My Block a Day Calendar from 2007 still sits on my desk. I turn the pages each day to see some lovely blocks. Today is October 30 and the block is Wild Good Chase. Here is the stylized shot from Patricia Bryant who made every single one of my blocks! October 30: Wild Goose Chase, 10" Yes, there are a lot of triangles, but it goes together very well. Here is the FREE pattern for both sizes (10" and 15"). I took every calendar block and showed how 4 blocks look together. If you make four of the 15" Wild Goose Chase blocks, that makes for a 30" quilt center! Enjoy!

This is not just a Mariner's Compass, but it's Sassy! Why sassy? It has an extra ring of points that was supposed to fit but I measured wrong. I could almost hear them mocking me and my bad math. I made the top in 2011 and it waited 13 years to get finished! I had originally proposed it for my 3rd book, but Martingale didn't want it (so why quilt it?) Sassy Mariner's Compass: 36" x 36" This began with the center compass which is the basis for my Beginner's Mariner's Compass class. An easy 16" block with curves gentle enough for a novice quilter. Then the halo of points were supposed to connect to the center, but I didn't measure correctly and after I pieced all of them I discovered a 1" gap! Yikes!!! So, I had to add the red donut ring and voila! they all fit together. There is a lot of piecing, but because it's done on paper foundations, the points stay as points and my students were happy as clams to discover they had a compass they...

Solstice by Windham Fabrics debuted a few years ago and I have so loved working with the gorgeous prints. It was designed by Sally Kelly. A few of the 28 Solstice prints I revisited a tried and true pattern I designed 20 years ago which I call Spiro Glyphics. They are 6" blocks: one is paper pieced and the other is a simple appliqué circle (using a CD-ROM!) Still waits to be quilted. Spiro Glyphics: 40" x 40" Then I revisited a vintage pattern called Nosegay. This also is paper pieced. I quilted it a few weeks ago on my Handi Quilter Sweet 16. This sits in my closet awaiting a special person to give it to. And, my HQ machine counted the stitches to quilt this: 24,287!! Solstice Nosegay: 48" x 48" I was short of some fabric and pieced it for  one of the setting triangles. Wanna see? Pieced triangle! The most recent quilt is my Pentagon Wreaths. This quilt is 44" x 44" and those wreaths are English Paper Pieced. The center is a 2" hexagon and the ...

It's fun to finish a quilt and take a photo. That's the only way I "keep" many quilts. I've made hundreds and hundreds of quilts in the past 35 years and given away most of them. I only keep those I use for my teaching and trunk shows and also those I want to use to give to friends. 5 Block Gingham Garden: 44" x 46" The Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks were English Paper Pieced. Then I machine appliquéd them to four background rectangles. But the center of the 4 blocks was boring, so I added that pink one. Notice that in order to increase this to a usable size, I added the two pink print horizontal strips. Quilted by my guild friend and part of our charity quilt endeavors it went! Dancing Apples: 47" x 47" Apple themed fabrics used in off center log cabin blocks. Fun, huh? Delectable Mountains: 50" x 55" Delectable Mountains: 50" x 55" The floral print was left over from workshop samples from 10 years ago! No templates...

I had some 45 degree diamonds left over from my Flying Swallows workshop. They reminded me of another swallows pattern that uses the same units: Swallows in the Window. Yes, a vintage block from the early 1900s and pieced using templates. I like to rotary cut my patches and that's what I did.  Hint: I will show you my latest creation using these fabrics (Romance, by Windham) as you scroll down. As you will see, I took poetic liberty with the hummingbirds and call them swallows. Romance Fabrics by Windham This Hearts and Swallows quilt is from 2001. I had to do a bit of fabric manipulation to make those diamonds behave in the corners, but it worked! Those little triangle points along the pieced border are like prairie points! Hearts and Swallows This would not be hard to make today. Those 4 corner units are really half Lone Star blocks! Let's see the vintage Swallows in the Window block that I'm talking about. There are NO y-seams in my version. Here is a digital version of ...

This is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I designed a simple Ribbon block that appears in my upcoming Block a Day Calendar (June 2025 release). It is an October block. (My hot pink crochet yarn insisted on being in this photo!) Pink Ribbon Block: 14" x 14" Just simple squares and triangles and the shading of two pink prints from the Hugs and Kisses Collection of Benartex Fabrics. They do remind me of Valentine's prints, but pink is universal to me and it's my favorite color! Hugs and Kisses Collection from Benartex Fabrics I also made a Double Hearts Block (appears in the calendar). For some reason, I put it in the January lineup. Hey, but if you make it in January, then it's ready for Valentine's Day in February! Double Hearts: 16" x 16" I have raised money for the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure. I actually did the 3-Day, 60 mile walk in 2001 and survived! Also, here is a poster I designed for a group in Pittsburgh: I'm hoping to make a few...