If you're looking for a LARGE block to showcase some beautiful prints, then the Woven Ribbon Star could be the answer. I first designed this 20 years ago and later it appeared on the cover of Quilt Magazine when I was an editor there. Here's a closeup of my most recent block before borders. Just squares and "normal" triangles. Woven Ribbon Star  block: 24" x 24" This was the center of my Galaxy of Stars quilt from 2006. This was a Block of the Month in years past. Woven Star at the center of my Galaxy of Stars quilt  Yes, it's a VERY BIG quilt! (the surrounding stars are a mere 12") Galaxy of Stars quilt: 80" x 80" Woven Ribbon Star  using some solid reading prints and a polka dot border. I gave this one to a new baby. Woven Ribbon Star . 24" block, 35" x 35" quilt And it's so easy to piece (with NO bias edges, either). Here are two more quilts made with those big stars. Again, black polka dots for the setting squares an...

(Please do not pass these patterns on to your friends. Invite them to come get their own copy from this blog site. Once my Ocean Breezes series is finished, these WILL NOT be available for free. These will be in my Etsy shop for sale. Thank you for respecting my copyright!) Another Wednesday, another Ocean Breezes block. Today I share the Whale. There are two blocks in the quilt and the whale points in two different directions. Let's see one of them. Ocean Breezes  Whale Block : 8" finished (make 2) I used raw edge appliqué for the two simple patches. I used the blue sea fabric to audition my machine zigzag stitch. Background fabric is different, but I wanted to make sure that my thread matched my fabric. I used freezer paper to trace my whale templates. First, the one who faces West (ie, left). Template traced from full size pattern Then, I needed to make a mirror image of the template for the one who faces East. The waves templates are also mirror images of each other. My fa...

What is that? Holy cow - Math is here and Debby is making me nervous! Not so! I was teaching a quilting class in Gettysburg College last week and it was held in the Math building. I saw a magazine rack in the hall and this is what caught my eye: Cover of magazine with honeycombs I took it back to my English Paper Piecing class and showed my students. They loved it! I knew I needed to make this. Don't ask me about Fibonacci Numbers, but this represents the stuff of Fibonacci. I drafted this in my Adobe Illustrator program and counted how many of each of the 3 colors I will need to make this. It has 120 hexagons, so you don't have to count! Hosoya Triangle for English Paper Piecing I was going to use some Civil War fabrics and 3/4" hexagons (because I had some in process), but then I changed my mind. Here are the first colors swatches I thought of from the Jamestown Collection. Here are what I have in process using Jamestown. I think I'll continue making these Grandmothe...

I just received the latest in the Windham Fabrics Storybook series called Storybook '22 . I am very partial to these 30s reproduction prints. They just arrived in quilt shops this summer. Here's a sneak peek of the prints: Storybook '22  fabrics There are dancing animals and little kids. Humpty Dumpty. Cows jumping over the moon in all the colors! Little kids playing musical instruments. Flowers in all colors. There's even a boring white - but that's a perfect piece so that the other prints look good, right? There is a panel that uses all the prints in a random sort of crazy patch arrangement. Here's a closeup: Crazy patch panel for  Storybook '22 I'm still waiting for inspiration with these. There are 30 skus clamoring to become something fun and beautiful and they ALL want me to use them in some project! That's 7-1/2 yards! I'm going to revisit some of my favorite patterns that use 1930s prints. Not sure which will inspire me, but I'm going...

Now it's time for an easy block! This is simple rotary cutting and machine stitching with 1/4" seams. But you really must pay attention to those 1/4" seams! This week's block is the Square in a Square - also called a Four Patch Variation (which I used in the calendar). Four Patch Variation Here are the parts for two blocks as I cut them, based on what you will see in the calendar page. The other side of this page has the cutting sizes (which you'll see in the pattern you will download). You will cut squares and triangles. You need to make two of these. Four Patch Variation parts, cut and ready to stitch. I sewed the center green and white four patch together. Then I added the red triangles (which are first cut from squares.) Here's where they will be sewn. Notice that the tip of the red triangle aligns with the center 4 Patch seam. The little triangle tips MUST extend over the sides as shown. Two sewn and pressed toward the red. Adding the 3rd red triangle. No...

Sometimes I enjoy working with soft-reading fabrics instead of the strong brights that I tend to favor. Meadow by Windham Fabrics is just such a collection. They are due to ship to quilt shops in August. Here's a sneak peek. Meadow by Windham Fabrics Here's how they are described at the Windham site: An endless love for flowers led to the creation of  Meadow . These packed, small-scale florals in a soft and stylish palette are printed on lovely, high-density cotton. Make super, soft and cuddly quilts, little Spring dresses, button down shirts and trendy skinny ties. The main patchwork pattern makes the perfect border, backing or quilted jacket! Can you see that first fabric, the random patchwork print using all the other colors! I am thinking of a thousand different things to do with that, but I haven't cut into it yet! Here's a 9 block quilt I made for Windham about 15 years ago. It appeared in my 2nd book, Supersize 'Em Quilts (2009). You can see the block varia...

Now it's time for a simple appliqué block in my Ocean Breezes BOM. This is my Palm Tree block and it finishes to 8". The background square is cut 8-1/2". Since I'm using raw edge machine appliqué, I am tracing my patches from the pattern with no seams. This is the top of the tree. I have fusible webbing on the wrong side of the green Fairy Frost. I traced my pattern using freezer paper and then I ironed it to the right side of the green fabric. Now it's time to cut out (you don't have to cut the template out first - you can do it all at once with the fabric). Top of Palm Tree: cut two Then I cut the trunk with a brown fabric (again, one of Windham's Bedrock). I added the dotted lines to help me place the green tree top over the trunk. It needs to overlap. Tree trunk cut out with dotted placement lines Let's see how they look before I do any stitching. It's hard to tell, but I placed the full size printed pattern UNDER the cream background square to...

Krystal is a blender collection from Michael Miller fabrics. It has a soft texture that works with just about any print. I was sent a few skus. Krystal by Michael Miller I pulled an OLD (really old) fabric from my stash that had all of these colors in it. That's what it's been waiting for all these years! Love this, don't you? Krystal plus a "vintage" print I made some half-square triangle units. They now measure 5-1/2" square. Then I used my Star Spinners pattern and began cutting. Time to put your math hat on: What's half of 5-1/2? 2-3/4! Cut along the vertical with the colored triangle at bottom left. Cutting my 5-1/2" units in half along the vertical Now what do I do? Trim! It's time to swap colors and create a new unit. Swapping, ready to stitch. And what do I get? I shared these a few months ago. I was in a quandary about how to color my Star Spinners blocks. Make them all one color/fabric or to combine them. Here is how I auditioned them u...