Here is a fun quilt I made and had published in a Fons and Porter magazine in 2010! While the fabrics are no longer available, I'm sure you can find and use just about any fun novelty print for this quick and easy kid quilt. Playful Pups : 38" x 41" There are five 10" blocks made using those sets of four pups in the attic window setting. Then I added some rectangles of floating dogs on black so that I now have a 3 x 3 block setting. Adding the different borders gives this a fun feel - and also, I didn't have enough of any one fabric! If you do a search on my blog here for "magical mitering" you will find several lessons with lots of pics to help you with the 3 page pattern. I just did a lesson last week - Magical Mitering - so you can start there. Can I show you one other quilt I made with this fun collection? I've since given it away. This uses a different colorway for the doggies. Playful Pups #2 Here is the panel. Isn't it cute? I realized I...

Congratulations to Cheri S. of Washington who is the winner of the fat quarter bundle of the Wings Collection (from last week). Thanks to everyone who chimed in to let me know what you drink in the mornings! Below is a post I did for Benartex this time 2 years ago. The fabrics are so cute and I pulled out a tried and true technique for making Hourglass Blocks. I quilted it this past week and used the gray flannel for the back. I sent it to my 2-1/2 year old granddaughter for a cozy, snuggle-worthy winter blanket. I share the pics of this FINISHED at the end. Hope you enjoy the tutorial! It's natural for sheep to want to knit or crochet, right? Knitty Sheep, Knitty Sheep: can you knit with wool? No, ma'am. No, ma'am. I never learned in school! What! That sounds so crazy. Did you skip classes just to play? No, ma'am, I took a class to learn how to crochet! Whew! Now that's what I'm talking about! I can't knit and can only crochet. It...

Sunbonnet Sue mini quilt In my 20 years drafting patterns for publication, I tend to stay in themes. One theme is the reproduction of historic, early American (ie, 20th century) quilts. One of these is the Sunbonnet Sue . Isn't she cute? Why is she here today? To introduce you to these quilts and that they are now being offered at Craftsy . I never knew that Craftsy could manage the sales of my patterns so easily. I have Madame Samm to thank for that (isn't she a gem?) I'm going to show you several other quilts and then for a GIVEAWAY at the end of this post, I'm going to ask you to vote for your favorite one and the winner will receive a copy of whichever pattern set he/she desires (pdf format). The Memory Bouquet Quilt is 20 applique flower patterns, all sitting in the same blue pot (not at one time!) Blocks are 9" x 12". The quilt is 63" x 63". I own this quilt and my dear Atlanta friends from my guild (when I lived there) helped me put...

City Traffic Quilt by Pam Rocco, as seen in the latest issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine It is very rare that I would make someone else's pattern. I don't get paid to make anything other than my own patterns. So, you know I was quite taken by Pam's quilt. The fun part is that the blocks are a combination improvisation and paper piecing. And it's a FREE PATTERN at the QNM web site. I asked permission from both QNM and Pam to share this and the blocks I am making for my oldest, favorite grandson (his little brother was born October 30, so he's my favorite youngest grandson.) City Traffic Quilt is a free download at the QNM site and is very easy to follow and is several pages of color. I am making my blocks with a white background and got the cool idea to put people and critters in the windows. And my oldest daughter Audrey suggested I print pics of family members and put them in the windows! How cool is that? Here are the blocks I have so far. S...

Today is Wednesday and I want to prove that I sew things other than quilts. I have this fabulous book called "One Yard Wonders" that features 101 sewing projects for all sorts of interests. Home dec, children, pets, clothing - fabulous and accurate patterns that take no more than 1 yard of fabric (or less) to make. I love this book! I like to feature new collections from Windham Fabrics on Wednesdays and today I want to show you a fun novelty print called The Three Bears . The Three Bears Fabric Collection by Windham  I used three of the prints (which I forgot to include in the photo above - oops!!) to make this toddler art smock. The front pocket has narrow vertical slots for paint brushes. I actually made bias binding and everything worked. What do you think? Toddler art smock, front view Toddler art smock, back view I am getting ready to teach this week, Thursday through Saturday, so I didn't get any other items made. But I plan to make a few ...

More fun today with children's fabrics, designed by Kimberly Bourne for . . . Benartex Fabrics Under the Big Top valance and counting mats You can see all the fabrics in this brand new collection here: Under the Big Top This fun ensemble has several colorways and a variety of fun prints - dots, triangles, printed words and of course, animals. I cut apart the Counting Panel and added a variety of small motifs from another panel and tried to add them as they relate to the number on the panel. I was only able to finish 5 of them and will not bind them but zigzag around the outside edges. I free motion quilted these on my Pfaff 2144 with Fairfield Fusi-Boo (fusible batting which is a delight to work with). Here are the panels up close: The starting panel (6" center, 10" block) Number 1 with a single motif (for counting) in the corner Number 2 with 3-2-1 motif so child can identify the 2s Number 3: 3 bears, 3 stars motif, umbrella with 3 pane...