It's just about time! Are you getting excited like me? On January 1st the Millefiore Quilt Along will get started designed and hosted by Katja. Using the hexie patterns from her new book, we will be creating rosettes using the english paper piecing method. This is my 'thing'. I have done hexagons since I started quilting years ago, and have never lost my love of hand work. These are the fabrics I'm starting with. Lots of bright prints and a couple of large prints perfect for fussy cutting. I went through my supply of papers and pulled a few I thought we might be using. If not, I will copy the patterns from the book onto card stock and cut them up myself. Something else new to me -- this time I am going to glue baste. I have always thread basted but sometimes removing those threads takes a long time. It's faster to glue I'm sure........ Also, Paper Pieces is going to be offering Rosette packages monthly for each of the rosettes if you don't want to copy and cut your own. How great is that! Here is a sampling of what Katja has done so far Isn't it fabulous??? My fingers are getting itchy. Over Christmas I plan to go through my stash and pull all kinds of fabrics that I think might work for this quilt. What a great way to use up stash : ) The quilt will be 78 x 78 and you can find all the details on Katja's website. The link is up at the top of her web page by the green bow : ) You can click here to have a look I hope you will join in. It's going to be fun!

Think of this gallery as nostalgia on steroids! Classic fables, cult favorites and all the usual suspects are here. The vintage children's book illustration

Playing Again I have been taking over the Dinning Table again for another fussy cutting session. and have completed a filler block for the side and another Rosette. This time I have taken some photos of the fabric I have cut from as I get asked for this quite often. The downside of this project. What goes in, must come out. Especially when you start to run out of papers. Hugs Sharon You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

I found another sewing hobby: English Paper Piecing. When I first heard of EPP I thought, “ooohhh, Never!” It sounded so tedious, so boring. basting tiny paper shapes with fabric and se…

It would be impossible to describe the International Quilt Festival in Houston to one who has never attended. There were roughly 55,000 attendees from over 35 countries, with more that 1,100 vendors' booths and over 45 special exhibits of quilts and related needle art. It can be overwhelming, but oh, the inspiration that abounds! All quilters should put this experience on their bucket list. We took a plethora of pictures, which we will spread out over several posts, so as not to overwhelm you (though that would give you a more accurate feel of Festival.) We will share a couple of the quilt exhibits in their entirety in their own posts. For today, we'll show you a few highlights. Above are views of the exhibitors booths from the second floor. We were not alone in loving the Dutch Heritage reproduction fabric in this booth with Petra Prins. She sold out of all of her stock before the Festival was over! The samples below show why. Stunning!! One of the exhibits that we found intriguing was The Millefiori Quilts, sponsored by Quiltmania Editions. The attention to detail in composing these intricate quilts is almost beyond imagination. Polychromatic Medley, by Christine Belding; hand-pieced using English paper piecing, from the book Millefiori Quilts, by Willyne Hammerstein. Detail: Polychromatic Medley Detail: Polychromatic Medley Hexagons were everywhere! Here are the girls in the Moda booth demonstrating English paper piecing with hexies, using mini charm packs (Moda candy) of Grunge fabric. They even handed out a sample of the Moda candy so we could all try it. Start small, and you, too, could end up stitching a Millefiori quilt, totally by hand! Why not? And we just have to say that the David Bowie quilt hanging in the Moda booth was incredible!! For your viewing pleasure, here are a few more quilts in exhibit that we enjoyed. Stop back soon and see some more of our favorites! Winter Memories, Chieko Shiraishi; Japan Hand appliqué, hand embellishing, hand quilting, hand embroidery Detail, Winter Memories Whooper Reflection, Judith Roderick; New Mexico, USA Hand-drawn with soy wax and gutta-dyed, machine quilted; hand-painted silk The Peaceable Kingdom, Margery Hedges; Texas, USA Machine appliqué and quilting; hand appliqué, painting Second Chances, Rhonda Dort; Texas, USA Hand piecing, appliqué, quilting and embroidery; machine embellishment and embroidery Made with vintage linens, doilies, trims, ribbons, laces My Favorite Paisley, Yoko Izumi; Japan Hand piecing, hand embellishment, hand quilting No Bake Appliqué, Wendy Reed; Maine, USA Hand-appliquéd and quilted, potholder method Wendy asked for a photo of us with her quilt; here you go, Wendy! And congratulations on your ribbon! That concludes this taste of the Houston Quilt Festival. There is so much more to see. Stay tuned!

