I started this quilt in 2012 with a sweet collection by Benartex. You can read about my technique here: Owls Are the Bomb!  I made two of these blocks. 18" square with Owl Be There hexagons I used a method I've since abandoned (but it worked for me in this project). I cut out large hexagons of fussy cut owls in a tree. Then I turned the edges under as I would if I was English Paper Piecing. Then interfaced the center and machine appliqued the whole thing onto a large red square. Machine appliqued hexagons with red background trimmed I finally quilted this lovely quilt the other day. It is just one of the sweetest quilts I own. Can't wait to show it to my little granddaughter (3-1/2) this week. What do you think? Quilt from the back with those owls in the tree on a black background. Quilt from the back  And here's the quilt on my sunny deck. Owl Be There quilt I have to give a shout out to the three vendors who made this possible: Benartex (fa...

I pulled out my Stacked Hearts pattern and created a freezer paper stencil so that I could free motion quilt in a whole cloth manner. First, I traced the applique onto the paper side of freezer paper. Stacked Hearts appliqué pattern Then I cut it out and ironed it to the center of a shaded pink rectangle of fabric. Layered with Warm and Natural batting and a backing. Selected pink thread to blend with the pink. Iron freezer paper template to center What was my approach? First, I would stitch around the  Stacked Hearts  template. Then, I peel off the paper and free motion quilt INSIDE the hearts. Then, I quilted outside the shapes. Simple. Easy. It sure is better than following a stencil. Just a simple outline. The rest is just doodling.  Now the fun begins. Let's see the first quilt I made, under the HQ Sweet 16 needle: Stacked Hearts quilt being quilted. Yes, those are my humble machine quilting helpers And can we see the quilt, huh? Stac...

Keepsake Catalog asked Windham Fabrics for a quilt that uses Dresden Plates but isn't a Dresden Plate quilt. Huh? Windham called me and asked if I had any design ideas. I said, "Sure! I've done my Dresden Butterflies a few times before and I'd love to do it again." And, of course, it's with their new Storybook Vacation Collection ! Here's the lovely little quilt, straight from the pages of the  catalog  (on page 30): Storybook Butterflies: 34" x 34" I used my "go to" batting, Warm and Natural and quilted it on my HQ Sweet 16 machine . Now, what did the first quilts look like? The first one was made with authentic feedsacks for the wings. Lovely prints, huh? Feedsack Butterflies The next one was made using brights set against black. It was stolen in 2005. It appeared in my first book, Bold, Black and Beautiful: Butterflies at Night: 35" x 47" And I remade this quilt, which is now being quilted by Kathy ...