Shortcuts from a Short Woman: Day 2

Are you ready for a few more quilts using some of my shortcuts? I think you'll like them. They're oldies, but still goodies!

Remember, these are part of the 16 quilt patterns, 10 lessons, and 12 paper pieced flowers on ONE CD. Etsy carries it, too. You can actually see all of the quilts on my web site (if you can't wait for the next 3 days). Shortcuts descriptions and quilt pics

Shortcuts from a Short Woman

Some more appliqué is the feature of today. You've seen my Winding Ways quilts here before. This is one of the very first I made and I still have it! My editor went shopping in a quilt store and brought me stacks of bright fabrics and told me: Just sew! Oh, what fun I had.

Winding Ways (Wheel of Mystery)

This is also known as "Wheel of Mystery." These are 7" blocks and this is a perfect child's size quilt of 30" x 37". I converted the vintage block with 12 templates to a contemporary approach using a SINGLE background square and a SINGLE appliqué patch. Can you see it now?

Two easy pieces to a traditional Wheel of Mystery block

Of course, I had to draft this in Adobe Illustrator in order to get that exact! Here is a stack of units waiting to be joined. I cut these from a Benartex collection by Paula Nadelstern called Kismet. These blocks will finish to 8".

Winding Ways (Wheel of Mystery) block parts

If you want to see a blog post FULL of all sorts of Winding Ways quilts and a tutorial on how to draft any size in this block, check out this post from 2016: Winding Ways. You can't believe all the quilts and samples on that page!! OK, one more:

EZ Winding Ways (check out the tutorial from 2016)

Sunshine Butterflies is another Drunkard's Path quilt I should have shared on Day 1, but here it is today. Yes, this is a a variation that is a disguise. What do you think?

Sunshine Butterflies: 28" x 37"

This was made in early 2003. There are 3 Drunkard's Path units and a single square for each butterfly. The butterfly head is a prairie point and the antennae are satin stitched.

Here is another recent Sunshine Butterflies I made for Creative Grids and Jean Ann Wright's Curvy Log Cabin ruler. The log cabins mimic the curves of a Drunkard's Path. Don't you just love it?

Sunshine Butterflies using the Curvy Log Cabin ruler

Here is a Dresden Plate quilt made using authentic feedsacks on a red background. I used a 30 degree dresden plate template and appliquéd them on the red squares. The yellow base circles are also appliquéd. 

Feedsack Dresdens on red background: 47" x 47"

But for this pattern on the CD, I simplified the yellow base circles and made them simple triangles. What does that look like?

Easy Piecing Dresden Plate blocks

These blocks use a 30 degree wedge, which means that it only takes 12 to make the full circle. The wedges are cut from fabric strips and then you stitch the wider end with 1/4" seam. This creates the point. Join 3 wedges to form a quarter block. Now you stitch that to a pre-cut background square using a hand or machine stitch (I use monofilament thread and a small zigzag stitch).

I also include the pattern for this Amish Quilt using the same template. I made this in the late 1990s and it was used as a prop for a movie! The CD pattern is for 9 blocks.

Amish Dresden Plate quilt

That's enough for Day 2. Hope you enjoyed the show. Check out the Shortcuts from a Short Woman CD on Etsy. You can also order it from my website (you would send in a check or use PayPal). Here's the link: Shortcuts from a Short Woman. There are links to see ALL of the quilts if you can't wait for Days 3-5!