Swallows in the Window is another vintage blocks that uses 45 degree diamonds. I hope you saw my Flying Swallows post earlier this week. Swallows in the Window vintage block Then, digging WAY back in my archives I came across Hearts and Swallows. This was made in 2001. I had to do a bit of fabric manipulation to make those diamonds behave in the corners, but it worked! Yes, these are also 45 degree diamonds. Hearts and Swallows This would not be hard to make today. Those 4 corner units are really half Lone Star blocks!  I always wanted to make another one.  It would be fabulous to capture a beautiful print in that center. But the center size will be dictated by the size of those corner diamonds. Trust me. That's the way math works! Swallows in the Window Here is the current project I'm working on using those Fairy Frost diamonds and a beautiful fabric collection called Romance by Windham Fabrics (2018). Yes, it took me awhile to cut into the set of fat quarters! The diamonds ...

Yum, yum! Cake! Oh, not that kind of cake (though I'm always game for cake). I mean those packs of 10" squares called Layer Cakes. This is a repost from 2 years ago and is something to revisit. Today I share a quilt pattern called  Washington's Puzzle . Traditionally made using funky templates, I converted it using my Magic Stax© technique. I posted about this in 2017 using some Benartex fabrics. I came up with the idea in early 2000 and created several patterns. Here is a set of 1/3 yard cuts I was sent to work with. They are truly color drenched! And if you stay with me, you can have the FREE PATTERN. Think "blender" or "batiks" or anything that reads solid. Color Flow fabrics by Carol Bryer Fallert While many others have done something similar, mine is unique in that the number of patches in a block determines how many squares are in a stack. The stack gets cut ALL at the same time (make sure your rotary cutter has a new blade.) AND - there will be ...

Day Two. Did you miss Day One? Here's the link from a few weeks ago. In case you can't remember how beautiful these Benartex fabrics are, let me remind you! I love basics! I love having a collection of fabrics that take backstage but without which, the "jazzy" fabrics couldn't stand on their own. They do what a perfect picture frame does for a prized oil painting. Equinox is just that sort of collection. Equinox fat 1/4s from Benartex I didn't have a particular project in mind, so I began by making blocks. One of these is my Royal Star. I first made this updated vintage block 25 years ago using Benartex's Fossil Ferns. It first appeared on the Cover of the Big Block Quilts (where I was an editor). This also appeared on the cover of my first book. But, you've seen that before. What I want to show is my Equinox Royal Star block (in process). What you see on the left border is that dark blue 9 Patch, which I didn't like. Glad I saw it before I stit...

Two vintage quilt patterns use 45 degree diamonds to indicate swallows. First, there's  Flying Swallows . (I'll be back with some Swallows in the Window quilts later this week). There seems to be a serious interest in this pattern. My Etsy shop has sold a few dozen in the past 2 weeks! Flying Swallows is based on an 8 Pointed Star, as seen here by one I created in 2002 for Quilt Magazine. Flying Swallows, 2002 I have designed a few digital quilts since then for a few fabric companies. Here's one I used for Blank Quilting in 2008: Flying Swallows using the Fun Dip Collection This is a class sample from 2020 using some lovely red fabrics by Windham. That center is a whopping 24" block! Flying Swallows . 24" center. 38" x 38" quilt Oh. Don't get nervous! There aren't any y-seams, I promise! Here is another of my class samples. I made it in bright colors. First - the 45 degree diamonds.  45 degree diamonds in bright colors How did I cut those diamond...

Next week I get to reveal a beautiful quilt I made using some gorgeous Benartex fabrics . Equinox is the name of the blenders (ie, they "read" solid, but they have some texture). I pulled several 10" panels of dogs from the Dog Gone It collection by Ann Lauer and centered them in a Nonsense block. Nonsense is the actual name of this vintage block! (This also appears in my Block a Day Calendar with the name "Hilary's Garden").  I've used it many times before because the center is a large 10"! Wanna see? 15" Nonsense block using  Equinox  and Dog Gone It Those block triangles are easy to cut and the block goes together quickly. And who doesn't like big blocks? Your quilt is finished quicker. Here's how the March Nonsense block (Hilary's Garden) appears in my upcoming Block a Day Calendar : Hilary's Garden (aka, Nonsense): 15" Can you see how that large center square invites some fabulous print or motif or panel to strut the...

Another year, another calendar. The newest perpetual calendar is due out in June, but it can be pre-ordered at Amazon. Just wanted to show that listing here! Various books and calendars I've published The new calendar by C&T is full of new blocks in a whole lot of sizes. What I also realized was that I have a few dozen quilts I've made over the past several years that utilize these blocks! I will be sharing them month by month as they relate to the corresponding dates in the calendar. IF you own the calendar, the patterns will make sense For example, Underground Railroad (a 12" January block). . . Underground Railroad: January 22 block in my calendar . . . was used in a much smaller size in this mini from 20 years ago. These blocks are tiny, but I made them to surround the center panel. Underground Railroad Then there's a June block which I call "Glorious Blooms."  Glorious Blooms: June 18 block I've made this several times, with the most recent usi...

Yes, I live where snow is normal in the Winter. Doesn't mean I like it. It comes and goes and right now it's sitting on my grass and driveway. (The sidewalks were shoveled yesterday). This reminds me of a quilt I "made" a few years ago for P & B Textiles. I say "made" because all I had to do was get the printed top quilted and bound in time for Quilt Market. Snow on my patio table This is a repost from July 2017 . While you may not be able to find these fabrics, red and green is universal. Use a gorgeous print for those panel strips. The stars are easy and this will go together quickly. Snow Play  is a sweet quilt with a Row by Row flavor. The Winter Friends Collection is very traditional with snowmen, stars, pine trees and lots of red and green. Here is a picture of the finished quilt as it hung in my house for a few minutes. My good friend Connie Gallant longarm quilted it for P and B Fabrics and I put the binding on. Snow Play  quilt by Gina Gempesaw ...

I was asked by HandiQuilter's Facebook page to showcase a few Valentine's inspired quilts made using my HandiQuilter Sweet 16 machine to quilt them. I thought I would showcase them here, since many of you may not do Facebook or follow their page. The first is my Stacked Hearts quilt. It is a small teaching sample (11" x 14") for when I taught dozens and dozens of machine quilting workshops. Just so you can see what I mean by Stacked Hearts, here it is done as an appliqué: I created Love Bugs for Benartex and also quilted that on my HQ Sweet 16: I used some Kaffe Fassett fabrics and made another LOVE quilt using the same block letters. Don't forget the Oh, Fudge quilt! Made with yummy Benartex chocolate themed 10" squares. And, my trusty Hearts on Fire quilt: I still have another dozen or two quilts that feature hearts, but these are more recent. Hope you enjoyed seeing these!

Web sites. Blogs. Facebook. Now Instagram. What's a quilter to do? I started in print media (quilt magazine editor) 32 years ago. No web presence for a few years. Then everything exploded! I was the one to get our magazine group to create a web presence in 1997 - and they were kicking and screaming! Where am I going? Did you know I have an Instagram identity? It all doesn't make much sense to me, but I came kicking and screaming. I'm not interested in spending hours making silly videos, but I have been uploading hundreds (probably thousands) of beautiful quilt photos to cyberspace for all these years. @quilterbydesign is where you can find me. But I'm not sure if I even wrote that correctly! Slashed Hearts Slashed Hearts was designed in 2007. This quilt is about that old. I've been busy uploading some Valentine's themed quilts to Instagram. Several years ago you could only upload photos from your phone to Instagram. I said, "NO WAY." I like to type de...