Today is July 7 and 3 of my Calendar Girls chose the same block to stitch. Remember, they get to sew whatever they want, they don't have to tell me ahead of time, nor do they have to tell the others. For some reason, the Shoefly Variation spoke to all of them. From my new calendar ! Check it out on Amazon. Shoefly Variation: 12" Dora L. sent hers to me first. She used the Noteworthy Collection by Windham Fabrics. First, let's see her fabrics: Noteworthy Collection  that Dora is using Here's her block. You can read some of the words (which makes it "noteworthy", right?) 12" Shoefly Variation by Dora L. Now for Karen B.'s interpretation. She used the Insectarium and Watermark Collections. You can see Karen's June block and full fabric collections here: Alaska Homestead . (I also sewed the Alaska Homestead) Shoefly Variation by Karen B. And a really fun one with a fussy cut motif in the center by Kathy G. She also captured one of the other animals ...

Today is July 4 and we Americans celebrate freedom and liberty. Parades, cookouts, red white and blue, too! My calendar block for today is - you guessed it - Hey, Hey USA. Check out that Amazon link - there's a 20% discount and only $3.99 shipping! I thought I was creating it as I had several years ago for Windham Fabrics. Alas, I didn't. Can you tell the difference? Hey, Hey USA calendar block: 18" Here is an actual quilt block I stitched several (10!) years ago using my original pattern and some Christmas fabrics. Can you see the extra stripes! Hey, Hey USA in Christmas fabrics: 18" Since this is the week for the Uncorked fabrics , I stitched my 18" block with them. It was so happy to get to visit with my two mandavillas on the deck. 18" Hey, Hey USA hanging out with my flowers My sister Janet, who lives in Idaho, is one of my Calendar Girls and she stitched this block in a very clever use of fabrics, don't you think? I never would have considered st...

Today is July 2 and the fourth day of featuring  Uncorked .Yes, I have another block from my calendar. It's the Four Bars Block. It's 8" x 8" like the block from yesterday. Four Bars: 8" I made it using Uncorked and I'm running out of the light yellow for the background! Yikes! And I can't find a suitable substitute in my stash. Four Bars: 8" I think it would be a fun scrap block with 4 different colors and prints in the center. Then changing up the outer squares and rectangles. And then tilting the blocks 90 degrees in relation to each other as you place them block to block! Here's one more quilt made several years ago using the  Uncorked  fabrics, plus some Kaffe Fassett, some Benartex prints and probably some other vendor. These are my Metropolitan Home Star paper pieced blocks. If you do a search here on this blog, you will find quite a few variations of this. Metropolitan Home Star quilt center: 56" x 56" This is the vintage inspir...

July 1 already! New month, new block, new calendar ! The one for today is an 8" Triangles and Bars. (Scroll to the bottom to see another quilt made using  Uncorked .) Triangles and Bars: 8" Yes, I'm still working with these gorgeous blenders. They are STILL available and are from Windham Fabrics. They're called Uncorked . If you look closely, you'll see why! Uncorked by Windham Fabrics I've made several quilts already using them, and I needed a red, blue, gold and cream today. I found them for this simple block! I made two blocks with the blue and red in different patches. Same center triangles. I just counted how many of the 366 blocks in my calendar are 8" - there are 34! Two Triangles and Bars blocks: 8" I like to see how 4 blocks look together. Sometimes you have to rotate and recolor them. Here is a simple way with 4 Triangles and Bars blocks: Four 8" Triangles and Bars blocks: 16" And for a quilt I've made with  Uncorked , here is...

 More squares, more patches, another quilt. Take a good look at the texture created with the tiny specs of gold and mottled color. This really is such a clever way to make a blender! If you click the link for Uncorked , you will find several FREE patterns to make! But, let's see one of my quilts made using some blues. Disappearing Dresdens 18 degree dresden ruler and Uncorked I still teach my Modern Vortex workshop and I made some blades using the blue and light grey in Uncorked. But I ran out of the blue (sort of - another story)  and decided to take a cue from a few other quilts that feature parts of a block "disappearing." Click that link ( Disappearing Dresdens ) and you'll see a few steps to this quilt. It's almost a magic trick, but much easier! Yes, that's another border using fat quarters. I've done this so often that I almost prefer it to a slab of a single fabric. Why not try it yourself?

