Today is Day 6 of the Tree Bird Hop. Remember, my day is Monday March 23, so be sure to come back to see what I've been up to. (FREE pattern today, so don't go away) I have another Love Birds quilt that I wanted to share with you. I made this using a fabulous collection of reds, blues and yellows from Kona Bay Fabrics. Yes, that simple bird applique is back and this time perched on a branch with a heart on each end. Very folk art-y! Love Birds Quilt Did I share with you my Tea Cozy Ensemble using this same bird? Tea Cozy Ensemble I have since gifted this ensemble to a family friend and I know she absolutely loves it. I sure enjoyed making it! Now let's visit our Tree Bird bloggers today and see what wonderful things they have come up with featuring birds on a branch. Please come back one more time on Monday to see my own creations, won't you? Friday, March 20 Freemotion By The River Sew Incredibly Crazy Tea Time Cre...

The Garden Bouquet series of blocks ran in the Chicago Tribune in the 1930s under the pen name of Nancy Page (for Florence LaGanke). Each new block came with a whole lot of chatty information, as though you were in the midst of a group of socialites at a tea party making small talk. Each of the 20 blocks features a different flower in a red urn with two birds perched atop: Saucy Bird and Meek Bird. While they weren't doing all the chatting in these weekly pattern reveals, the women in this imaginary tea party certainly were! Here is a photo of my own five block quilt: 5 Block Garden Bouquet Quilt And a photo of all 20 blocks, each with a different flower atop that urn. This is an antique top with the border as it appears in the pattern: Antique Garden Bouquet Quilt I absolutely love these historic pattern sets. I redrafted the blocks (not scans) and typed all the words that came with the pattern. I've included a FREE pdf of the DAFFODIL pattern here so you c...

Today is Day Three of the Tree Bird Hop. And it's the third day of some more eye candy from my Quilt Vault. I've even surprised myself in how many quilts with birds I've made over the past 22 years. Remember: I've been sewing for the camera all that time, not just for a hobby or fun (though I truly have had lots of fun!) That's why I have so many quilts. Here is one of my Love Birds quilts (I have two and hope to show that one later this week). I made it with a simple applique bird pattern I designed and used it for several years when I taught my Building Blocks and Borders workshop. Doves and Hearts Here is that bird again on a tea cozy: Love Bird on Tea Cozy And alone as a Christmas tree ornament (and FREE pattern ): Holiday Dove FREE pattern Now let's go visit today's Tree Bird bloggers and see what they've done! Tuesday, March 17 Tomorrow's Treasures Today Childlike Facination Stitch and Quilt Quiltsmiles ...

This is Day Two of the Tree Bird Hop. I'm so glad to participate (my day is March 23) and I am sharing one of my own bird projects each day as I also share the list of daily bloggers. Today I want to share with you a lovely little block you've seen before - and the pattern is FREE! This is my Blue Bird of Happiness and I use it when I teach my free motion quilting classes. Blue Bird of Happiness I designed this a few years ago for another blog hop. Simple applique to feature a new fabric collection by Windham. It has a 9" center for the bird and the outer strips are 2", finishing to 1-1/2". So, if you do the math right, it's a 12" block! (You didn't have to do the math; I did it for you.) You can have this Blue Bird of Happiness free pattern by clicking the link. But, I hope that you'll first go visit our Day 2 bloggers to see how they've interpreted this Tree Bird challenge. Come back tomorrow for another one of my bird quilts a...

I have been thinking about all my scrap buster quilts and how I should begin sharing them here in blogville. Over the years I've done many articles for Quilt Magazine about how to pull all those scraps that gather under my cutting table into tasteful quilts. Stay tuned for some tutorials on that, but I want to show you a few to get you interested: Tasty Leftovers #3 OK. Where's Tasty Leftovers #1? I'm looking. I'm looking . . . This was a magazine cover, too. One of the publishers wanted to buy it. I couldn't part with it (and still own it). A class I taught in my Kaffe Fassett Club at Intown Quilters (Atlanta). We gathered all our leftover strings and strips and we pieced on 8-1/2" x 11" rectangles of newsprint. I had this quilted and gifted to my daughter's mother in law after surgery. Isn't it a happy quilt? String pieced on 8-1/2" x 11" newsprint Here is one of my students' quilts: Strips and leftovers ...

Back on the road with the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo. I enjoy the teaching and my students! Travel? Not so much. Especially when laryngitis hits and there were no drug stores around. But I digress. Here are my Spring classes: Coffee Filter (20" diameter) Mariner's Compass (Lakeland and Cleveland ) Coffee Filter Mariner's Compass Second color family: Mariner's Compass in solids  Buzz Saw (Lakeland) Buzz Saw using my 12-1/2" Dresden Ruler Thousand Pyramids (Lakeland, Atlanta , and Cleveland ) Thousand Pyramids  Free Motion Machine Quilting (all 3 cities) Learn to work with stencils, marking tools and thread color choice tips  Quilt inside defined shapes: Pebbles Thread sketching  Cupid's Arrows ( Cleveland ) Cupids Arrows (Hosannah Quilt from my book) Cupid's Arrows banner Tight Knit Circles ( Atlanta and Cleveland ) Tight Knit Circles  Seven Sisters (all 3 cities) 7 Sisters table toppe...

Sigh. Big sigh. Snow, ice and rain keep reminding me that Spring is NOT here yet. March is here and my Galaxy of Stars block was revealed yesterday. But, I remembered that March comes in like a roaring lion, and I'm tired of hearing it if you want to know the truth! Let's talk about Sunbonnet Sue . She looks like she has discovered spring in this bed sized quilt below. Can you see all those flowers? I've added a new pattern at my Craftsy site of a Sunbonnet Sue bed sized quilt (104" x 114", with 14" blocks). This is NOT a quick quilt to make, but it's fun. I made it quite a few years ago and I no longer own it. What do you think? Sunbonnet Sue bed sized quilt Sunbonnet Sue and her flower The pattern is a 7 page pdf with full size traceable templates. Notice that the side blocks are turned so Sue can always remain upright. It sells for $5.00. Now let me show you a few other Sunbonnet Sue creations I've made. I made the block smaller a...