I was asked to teach my Flying Swallows class again, though it hasn't been confirmed. I started thinking about those diamonds and how they appear in several other vintage inspired quilts I've made. First, my most recent Flying Swallows quilt using Michael Miller's Fairy Frost fabrics for those diamonds: Flying Swallows : 48" x 48" The diamonds are easily rotary cut from 2-1/2" strips (this shows cutting from 3-1/2" strips, but the same method). Think differently about those diagonal lines on your rulers! My first Flying Swallows : First Flying Swallows from 2000. Now let's look at the diamonds - very neat, huh? NO templates! Rotary cut 45 degree diamonds Swallows in the Window uses the SAME diamonds. The way the background triangles are arranged and the addition of a center square makes this unique. Here's the vintage pattern for a 9" block (gasp!!) And my most recent Swallows in the Window quilt (my second one). Uses the SAME diamonds. Sw...

I created a quilt for Benartex as a Sewcial Ambassador using their Modern Vintage: Treasured Collection . I call this Dancing with the Flowers and it appeared in their Fat Quarterly Magazine in April. Dancing with the Flowers: 40" x 40" I used a set of charm squares (5") for those rectangles in the center. The vertical rows are called Stacked Bricks - very traditional. I've never been a fan of orange, but I absolutely fell in love with these flowers on the blue background! The designer of this collection is Rachel Rossi. Set of 5" charm squares I had more of that border fabric remaining and I realized that a scrappy birdhouse quilt top might be the perfect place to use it. These are birdhouses leftover from teaching some workshops over the years. And those hexagon shaped bird motifs just added to the charm. I had a lonely panel from another Benartex collection that begged to be in the center. What do you think? Home Tweet Home : 42" x 49" I quilted thi...

I found this on the giveaway table at my local quilt guild's weekly Bee in 2020. It looked so sad. It was crumpled up and I honestly thought it was weeping. I walked over and whispered, "Are you all right? Do you need something? Can I help you?" She sighed BIG and said, "I'm alone. I know I'm ugly, but my fabrics are beautiful and my maker did the best she could, but I'm wonky and my seams aren't straight and I need some help!" I recognized the beautiful fabrics as those of Jinny Beyer. This was NOT an easy block to piece and I totally understood how hard it must have been for the maker. I turned it over and saw the "adventurous" stitching. (This photo shows the pieced corners removed) I grabbed the weeping star and assured her I would make her beautiful again! I found out who put it on the table (Suzanne; it was in her mother's stash) and then I went home. The first thing I did was introduce her to my sewing room and assure her it ...

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2023 with quilts and all their beauty. Diamonds come in all sizes. Those in fabric come in many different angles. I seem to prefer the 60 degree kind, though I've made many quilts using the 45 degree diamond. Oh - don't get nervous. I'm not going to launch into a math lesson! This is a simple quilt made using eight large 45 degree diamonds. Big Block Lone Star . 29" center star! 6-1/2" diamonds I have shown how I cut my fabric diamonds, both 45 and 60 degree. What's revolutionary to me is that I do not use templates. Revolutionary? Yes, because when I began quilting 35 years ago, every diamond in every magazine was cut using a template. Every. Single. One. Here is how I cut my strips - NO templates! For this next quilt I began with 3-1/2" strips. Using the 45 degree diagonal lines on my acrylic ruler, I sliced off the left side (waste) by aligning the 45 degree line with bottom of strip. Then I measured over 3-1/2" from tha...

I guess you could all me a Calendar Girl since I've published 18 quilting calendars over the years! Three wall calendars and 15 desktop Block a Day calendars. I was glad when my publishers decided to stop them after 2020 - my brain was SO empty! Last year for the desktop calendars I began the desktop calendars in 2006. I drew all the art, wrote all the directions, calculated all the supplies for dozens and dozens of quilts and several hundred blocks FOR EACH YEAR! Yes, I did this until 2020. In the meantime, the original publisher was purchased by Andrews McMeel - the largest calendar publisher in the world and they decided they would also like a few wall calendars. I found this easier to do since I only offered them previously published quilts (and all the instructions were written!) 2012 Wall Calendar of Quilts featuring Snow Crystals Many of the quilts in the calendar I sell individually. It's a bargain to get 13 of them on the calendar! Let me show you a few of these quilts...

I guess I got carried away. I made not one, not two, not three, but FOUR very large Lone Star blocks. They measure 29" square!  That was a lot of cutting and piecing! Then I had to decide how to arrange them. These use the current Meadow Collection by Windham Fabrics. Four traditional Lone Star block parts Do you remember the fabrics? Meadow Collection 2022 by Windham Fabrics For the process, there were NO templates. I cut strips . . . Two fabrics for making one star (plus background solid) This is what the star parts look like. Sure looks like I'm going to have to do some set in seams. Not gonna happen! Eight four-patch 45 degree diamonds The strips are cut using a standard acrylic ruler with those 45 degree diagonal lines. You can see it running along the top of the pink fabric, right under my name. Then the key to piecing these ACCURATELY is to mark the 1/4" seams on one two-patch as shown below. This makes sure that the little triangle tips (shown on left) are in th...

The Lone Star is a traditional, vintage pattern that has universal appeal. From my early days as an editor with Quilt Magazine (1993-2007) we never ran out of beautiful options to feature in just about every issue. We had many loyal readers who would send us their lovely quilts to be photographed and then we patterned them. They came in all sizes and colors and had a wide scope of variations. I am back in the classroom teaching and this summer I am offering my One Day Lone Star class being held in Gettysburg, PA at the MAQ (Mid Appalachian Quilters) Retreat. Here is one from a recent student of mine from a 2019 One Day Lone Star workshop in Hershey, PA. Lisa G. wanted to add the bias strips (which we learned as a variation in class), but then decided to add these beautiful flowers. Lisa G's Lone Star And her creative addition to each corner Lisa's floral addition in each corner. I've made this quilt several times. It also appears in my  2012 Calendar of Quilts  on CD (wit...