Yesterday, I gave you some options for the Chisel Die. I started playing around in Electric Quilt and came up with some more options. The individual block will be shown first, and then the quilt la…

As a Science teacher I love the idea of quilts with links to Maths and Science. This Mini quilt is based on the Fibonacci sequence. This was a fun project - I used scraps of solids and kept adding blocks until it felt like a decent size. I'm definitely a convert to spray basting after quilting this quilt. So much quicker when you don't have to remove safety pins and so many less wrinkles. I think this might be oft hang in my Science Lab for a while!

I've been playing with YLI Sparkle thread, a twist of #100 silk, in this case ecru silk, and metallic thread, here in gold. It also comes in silver colorways from pale to dark. The feather above is quilted on a very lightweight soft silk from an old blouse, washed and pressed. In real life it is shimmery and elegant, really lovely with the slight sparkle or "fairy dust" from the thread. It is a much lighter and more heirloom look, with a twinkle in the stitches, not heavy like a straight metallic. Background quilting is done in pale yellow #100 YLI silk thread. I used a #70 Jersey needle (YLI recommended Jersey needles for this thread) and had no trouble at all. I could quilt at my normal speed, change directions smoothly with no fraying or breaking. It looks really quite wonderful. If you are quilting through heavier fabrics, a denser batt or backing fabric, or a top with lots of piecing joins or fused areas, of course you would use a larger Jersey needle or even a Top Stitch needle. For every project with specialty threads you must try a stitch-out on the actual materials you will be using in the real quilt, and find the magic combination of thread, needle, tension, and stitch length that works the best, and looks the best. #100 silk thread was used in the bobbin, and I lowered the top tension from default #4 to 1.75. Thread spool was on the vertical spindle of the machine. Many times owners' manuals will give so much info about needles and threads and how to use them on your particular machine, settings, etc. Mine has pages of info, very nice. Now I am busy quilting with a deeper shade of Sparkle thread on a medium colored fabric. The feathers I have tried so far I did in the "old" method where there is no space between each one as in the one here, and I did backtracking or "travelling" to get to the next feather. Again, it worked perfectly, and the doubling of the thread was not obnoxious or too noticeable. It looks wonderful. I'll post photos of that when this small quilt is finished. If it turns out! If not, I'll explain the problems. It's fun to try new things and challenge yourself to improve your own style of quilting or give it a slightly new and fresh look. I probably won't use metallics that often but I love knowing they are there in my toolbox of techniques for free motion machine quilting, and I know how to use them. Try something new today, and keep quilting.....your work gets better everyday! Diane

Creating, Sharing and Living the Patchwork Dream

Creating your own Fibonacci quilt is a great way to test your sewing and math skills. Create something beautiful and mathematical with this tutorial.

I thought the hard part was done when I finished piecing the arcs for this project. The original design calls for the background to be the same color as the lighter stripes…or as the darker s…

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6. Materials: 8 3.5" squares of Color A 8 3.5" squares of Color B *note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time! Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go! ROW 1 ROW 2 ROW 3 ROW 4 After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning. Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 65 to go! Pat yourself on the back! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group!

Oh this is so hard for me. Here it is....my last customer quilt. Becky's Urban Nine Patch was a gem to quilt up! I love everyt...

