This week I am featuring twins, quilt twins, that is! I often make more than one of my designs in different fabric collections. And I'm going to show Christmas and Hanukkah fabrics in the mix as we get ready to celebrate these holidays. The first quilt is Diadem . It is a vintage pattern that is traditionally pieced with templates. Not me! I converted those corner points to simple Paper Piecing. Diadem Quilt : 53" x 53". 14" blocks This appears in my second book, Supersize 'Em Quilts. The center patch showcases a beautiful motif that we would otherwise be reluctant to take a rotary cutter to. They are cut 10-3/8". This was a popular workshop for a few years. I tested the pattern using a variety of fabrics. Here's one made with a collection called Lola by Blank Quilting. Diadem Block from 2013 Here is one with an outer space theme. It was one of my workshop class samples. It has since been donated to a kids' charity locally. Some kid is going to love ...

December 10th is the first day of Hannukah (begins at sunset). You still have time to make some small gifts for your Jewish friends and relatives. I have made several quilt-y items over the years that feature Hanukkah fabric. First, the greeting cards: Snowflake window greeting card with Hanukkah fabrics Here is an English Paper Pieced block from Katja Marek's calendar. I'm going to make it into a coaster. This Hanukkah fabric is at least 15 years old! Now for some recent items. You've seen these before. This is my Star of David Hanukkah Star . Star of David table topper. NO y-seams! 24" x 28" And my dreidel blocks made from the same collection: Single Dreidel Block: 10" finished And 3 blocks together. They may become a table runner or 3 little gift bags. Raw edge appliqué Here are my paper pieced dreidels, featured in Modern Patchwork Magazine, Holiday edition a few years ago: Paper Pieced Dreidel gift bags That's enough for today. I still have more idea...

I enjoy English Paper Piecing and I remembered some ornaments I made almost 20 years ago for a demo I did in a local quilt shop. I had some extra Sunburst motifs leftover from a few quilts and discovered they work with 1-3/4" hexagons. I used one for the front, one for the back (that means two papers, for those of you who know how to EPP). Put them together back to back, inserted some ribbon, and stitched around the edges by machine. Magic! Ornaments! Sunburst ornaments, Side 1 Sunburst ornaments, Side2 I made these cards in May for my lovely mother in law (Jane), who was locked down in her retirement home in New York. She loves to write to her friends and ran out of stationery. She asked me to help. Of course! Again, I used those Sunburst motifs and some companion fabrics; cut out hearts and fused them right to the card stock. Paired them with envelopes and made her SO HAPPY! These can be holiday cards, too. Dig out your Christmas (and Hanukkah) fabrics. Happy heart cards I had s...

Here in America we are getting ready to celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Most of us are not traveling and will just have to stay at home with our quilts. This is one I put together over several years and even took apart and re-arranged the blocks! I quilted this a few months ago and I pulled it out to grace my dining room. Dancing Leaves: 35" x 42"  I shared these Princess Feather leaves in 2015. Maybe you remember? 6 Princess Feather leaves with fusible webbing on back I cut a few more and began to plan. I was thinking of a runner, but then decided to use all the blocks. Here are a few shots of how I envisioned the blocks. Light block with strips on sides Dark block - didn't like that! I didn't fuse the leaves to the background rectangles (VERY good idea) as I was considering the assembly. I put them on my design wall and then I realized that if I didn't like one block, I would like several. Playing with assembly and background fabrics So, now you ...

I was pulling all my Christmas quilts out of the closet to begin decorating for the holiday and came upon this small treasure I made about 30 years ago. I think I bought this set of panels from a fabric chain store (no longer in business) and used my interfacing technique to turn the edges. Appliquéd them to a single background fabric (gold) and machine quilted it. But, as I looked closer, I saw that I had started to hand quilt it - and obviously gave up! 30 year old holiday baskets Drunkard's Path is a vintage, traditional pattern that remains popular even today. It's been updated and modernized and looks fresh and clean in new fabrics. It is composed of quarter circles joined to curved patches. It always daunted me, so I decided to appliqué circles to squares and then cut them into 4 smaller units. The top of this basket was made from a single cream square with a blue print circle appliquéd to the center. Then cut into 4 smaller squares. The basket uses two of them for the to...

Welcome to Day Four with circles. The first quilt here is made entirely of CASHMERE! I used some salesman's samples of wool cashmere and made this 54" x 82" quilt for my husband. I cut quarter circles from one sample and squares from another and then raw edge appliquéd them on using a buttonhole stitch. Wool Cashmere Quilt: 54" x 82" NO fusibles were used. NO interfacing. Just wool to wool. Yesterday, I forgot to show you how I trim from behind my appliquéd circles. I leave the interfacing in until they are stitched - it stabilizes the edges so they don't get wobbly. Trimming away behind appliquéd circle And we all are familiar with yo yos, right? These delightful little circles are fun to make and use as embellishments. These yo yos are made with authentic 1930s fabrics I helped my daughter design this project using a large yo yo quilt that we selectively took apart and then mounted on a canvas. It hangs above her bed. We used a bazillion pins to anchor thi...