I traveled to New York and back this weekend to celebrate my father in law's 99th birthday! We drove through Rising Sun, Maryland. I said to my husband: "You know. I have a quilt with that name." (No surprise there!) My paper pieced rendition of the traditional Rising Sun block (14", composed of four 7" units) I have made this several times and it even was a popular workshop. It also appears in my 3rd book, Paper Piecing Perfect Points. I call it "Casablanca Sunrise." That was also the name of the fabric collection I used at the time (well over 10 years ago!) Casablanca Sunrise quilt using the Casablanca Collection by Blank Fabrics  Well, what happens when you make more than one block? Let me show you. (Sorry that the picture isn't as bright as a sunrise, but I think you get the idea). This quilt uses FOUR blocks, but because of the way I have turned 1/4 of each block, it creates the illusion of FIVE blocks. Neat trick, huh? And will you look at th...

I'm working with another publisher to create another quilt block a day calendar! I have thousands of blocks from 18 different calendars (can you believe it?) I hope we can avoid templates and just stay with rotary cutting of the patches. But, as you can see from the next block, little leaves add some interest to a simple 16 Patch on point! Patches and Leaves is the March 21 in my Block a Day Calendar (Martingale, 2007-2017). It is a 12" finished block  as shown here created by Patricia Bryant of Australia. Patches and Leaves by Patricia Bryant and this digital quilt finishes to 56" x 68"! I had this as a project in the Calendar CD version. Patches and Leaves: 56" x 68" Here is a smaller quilt made by a participating quilt shop several years ago: Six block Patches and Leaves And how about a table runner? I made this using only three blocks: 3 Block Patches and Leaves Table Runner I'll keep you posted on the progress on the new calendar. Maybe rolling out...

Hooray! It's National Quilting Day! Why not a FREE pattern? I designed this for Windham Fabrics several years ago and if you have any special people playing a musical instrument (it's recital season), this is for you. Musical Stars : 57" x 57" I also made a variation of it for a special young man who led the youth music at my church. This used another music themed collection by Windham. Opus One  (43" x 55") made using Type Band fabrics by Windham Yes, I know, not everyone plays the piano. Just grab the notes and stars, and of course, the piano key border is universal. Enjoy!

My block for March 13 in my perpetual Quilt Block a Day calendar is the Good Luck block. It's a vintage block. It originates in the early part of the 20th century (ie, probably 1930s). Here it is as made by Patricia Bryant of Australia. Remember she made ALL the blocks in my calendar several years ago?!! The Good Luck block by Patricia Bryant Here are two quilts that I made using some reproduction 1930s fabrics. 1930s child's  Good Luck  quilt And the mirror image quilt. Again, notice how the color patches are in relation to the cream. They were donated to our local Young Lives chapter and some lucky children are going to enjoy seeing those dancing bears and bunnies and geese! Second 9-Block  Good Luck quilt 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...

I belong to an English Paper Piecing group on Facebook and the discussion came up about this vintage block: Laced Star. I realized that I drafted this block for foundation paper piecing back in 1997 for Quilt Magazine. I enjoyed it so much, I drafted 11 other blocks for paper piecing and sold them as printed patterns. Here is the block I'm talking about as shown in the middle at the top of this quilt: Mini Galaxy of Stars quilt . Laced Star at top center I can't believe I do NOT have a large photo of this block. Here is what I could get by cropping it from the quilt. Laced Star: 6", foundation pieced This is a VINTAGE block and is included in the classic book by Maggie Malone, "1001 Patchwork Designs." It is block #335. Check it out if you have the book. Now, if you look closely at that block you will see that there is a small black strip around the points before it meets the swirly setting triangles. This is because I printed the block at the wrong size, pieced ...

Oh, not me! Another quilt! I began this quilt in 2013 and added borders several years later. Quilted by a guild friend a few weeks ago, as it was going for one of our group's charity endeavors.  Nancy Drew Flying Geese quilt : 34" x 34" I was using the Flying Geese ring pattern and the center Dogwood Blossom pattern (both my own), but I ran into some problems. First I pieced the ring. The center circle has a diameter of 14". I forgot to consider what my inner pattern would finish to  . . . Circle of Geese units Then I made the center using some Nancy Drew fabric (which are also in those geese units above). Circles of Geese surround Nancy Drew Oh, sure. Everything looks fine, until you see this block from the back! Can you see the thin 1/4 circle black strips (called "compensating" strips) I had to add in order for the center to fit with the Geese ring? Back of block with coping strips This was not pretty, but doable for me, a quilter with decades of sewin...

Pickle Dish gets its name from the cut glass dish used to serve, well, pickles! This was a popular 1930s pattern that was only for those who could stitch accurately and weren't afraid of templates and curved seams. You don't believe me? Ha! Pickle Dish pattern in Kansas City Star October 28, 1931 Here is my first Pickle Dish quilt using a collection by Windham Fabrics. I began this quilt in 2013 (can you say ELEVEN YEARS?) Traditional Pickle Dish Yes, I paper pieced those points in the arcs! There was no way I would attempt templates. Yes, this was made in 2013. Paper pieced arcs Here are some arcs I made the same way for another quilt. Pickle Dish paper pieced arcs Then I made one using some Kaffe Fassett fabrics. My second Pickle Dish quilt I made this into a workshop and made more and more samples. I have decided to retire the workshop, so that means I need to use up all the samples and throw away the storage box (you've seen those Chobani yogurt boxes I use to store my ...

Yes, you know it's Spring (or almost Spring) when you hear the tweet-tweets outside your window before the sun comes up! And just in time to give them some birdhouses. I finished my Home Grown birdhouse quilt (actually, the second one) a few weeks ago. I quilted it myself and put the binding on. I used four of my upsized Birdhouse patterns  with a height of 10" Words to Live By: 44" x 44". Using a large panel in the center One of my neighbors took a nasty fall last summer when she and her family were on vacation in Switzerland. She broke her foot and had to have several pieces of metal screws to keep things together put into her bones! I ran into her last week and she told me she broke one of the screws and needed surgery again. I felt she needed some cheering up so this quilt went to live with Nicole. Can I say how good it made me to see how ecstatic she was to get this? I know I cheered her up and her smiles made my day. This quilt is the cousin of my first birdhou...

You've seen this quilt before. I call it Metropolitan Home Star . That's because I first saw this vintage quilt in a Metropolitan Home magazine in the late 1980s! Here is the page I tore out of the magazine. I had it laminated and I still have it! Here is my recent finish, as I am also retiring this workshop. I've taught it a few dozen times. I converted the large points to paper piecing. This is a smaller quilt because I only used one star. The block is a whopping 21" x 21". Each of those paper pieced units is 7". Single Metropolitan Home Star : 31" x 31" I made a large, four block quilt for my second book (Supersize 'Em Quilts, 2009) and my editor/publisher didn't want to use that name. I had to call it "That Spiky Thing." And it was so beautiful that it made the cover of the book! Here are the parts before I assembled still another quilt, only this time in an asymmetrical assembly. Block parts And the quilt (before final borders...