February is a wonderful month (if you just ignore the occasional snow storms where I live). It is Black History Month, American Heart Month, and of course, Valentine's Day! I will begin the month by giving you the second star block in my Galaxy of Stars Block of the Month . That happens on the first day (Sunday). This is where I hope to go on the other events of the month: Medallion Variation Quilt, a Gee's Bend pattern I will be giving away one of my 8 Gee's Bend patterns EACH WEEK to one lucky winner. If you want to see what they are, visit my Craftsy site or my Pinterest pages. Then if you win, you can select one of them and I'll send the pdf to you! American Heart Month: works perfectly with Valentine's Day, doesn't it? I will have some free heart patterns, one of which is my Hearts on Fire Quilt from a very popular workshop (and pattern set). Benartex sent me some awesome batiks and I'll have a tutorial on how to make the blocks and give aw...

I am part of Day 5 in the Novelty Prints Blog Hop over at the Sew in Love with Fabric blog. Sometimes you see a great set of novelty prints and know exactly who you will make something for. I'm sharing how I used some wonderful police and firemen fabrics to make a few things for my little grandsons, who are 2 and 4 years old. This is all I have left of the Firefighters Rock Collection. But you can see all the awesome images from a mascot dalmatian wearing a fire hat to a huge fire engine and even a red fire hydrant! Let's hear it for our local fire fighters! Firefighters Rock Collection Let's not forget our policemen. Can you believe there is handcuff fabric and fingerprint fabric? This was fun to work with. My grandsons LOVE policemen. Boys in Blue Collection by Kanvas for Benartex Head on over to Sew in Love with Fabric to see what I made. Lots of pictures!

Do you remember the Mambo Collection from Windham Fabrics? The one you should wear sunglasses to view? And the FREE tote bag pattern I shared a few days ago using the collection? Well, here is the pattern for that psychedelic Heat Waves quilt . . . Heat Waves: 56" x 62" I don't have a picture of the finished quilt. This was in 2007 before I had a camera phone. Remember how we had little cameras that had FILM in them and we had to take them to the local camera shop to get them developed? I thought it was radical to get a CD with all the photos! Wow - to get them onto my computer that way was so 21rst century. I digress. Here is a multi-page pattern with illustrations and assembly diagrams. Use your own fabrics and play around with the line drawing. The template is included. The center melon shape is appliqued under the larger melon shape, trimmed and then the large, two color shape is raw edge appliqued to the blue background squares and rectangles. Fun playing wit...

Seven years ago I was sent this awesome - and very BUSY - fabric collection by Windham Fabrics called Mambo . Quite the colorful and challenging set of prints. At that time I was developing my EZ Double Wedding Ring pattern (actually it had been 5 years by that time) and decided to do something really funky with it. Are you ready? Go get your sunglasses!! I called it "Heat Waves." Heat Waves before borders were attached (56" x 62") I had it quilted and not sure what Windham did with it. Probably bagged it up in a dark room or shipped off to a sunny beach somewhere. Sipping margaritas with other colorful fabric. Let me tell you a little bit about this before we go to the FREE PATTERN (no, this is not it - whew!! I know you say). No, wait a minute. I'll be right back . . . I'm back!  I just discovered I HAD written the pattern with art and template for the quilt above. It's still on my computer. I'll share that later this week (that's if ...

Did you miss Wednesday's FREE PATTERN and my ode to my stolen quilts? Sigh. Gone but not forgotten.  Go back and check it out if you like free patterns that cater to a lot of color! I am back to my Windham Wednesday's posts and wanted to give you a heads up on the fabulous collection I will be featuring. This will be next Wednesday, January 21. Broken Stripes Collection by Windham Fabrics I will show a quilt I made for Fall Quilt Market that is now a new class. I will also show a traditional block gone modern and my steps for making it. And, of course, I will have the block pattern so you can try your hand at it. Yes, I was able to make not one, but two small quilts using this amazing collection of bright stripes. If you are a follower and receive email updates or in your blog feed, you will be notified. In the meantime, have  a super weekend and I hope you get some sewing in.

Ten years ago this month I had a suitcase of 30 (GASP!), yes THIRTY quilts stolen while on a teaching trip to California. Never a one showed up, but I try to think of it this way: they are hanging on the giant quilt rack in the sky, right? I blogged about it a few years ago in Ode to My Stolen Quilts (clever, huh?) Anyway, I was thinking about Velvet Stars today and thought: this would make a NICE FREE PATTERN ! Then "she" would look down on me gently from her starry perch and thank me for remembering her. Velvet Stars, 48" x 62" The block is 12" x 12". This comes from my first quilt book: Bold, Black and Beautiful Quilts, AQS 2004. The pattern is a multi-page pdf and includes templates, though I'm sure you can use the stitch-and-flip method using a rectangle and square to get those star points. Join me, won't you, in a remembrance party for Velvet Stars ! Select your brightest prints or even work it up in black and red. She's a s...

I have always been in awe of the Amish quilts and their use of solid fabrics and traditional patterns. When I created the Gee's Bend patterns for Windham Fabrics I had a lot of their hand dyed solids left over. I created two timeless quilts, one of which is the classic shadows pattern. Classic Amish Shadows : 52" x 63" Simple squares of color alternating with simple squares of black. And all set on point. I could make this quilt again and enjoy it just as much. My faithful friend and longarm quilter, Connie Gallant, gave it an all over design to soften the strong linear feel. Here is the quilt as a flat shot: Classic Amish Shadows This quilt appeared in my 2014 wall calendar of quilts. I thought I'd re-issue it as a stand alone pattern on Craftsy . It is a 4 page pdf with clear illustrations and a double set of instructions (I patterned this twice already, so I threw in both sets!) The price is right: $6 and it's an easy download. Why not check it ...

Funny things are happening in the Hen House! Fowl Play by Kanvas is a fun collection I used last year for Benartex and their blog. These fabrics are based on a real life urban chicken farm (the names of the chickens are real!), so that really gives personality to the whimsical prints of chicks, hens, chicken wire and even chicken scratching! Here is the gist of the blog post and a great way to use a ruler that you probably have in a drawer somewhere in your sewing studio! (The Tri-Recs Tool by Darlene Zimmerman) NOTE: While you may not be able to find this fabric in your local quilt shop, this pattern works with ANY 5-1/2" square: a beautiful flower, a novelty print, etc. Q: Debby, why did you choose this particular collection to work with? A: How could I not? I absolutely love bright prints with good contrast. And I so enjoy the challenge of working with panels and fussy cutting motifs so they get center stage. Those panels of chickens have actual names of real ...

Many times I like to revisit my traditional patterns and traditional fabrics. They comfort me like no other! Constitution Oak is one I created for Windham Fabrics a few years ago based on an historic quilt. It was published many years ago in a magazine: Constitution Oak Quilt, unknown date I have used this block pattern in my Block a Day calendars. I love the symmetry of the blocks, don't you? And I also love applique - when I can do it using my sewing machine! The pattern is written for both hand and machine applique. You can have it by clicking on the link below. Here is how it looks in the pattern (a purely digital version, though I do have the Farmer Fancy Coverlets Collection). Someday I may make it . . . Constitution Oak Quilt : 64" x 64" Free Pattern: Constitution Oak