Why work on just one queen size quilt when you can work on two at the same time? Thanks so much for all the love here and on IG for the Modern Fans Quilt (post here and here). Indeed I loved making that quilt (but then I can't remember the last quilt I didn't enjoy making) but all the new components of that project required focus. Making this Trip Around the World quilt was like therapy. Everything about it was lovely, calming and relaxing. Even though it is the biggest quilt I've ever made (just a few inches larger than the Modern Fans) I was a little sad to have it finished. The pattern is of course the tutorial by Quiltville. This is the second quilt I've finished using that pattern (the first is here) so I was familiar with the technique. Digging into my stash for low volume fabrics with a gray leaning created a colossal mess in the sewing room but was quite rewarding. That is, until I realized that even with the fabric requirements of a queen size quilt I was barely making an impact on my low volume stash! See my 2019 goal post for more on that challenge! Calculating the number of blocks I would need for a queen, I cut over 400 strips of some of my favorite fabric. Over a month or so I would sew up 10 blocks at a time and unpick the seams (see the tutorial as to why this is done) while relaxing at night watching TV. And soon enough, there were 72 beautiful blocks. Keeping with the therapeutic nature of this project, I just placed them on my design wall and didn't stress too much about the adjacencies of each block. This picture is the layout in process with my not quite queen size design wall. Table basting to save the back and knees!! Ah then the quilting. Over several days I quilted a leafy pattern completely covering the quilt. The flowing, repetitive movement of the leaves was so enjoyable to quilt and it adds a lovely softness to all those little blocks. Several hours of hand sewing the binding later, the quilt was finished. At least I know the quilt went to a good home and I can visit it whenever I want! My son and daughter in law loved the quilt and we had fun photographing it on a gray Christmas Eve outside their lovely antique home. Let's talk about the backing. It's Charley Harper Birch organic Western Birds and the best part is that it was a wide backing piece that I had in my stash! It takes a lot of hands to hold a queen size quilt up. Those birds are almost sitting on the leaves in the quilting. Sorry about all the pictures but I do love this quilt!! Although I had plans to finish three bed size quilts for my three sons for Christmas, I ran out of gas and gave one son an I.O.U. in the form of fabric selected for his quilt. He knows I'm good for it! Have a great day, Kathy

Featuring luxe embroidery on soft, sumptuous velvet fabric. This bedding is complete with a delicate cotton reverse to help keep you cool and comfortable at night. Made using Polyester (front) and 100% cotton (reverse), this duvet set is super soft yet durable.

Construction Made from 100% cotton. Filled with 100% cotton batting. Reverses to 100% cotton. Sham displays an envelope closure. By choosing our cotton products, you’re supporting our investment in Better Cotton’s mission. This product is sourced via mass balance and therefore may not contain Better Cotton. Shams sold in sets of 2 or 3. Quilt, shams and inserts are all sold separately. Imported. Care Machine wash in warm water; gentle cycle. Only non-chlorine bleach when needed. Tumble dry on low heat; remove promptly. Warm iron as needed. Dimensions Full/Queen Quilt: 92" l x 88" w King/Cal. King Quilt: 92" l x 108" w Standard Shams: 20" h x 26" w Euro Shams: 26" sq

Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer ('The Woman in Gold), Gustav Klimt 1907 This was one of my favorite projects from a few years back, and my student still talk about it. Apparently, they loved it too, and that's not surprising, because we used fun techniques and mediums to make these glimmering beauties come to life. All my age groups, (4-6, 6-12, and adult) did a variation of this project. Gustav Klimt's portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, also called "The Woman in Gold" was our inspiration for this project. We looked at Kilmt's use of design, pattern and color, and in creating our own Woman in Gold, we were mindful of balancing our use of line and shape. We repeated colors and patterns (red- yellow, red-yellow etc) for balance and cohesion. To begin, we primed a large piece of cardstock (you could use cardboard, acrylic paper or watercolor paper) with gold acrylic paint, to which we added a hint of brown for a more rustic effect. We set this aside. Using a colored print-out with Adele's face and arms, which you can find over at Art Projects for Kids, (see link here) we added our very own Klimt-esque decoratively draped gown and 1920's style hairdo, with plenty of decorative patterns, motifs and designs using black permanent marker. We referenced many Byzantine and Art Nouveau patterns (zentangles would work too) to help us along. I emphased that patterns should be done neatly, with line points connecting, and should exhibit variety in density and style. We then colored these patterns in with marker. I stressed the importance of working in sections using patterns of color, or color schemes, to keep things unified and harmonious. Klimt belongs to the Art Nouveau, or in German 'Jugendstil', era which is classified by its ornate, decorative and detailed elements. Inspired by Byzantine art, Klimt used lots of metallic paints and gold leaf to add shine and shimmer to his beautifully complex work. We too, added finishing touches to our patterned robes using metallic markers and paint pens. The kids were all ooh and ahh over the metallic markers. Once Adele was complete, we cut her out and laid her on our gold-painted background --- without pasting yet... because first we added more cut outs of patterned deco paper and pasted these under Adele, to extend her headdress, her gown, and to embellish the background behind her. Finally, we mounted our Adele on our background and added some bold black lines for definition and to connect all our elements. Beautiful. The kids were all so proud of this one! Adele in progress, above. 4-6 year olds: work in progress 4-6 year olds, with original 'Adele' top left Ages 7-11 Ages 6-9 Link to Art Project for Kids 'Adele' template: https://artprojectsforkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Klimt-Adele-Portrait.pdf

