Next to a hexagon, I love circles the best! They have so many possibilities for quilt design. And I've combined the hexagon and circle for some new blocks using the Sashiko Collection (Windham Fabrics). I blogged about this fabric last year.  Sashiko Fabrics by Windham Here is some REAL hand stitched sashiko by yours truly. I've been working on this, off and on, for about 15 years. Hand stitching some sashiko More sashiko Now for my circles. I used a cottage cheese lid (the same size as a CD) for the circle. I interfaced it (with a used dryer sheet!) Easy interfaced circles Then I turned them right side out and centered them on a 6-1/2" high fabric hexagon. I machine zigzag stitched them using monofilament thread. Invisible. Beautiful. No handwork! Sashiko circle and hexagon block Now it's time to clip away both the interfacing and the background fabric (to reduce bulk). I made 16 blocks (and need one more). Here is my idea: It's a slight variation on my Big Block ...

The second of my blocks for the Blue and Gray Sampler is Louisiana. Not sure where or why it came to have that name, but it's fairly easy to cut and stitch together. If you look closely, there are Flying Geese (green) with two different sky patches (red and cream). Louisiana Block: 12" I am working with Windham's Uncorked Collection and I just didn't want a boring cream for the background. I chose a light pink and I hope I will have enough to make all my blocks. If not . . . The fabrics I chose for my Louisiana blocks This is stepped out in the single page pdf pattern (link at bottom of page). There also is a diagram of how to cut your patches. Making Flying Geese my way involves accurate cutting of the two different triangles. I don't subscribe to the new "sexy" ways that people have devised in making this unit. If you don't like my method, by all means, use your own! Cut the following: Four 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" pink (or other light of your choi...

Why Jack? Why not Philip? Or Oscar? Or Demitri? What in the world am I talking about, anyway? Certainly not "Jack and Jill went up the hill . . ." This is the name of a traditional/vintage quilt pattern that is NOT for the beginner or novice or anyone who is willy-nilly about their 1/4" seams. And, it involves a LOT of y-seams. You know how much I loathe y-seams. Jack's Chain Quilt : 64" x 64" There are four blocks in this quilt. Each block is 22-1/2" x 22-1/2" finished. Here's the center of one block up close. Then I added those corner squares (with some y-seams happening!) Single Jack's Chain block Many of these vintage quilts are made with much smaller blocks. Here's some artwork from Quilt Magazine (1999) when we patterned one. We included templates for this. Here's another set of illustrations for a much larger quilt (using much smaller blocks). Does it make you nervous to see all of those y-seams? I simplified my own pattern...

Yes, you can say that I'm really enamored with this simple block. Easy to stitch (English Paper Piecing) and it allows you to showcase some lovely fabrics in a unique way. This is an updated post on some Pentagon Wreath blocks I made in Jun e. (Check out the link). Here are four blocks waiting to be joined into a quilt. But they need a few more, I think. I added the triangles in the corners to add a little more color. Pentagon Wreath blocks Here's that blue block up close (before it was stitched down): Here is the pink block up close - stitched down. Pink Pentagon Wreath block I used a Windham Collection called Solstice . These are fantastic prints! Some of the 28 prints from Solstice I also made some circles last November. They are destined to be appliquéd to background squares (as you can see on the right side of the photo.) Solstice circles And a few more Pentagon Wreaths I've made here and there. Fussy cut center motif surrounded with soft colors Seven blocks stitched u...

What is it with pets? You give them safety, food, shelter, love? And then they grab one of your quilts and think it's a toy! This happened last weekend with my precious dog grandchild - Zelda. Her mother, my precious middle daughter Hilary - owns several of my quilts. When my kids ask, they get whatever quilts they want. They have even taken them right off my walls when they've come to visit! Now, back to Zelda. Such a sweetie pie. A rescue dog who loves her new home. She's 7 years old and should be beyond the frisky stage, right? Zelda And what quilt did she desecrate? One that I gave to Hilary 2 years ago which was one of my absolute favorite quilts. I called it "Yikes, Those Stripes!" I think naming that was a premonition of what was going to happen to it. Here is Yikes before the desecration. An easy quilt to make from strip sets. But it was the stellar quilting done by an Atlanta longarm quilter that took it to the heavens! Yikes, Those Stripes: 44" x 52...

CONTEST IS OVER: I HAVE MY FIVE CORRECT RESPONSES! Sometimes when I'm stuck and need inspiration, I dig around in my computer files of thousands of designs and ideas and photos of real quilts. I discovered this morning that I had proposed a design for Michael Miller Fabrics that was based on a quilt I had in my second book, Supersize 'Em Quilts (2009). Here it is from that book. I called it Glorious Blooms and used a beautiful collection by Blank Fabrics. Those 4 blocks are 20" square! Glorious Blooms from Supersize 'Em Quilts: 46" x 46" I made a single block a few years ago using a collection by Ana Griffin called Chinoiserie. Somehow I think I donated this to the free table at a guild meeting! Isn't it just lovely?! Glorious Blooms block: 20" x 20" Those center squares are cut 11-1/2". It's a perfect place to showcase a lovely motif, don't you think? Then I discovered I had proposed this design in 2019 for Michael Miller Fabrics f...

You've seen this before, but I just pulled out more of this awesome fabric and I'm going to make another of these quilts. This pattern is so quick and fun and works with just about any fabric that likes to be showcased in a large square. I call it "Tilt." The quilt pictured here uses the fabrics a little differently than the pattern. That's because I was working with "strike offs" from the factory (bits and pieces sent to the vendor to see if the colors are accurate for mass production). First, before quilting. These are 10" blocks and it finishes to 42" x 42". Where the Wild Things Are  quilt (before quilting) And then quilted (by me on my HQ Sweet 16): Where the Wild Things Are   I assume these particular prints aren't easily available, but I think you can enjoy looking at  Where the Wild Things Are. This particular triangle template is the same angle as the Tri-Recs ruler. It is NOT a 30/60 degree triangle, (though I think this tech...