Christmas in June. Christmas in July. You know the drill - Better get ready, Santa is coming! Quilters like to play with holiday fabrics early because if you wait for December, it's too late. Yes, I know it's only May but the fabrics are in the store NOW. Jolly Christmas  is a new collection by Windham Fabrics: Step back in time with our vintage-inspired  Jolly Christmas . Delight in a Santa toile, elegant wreaths, lush fir trees and twinkling stars. In a classic palette of red, ivory and green, the festive prints capture childhood nostalgia and warm holiday cheer. I have the collection and am trying to think of something fun to make with them. They came as half-yard cuts and I turned them into fat quarters. I'm going to ask my quilting buddies to work with some, too. Jolly Christmas  by Windham Fabrics I may revisit this quilt that I designed for Windham in 2018. It is very fat quarter friendly (all but the binding). The block is a whopping 30"; notice the borders are...

A vintage, traditional block is the Antique Album. My friend and former magazine editor, Jean Ann Wright, made this quilt and it appeared in my second book ( Supersize 'Em Quilts, 2009 ). It's not hard to piece, but you have to pay attention to the cutting if you want it to be the size you want! They are tricky cutting sizes because everything is stitched along the diagonal. Secret Garden Album: 16" block. 72" x 72" quilt I include this block in my new calendar and it appears on May 22 (today). Antique Album: 16" block I've made this block before but I'm going to make it again. Maybe 4 of them for a lovely quilt center. Notice that Jean Ann used cream sashing strips between the blocks to make them float. With 4 blocks and 2-1/2" sashings, the 4 block quilt center would be 38" x 38"! And don't you just love her pieced borders? They are 8" wide x 16" high! And they work, don't they? You may own a copy of this book (no...

I received 26 fat quarters of the latest Moonlit fabrics by Windham . Actually, I gave half of the collection to a quilting friend who is going to stitch some blocks from my upcoming calendar for me. I have 13 of them for myself. Now - what to do? Half of the Moonlit Collection by Windham Fabrics These say "blenders" to me and I wanted to combine them with some busy prints. I pulled an older Windham Collection from my stash called Solstice by Sally Kelly . Yes, they're from 2020 but they're still gorgeous and still want to be used! I told them that it's time for another round of quilt play. Here's the first quilt I made using Solstice. This way you can see many of the prints. She's still waiting to be quilted. Solstice Spiroglyphics: 40" x 40" I paired a few of the fat quarters from each collection to see what I like: Solstice and Moonlit fat quarters Here's the block I made the other day using the older Solstice and the new  Moonlit . This ...

I like to help orphans - the fabric kind! I had 5 paper pieced birdhouses made several years ago for some workshops I taught. Here they are. (Scroll to bottom to see the quilt I made!) Efficiency Birdhouse : 5" x 10" and Room for One birdhouse: 6" x 10" (there are two in my quilt) Room for One birdhouse : 6" x 10" and the 60s A Frame - 7" x 10" 60s A Frame - 7" x 10" Two Door Cottage: 7" x 12" Two Door Cottage : 7" x 12" There are 5 orphan birdhouse blocks, one panel @benartex_fabrics in the center ("Welcome") from long ago, 3 birds cut out as hexagons - all needed a border. Yes! Modern Vintage: Treasured collection by Benartex was a perfect fit. Can't wait to quilt and finish this. For the Birds quilt: 43" x 49" I really like seeing such beautiful orange. It's not a typical color I use, but this is awesome with the blues. Here is a group of charm squares from the collection. I'll ...

I came across a photo of a quilt I made in 2000 and had published in Quilt Magazine in 2001. It's the result of an AOL quilt bulletin board block swap! Do you remember those? I participated in several. House Sampler from 2001 You can see my house block in the center, 3 blocks down (it has my old address on it). I made 12 of these for the swap! I can hardly believe I did that! I think they were a uniform 12" x 12", though I have no way to know - I can't find the directions. I wanted something more than just setting the blocks in a 3 x 4 assembly. I had fun with that border, for sure! Stars at the top; trees on the sides (with some checkerboards); and mountains on the bottom (sort of hard to see in the photo). I gave this away LONG ago and  can't even remember to who; but I hope it is still bringing joy to them! My upcoming calendar has a lot of star blocks and a few tree blocks. One of the quilts a calendar owner made with my first perpetual calendar was made with...

I like to be challenged with limited amounts of fabric. Fat quarters. Jelly rolls. Charm squares. And even Layer Cakes. I was asked to work with "pre-cuts" for the new Benartex Collection by The Modern Quilt Studio called 2025 LTD . I chose a Layer Cake and some fabrics for borders. A set of 10" squares from the 2025 LTD collection I decided to make 3 blocks from my upcoming calendar , but I had to fudge on the size. But you never would know by looking at them. My upcoming Block a Day Calendar by C&T Publishing That's ok - like I said - challenges are fun! I call them Colorburst Squares (#1-3). The centers of these simple Cobblestone blocks move around based on how I cut the side fabrics. Block 1 is a simple Cobblestone block Here is Block 1 in the calendar. My blocks will be smaller than the calendar blocks (due to the seams). And Block 2 has that center square floating more toward the edge than Block 1. Colorburst Squares Block 2 And Block 3 has that center squ...

So many blocks. Not enough time to make them all - but we'll try, won't we?! How about selecting a few blocks and building quilts around them? Of course - let's go! Cover for the Quilter's New Perpetual Block-a-Day Calendar Let's begin with a few May blocks for one quilt idea.  Colorburst Squares 1, 2 and 3 are featured in these quilts. Yes, I've made this several times. I love these blocks because they're so simple and cause your eyes to swing back and forth because the center squares swing back and forth! This is a variation of the Cobblestone block (like the first round of a log cabin). Colorburst Squares with 16 blocks These appear on May 13, 14 and 15. They are 10" blocks. Here is a much larger quilt. Colorburst Squares with 30 blocks (10" size) How about some florals? And no borders - she's done when she's done! These use the Meadow Whispers Collection by Windham Fabrics. Colorburst Squares with 30 blocks in florals Here's one don...