It's Blockheads Wednesday and we have a mystery today! This is Tammy's Cat's Cradle block. We know that the black print is from Betsy Chutchian's Bramblewood collection, the gold is from a Kansas Troubles collection and the background is a mystery. Can you name that fabric? For my Fig Tree & Co. block, the fabrics are from the Farmhouse and Chestnut Street collections and the background is my favorite tiny stars from Liberty Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings. I thought there would be a little more contrast with the tan so... I might remake this block. Or not.

Physalis alkekengi

Below is an extended text of the article, "Geographic Cosmology: The Art of Lucy Ward" published in Craft Arts International, no.78, 2010, pp.34-39 It is June 2005 and a heavy thunderstorm has just erupted, pouring noisy torrents of rain upon the tin roof of Mossenson Galleries in Perth, Western Australia. Entering the gallery, octogenarian Kimberley artist Lucy Ward wears a beaming smile as she shakes the rain from her snow-white hair. Approaching a large brown canvas covered in a dozen or more images of her ancestral Wandjina spirits, she runs her hand across the painting, as though affectionately stroking a long lost friend. “My Wandjina,” she exclaims. “You’ve brought the rain!” Like Ward, these Wandjina are a long way from their Kimberley homelands. And yet, this distance does not weaken their spiritual or elemental power. For the Ngarinyin, Worrorra and Wunambal people of the north-west Kimberley, the Wandjina are the central figure of religious significance. According to legend, they were the physical manifestation of great spirit beings who controlled the elements, such as wind, lightning and rain. During the Ngarrangarni or Dreaming, their actions and adventures shaped the landscape and helped create Indigenous law. At the end of creation time, they left their images on the rock faces and escarpments, in order to watch over the country and its Indigenous inhabitants, and to ensure the continuity of traditional law. Over milenia, the repainting of the Wandjina has become a sacred act of passage, connecting the Ngarinyin, Worrorra and Wunambal people in an unbroken link with both their ancestors and the Ngarrangarni. The power of this ancestral connection, and indeed, the power ascribed to the imagery of the Wandjina, reflects the unique spiritual temporality of the Ngarrangarni or Dreaming. As W.E.H. Stanner notes, although the concept of the Dreaming evokes a heroic time when ancestral spirits roamed the earth, “one cannot ‘fix’ the Dreaming in time: it was, and is, everywhen … a kind of logos or principle of order transcending everything significant for Aboriginal men.” The essence of Ngarrangarni runs through all things and connects every point in time and space. Adherence to its fundamental and mystical truths is the driving force for senior Indigenous people like Ward, shaping their lives and world-view. It is this essence that explains the power ascribed to the image of the Wandjina. This is not only a spiritual and elemental power – such as the power to bring on rain in Perth, hundreds of miles from their ancestral homelands – but also their power as profound visual statements that challenge our western preconceptions of time, space, aesthetics and value. Lucy Ward began painting in 2003 and has since established herself as one of the leading contemporary painters of the Wandjina. She has exhibited throughout Australia, as well as in Asia, Europe and America, and has held eight solo exhibitions through Mossenson Galleries in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Her works are held in several important public collections, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Western Australian Museum, the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia and Macquarie University. In 2006 she was awarded the City of Stirling Art Award, and she has been a finalist in numerous major art prizes, including the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, the Wynne Prize, the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, The Alice Prize and the Waterhouse Natural History Prize. In the jubilant glow of Ward’s paintings there is a reflection on her long life lived in the Kimberley. She