Yes, it's Halloween and while not my favorite holiday, I did let my 3 daughters go trick or treating just to keep them in their social loop! But they never could have scary costumes - just fun ones like M and Ms or ballerinas. Today's calendar block is the Pumpkin Patch! It was made by Linda D, one of my Calendar Girls. Pumpkin Patch: 12" Here's my Pumpkin Patch block, sitting on the front porch keeping my real pumpkin company, along with some of our garden tomatoes. I used some Benartex fabrics from their Harvest Keepsakes Collection . Because it's Halloween, I'll share one of my own Halloween quilts from 25 years ago: 8 Block Halloween quilt using a stack 'n whack method Here is the pattern page for my previous Block a Day Calendar (2007 with Martingale). Yes, it's a Drunkard's Path. The block is called Ghost Walk. Those are quarter circles which are appliquéd to squares, my cheater's method for Drunkard's Path! Hope your day isn't fil...

 What? That sounds crazy, doesn't it? But Julia R. took it upon herself to chase them and make them line up perfectly! Will you look at those points? Wild Goose Chase: 12" Julia chose a lovely collection called Duchess by Windham Fabrics. What a special set of reds and blues and blenders. Fat quarters of Duchess by Windham Fabrics There are 16 sets of Flying Geese in that block, and all done beautifully. The center is a perfect place to showcase a lovely print, too. I hope my calendar is on your holiday wish list. It's a quilter's gift that gives all year long. You can find my calendar: on  Amazon at  C&T Publishing and in  Barnes & Noble  stores

 It's never too early to think about Christmas, especially if you're a quilter. We need time to cut and sew and quilt and bind. This new collection by Windham Fabrics -  Jolly Christmas  - has been a fun way to get ready. Not sure where I'm going, so I invited some of my quilting buddies to join me. Here are the fabrics that Windham supplied. Yes, Santa is there in red and green - of course! Jolly Christmas  by Windham Fabrics I first made this Christmas Star using an old pattern from 2006. Those four green Santa print squares are cut 6-1/2". The link for the FREE pattern is below the quilt (Windham Fabrics web site). Jolly Christmas Star : 30" x 30" Then I asked my Calendar Girls to stitch ANY 12" block from my new Quilter's Perpetual Block a Day Calendar they wished. I gave each of them 2-3 fat quarters of this collection. Their deadline was October 1. I'll put the blocks together and it may become a charity quilt for some little kid. Let'...

What's with the Goose going around in circles? I wonder where this block got its name? It's a traditional block that's been around for decades. The block is filled with 16 Flying Geese units - go ahead and count them! It's the block for today, October 24. It was made by one of my Calendar Girls, Kathy G. Gosling Go Round: 12" Don't you just love that collection of animal prints she has been using? They're called Under the Canopy by Windham Fabrics. Let's see those fabrics again: Under the Canopy  by Windham Fabrics That is such a foxy fox! And her supporting prints are fabulous, too. I know Kathy has been enjoying working with them and making sure the animals get front and center in each of the blocks she creates. Thank you, Kathy! You can find my calendar: on  Amazon at  C&T Publishing and in  Barnes & Noble  stores

I really don't like this time of year when it gets dark so early. And next week on November 1 and 2 we all get slammed with a sunset at 5pm or so. I finished a quilt top I began 15 years ago based on a modified vintage Rising Sun pattern. I converted it to paper piecing and made a few small quilts with my first try. I call this first one Casablanca Sunrise. That's because the fabric collection was named Casablanca! The vintage Rising Sun block has a quarter circle base. I used a triangle. Casablanca Sunrise: 31" x 31" And in deep reds from 2014: It became a workshop and I made some more samples. This next one I named Milady's Fans and added another round of these paper pieced blocks. Milady's Fans: 7" blocks; 28" x 28" center And how about orange? I tweaked the 7" paper piecing pattern and began another journey. This time I call it Glorious Sunrise (yet, I love seeing the sunrise every morning since I'm up at 5:30 am). Yes, I tweaked it...

Today is October 21 and my Calendar Girlfriend, Diane L., got very creative in staging her block for this post. She was at a quilter's retreat earlier this month and took advantage of the wonderful surroundings. See if you don't agree with me! The calendar block is Geese in the Trees in a 12" size. Yes, it's another flying geese block! She took not one, not two, not three, not four but FIVE different photos with her block up front and center stage. Here they are - I couldn't choose just one. I bet you can't either! Geese in the Trees - literally! Outside near a lake How about this next one? Geese in the Trees with some boots full of leaves! She stitched this by machine, so when she came across a vintage sewing machine, she had to include it! Geese in the Trees and with a beloved sewing machine Getting ready for the Christmas holidays! Isn't that a cute reindeer? And the cardinal at the top! Geese in the Trees with Rudolph and his buddy Sunflowers are always...

Today is October 19 and the block for today is Day and Night Geese. My sister Janet is one of my Calendar Girls and she's working with a fabric collection of blues and reds that aren't vendor specific. They are just prints she loves! That's the way we all should work, right? Day and Night Geese by Janet G. She tells me she made a miscalculation in cutting and had to piece one of those vertical strips. It took me a bit to find the seam - can you find it? I am NOT averse to piecing any of my blocks or borders or sashings if it means I can accomplish what I set out to do. You can't see it anyway once the item is quilted - and we all know that! There - I give you permission to do it, too! Thanks, Janet, for such a lovely rendition of Day and Night Geese! You can find my calendar: on  Amazon at  C&T Publishing and in  Barnes & Noble  stores

Which is it? Are they coming? Are they going? Are they flying in circles? Yesterday's calendar block is called Coming and Going Geese (12") and my Calendar Girl Karen B. made this in her group of fabrics called Insectarium and Watermark by Windham.  She stayed with the blenders and here is her block: Coming and Going Geese: 12" There are a LOT of "geese" blocks in October! I wonder why . . . Do you have your calendar yet? You can find it in many brick and mortar quilt shops (my first choice) and: on  Amazon at  C&T Publishing and in  Barnes & Noble  stores

I've made several Storm at Sea quilts over the past 35 years. I taught the workshop many times in 2011 and 2012. But this most recent one is my favorite. I call it the "I Love You" version (a heart). Can you see it? Storm at Sea: 47" x 47" For my workshops I had decided to get the quilt kits laser cut by  John Flynn . They were awesome and when I handed them out to my students and they looked at all the perfectly cut patches (and NO cutting for them), they stood and clapped and cheered! I was a Rock Star (for a day).  Here are the blocks before I put them together in my Heart version above: Units ready to put into my  Heart Storm at Sea And here is the vintage pattern as given almost 100 years ago! Do you think you'd want to do it this way? Let me show you some of the other Storm at Sea quilts I've made. This first one is a tiny version with just a few units. It was my practice quilt to see how the laser cut patches go together so well. Small Storm at Se...

Today is October 14 and the block today is the Tree of Temptation. Huh? What's that about? Do you remember the Garden of Eden scenario where there were two trees? The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? I'm not going to recount that here, but there actually are traditional quilt blocks that represent these. Here is my Tree of Life quilt from 30+ years ago. The dancing flowers surrounding the Tree of Life were from a Block of the Month from a local quilt store in Rockville, Maryland called G Street Fabrics. They were NOT easy. But I stuck it out, added some butterflies and then got the idea to put that LARGE Tree of Life in the center. I love this quilt and still own it. Can't remember the size . . . Tree of Life with Flowers Here is the Tree of Temptation block from my 2008 perpetual calendar. It's the same block (only bigger in a 24" size) in my new calendar. It was made by Patricia Bryant of Australia. Tree of Temptation: 12" Here is...