Most days I let my rotary cutter make the decision on what gets to peek out of the patches I cut. Most days it really doesn't matter. BUT - when you don't want to cut the head off of a little chickadee . . . English Paper Pieced block using 1-3/4" hexagon papers . . . you find out what size you need to make a template to isolate the motif. I had this lovely Festive Chickadee fabric and found that a 1-3/4" hexagon would work with the patch as shown. I cut a freezer paper hexagon to the size I would need (includes 3/8" seams). Then I cut a window out of the center. It's easy to iron it into place for cutting. Single motif Here is what I mean by cutting out a "window" from the template. I love using freezer paper because I can reuse it several times. I made several quilts with this special collection. Each time I made a window template for "fussy cutting." I've shared them before. Here is one more quilt where I made sure that chickadee wa

Did you download my FREE June Wall Calendar of blocks? If so, you will notice that today's block is an Asian inspired Cloisonné with both appliqué and Sashiko stitching. It first appeared in my 2007 desktop calendar. What does it look like? Cloisonné Block I used this block often in subsequent calendars. I first designed it in 2005, but the idea is NOT original with me. It is a century's old pattern. Here is the quilt I designed. Lots of great images! Asian Delights, 2007 I planned on making one of these blocks a few years ago and even cut out my freezer paper template. I ironed fusible webbing to the back of a large square. But I lost my motivation. If you're interested in getting this free block , let me know. Send me an email: kratovil@his.com and I'll send the small, 3 page pdf for the original 12" block size. I ALSO include the full size template for the 8" size. (The 12" size is the half-template, easy to use with folded template material). You do

Today is the longest day of the year - Summer Solstice - when the daylight hours seem like forever (and we love it). Windham Fabrics released a gorgeous collection of fabrics called Solstice in late 2020 that really captivated my quilter's heart! Here are just a few of the prints designed by Sally Kelly. Solstice has 28 prints! You can see the blocks I made in last year's blog post . Simple Square in a Square and Circle blocks. In case you haven't seen my SpiroGlyphics quilt, here is a recent finish which I donated to my local guild's charity endeavors. I used all my samples from the workshop (since I've retired it). Isn't this fun?@ SpiroGlyphics quilt: 30" x 30" I put my Solstice blocks all together last week and this is what I came up with. Same center as the quilt above; I added inner and outer borders. I just love this! Solstice SpiroGlyphics quilt: 40" x 40" But, along the way, I made another quilt. This is my Nosegay quilt using Solst

I have sewn with Benartex fabrics for almost 20 years. They were generous with sharing them when I worked for Quilt Magazine and continued through the years. One quilt I designed using the Arianna Collection (2010) was picked up and patterned in the Spring 2011 issue of Easy Quilts by Love of Quilting (Fons & Porter).  Arianna's Garden: 53" x 53" My pattern is a wonderful way to capture the beauty of a large scale print. The quilt is 54" x 54" and if you missed the issue, you can get it from their shop (for $7.99) as a digital pattern. Since I'm not paid for that pattern reprint, I'm not going to give the link! Here is a digital photo of the quilt: Hey, guess what? I found all the directions and art that I had created when I sewed this quilt. You can have the pattern for the above quilt FREE - yes, I said FREE. Just click this link:  Arianna's Garden , and it will take you to the 4 page pdf, in color, from my web site. These are NOT the same inst

This is a repost from 2014. I still love this quilt and will be using it in my next workshop on English Paper Piecing (MAQ, July 2022 in Gettysburg, PA). This is the finished quilt, which was a favorite of a student from a previous class. Her name was "Lori" and so I named this "Lori's Favorite Garden." Clever, huh? Lori's Favorite Garden. 12" x 18" blocks I LOVE FLOWERS! Yes, I still love  FOSSIL FERNS Spring colors make me happy. I love the greens and the   purples and pinks, and - well - all of it! I made these 2" EPP hexagons using   my bits and pieces of  Benartex's Fossil Ferns . Did you know   that  Fossil Ferns  have stayed strong for almost 30 years? And   there are 100 colors. That's unheard of in the quilt fabric   world. I didn't know what I wanted to make, but I knew   something would hit me eventually. I have the 2014  Palm Springs    Collection  and selected a neutral background for my block   and two other fabrics w

I was sent a set of fat quarters of  Birdsong  in 2018 and I kept taking them out and stroking them. Such lovely, sweet images. I have finally finished the quilt I began 4 years ago! Birdsong  by Clare Therese Gray for Windham Fabrics These prints include butterflies, flowers (of course!) and bird eggs. This color combination is one of my favorites and I put my thinking cap on to see what I could come up with. I was only going to make a few blocks. Ha! I pulled out one of my upsized birdhouse paper pieced block which I call  Home Tweet Home . This design dates back to 2002 when I created 12 paper pieced birdhouses in a much smaller size. This was very quick to paper piece because I had already worked out the cutting size of the different patches! I made it as large as I could fit onto a standard piece of 8.5" x 11" paper. This is included in my  Big Birdhouse Bonanza  paper pieced pattern set of 10 Birdhouses (and a paper pieced cardinal) on Etsy. (There are 10 upsized birdho

I always say: "Just listen to the voices in your head!" When it comes to quilting, that has saved me from disasters more than once. I love to play with my English Paper Pieced blocks and had an idea, but it just didn't make sense when I sewed it out. First, the parts (these are from 2014). I had no plan; just wanted to make some Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks using 2" hexies. I was getting ready to teach some classes. Two GFG blocks Two whole blue blocks; one partial blue block. 2 yellow blocks. One blue/yellow block. I was working from these beautiful fabrics from Blank Quilting. I first made something with larger hexagons which was wildly popular as a Creative Grids pattern: my Happy Hexie Table Runner . I made this about 5 times using a variety of fabrics. No pieced borders; no y-seams! Happy Hexie Table Runner : 29" x 54" Back to my quilt made using my EPP blocks. Here it is before I took it apart (yes; I took it apart!). I had 5 full blocks and

I'm retiring my Circle of Geese workshop and was able to get ONE more quilt from my box of sample block parts. I actually had the center toile motif interfaced and ready to star in the middle of a circle of geese. I added sweet borders and off she goes to my local guild for our charity endeavors. The center is exactly like the one in my last book. Toile Garden Medallion: 38" x 38" Here is the pattern as I taught it a few years ago for the Hershey Quilt Show. I call it " My Geese Have the Blues ." Everything is stepped out in the 11 page pdf. I truly love these colors! Each of those 4 blocks/units is 12" x 12". Sashings are 2". My Geese Have the Blues : 38" x 38" I also love it in the bright, primary colors as seen here. Don't you love those dancing jungle animals? Geese at the Zoo Here's another happy one (since donated to young neighbor). Circles of Geese  with center sashings And another one in pinks. I think I gifted this to o