September already? Yes, it is! Kids are back in school and I've seen a few red leaves (I live in the Northern Hemisphere). Today we have the 9th block in my 2018 Tea Party Block of the Month. I had to scramble this week because I realized I didn't have the block made! I had the pattern but not the actual fabric block. I had a blue background square cut and quickly transferred the templates to freezer paper. The Basket has two pieces: basket and handle. There is a little "tuck under" allowance on the handle, as you can see (and is more evident on the pattern.) Traced template markings onto freezer paper Let's see how I lined up the handle using the markings on the basket template: Aligning the handle with the basket using the marked notches on template I do intend on adding some flowers or fruit to this in order to give it some personality, but for now, this is as far as I got! September Basket Block You may find you want to make it larger

Isn't it convenient that there is a day of the week that starts with an "M" so I can feature Michael Miller fabrics? I was sent 3 collections and the first one I plan on playing with is Marble . Marble by Michael Miller I remember creating REAL marbled fabric in my daughter Hilary's art class in elementary school! That was almost 30 years ago. I kept that little piece of fabric for years, thinking I was going to stitch something with it. It somehow got lost in one of our moves. Now I can play with these yummy colors. All my favorite colors! How did they know? Go check out their Look Book . Here's the first page. Holy Cow! I want to make this quilt (but without y-seams). Marble Look Book I will be playing with this set of fat quarters this week. I may use some Fairy Frost (I was sent some of that, too) and hope to have a post by next Monday. I think I'll give Hilary a call and ask her about that fabric marbling event in elementary school. (She

Check out the blog posts today - and all week - at the Sew in Love with Fabric blog You'll see some fantastic fabric and have a chance to win fabric prizes. That's all I'm saying. See you tomorrow for my blog post about these fabrics. Free Motion Fantasy fabrics

I came early to paper piecing only because I worked on the editorial staff of Quilt Magazine and was asked to design patterns to share with our readers.  My Cloissoné Diamonds quilt on cover I was not impressed because it was SLOW and I didn’t want to spend all that time on little, bitty, tiny blocks with a zillion pieces! I saw the process that popular teachers used and I just didn’t get the appeal - hold your pattern up to the light? Cut large fabric pieces (aka as mega-wads) and hope they cover the patch intended? Leave the paper on when you join units? No thanks! I jumped in and tried out a few of the blocks I designed. First, I super-sized them from 3” and 4” to 8” and 10”!  Just like these paper pieced Palm Blocks in 10" size! Sixteen paper pieced Palm Blocks in 10" size I streamlined the process realizing that you can pre-cut squares, rectangles and triangles to correspond with the patches so you can sew with confidence that you won’t have to “un-sew

Benartex invited me to design with Midnight Poppies and I was sure I could come up with something. I was concentrating on that large border print. There is a black stripe on either side of it and I thought I could use one of my rulers to slice it up. Midnight Poppies  with a selection of 7 coordinates Hop on over to the Sew in Love with Fabric blog to see the steps for making this quilt and for the pattern to make it! Midnight Poppies Off Center Log Cabin: 54" x 54"

Now, that is an intriguing title, isn't it? But like most quilters, we also love the yarn. I can only crochet. I've tried knitting but I just can't make it work. Today I want to share the 2019 yarn calendars from my publisher (Andrews McMeel publishes my quilting calendar). First the crochet (because I'm partial): 2019 Crochet Calendar And some of the projects. I even included that crocheted head of curlers (remember those ladies?). I always love shawl patterns. The crocheted basket is super using that variegated yarn. I love crocheted tea towel holders - now, that's a blast from the past! Just a few of the crochet projects Now, for you "Chicks with Sticks." Many of my friends are knitters. And some can do both. I gave it a try and now I'm too old to even consider it. 2019 Knitting Calendar Let me show you how far I got when I tried to learn in January. Yes, those are DROPPED stitches and I gave it up after this. Here are s