I finished the 4 birdhouse blocks and appliquéd the little door openings. Each block finishes to 10" high, but they were different widths. I had a few scraps remaining so that I could add side strips to the two top blocks. Here they are up on my design wall on Wednesday. Home Grown Leftovers I am surprised that I actually had a nice chunk of that flowery print and figured I could use it at the top and bottom. And the blue flower print in the two sides? That was every square inch that was in the scrap pile! But, wait! you say. What's going to happen on those four corners? Well, I love these sorts of challenges. I found a lovely bumble bee print from years ago and cut rectangles and finished off the corners with little rust triangles. Wanna see? Home Grown Quilt #2: 33" x 33" This is one more workshop box that has been emptied and I'm thrilled I had enough of all those fabrics to coordinate to get a sweet little quilt out of it. This will be easy to quilt and I...

BOM? What's that? Initials for "Block of the Month." Do you remember me sharing this quilt made a few years ago for Windham Fabrics? They wanted to create a quilt kit and pattern that could run in the Keepsake Catalog. Why am I showing it here? I'm toying with the idea of offering a FREE Block of the Month series here on my blog. I selected various traditional blocks (many used in my 2016 Civil War Sampler pattern) named after famous people and places from the Civil War era: Order No. 11, Fredonia Oak Leaf, Lincoln's Platform, etc). These are 12" blocks with the center Fredonia Oak Leaf at a whopping 24"! The Blue and the Gray quilt is 72" x 72". It was beautifully quilted by Connie Gallant (who also now owns it). The Blue and the Gray Sampler: 72" x 72" Would you be interested in the patterns and following along? I will be remaking the blocks in bright colors (for those who don't like these muted reds and blues and greens). Here...

The birds in my backyard love to sing morning and night. They live in the trees and make their nests in my dryer vents, too! I have no birdhouses outside, but I do have quite a few inside my house. I have been pulling out various workshop samples that I don't anticipate using anymore and today I grabbed my Birdhouse Bonanza Block parts for a quilt retreat a few years ago (that got cancelled). The fabrics are from the Home Grown Collection by Benartex. I'm sure you remember my posts about these. First, the panel. I used the four smaller squares in my first quilt, but still have the large center one remaining. Here is my Birds and Bees at Home quilt using some paper pieced birdhouses and the 4 smaller panels. I had some guests for lunch last Sunday and one of the women (Carolynn) was SO enamored with this hanging in my kitchen. Birds and Bees at Home I used four different birdhouses (paper pieced) that I enlarged to be 10" in height. I have these in my Etsy shop ( Big Birdh...

I remember when Windham asked me to design a quilt (2009) using one of the first sets of 5" strips on the market. They called them "fat rolls." I said to the Marketing Director, Leslie Sonkin: "Are we talking about what's going on around my midriff?" We had a good laugh at that! Windham Basics was an earth toned collection of browns and burgundies and had some stripes, checks and ginghams thrown in for good measure! I pulled out a tried and true pattern I had published a few times in Quilt Magazine and away we went! Hexagon Pinwheels Quilt : 44" x 48" You can see that roll of 5" strips in the photo above. Doesn't resemble my midriff (but it's close!) Let me show you my approach. The pattern includes paper templates, but you can adapt this using your own 60 degree triangle ruler (using the templates as your guide). Note that we stitch two 5" x wof strips together along BOTH long edges. Now it's a tube. Then we use our templat...

I bet you don't use the kite shape in many quilts! Maybe you aren't familiar with this patch shape, but it's part of the 60 degree hexagon family and appears in many English Paper Piecing blocks. You've seen this in my Rose Star quilts. Can you see how this quilt is composed ONLY of the kite shape? Rose Star table topper was my workshop sample  Rose Star is a vintage block and has reappeared in quilts lately. I guess our ancestors weren't too afraid of sewing y-seams! You can see how the 3 patches come together in the center. 3 Patches of Kites from the back 3 Patches of Kites from the front And here are some more of those kite patches: Lots of Kite patches leftover from my Rose Star I decided to make my own version of a very scrappy quilt which I call Stacked Kites. I pulled some more Kaffe Fassett prints and added them to my pile of fabric kites. Kites and Kites! My Rose Star pattern includes a line drawing of making my Stacked Kites quilt , but I never put toge...

The pattern for this block is actually called "The Good Luck Quilt." It is vintage and originates in the early part of the 20th century (ie, probably 1930s). I have made it many times and it was a very popular workshop for a few years. I first published it in 2006 (or so) and she actually made the cover. I can say she's a Cover Girl! Good Luck Quilt on the cover of Quick Quilts Notice those blocks. Looks like I used some funky templates (as was done in the original pattern). But, I saw that it could be pieced in strips and then cut into squares and then . . . Good Luck Quilt as it appeared in Supersize 'Em Quilts (Martingale, 2009) I made a lot of samples for my classes. I finally put them together and had them quilted and donated them to a local kids' charity. Here is my blue and yellow 4 Block Good Luck quilt. As you cut and sew, you are making mirror image blocks. That's why I used sashings in these two quilts. Blue and Yellow 4 Block Good Luck quilt I cu...

Oh, and here's on more I realized was in process from February of this year. I'm making another Pentagon Wreath combining a variety of prints in a log cabin style. The center is an Ana Griffin design from her Chinoiserie Collection (2012-13). It's still in process, but all I'm doing is taking a lovely block and building outward with strips and squares. Peacock Pentagon Wreath quilt center (in process) What in the world does "Chinoiserie" mean? Chinoiserie , a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque", and pronounced  [ʃinwazʁi] ) refers to a recurring theme in European  artistic styles  since the seventeenth century, which reflect  Chinese artistic  influences.  It is characterized by the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China, by  asymmetry  in format and whimsical contrasts of scale, and by the attempts to imitate  Chinese porcelain  and the use of lacquerlike materials and decoration. I first blogged about this collection in 2013...

This is a repost from November 2012. I have given this little fabric box to my favorite (only) granddaughter who is half-Spanish (ie, her dad is from Spain). The lace has meaning for her now! I received a lovely bundle of fabrics to sew with in 2012 from  Blend Fabrics  (a division of Anna Griffin fabrics). I have always admired her beautiful designs and it is a real pleasure to sew with fabrics that not only look good but feel good (they have a wonderful "hand", the industry word for how they feel in your hand).  Amanda Murphy  is the fabric designer and I can see why they have such a broad appeal to young people (or those of us who wish we were still young)! The Bella Collection by  Amanda Murphy  for Blend Fabrics The first thing I did was stroke them. Put them in a little pile. Stroke them some more. Then I figured it was time to cut and sew! I wanted to make a fabric box to display the fabrics in and here is where I went with it. 7" squares fused with ...