First, the winner of last week's Back to School with Windham Fabrics is Susan S. of Mississippi. Congratulations, Susan! Your fat quarter bundle of It's a Hoot will ship shortly. Thanks to everyone who left a comment. New issue alert! Modern by the Yard (by Benartex Fabrics) is out and available - FREE - with all new quilts, one of which is mine. This is an eMagazine and you can click on the links to get to it. Modern by the Yard , Issue #6  Here is a set of 1/3 yard cuts I was sent to work with. They are truly color drenched! Color Flow fabrics by Carol Bryer Fallert I was updating a pattern I developed using a 12 year old technique which I call Magic Stax©. While many others have done something similar, mine is unique in that the number of patches in a block determines how many squares are in a stack. The stack gets cut ALL at the same time (make sure your rotary cutter has a new blade.) Also, my cutting is NOT RANDOM. All of my blocks in this series (15 ...

Welcome back to our weekly show with Patricia's blocks from my Quilter's Block a Day Calendar. Make sure you read to the end to hear from Patricia herself and her update on what she plans to do with her 366 blocks. September 24: Scottie September 24: Scottie, 10" September 25: Scrapbag September 25: Scrapbag, 15"  September 26: Starstruck Geese September 26: Starstruck Geese, 10" September 27: Tessellating Star September 27: Tessellating Star, 12"  September 28: Trip Around the World  September 28: Trip Around the World, 14"  September 29: Union Squares September 29: Union Squares, 12" September 30: Winged Arrows September 30: Winged Arrows Now, for a word from Patricia: Hi Debby, Thought I would just touch base with you.   Haven't forgotten about putting my (your) blocks together into quilts! Trying to get a photo of them all together before I start however is proving harder than one would...

My family is devoted to coffee. When my children are here with spouses, we have to make more than one (or two) pots of coffee every morning. So, I was delighted to get to design with the new International Coffee Collection by Windham Fabrics. International Coffee by Windham Fabrics I designed not one, not two, but THREE projects with these fabrics. I must like coffee, huh? Here they are. First, the mug rugs: Mug Rugs using International Coffee fabrics Mug Rugs  using International Coffee measure about 7" finished (the motifs finish at 5-1/2"). I include a paper template for cutting the setting triangles. If you have a Tri-Recs ruler set, these will work perfectly. Here is my own set of mug rugs using real fabric! Four mug rugs using International Coffee fabrics I was sent a panel that has four motifs on each end. These are used in those mug rugs. Great gifts and VERY quick and easy. Here's the panel: International Coffee  cup motifs Then...

Here we are: Week 38 with seven more blocks from Patricia! September 17: Maize Basket September 17: Maize Basket, 8" September 18: Lend and Borrow September 18: Lend and Borrow September 19: Susannah September 19: Susannah, 8" September 20: Oregon Trail September 20: Oregon Trail, 12" September 21: Pieced Box September 21: Pieced Box, 8" September 22: Pieced Star September 22: Pieced Star, 12" September 23: Royal Star September 23: Royal Star, 12" Beautiful blocks in beautiful settings. Thanks, one more time, Patricia!

This really is a fowl week! Third post about birds. First the owls, then the chickens, now these feathered friends. Hope you aren't thinking about that Alfred Hitchcock film about the BIRDS! I love this quilt. I had originally designed it using some fabrics by Windham (Collage). I pitched it to Modern Patchwork Magazine. Nope; didn't want it. McCall's. Nope. I hoped SOMEONE would think this was cute. Do you? I call it Pecking Order. Can you see the lowly birds on the ground and the big Kahoona bird on the birdhouse. King of the roost, huh? Original Pecking Order Quilt Then Red Rooster (a division of P & B Textiles) asked me to design a quilt using their Bird Watchers line . Holy Cow! This was perfect for remaking my Pecking Order quilt. Now what do you think? Pecking Order using the Bird Watchers Collection They didn't want the letters (what gives?) and so I took them out, added another bird and some folk art flowers. It's the same size as my or...

I received a review copy of Cotton and Indigo from Japan from Schiffer Publishing a few weeks ago. This contains not only dozens of beautiful fabric designs and quilts, but it takes us on a journey through the hundreds of years where indigo meets cotton in a unique way that only the Japanese can do. Teresa Wong  has a special love and appreciation for this and has done extensive research, not from afar (where she lives in Texas), but she regularly visits Japan and documents what she has found. Cotton and Indigo from Japan Here's what the official press release says:  In Cotton & Indigo from Japan , more than 300 colorful photos and behind-the-scenes details reveal the fascinating story of Japan's cotton and indigo, and their enormous contribution to fiber arts worldwide. Learn how Japan and its top fabric designers, quilters, scientists, and artists combine tradition and high tech to weave the thread, fabrics, and stunning designs that are so coveted in tod...

Chicks Looking for a Good Home Today is Technique Tuesday over at the Benartex blog - Sew in Love with Fabric . I am sharing what I did with Chicks on the Run  by Cheryl Haynes. Take a look at my pics and then head on over to see what I did. Well, the title is intriguing, is it not? Why are these chicks on the run? Running from who, the Big Bad Rooster? Or the fox in the hen house? Or are they just liberated chickens? I wanted to know! I saw the panel and knew I had to have it. There's so much you can do with a panel (other than treating it like one piece of fabric (yawn). A panel says to me: cut me up, cut me up! Chicks on the Run  panel Can we see some of the fabrics, at least? Oh, OK . . . Take a look at these fun prints!  And, yes, I did cut them up. What else do you think you're supposed to do?!! Various sized strips for use with those panels Take a visit to the Sew in Love with Fabric blog today (Benartex) and find out what I did wi...