was born around 1920 at Ngarangarri country – the land of the Honey Dream – in what is now known as Beverley Springs Station. Her mother died while Ward was still an infant, so her father carried her around the bush in a bark coolamon, before finding a woman who was breastfeeding a little boy. According to Ward, “That little boy and I went share for her ngaman (milk), She was a good woman. That is why I am still alive today.” Ward’s childhood was spent traversing the Ngarangarri and Winyiduwa clan estates with her father and grandfather. From these old men, she gained first-hand knowledge of the hunter-gather lifestyle: hunting kangaroo, emu, fish and prawns and gathering yam and edible water lilies. They also introduced her to the ancient artistic practices of the Ngarinyin, and she recalls fondly watching them paint “the really Wandjina in the caves.” As she matured, Ward worked on the burgeoning Kimberley cattle stations, both as a domestic servant and well as mustering and tailing cattle. But the formative experiences of her childhood remained with her, and during the wet season, when monsoonal rains locked the cattle industry down, Ward and her Ngarinyin kin would return to their ancestral estates for ceremony and to tend to their country. Like her life, Ward’s paintings are a balance of sorrow and joy. In many of her canvases, a single Wandjina is painted in isolation, surrounded by swathes of colourful dotted squares, signifying the ‘sugarbag’ or bush-honey pod. According to Ward, in the Ngarrangarni, this Wandjina broke with traditional law, and took another man’s promised wife. This angered the man’s family, who pursued him across the country, seeking to punish him for this indiscretion. They finally caught him in Ngarangarri country, where he was beaten, speared and killed. From his prostrate body rose the sugarbag trees, making Ngarangarri country the land of honey. It is a powerful story of the connection of all things. In death there is creation; in punishment there is redemption; in the bitterness of tears, the sweetness of honey. This sense of connectivity can be seen even more clearly in Lucy Ward’s signature image of ngara (the sugarbag). Ngara refers to the honey made by the stingless native bees. There are two types of bees native to the north-west Kimberley, the tree-dwelling bee (Waningga) and those that build their hives in rocks (Namri). Ngara is an important totem for Lucy Ward – not only was she born in Ngarangarri (the land of the Honey Dream), but according to Ward, she was also born under the shade of a sugarbag tree. Along with the image of the Wandjina, the sugarbag has been one of Ward’s defining motifs. However, whilst Ward’s depictions of Wandjina have remained relatively unchanging – undoubtedly due to the sacred nature of the image – the sugarbag has provided her with a motif of incredible flexibility. Over her diverse artistic career, it has been an endlessly malleable aesthetic form, in which she has found a seemingly boundless array of conceptual and aesthetic variations. Ward’s gallery representative, Dr Diane Mossenson, notes with amazement Ward’s “capacity for artistic re-invention. Unlike many Aboriginal artists who paint a limited number of images, Lucy has remained strong to her stories, but she continually recreates the imagery, finding new ways to express her stories.” During his fieldwork in the Kimberley in the early 1960s, anthropologist Ian Crawford noted several rock-art sites in which the sugarbag motif was prominent. Reproduced in his landmark 1968 volume Art of the Wandjina, the cave paintings of sugarbags are clear artistic precursors to Ward’s early paintings. Like her Wandjina, this comparison reveals how much Ward’s work takes its core inspiration from her rock-art heritage. This etymology is easily overlooked in Ward’s work, particularly in light of the explosive acrylic palette favoured in her early paintings. Like the cave paintings of sugarbags, Ward’s earliest depictions show the sugarbag motif as distinct, individual objects. Each honey pod is depicted as an irregular square or circle filled with coloured dots. Sometimes these squares or circles are sub-divided, while in other cases they are not. In late 2005, however, a major development began to occur in