Maker's Home  (2017)  has been quietly waiting for a place to shine. Little fat quarters on a shelf in my closet (out of the sunlight, of course). I am making more of those zipper pouches. My mother-in-law saw some I posted on Facebook and put in a request. Here's one I made the other day using the new Bright World fabrics . They have just come into quilt shops this month: Zipper pouch using Bright World. 9" high x 9.5" wide I honestly measured over and over, but it still is too small for her iPad! Oh, well. She will find a lovely use for this, won't she? Isn't the lining fabric in white and gray perfect? That's why I pulled out Maker's Home. She loves pink and turquoise and we all love flowers.  Here is  Maker's Home  by Natalie Barnes. Yes, these are from 2017 but they are beautiful for today! Maker's Home This pouch is bigger than the pink one and it fits the size of her iPad (which is the size of mine). What do you think? It's 8" h...

Courthouse Steps is a variation on the log cabin. It is a traditional (vintage) pattern that NO ONE can claim is their own, special invention! It has been around for centuries in various forms, in various cultures and we quilters decided we wanted to stitch it up with fabric. Here are some of my blocks with strips, ready to send to a friend to finish. Courthouse Steps blocks and strips Wait a minute - what are they from? you may ask. This was a pattern I designed for Blank Quilting in 2010. It used a collection called Lancaster County, designed by Mary Koval who lives in Pennsylvania, where Lancaster County is (think "Amish"). Mary designed the quilt and Blank asked me to pattern it. I did. And they sent me the fabrics so I could actually make the quilt. I began it and made most of the blocks, but lost my mojo and so sent it to a friend in Atlanta to finish and donate to a local charity. Here is a good digital photo of the quilt. The blocks are made using 2" strips (othe...

I began this project in 2017. No, wait; I'll do the math - 6+ years! I finally got the blocks together into a quilt top, but, for the life of me - I can't find it. Here is the block. I call it Isadora. I made 10 of them in various prints. If you visit the blog post  you will find the cutting sizes of all these patches! Isadora with blue tiaras and gold diamonds This uses a few diamonds. I cut these with my rotary cutter. Rotary cut diamonds Then I cut my half-hexagons. I used my 60 degree triangle ruler. When you purchase one of my  60 degree rulers  I include a two page tip sheet for cutting: Whole hexagons Half hexagons 60 degreeTriangles (duh) 30 degree setting triangles Half hexagons in blue and gold I cut a whole hexagon from this gorgeous blue print. This finishes to 5" from flat side to flat side. This was cut from 5-1/2" strips. I did NOT cut this with a fixed size acrylic template. Just my handy, dandy  60 degree triangle ruler ! I added two triangles, which...

Not quilts, but they're made of fabric! I am volunteer teaching at my local library here in Herndon, VA. The man who manages the "Maker's Space" is out of his element, but he's learning! (No sewing experience whatsoever!) He wanted to have a zipper pouch class and I dug into my zipper stash and made some bags. And more bags. And even more! Various zipper pouches I decided I did NOT like putting the zipper in the top (as shown by the brown flower bag at top and light cream w/green on left). I don't like how they fit into the corners and really struggled. Did I think that this would be easy for the "zipper virgins" in class if I, a veteran of sewing for 60 years, couldn't do it? I also didn't like the online tutorials! Way too confusing, way to wordy, and a few were like performances and not instruction! I decided to put the zippers in the front, about 2" down from the top. Very easy! I pulled some fabrics to go with a lone 6" orange ...

I taught a very popular workshop for about 2 years based on the kite shape. It's got four points: two are 90 degrees, one is 120 degrees and one is 60 degrees.  Let me show you: Kites using 1930s prints The good news is that when you sew 3 of them together, they form a triangle. The bad news is that it involves a y-seam! There's no getting around it. 3-Kite triangles using some 1930s prints Here's my 1930s Stacked Kites quilt. Yes, I cut out a LOT of kites! Needs borders - maybe. What do you think? Very, very scrappy. 1930s Scrappy  Stacked Kites : 44" x 52" I also made one in Kaffe Fassett fabrics and quilted it in 2021. What do you think? Kaffe Fassett Stacked Kites : 44" x 54" Then, I had a lot of leftovers in the 1930s prints! What, you don't like leftovers? (That's a dirty word to my husband when he asks, "What's for dinner?") Did you know that 6 kites will form a hexagon? Well, now you know! 6 kites form a hexagon! I cut some ...

You can do a lot with fat quarters, even make a large quilt. But did you know you can get 3 quilts from a generous set of those bundles? You've seen two of these before, but I was rummaging through my workshop boxes and found some samples that cried: "Please, Miss Debby. Please make us into a quilt!" First, the oldest quilt: This was from a 2020-2021 Mystery Quilt project done for my local quilt guild. It is not my pattern and I was really nervous to sew something with no idea of where I was going. Yes, I did have to add some no-name cream blender, some cream Kona Snow, and a burgundy blender. But all the beautiful prints are from the 2020 Norma Rose Collection by Windham Fabrics. Norma Rose Mystery Quilt: 54" x 54" You can see my nervous steps by typing in "Mystery Quilt" in the search bar. I absolutely loved the fabrics so much, that I made a second quilt. First, the fabrics. The second quilt is made of basic 60 degree diamonds surrounded by strips a...

I am working through my workshop sample boxes, trying to finish up a few quilts that have languished too long in those boxes! My Half Hexagon Braid class was so popular for several years (and still gets some attention). This purple quilt has been a top for at least 15 years and I finally had it quilted. It will be donated to my quilt guild for a local charity. Half Hexagon Braid quilt : 42" x 47" I first created this as an article in Quilt Magazine - 1999! Can you believe it? Here is how the artwork appeared. We gave templates for each of these quilts. I've yet to make houses like this, but it's certainly possible - and easy! Yes, I did make not one but two of those half hexagon flower pot quilts. One uses authentic 1930s prints for the yo-yos: I remade this using some current floral prints: Back to the purple quilt - I had to piece those vertical floral borders because I only had 1/3 yard. You don't believe me? Seamed border print! Here is the acrylic template t...

Today is Good Friday and the last day of my Palm quilts. This next quilt was made almost 20 years ago and was a faithful sample when I taught my workshops. It was one of my favorite quilts. When a pastor friend of ours lost his mother last year, I thought of this quilt as it has religious meaning and I know he would treasure it. I like to give quilts in these occasions instead of flowers. 4 Block Palm Quilt: 45" x 45". 2004 I used some shot cottons to create the blocks in this next quilt. Then I chose big, bold prints to set those blocks on point. These are also 10" blocks, but the pattern creates the same quilt using 7" size (so that you can print them from your home printer!) The following quilts are my workshop samples. (I do sell printed packs of this pattern using the 10" size). Big Block Palms : 33" x 43" And two more quilts that I share in my trunk show lectures. Big Block Palm with 10" blocks: 62" x 62" ( Workshop Sample ) And ...