Bill Volckening –– Make your own modern treasure, inspired by the pages of quilt history! Discover the antique roots of modern quilting as you take a peek inside Bill Volckening’s stunning quilt collection (from the 1840s to 1970s). Patterned for the first time with full instructions, 12 antique and vintage projects invite you to remake them in your own style with modern techniques, rotary cutting tools, and templates. Learn to appreciate the handwork and character of yesterday’s quilts from an expert who has collected and studied them for more than 25 years. • Old is new again! Complete instructions to remake vintage quilts using modern techniques • 12 newly patterned quilts dating from 1840s to the 1970s • Includes templates, tips for alternate sizes, and discussion of each quilt in context • Quilt expert Bill Volckening has collected and studied quilts for more than 25 years, and his collection has been exhibited and published worldwide #11156 112p + pattern pullout, color UPC: 734817-111566 (eISBN: 978-1-61745-204-8) Related Blog Posts Quilter's Bucket List: Bill Volckening  Bill Volckening's Modern Roots Lone Star: Free Quilt Project The link will open in a new tab or window.

A modern hexagon quilt top in progress by Julie Antinucci Quilters have a special appreciation for shapes. We can walk into an airport, a doctors office, a zoo or the grocery store and see a combination of shapes that have an endless amount of possibilities. The hexagon has a special place in the hearts of many quilters. Whether it's admiring the grandmother's garden quilts (example below) from decades ago or appreciating the new modern hexagons that are being made today, we love our "hexies"! Bertrand, Margaret Hahn. Grandmother. 1930-1949. From Arizona Quilt Documentation Project, . Published in The Quilt Index, http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=67-EC-49. Accessed: 03/23/2015 The technique of putting together hexagons is just as unique and varied as the quilts they make up. English paper piecing (sewn by hand) seems to be the "queen" of techniques, but there are also plenty of other options including large-scale hexagons pieced on your sewing machine. A new book by Katja Marek called The New Hexagon, published in October 2014, has been picking up steam and is taking the hexagon to an exciting new place! Participants of a fun new quilt-along started in January 2015 called the Millefiore Quilt Along use Facebook to share their progress on these intricate blocks. Here website also has more information on the quilt along. The results are amazing! Some examples are below! Millefiore Participant Andrea Rudeman's Rosette #1 "Peacock" is complete! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_15/178-5550595-0961335?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+new+hexagon&sprefix=the+new+hexagon%2Caps%2C235 Millefiore Participant Anna Koelewyn's rosette in all solids is a stunner! A colorful hexagon rosette by the Author of The New Hexagon, Katja Marek The quilt along follows the steps provided in the book to bring all of the blocks together over time. These non-traditionally shaped blocks fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Katja has provided an image that gives insight into how each block is completed each month: The hexagon grid in process of being filled in with actual blocks. Many times, the hexagon is broken apart and made out of several other shapes. There is much time, thought and effort put into the color, design, fabric choices and layout of each part of the design, but the results are worth it. Here are some of the hexagons Katja has created throughout her design process. Shapes within shapes. The hexagon has always inspired quilters! There are so many exciting and new options out there to break down the hexagon and rebuild. And there are always exciting new quilts being creating using the traditional hexagon paper-pieced method. As quilters, we love them all!!!

