I love to sew. I don't always have a goal in mind. If  I can piece and sew random blocks or paper pieced units, it doesn't bother me at all if they don't become a quilt right away. I've been known to let 5, 10 and even 15 years pass between when I started a quilt and when I finished it. Today I want to share a few random, disconnected blocks that I've been working on. Just to show you that we designers don't always work with deadlines! First, a few blocks made using Katja Marek's Hexagon Calendar as my inspiration. All of the blocks are designed for English Paper Piecing. I have made many using EPP, but some of them can be rotary cut and I go with that, too! (You can see my Pinterest Board with many of the blocks I've made so far using Katja's book , The New Hexagon.) Take a visit to Katja's Quilt Shop in Canada (well, visit it online!) She is a very talented lady with so many wonderful samples from her books and calendar. The New H...

I have enjoyed making the occasional block using Katja Marek's book of 52 blocks ( The New Hexagon for English Paper Piecing ) and her perpetual calendar of 366 blocks. Sometimes, the renegade that I am, I rotary cut and sew by machine the various blocks. Why? Because I can! The New Hexagon Perpetual Calendar Today is November 27 and I saw that the block could easily be upsized and rotary cut. I used a new collection by Jackie Robinson called Festive Season and I love how it turned out. Don't you? The blocks in the calendar are measured as is typical in EPP - the length of the side. They are a uniform 6" (so they can all fit together when placed block to block). When rotary cutting, you measure the height of the finished patch and block. My block here will finish to 10". November 27 block from The New Hexagon Perpetual Calendar I decided to take the plunge and make this block with EPP. But I discovered I didn't have any patches the right size other t...

Let's open up the magic box and see what Patricia has for us this week. Seven new blocks, one for each day of the week. November 26: Triplet November 26: Triplet, 6" November 27: Yokohama Banner November 27: Yokohama Banner  November 28: Stamp Basket November 28: Stamp Basket, 12" I have at least one quilt made using the Stamp Basket block. This one was made about 15 years ago using a bright and happy fabric collection in much larger blocks.  Stamp Baskets quilt: Stamp Baskets Quilt And a shot of it before quilting (where the colors are less muddy): Lakehouse fabrics using my Stamp Baskets pattern November 29: Wreath of Leaves November 29: Wreath of Leaves, 12"  November 30: Castles in Spain November 30: Castles in Spain A little back story on the November 30 block. My son in law, Daniel, is from Spain and this is his birthday! There are a lot of beautiful castles in Spain. December 1: Anvil December 1: Anvil, 8"...

New week, new set of 7 beautiful blocks. November 19: Savannah Squares November 19: Savannah Squares, 15"  November 20: Blackford's Beauty November 20: Blackford's Beauty, 16"  November 21: Glorious Leaves November 21: Glorious Leaves  November 22: Massachusetts November 22: Massachusetts November 23: Indian Trails (Happy Thanksgiving to all my American visitors) November 23: Indian Trails, 8"  November 24: Scottish Cross November 24: Scottish Cross, 12"  November 25: Teardrop Melons November 25: Teardrop Melons, 9" I realize you probably can't see that block. Here it is in digital format: Teardrop Melons from the Quilter's Block a Day Calendar Have a wonderful week. Don't eat too much on Thursday and don't spend too much on Black Friday! See you next week!

It's not really the way I typically work, but I've discovered a few patterns (of mine) that I tend to revisit. Again. And again! This quilt is so Jelly Roll friendly. You know - those Jelly Rolls you've been hoarding, hoping a quick pattern comes along that uses every square inch of them. This is one idea I think you'll like. It all started with this first quilt published in Quilt Magazine early 2000. I bought a bundle of plaids from a quilting catalog and decided to test drive a concept for making this block. I cut 2-1/2" strips and paired them with a solid cream. Simple Hourglass Quilt Then I made it a second time in 2005. It was a wildly popular workshop for a few years. I called it Yikes, Those Stripes! This one uses 30 blocks. It also was published in Quilt Magazine. This time I used the stripes cut into strips and paired these with Kaffe Fassett shot cottons (the solids). Yikes, Those Stripes!  And the glorious quilting done by Leslee Evans of ...