Ward’s portrayal of sugarbags. The sugarbag became an increasingly open signifier, whose individual unity slowly disappeared. In her most recent works, such as the monumental diptych Ngara (Sugarbag) Story 2008, exhibited at the Arthur Guy Memorial Art Prize, any sense of this indivisible unity has been shattered in favour of an all-over dotting that covers the canvas in a pulsating invocation of the aerial landscape. There are many probable reasons for this development. One reason is certainly Ward’s exposure to artworks outside her immediate cultural experience. In 2006, Ward visited Melbourne for the launch of her exhibition Ngarrangarni Manambarra. During her visit, she attended the National Gallery of Victoria, where she was given a guided tour by senior curator Judith Ryan. Ward was particularly taken with both the style and scale of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri’s monumental Napperby Death Spirit Dreaming 1980. Following the visit, she repeatedly expressed her desire to work on larger canvases, referring back to the Tjapaltjarri’s canvas as an example. In the proceeding months, Ward not only completed several larger canvases, including the majestic 2007 Wandjinas in Ngarangarri Country (198 x 298 cm) which was exhibited in the 2008 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, but Ward began to cover much larger sections of her canvas in shimmering dot-work, creating constellation like backgrounds to her tableaus of Wandjina, sugarbags and country. On a more local level, 2005 also saw the arrival of another profound artistic influence on Ward’s work. In that year, the senior Nyikina artist Loongkoonan began painting at the same Derby based workshop as Ward. Although belonging to a different language group, Ward and Loongkoonan began a highly competitive and influential artistic relationship. Painting alongside each other, they became like a Braque and Picasso of the Kimberley – taking on the visual lessons of each other’s work, and continually challenging each other to find new ways of developing their very different painterly practices. Despite these external prompts, however, Ward’s development has shown a clear and uniquely personal epistemic trajectory. In the paintings of Lucy Ward, each mark upon the canvas is like a fingerprint, betraying the trace of its creator’s movement. In painting her ancestral homelands, her marks revel her ownership of the country, like footprints in a landscape that she has traversed by foot, understood instinctively and known intimately. But just like a footprint, they exist as the memory of presence, a nostalgic echo of past travels. In the wake of colonial incursion, elders like Ward cannot live on their traditional lands, but return only occasionally to tend to the country of which they are the sacred custodians. Returning to her sacred sites, Ward sings out to the spirits, warning them of her arrival. Her song echoes through the stony ridges and it is as though she is a young woman again. It is this memory of the landscape that reveals itself in Ward’s paintings. Each mark connects Ward to her landscape, making her one with the Dreams, songs and topography of her land of honey. In this context, the sugarbag is a profound tripartite symbol for the personal (as Ward’s totem), the physical (the bush honey pod) and the spatial (Ngarangarri country: the land of the sugarbag dream). In shattering the individual unity of the sugarbag – literally opening it up – Ward fuses these three categories. Rather than fingerprints, the dots meld into a pointillist landscape that shimmers into being with a cosmological unity. These seemingly abstract shapes thus become a complex metaphor for the inter-relationship of identity, culture and country. They are part of a sacred and personal geography that Marcia Langton has termed ‘placedness.’ For Ward, the past is not, as L.P. Hartley has famously suggested, ‘a foreign country’, but rather a familiar country that situates and unites all moments in time. Ward’s paintings become what Langton has described as “site markers of the remembering process and of identity itself.” They inhabit a temporality that is neither past, present nor future, but part of the sacred link that connects Lucy Ward to the timeless Ngarrangarni.

