Christopher Columbus Day? Indigenous People's Day? Let's go with BOTH as I finish up with the  Quilt Along for NMAI  (Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian). The 5th part of the Quilt Along for NMAI  was the pieced border. What a LOT of seams (58 - yes, I counted them!) Here are the parts: 3 of the 22 units for the borders Here are the top 3 units stitched together with the small spacer strips: Top border These units measure 4-3/4" x 4-1/4". No room for fudging or deviance from an accurate 1/4" seam. Ask me how I know! I should have listened to my trusty chicken overseer and paid attention to what my calculator said. My trusty seam ripper I finally got it right, but had to make a very small adjustment on the top of the right side border. Can you see it? Quilt top: 23" wide by 50" high Today is October 12. Some people call it Columbus Day. Some call it Indigenous People's Day. We can celebrate it all. I love my quilt top and will quilt it soon. I...

Welcome July with me as we welcome the second block in the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian's Quilt-a-long . It is designed by Cissy Serrao who is a Hawaiian native and has created many beautiful Hawaiian quilt designs for many years. You can also have the FREE pattern for this block by clicking the link under the photo. This will take you to the Smithsonian site; scroll down, look for Cissy's photo, then you can download the 16 page pdf pattern with LOTS of great details about making the block. Block 2: Kanani O Ka Home (10") I have been thinking of my own Hawaiian inspired designs and many that were featured in our magazine pages over the years. So, I will be sharing those throughout the month of July with several of them FREE! But, first, let me show you (again) some authentic Hawaiian fabric squares that were scraps from making Hawaiian shirts. These are over 60 years old and my grandson Matteo helped me separate them into piles of matching prints. 300 Quilt...