Work in Progress Wednesday: Still Mardi Gras in the Sewing Room thumbnail
I recently received a treasure trove of quilting supplies from my daughter’s cheerleading coach. The coach’s  grandmother died at age 95 last summer. She was a dedicated quilter and quilted right up to the very end. When I went through her boxes of fabric, trim, finished blocks, buttons, templates, and all the miscellany of a [...]

{ 2 comments }

Work in Progress Wednesday: Pink Baby Rag Quilt

Work in Progress Wednesday: Pink Baby Rag Quilt thumbnail
I’m cheating a bit by posting this on Work in Progress Wednesday, because this little baby quilt is actually as finished as it will ever be, but here it is! This quilt was part of a pink reduction project I’ve been carrying out in my sewing room. I’m trying to shrink the size of my [...]

{ 2 comments }

Roman Stripes String Quilt

Roman Stripes String Quilt thumbnail
Like many of my quilts, this newly finished quilt has been a long time in the making. Roman Stripes is a pattern that used to be popular with Amish quilters (and may still be, although I didn’t see it when I visited Pennsylvania Dutch country a few years ago.) I adapted the pattern by making [...]

{ 0 comments }

Blog Hop Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Blog Hop Giveaway, chosen at random, is Joanie Page of Joanie’s Quilts. Joanie will receive a DVD from Piece O’ Cake Designs and two charm packs from Thimbleberries. Thank you to everyone who entered, and my apologies for taking so long to announce the winner. What have I been doing that distracted [...]

{ 2 comments }

It’s a Blog Hop Party! Enter to Win a Fabulous Quilter’s Giveaway thumbnail
It’s blog party time again! St. Patrick’s day AND National Quilting Day are both on March 17. In honor of all of the quilts that will be created this month, I’m joining the  Quilting Gallery blog hop party from March 8-14. And to make this party truly festive, Quilter’s Diary is giving a lucky quilter not one, [...]

{ 158 comments }

The Quilters’ Swap

The Quilters’ Swap thumbnail
I recently joined the Lib-Quilters group on Yahoo. This group is dedicated to the spontaneous and wonky style of piecing pioneered by the original liberated quilter, Gwen Marston. I’m just dipping my toe in the waters of wonky piecing, but I like the free spirit and crazy color combinations that prevail in this group. (By the way, [...]

{ 0 comments }

Nine Patch (9 Patch) Quilt Blocks — a Strip Piecing Tutorial thumbnail
This week’s easy quilt block is made of nine small fabric squares arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Here’s a nine-patch block made from two fabrics (the kind you’ll learn to make in this post): And here’s a scrappy nine-patch block, where every square in the checkerboard is a different fabric. The cutting and sewing are [...]

{ 0 comments }

More on the Friendship Star Quilt Block

More on the Friendship Star Quilt Block thumbnail
Right after I finished my post on how to sew a Friendship Star block, I discovered an easy variation of the block that uses three fabrics instead of two. This gives the block a whole different, scrappier look. In the three-color variation, the star’s center square is a different fabric from the star points. Here’s [...]

{ 0 comments }

Friendship Star Quilt Block: a Tutorial

Friendship Star Quilt Block: a Tutorial thumbnail
Every quilter should have a few star blocks in her bag of tricks. This week’s easy quilt block, the Friendship Star, is one of the simplest star blocks you can make. I also like it best among the star blocks because of its charming pinwheel quality. The block is made by combining squares with half-square [...]

{ 1 comment }

Valentine Heart String Decorations

Valentine Heart String Decorations thumbnail
Today I had to admit that it’s February, and not even the beginning of February, but almost Valentine’s Day. It was time to finally take down my beloved snowflake garland and put up something — anything — that celebrates red, or pink, or hearts, or love, or something. For some time I’ve been meaning to make a [...]

{ 1 comment }