Wishing everyone who celebrates Christmas a merry one. I'm sharing a picture of my Angel Quilt which has never been posted online. It is about 20 years old and is the result of a block swap on AOL (remember those?). As you can see, we didn't specify block size (which I actually prefer) and I was able to build around my blocks using some simple half-square triangles. Angel Quilt I had just gotten this back from the longarm quilter and it was draped over my cutting table in my sewing/laundry room. My middle daughter was about 12 at the time and she came running upstairs yelling that the washing machine was overflowing and she was able to grab the quilt away from the water all over the floor, but unfortunately it was too late for one part of it. Can you see the angel with the blue dress on (NOT the devil with the blue dress; that's a song)? Well, the red from the red angel below her bled all over her blue dress and onto the white background! Renegade dyes! (And no. I d...

Christmas Eve and the first day of Hanukkah converge on the same day. We can all celebrate the Festival of Lights as we climb past the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice). To all my Jewish friends and blog followers, I wish you many blessed days in the year to come. This is a gift bag I made to appear in the 2015 Quilting Arts magazine. It uses my own paper pieced dreidel block: Hanukkah gift bag This is how my two bags were photographed in the magazine: Gift bags for Hanukkah I had also made a few gift tags and a book mark about 10 years ago: Gift tag and book mark I gave these items to my oldest daughter as gifts for my 3 year old granddaughter's preschool teachers. Eva goes to a Jewish preschool and I'm so glad these can make special gifts. I had 2 copies of the magazine and they were included, too! This is what the 6" paper pieced dreidel looks like before it's put into the bag: 6" paper pieced Dreidel I will make this a patte...

This is a repost from last year at Winter Solstice because it came again this year. Really, it did! And I added a few other things from this Fabricadabra Collection. I pay attention to the amount of sunlight we get each day. Or the lack thereof. Yes, I don't live in Alaska or Scandinavia. Still, November and December are too dark for me. I look forward to the shortest day of the year because that means that the days will be getting longer after that! How better to celebrate the Winter Solstice than to make a quilt block. Forget the pagan stuff swirling around this - I like the sun for the sunshine! I began with one idea and it morphed into another, mainly because of my available fabrics. I was looking for a bright orange and found it in the  Benartex Fabricadabra Collection  by Paula Nadelstern. And then I saw that I had the companion panels and my creative juices began to flow. Fabracadabra  panel, one motif of three in a 42" cut Have you seen Paula's new boo...

Natalie Barnes has created an awesome, modern collection for Windham Fabrics called Hand Maker.  With 23 skus in this group, I hardly knew where to begin. But, they whispered loudly and I grabbed a handful of the colors, setting aside the black and white prints for the time being. The Hand Maker Collectio n by Natalie Barnes for Windham Fabrics I grabbed a tried and true pattern of mine and resized it. It's my Easy  Winding Ways  applique block and you will see how easy this is to make. I wanted to get the most out of a fat quarter, so I cut 8-1/2" background squares that will work with my applique. (You can find this same Winding Ways pattern in a larger, 10" finished block size in my Etsy Store.) I began with my template cut from freezer paper. I ironed it to the right side of an 8" square of my chosen fabric, with the fusible interfacing underneath (the applique can be cut from a smaller piece of fabric than the background square). Then I cut it out. ...

The newest edition of Modern by the Yard (by Benartex) is released on Monday, November 28. I was asked to update a traditional pattern and I chose the Double Wedding Ring. It's something I've been doing for almost 15 years and I think you'll like the quilt and the process. Here's a little teaser: Sew in Love with Fabric  will reveal the pattern tomorrow! You will also see one of my "oldie goldie" quilts from long ago, also made with Benartex fabrics. Published in Quick Quilts Magazine, early 2000s. Tomorrow I'll reveal the quilt and a link to get the FREE pattern. Until then, enjoy your weekend!

Today I want to share two sweet projects made for my little granddaughter using the Farm Collection by Windham Fabrics. She is not yet 3 years old and still enjoys the simple things (ie, she's not a teenager, ok?) Remember this main print I shared the other day? Main print in the Farm Collection  Here is the set of fat quarters Windham sent to me. Aren't they SO CUTE? That is one SAUCY rooster, don't you think? Set of fat quarters from the Farm Collection I struggled. Why? To a quilter, ALL fabric says "quilt!" But I knew that her mom (my daughter) wanted another pillowcase for Eva. She has several quilts already. I selected two fabrics to go with the main print. All I had was fat quarters so I needed to piece the main part of the pillowcase. One for the front and one for the back. Happy little farm animals, smiling at me as they know they're going to get off my fabric shelf and go live with a little child! See how happy these animals a...

Contest is over and my winner has been notified. Thanks to EVERY ONE of you for visiting, saying kind words about my block and giving feedback on blenders, paper piecing and anything else quilt-worthy! I appreciate all of you. Today is my day to share a block pattern at the Sew in Love with Fabrics blog (Benartex). We designers were each sent the same fat quarter bundle of 6 fabrics from the Dreamscape Collection . They are what I would classify as blenders. See what you think. Dreamscape Fabrics by Benartex I used all but the dark gray in a pattern I designed about 10 years ago which I call Striped Star. You can read all about it at the Sew in Love with Fabric site today and be entered to win a fat quarter bundle of these very same fabrics. Here's a sneak peek at my process: Fabrics cut for the Striped Star block The contest is over the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 25 at midnight. Just leave a message here (after you view the tutorial) about how you l...

Seems like I hit the "publish" button too soon this morning on my teaser post about the Tuesday Sew in Love with Fabrics tutorial. (Those who get emails about this blog post know what I'm talking about.) You saw these fabrics and wondered, huh? It's coming on Tuesday, I promise, with a giveaway. Tuesday blog post with a giveaway of the Dreamscape Fabrics Also, I'm finishing up my Jack's Chain block and hope to have a FREE pattern for the large block by Friday. Just in time for Black Friday, when I NEVER, EVER go shopping. But online shopping is ok, right? This block is so large that it's going to be a perfect table topper. And I've simplified it so that if you're very careful with your 1/4" seams, you don't need to resort to y-seams. Good news! Jack's Chain Block I also have a few new collections by Windham that I sort of have an idea about.  One is a sweet novelty print called Farm. Scratching my head for something sweet ...

I love getting inspiration from the vintage/traditional blocks from decades ago. Jack's Chain is one of those. I took an older file from my computer (from when I worked for Quilt Magazine) and tweaked it for use with 2-1/2" strips. I needed to resize the center hexagon and surrounding triangles. So glad I have Adobe Illustrator as my software! So, what does Jack's Chain look like? Here is one block (digital). Jack's Chain Block And the vintage, newspaper pattern? It was first called Rosalia Flower Garden in 1939. Jack's Chain/Rosalia Flower Garden The traditional blocks made for this quilt are never this large. But because I wanted to use 2-1/2" strips, it obviously grew! I used some vintage Kaffe Fassett fabrics (ie, over 10 years old) along with some newer prints for my prototype block. Jack's Chain Block: 23-1/2" x 23-1/2" The light gray is a Windham fabric called Mary's Blenders. The green/purple triangle fabric is an ...