One of my four patterns designed for P & B (and Red Rooster) is up at their site. My Floating Circles quilt designed using the Printemps Collectio n works well with just about anything in your stash. Floating Circles Quilt : 52" x 52" These are 12" blocks with raw edge applique circles (templates included in the pattern). Let me show you how easy it is to create these blocks with one page from the pattern. You can also see three other quilts that will be available later in the summer and fall: Pecking Order made with the Bird Watchers Collection  (coming in August). I absolutely love this quilt and made a similar version using a Windham Fabrics Collection. P & B didn't want the letters, so I added flowers. Pecking Order, coming in August Here is my first quilt, made several years ago using the Collage Collection for Windham. It was NEVER published. I had hoped that Modern Patchwork or McCall's Quilting would pick it up. Sigh. Th...

Can you believe that 2017 is half way over this week? Where did all those days go? Here are 7 more blocks to entertain you with their beauty and clever photography, all done by Patricia Bryant of Australia. (She still doesn't have any plans on what to do with all of them!) June 25: Steps to the Altar June 25: Steps to the Altar, 6" June 26: Tic-Tac-Toe June 26: Tic-Tac-Toe, 12"  June 27: Tulip Lady Finger June 27: Tulip Lady Finger, 12"  June 28: Water Mill June 28: Water Mill, 10"  June 29: Woven Star June 29: Woven Star, 12"  June 30: Wreath of Hearts June 30: Wreath of Hearts, 12" July 1: Old Glory Star . You can find this and 2 other BIG blocks (18") in my Hey, Hey USA pattern on Craftsy.  July 1: Old Glory Star 12" Pattern for my Old Glory Star block and two others available on Craftsy. Check it out. Here is a picture of it: 18" Old Glory Star Hope to see you back here next week! BTW - ...

WARNING: This is word heavy! But, there are a lot of pics, too. As many of you know, I was an editor with Quilt Magazine for 14 years and enjoyed seeing hundreds of my quilts and close to 1,000 articles on "how to make . . ." published in those years. My editor, Jean Ann Wright, was the editor for 20 years and we both "got the boot" in 2007 with the publisher's quest to try (in vain) to become relevant in a fast paced technology/internet fickle world. Harris Publications published Quilt Magazine and several other quilting titles for 25 years. They also had a few dozen hobby magazines. At one point, we were churning out 17 quilt magazines A YEAR! That's one every 3 weeks! I was like a hamster on a wheel, but the more I published the more I got a check. And the beauty of working with Stanley Harris was that he was NOT stingy. I even got a $250 bonus for every single magazine cover I had (and I had 24 covers in those 14 years). Yes, I learned to sew for the...

Are you still with me? These blocks seem to get better with each passing week. Thank you, Patricia Bryant, for not only sewing them but beautifully staging them with such creative props. (Bunnies, ants, beaches, you name it!) June 18: Lover's Knot June 18: Lover's Knot, 9"  June 19: Santa Fe Trail June 19: Santa Fe Trail, 9"  June 20: Pansy Block June 20: Pansy Block, 6" June 21: Picket Fence June 21: Picket Fence , 8" I think the Picket Fence block can have so many possibilities in a wide variety of quilts. So, this is my FREE PATTERN this week for both the 8" and the 12" blocks. Here are 4 blocks together: Picket Fence (4 blocks) June 22: Reflections of Love June 22: Reflections of Love, 12" June 23: Ruins of Jericho June 23: Ruins of Jericho. 12" June 24: Star Flower June 24: Star Flower, 8"

Metropolitan Home Star ? Is that related to the Metropolitan Home magazine? BINGO! Hey, I had a hard enough time naming my three children, so naming my quilts was even harder. I found this picture of a vintage, one of a kind quilt, in a 1982 Metropolitan Home magazine (is this magazine still in print?). Here is the pic I ripped out and saved and carried with me through many household moves: C. 1920. That's all that's known about this awesome design I drafted it about 20 years ago and my daughter (15 at the time) saved it on my computer and called it "Spikey Thing" (she needed to get into my Adobe Illustrator program and wanted to close all the windows I had open at the time). That's what this is called in my 2nd book, Supersize 'Em Quilts: Supersize 'Em Quilts book (2009) And the full quilt: Metropolitan Home Star quilt : 72" x 72" These are not my favorite colors. But I was teaching a Kaffe Fassett Club at Intown Quilters in A...

Benartex sent me some of their sun drenched Bali batiks and asked me to think of a way to make a traditional block modern. I thought of Log Cabins. They're traditional, very traditional, right? Here is a quilt I made last year with black, grays and red. Small blocks! Log Cabin quilt with traditional red center And my improv version (based on a pattern I created several years ago). I call this Fractured Jewels and it is patterned in the new Modern by the Yard eMagazine : Improvisational Log Cabin quilt This is a FREE eMagazine . And the cover is beautiful: Modern by the Yard, Issue #5 Check it out via the Benartex blog website: Sew in Love with Fabrics . There are FIVE free patterns in this issue. What are you waiting for?

Here we are again, back with seven more beautiful blocks by Patricia Bryant of Australia. And her staging of the blocks is even more beautiful, don't you think? June 11: Goose Creek June 11: Goose Creek, 12" June 12: Hands All Around June 12: Hands All Around, 10" June 13: Honey Bee. Did you know that our bee population is in distress? There's a reason why we have to save our bees! One word: Food. If they disappear, so does our food supply. Many thanks to all you bee keepers out there and those who are dedicated to saving our bees. June 13: Honey Bee, 10"  June 14: Salute This is Flag Day here in the USA. June 14: Salute, 8" How about a free pattern for this block in two sizes? This is from my calendar companion CD and this has both the 8" block and 12" block cutting directions. This is what 4 of the blocks look like together. Pretty awesome, huh? FREE Salute pattern Four Salute Blocks together And for my inter...