. Let me show you a few other quilts with the red, white and blue theme: Farmhouse Stars (from Supersize 'em Quilts) Another Free Pattern from Windham Fabrics: Liberty Dance Liberty Dance by Maria Tavy Umhey - 50" x 50" Last day for FREE fabrics (I'm going 7 for 7!) Fabrics courtesy of Benartex Fabrics DAY 7 CONTEST: 1. The contest is over at midnight tonight, September 13,...

Stitching  History with the Maryland Historical Society Welcome to Day 6 of the Star Spangled Banner Extravaganza. I came across a story on the Martingale blog that ANY quilter would enjoy. The famous Mimi Dietrich took part in the "Stitching History" project last year as part of the Maryland Historical Society . It is a FABULOUS read with a lot of pictures. Visit the STITCH THIS site to read about it. Well, can we see some pictures here first? Of course! Working on the Star Spangled replica Such a beautiful sight, huh? I love the red, white and blue! The Star Spangled replica And, of course, they got to test it out at Ft. McHenry . . . Long may She wave How about a FREE pattern? Stars of Valor Stars of Valor by Betty New - 56" x 67" And, we can't forget about the fabrics, right? These are from Benartex Fabrics and they have a British theme. See? We have kissed and made up with you Brits! After all, you gave us the Beatl...

I even crochet in patriotic colors! Today is a somber day in America. It is the 13th anniversary of the fall of our Twin Towers in New York City. As we watched it unfold on our televisions all across the nation, we were so emotional. And then as the days went by, flags began to appear EVERYWHERE I looked: in the front of many houses on my street in Atlanta, in the front of stores, gas stations. Everywhere! Here's my flag quilt again: American flag quilt by Debby Kratovil And here is a block I designed for my Block a Day Calendar with Martingale : Star Spangled Banner block from from the Quilter's Block-A-Day Calendar ( Martingale , 2007) You can have the pattern for this 18" block FREE: Star Spangled Banner block Would you like to see all the blocks ? How about WINNING a copy of the companion CD? It has all 366 blocks in two sizes PLUS 12 quilts made from the blocks. And then there's the FABRIC giveaway, right? How about 5 half-yard cuts ...

Patriot's Day quilt by Debby Kratovil Yes, that's my quilt (or was my quilt; I have since gifted it to my nephew Blair because he loved it so much). You can have the pattern FREE by clicking on this link: Regal Eagle, with Windham Fabrics . (Yes, she's young and beautiful as well as smart!) Here's our last day with Jane Cook . This is just a small taste of how rich our American history is. It's been 200 years since the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, but it's not always been viewed as a patriotic, feel good song. I asked Jane about that and here is her answer:   What inspired you to write about the national anthem? An ESPN commentator in Nov. 2013 suggested that The Star-Spangled Banner shouldn't be sung at sporting events because it was a war anthem. Likewise, news stories pop up frequently with attacks on patriotism. I decided to write America's Star-Spangled Story to help Americans rediscover the story behind the song as p...