Diane L. is one of my calendar girls and she is working with the Windham Collection called Grounded . Aren't these gorgeous prints?!! I love how the grays and tans mix so well with the greens, pinks and purples. These are MY colors! Grounded by Windham Fabrics Here's the block that Diane made using Grounded : Double Four Patch: 12" Simple squares and rectangles make this a fun block for fabric placement. Lots of possibilities.

 I have sewn with reproduction coverlet fabrics multiple times. Windham Fabrics created two collections. Click here  to see the one I've used for several quilts. The Coverlet Block for today (August 22) is simple, but recognizable as a coverlet design. Here is one of the fabrics from the collection . Similar colors and design. A very simple block inspired by a woven coverlet! Linda D., one of my Calendar Girls, decided to make her block using the Watermark and Insectarium Collections, also by Windham. The center is perfect for featuring a beautiful print! August 22 Coverlet Block: 12" I've been making some Christmas blocks using Windham Fabrics new line called Jolly Christmas . I chose to stitch the Coverlet Block, too! August 22 Coverlet Block in  Jolly Christmas Do you have your own copy of my new calendar? Put it on your Christmas list! And see if it's in your local quilt shop, too.

 Today is August 21 and the calendar block for today is Double T. I made one and so did Dora L., one of my calendar girls. My block wanted to hang out with the flowers! 18" Double T block And Dora wanted to audition some novelty fabrics in hers. Having a large 18" block gives so much space to prints! Dora's Double T Block Making just a few of these will give you a quilt in a hurry! What fun, right?

Today is August 18 and the calendar block for today is Four Seasons. I've made this block many times for several different quilts that were published. It's really a square in a square in a square in a square. Whew - that's a lot of squares! Here is a quilt I called Garden Party and it was made about 15 years ago and appeared in a Fons and Porter magazine. I used some dotty fabrics from Windham and added those Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks in the center of 9 blocks (without the extra square). The Four Seasons blocks are those in the top and bottom centers. Grandma's Garden Party The same block is used in the traditional Storm at Sea quilt. I've made this quilt several times and here's the latest, which I donated to a local kids' charity via my quilt group. Just blocks, no borders. This Four Seasons block is a great mixer in various quilts. Here's one more with the blocks set on point! Again, a quilt without borders. I was done and binding was the...

I never could win at playing cards, not even the kids' games! I just smiled as I held a zillion cards in my hand as someone banged their last card down on the table and won. Big sigh. But, I sure can sew Card Tricks. That's the name of the block today and about 20 years ago I simplified the piecing from a lot of triangles to squares and rectangles. Here is the block with those triangles from my 2007 perpetual calendar. Isn't this a fun way that Patricia Bryant staged this? Card Trick by Patricia Bryant of Australia Here is one made by someone who purchased my No Tricky Card Trick pattern. As you can see, there are not a lot of triangles. This is the way the calendar block appears. No Tricky Card Trick  block by Jocelyne Normandin Here's a quilt I made several years ago using my larger block (12-3/4") It was fun to dig into my Kaffe Fassett scrap piles. If you look at this another way, you can see several hearts, can't you? No Tricky Card Trick (12-3/4" bl...

 I love to feature beautiful motifs in the center of blocks. This fabric collection is at least 15 years old and is from Blank Quilting. It's called "Days to Remember." I had yards and yards of it for some workshops I taught over those years. Here is one block where I captured an awesome motif: Twisted Hexagon block This Twisted Hexagon block can be made in all sorts of sizes (my Etsy pattern  captures a 5-1/2" high motif; this is cut 7-1/2"). All I had to do was adjust the size of the half hexagons. Half hexagons cut with a standard 60 degree triangle ruler Here is one of the quilts I made with the leftovers. My local guild needed some longer quilts and so I added the top and bottom borders as you can see here. Days to Remember Twisted Hexagon charity quilt: 55" x 67" But I didn't chop up all the sweet motifs. I used some for the border of this quilt with leftovers from a class I taught in 2012! Winding Ways the easy way. Winding Ways quilt I...

I was reminded of this quilt I made for Quilt Magazine in 1998. Oh, I didn't make those blocks - whew! They were a set of orphan blocks that my editor asked me to put together into a quilt. She handed me some fabric to go with them and said, "Have fun!" Flower of Spring: 48" x 58" The blocks were 7". I added triangles to all 4 sides and then set them block to block.  Here is how it was described in 1936: “Let Spring bloom in a quilt.” So said the Weekly Kansas City Star for its January 11, 1936 offering of a quilt block entitled “Flower of Spring.” This old-time block was contributed by Miss Margaret L. Bosworth, Agnos, Missouri and many home sewers quickly cut out their own versions of this beautiful pieced block, sewing up several during the cold winter months in eager anticipation of the coming spring. Barbara Brackman lists this as #799 with other names of “Floral Patchwork” and “A Tulip Pattern in High Colors.”  Here is some of the artwork I did 27 ye...

I bought some fabric with bees on it (no stingers, that I can tell) and the hexagon shape is perfect for 1" papers for English Paper Piecing.  So, I cut some out and stitched up quite a few: 1" EPP bees And then I pulled some fabric that my sister gave me a few years ago and used it to make my first bee themed Grandmother's Flower Garden: Bee Grandmother's Flower Garden Not sure where I'm going. I think the bees will tell me! I have some other black/gray/yellow fabrics that go with this collection. Do you think I'll get away with an entire quilt featuring bees? Remember, our food supply will disappear if the bees disappear! Gotta love them.

Who's Angie? I can't remember, but I saw a photo in a quilt magazine several years ago and I think Angie was the maker. I liked it so much, I was inspired to make my own version. I didn't have a pattern - it was just a photo, but I can figure out just about any quilt block after 35 years of this stuff! Angie's Fans: 48" x 50" Sets of 2" (finished) strips - 4 together. Then, using a 60 degree triangle ruler, you cut out triangle wedges (8-1/2" high). I was very carefree in my use of strips, but Christmas themed. I went for strong contrast. The ruler is flip flopped along the strips and you get another color strata. These were diagonally stitched together. Cut 30 degree triangles to set them top and bottom. Will I make this again? NO! But it really wasn't hard. I just pulled out some awesome border fabric and hope to sew it on this week. Or not . . . I wish I had some process shots, but I don't. I wish I still had the magazine page I ripped out...

Today is August 1 and my sister Janet decided to make two of the same block, Alpine Cross, from my new calendar. Here's how it appears in print: Alpine Cross: 10" She didn't want it in the 10" size so she enlarged it. And she liked it so much, she made two! Alpine Cross #1 Here's her second one: Alpine Cross #2 I really like the way she staged them for photography! She has a plan to use them with some other blocks she made from my calendar in the same fabrics. Can't wait to see what she makes!