I received a fat quarter bundle from Windham Fabrics last week and The Theory of Aviation spoke to me! The colors are so traditional and the images are so vintage! What do you think? Bomber jackets, compasses, biplanes, and even a lovely map of the world (I'll show that in a few minutes) Theory of Aviation I have two patterns for paper piecing vintage airplanes. Have had these for years. I upsized them from 4" to 7" and printed them out. One is called Into the Clouds. It is pieced in two parts. 7" Into the Clouds And here is what it looks like with all the papers removed and sewing that one last seam: 7" Into the Clouds block And what happens when you get distracted and think you are sewing the parts together correctly? This is what happened to Up, Up and Away. Had to rip out the seam (yes, you can see I had already attached it into the quilt center. Grrrrr!) 7" Up, Up and Away that is sewn together incorrectly! And can we see ...

I made a project a few years ago from a set of 2" English Paper Pieced (EPP) hexagons. I called it "The Zig and Zag of Hexies." It was made with Bella fabrics from Windham and I published it with Cut Loose Press (a division of Creative Grids rulers) for quilt shops. 2" EPP hexies from the Bella Collection And my Hexie string: A string of 2" hexagons Makes this fun Zig Zag table runner . Of course, being so "modern" looking, one of my daughter's immediately made a claim on it. This lives in Pittsburgh with her and her family. The Zig and Zag of Hexies : 29" x 40" I had a collection of 17 hexies made from another Windham Collection called Briar Rose. They sent me a 5" Charm Pack and I used some of them to make a miniature Dresden Plate runner. It still awaits quilting in my closet. Briar Rose fabrics I cut small dresden plate blades from those charms And with the leftover 5" charms, I was able to get 1...

I foundation pieced these four little units last year using some lovely Benartex fabrics: Burlap blenders and the wonderful Fossil Ferns (the light background). But they lacked a lot of personality, don't you think? They may be sharp, but they weren't sassy! Dogwood Blossom units from Paper Piecing Perfect Points I actually found them quietly waiting for me in a little pile in my sewing room, buried under a stack of pattern drafts and other papers. I heard them whisper, "Hey, mom. It's time to do something with us. Give us a real party, won't you?" As I've been in a sort of bold and sassy fabric mood lately, playing with some of my Kaffe Fassett fabrics, I pulled out some and gave them a real makeover. Bold and Sassy Dogwood Blossom quilt Here are a few other quilts I've made in the past using this foundation. What do you think? This first one was in that suitcase full of 30 quilts that was stolen back in 2005. The first Dogwood B...

I don't do handwork anymore other than a little crochet and some English Paper Piecing, mainly with hexagons. I thought you might like to see some of my recent finishes as a result of being part of Glorious Hexagons Facebook page. This is based on the book called " The New Hexagon " by Katja Marek. The New Hexagon book  I took mine immediately to get spiral bound so it will lie flat. My copy of The New Hexagon And coming this summer is a perpetual calendar with 366 more blocks! The New Hexagon Perpetual Calendar Now, let's see some blocks! First is my version of Twisted Hexagon (a class I've taught for a few years, but only using rotary cutting and stitching). This is Dawn, but I call it Twisted Hexagon  And here's Marena: Notice how this uses the same patches as Dawn  Marilyn is Block #32 and I used the Kaffe Fassett fabric called "Target" for that bull's eye center! Marilyn Block #32  Mary Ellen is Block #28....

My winner in the Benartex Bali Blog Hop fat quarter giveaway was Rosa. I'm still waiting for her to contact me. I give winners 48 hours and then I move on to second choice! Rosa - please phone home! I plan on tallying up the votes, but because I was on the road I couldn't do it during the hop. You will see more of these blocks and shapes. Here is what I did with that block I shared. And then I cut a few more diamonds and another block appeared. Like I said - I'm stuck on this shape! First, the Daffodil block with a small orange hexagon appliqued to the center. This is fusible, raw edge applique (the easiest and quickest approach). As soon as I covered up the center I realized I had created a Grandmother's Flower Garden block! Daffodil with bright center Then I thought about cutting diamonds without slicing off one end. It was a simple star pattern. But when you add the same orange hexagon in the center, it becomes the Daffodil block I really had in mind in t...

A lot of talk of margaritas and Mexican food today. I can't handle a margarita (just ask my kids!), but I've always loved Mexican food. Raised in California and loved all things Mexican. I was reminded of the block I designed for Quilt Magazine in 2007 which I called Olé. And I remembered the Benartex " What's in My Pantry " Collection which I featured here a few months ago. I was thinking CHILI PEPPERS and there are two fabrics in that collection with chili peppers on them. What's in My Pantry? Here are my steps to quickly cut and stitch these two blocks (which I made this morning in one hour's time). I used these two pepper fabrics as the center of my blocks. Aren't they yummy? Chili pepper fabrics  with black background Chili pepper fabrics with yellow background First I cut the parts (pattern follows at the end of this post): Block parts for Olé Then I began stitching: Orange triangles at the top of the blocks Gre...

I love playing with new fabrics. And I love getting fat quarters because it keeps my creativity under control. Windham Fabrics sent these a few months ago and I began planning and cutting but never stitched up my idea. Flora  by Kelly Ventura  is a collection of modern watercolor florals. Aren't those so yummy? I have stacked them and re-stacked them. Paired them in groups and generally played for a bit, dreaming up a simple way to showcase the fabrics. I settled on Snail's Trail Star and made it super sized at 18" square. Snail's Trail Star This begins with a 4-Patch of the 5 fabrics I selected (4 main colors and a background fabric). (I share the free pattern at the end of this post, along with clear cutting instructions). Then four of the same fabrics are cut into triangles. These are sewn to the sides as shown. Center 4-Patch with matching triangles, ready to be sewn This is what it looks like sewn: Sew on the triangles Then larger half...