What? Is that the sound of a bottle being opened? Isn't that what we do to get the contents out? Well, not THAT uncorked! I'm talking about a gorgeous set of fabrics released a few years ago that are still going strong. Uncorked Collection by Windham Fabrics  I have made several quilts and projects using these lovely blenders and have posted here before (I think). This next quilt used some simple squares: Uncorked squares ready to become a quilt They became this quilt which is an updated version of one I made in 2002. Check out that border - when you only have fat quarters to work with, you have to get creative and piece a border. I followed the lines of the blocks in the center. 98 Dancing Squares: 5" blocks This is a remake of a quilt I made long ago for my first book (Bold, Black and Beautiful Quilts, AQS 2004). It first appeared in Quilt Magazine, 2002. 98 Dancing Squares I used some basic solids for that quilt with gold metallic thread to zigzag around the center pa...

My Snow Crystals quilt was a hit Monday night when I spoke with a local guild, sharing my tips and tricks and quilter's shortcuts. Most of my quilts are vintage inspired and this was no exception. Take a look at the pattern page from the Kansas City Star in 1930. Would you like to use those templates? And sew y-seams? NO, not me! Page from the Kansas City Star Also notice that this is NOT four blocks but one. There are what seem to be 4 stars, but what's with the fifth star in the center? How did the designer think this up? Very clever, right? I made my own Snow Crystals quilt about 20 years ago - again, vintage inspired. Snow Crystals  - 24" block; 33" x 33" quilt Yes, these star units are paper pieced, but they can easily be rotary cut. I created a photo lesson for Quilt Magazine to go along with the quilt. (Yes, it says Windmill Star, which is another name for the star block). Here is the coloring chart which is a MUST for this pattern!  Snow Crystals  found...

Today is June 26 and the month is winding down. The calendar block for today is Tuscan Trails. Not sure about the meaning of that, but I'm thinking there is one! Should I do an internet search to see what I come up with? My friend Diane L. used the Grounded collection by Maria Carluccio (Windham Fabrics) to make her Tuscan Trails block. Grounded Collection Here is the Tuscan Trails block as it appears in the calendar: Tuscan Trails: 12" Yes, there is a rotary cutting size for that "A" square on point! I love math - it works every time! And here is Diane's beautiful block using Grounded : Tuscan Trails by Diane L. As we go through the calendar months, I will be sharing not only the current blocks but the blocks that each Calendar Girl has made throughout the year. This way you can get an idea of how she may be thinking of an assembly. Or maybe not! We'll have to wait and see.

 It's June 25 and our month is almost gone! The block today in my new Block a Day Calendar is the Scrappy Puss in the Corner. Here's how it appears: Scrappy Puss in the Corner: 12" My friend Barb R. used the Watermark Collection by Windham Fabrics. (It reminds me of the blender collection called Bedrock .) Two other Calendar Girls are using the Watermark Collection: Karen B and Linda D. Here are their fabrics: Linda's Watermark fabrics mixed with Insectarium Karen's Watermark fabrics (in back) with her Insectarium Watermark doesn't even come to your local quilt shops until August; this is just to tempt you and have you put the fabrics on your "to buy" list! But here's a look at all the luscious colors. They are blenders with some definite personality! 30 skus of Watermark Finally, here's Barb R.'s block, the Scrappy Puss in the Corner. I really like her pink and green choices and there is good contrast so it's easy to see the simpl...

Christmas (and more) in July All the fabrics are coming out and ready to strut their stuff! This FREE event will feature 11 different 2025  Sewcial Ambassadors for Benartex (me being one of them). I will be featuring Jackie Robinson's A Winter's Day Collection AND I will also have some Hanukkah blocks from my new calendar! Christmas and Hanukkah both appear in December and we want to be ready. A Winter's Day  by Jackie Robinson And here's a sneak peek at the 3 prints I will be working with for my Hannukah blocks (Elegant Keepsakes and Harvest Keepsakes): Navy, cream and Gold prints for my Hanukkah blocks You can attend by clicking this link:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/5517500818522/WN_Ble6B64YST-k5zZuGpW32w . (This is how you can reserve your spot ahead of time, too.) Christmas (and more) in July T his will be Tuesday, July 15 with six Ambassadors in the first slot (I'm one) . . . And five Ambassadors in the second slot . . . This is a virtual fabric show an...