No More Binding Strips Means an Extra Quick Finish! Many quilters get bogged down when it’s time to bind their quilt. Stitching the binding ends together so everything fits well can be a bit tricky. And, if the quilt is large, it can be a challenge to get the binding sewn on smoothly while dealing …

It was our last guild meeting of the year on Saturday, and I got to see everyone else's scrappy bear paw quilts. They looked fantastic hung around the hall. Members of our guild, Capital Quilters, were invited to make a scrappy bear paw quilt to celebrate our guild's 30th anniversary. Our guild's logo is the bear paw because of it's meaning as the hand of friendship. 25 members (out of a total of 180) made bear paw quilts and they all bought them to show and tell on Saturday. The hall looked lovely and very colourful. You can see lots more photos over on the guild's blog - click here! Adrianne (from On the Windy Side) and I are keeping it up to date now, so we encourage you to check back often, or even better, become a follower via Bloglovin or your preferred feed. Mine is just left of centre in that photo above. Here it is again in case you've forgotten. I really enjoyed making this, knowing others in the guild were making the same style of quilt too.

Some time ago, I wrote a post about the Passacaglia quilt. Has anyone started one yet? I came across the Passacaglia quilt hashtag on Instagram! Pretty impressive! Look here at how Ashley cuts her fa

I haven’t been doing any hand stitching lately. But, I do have something to share about my past Sunday stitching project. I entered La Passacaglia into our Fall Fair here in our delightful city, and it took first place in its wall hanging division. Yippee! Woohoo! Happy dance! We went to see it last Wednesday evening, just to see what it looked like actually hanging up. Here’s a pic of our grand daughter Abbie and I standing in front of it. I haven’t done a stash report since way back at the end of July. I’ve been keeping track, just haven’t actually had a chance to write up a report here. So the numbers are going to be looking rather good, considering they cover over 6 weeks. The up side to the rush before a quilt show is all the finishes which take up lots of stash for making backings. Add to that, the new quilt that I’ve designed and am self testing the instructions for, which involved doing all the cutting at once, and I am back in positive numbers again. Used since August 1st: 25.4 yards Used this year: 68.5 yards Added since August 1st: 11 yards Added this year: 61.45 yards Net stash busted: 7.05 yards I have big plans for the rest of today. I’m going to spend it sitting in front of my sewing machine to see how much more I can get done. I just might have some blocks to show on a design wall post tomorrow. I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and Judy’s Stash Report.

I finished my first rosette for my La Passacaglia quilt! I used some of my Bluebird Park fabric from Kate and Birdie to put this cog together. It was definitely a challenge to figure out what direction I wanted to go with this. At first, I had a different centre to this cog. The original version I just wasn't feeling it though. I tried auditioning other fabrics, but nothing was really working. Neither really works.... So I percolated with it for a while to figure out what was wrong with it. I looked through so many pictures of rosettes that other people had made, and thought a lot about what I liked about them. I realized that one thing I love about these quilts is the beauty in repetition. Another thing I love, is the distinct layers of each cog, like a bullseye. A bold star shape in the middle is a solid base to build upon. So when I looked at mine, I felt like it was strong in repetition, but weak in the distinct layers, especially the star. So I picked apart what I had so far and started over with the centre. I changed the middle to make a definite star, and changed the long diamond shapes to the green with a white flower instead of the dark grey linen. The dark grey just blended in too much with the bunnies/butterflies above. Also, the green tied in with the star points so much better. I like the final version much more than the original. In the making of this first rosette, I also realized the need for some fussy cutting templates. So I made some (and wrote a tutorial, in case you need some too!). And I also felt the need for a needleminder. I was inspired by @tinkerellen on Instagram to put together a simple magnetic needleminder made from a small wooden fox. He fits in well here! And in case you were wondering what size these pieces are, here is a picture to give you an idea of the scale. Tiny! I have really enjoyed working on this first rosette. The journey so far has been so enlightening, and I loved figuring out what works and what doesn't. I can't wait to keep making more! To read more about this project, have a look at : The Homemade Heart's La Passacaglia Quilt Index