Whatever the level of your vase-fixing skills, chances are that you're no way near the level of Charlotte Bailey. Why? Because she doesn't glue them back together. She SEWS them back together!

Welcome to my gallery Here you will find many examples of the larger wall art pieces that I have created over time. A lot of these art works have been in exhibitions and art show, some have won pri…

I'm going to take a break from the graduation, school, and family blogging and share my tutorial on how to piece a Jack's Chain quilt top. I finished this one recently and am really proud of it. It's a great, old-fashioned pattern. Yes, there are lots of inset seams, but I'm here to tell you they are not really that bad! I personally have never wanted to do the English paper piecing that is so popular with hexagon quilts right now... and you don't have to. This is all pieced on a machine, with intermediate sewing skills. My points are not always perfect matches, and I have found that I am a happier person if I don't worry about it too much. The overall effect is charming, and I can't wait to get this quilted and on my daughter's bed. So, I'd like to persuade you to attempt this little-known vintage pattern, sometimes also called Rosalia Flower Garden. I started thinking about this pattern when I was browsing through non-square block patterns in Maggie Malone's 1001 Patchwork Designs. There are three blocks listed that combine squares, hexagons, and equilateral triangles in this unique way (the others are Merry-Go-Round III and Wedding Tile). I like the way it creates a circular-looking pattern even though there are no curved lines to piece, and I thought it would be really cute in the 1930's reproduction fabrics I had been collecting. I also found the pattern on Quilter's Cache (which is a fabulous resource for all sorts of quilt patterns, by the way!) Although Quilter's Cache does give step-by-step directions and templates, I don't really like using templates and so I bought a Clearview Triangle ruler at a local quilt store. This makes it possible to cut both the equilateral triangles and the hexagons without templates. From that point, I did not really follow the Quilter's Cache piecing directions. Here's the picture of page 2 of the Quilter's Cache Jack's Chain pattern. I did use it as a guide for assembling the rows. Complicating matters still further, this project became a UFO for a few years (I think I started it in 2007) and I didn't get back to it until this year when I've been participating in Judy L.'s UFO project. I had divided the piecing of the top to be done over two months, and I groaned a little when the number for half of the piecing came up in April. But surprisingly, I found it was easy to make progress once I cleared some time to work steadily. I had already pieced a lot of the 9-patches and made enough blocks for a partial row of the finished top (which is 67x94"). I just needed to review and actually write down how I had cut and measured the blocks I had already done before! The Planning: I wanted to use '30's reproductions for the 9-patches, white for the hexagons, and various pastel and bright solids for the triangles. (Many of these solid fabrics are vintage... my grandfather was a partner in a business college in Ohio, and my grandmother had in her stash the 1/2 yard lengths of rainbow colored cotton that were used in the Nancy Taylor course, which was, I guess you would call it, a charm course for secretaries. So whenever I dig into my vintage solids, I imagine fashionable young women of the Mad Men era figuring out what colors were most flattering with their skin tones. I've read the books, and they are a hoot). The only significant yardage I required for this quilt was the white, and I think I used a little less than 3 yards of that. I have seen some examples of the Jack's Chain pattern online that use the same white background fabric for the hexagons, triangles, and the 4-patches of the 9-patch. If you want to do this, be sure to plan ahead and buy more of the white fabric! Here's the math that I should have done first, but didn't. I just plunged in. 9-Patches: The very first step is to make lots, and I mean lots, of 9-patches that finish to 3". You will probably choose to do this with 1.5" strips, and your best bet is to pace yourself. If you make a twin-sized quilt like mine, you will need 335 9-patches that finish to 3" (but with raw edge included, they are 3.5"). That's a lot of 9-patches. I wanted a scrappy variety of vintage-looking prints, so I tried to use different combinations of the fabrics I had. I would keep thinking that, surely, I had enough 9-patches. But then I'd calculate and realize that, no, I actually did not. Triangles: At some point, you will want to take a break from making 9-patches and cut some triangles (you will need 238) and hexagons (you will need 110, although some will be trimmed to half-hexagons later). That's only if you're making a quilt as big as mine; but you're on your own for calculating numbers if you change the size! For both these shapes, it's important to remember that the Clearview Triangle markings help you figure out the height of the triangle or hexagon, but you are going for a 3" finished measurement along the sides, not the height. For triangles, I cut strips that were 3 3/8" wide, and then I used the Clearview to subcut the triangle shapes. I used a mix of pastels, and a few brights (red, turquoise, green). The sides of the triangles are 3 7/8" in length. But because of the angle, they will finish up to 3" So, 238 equilateral triangles, cut from 3 3/8" strips. Hexagons: Cutting the white hexagons was more of a challenge. I think I made a paper template for the first one and measured it. What you do is to cut strips 5 5/8" wide. Then, you press them in half lengthwise. Then you place the 5 5/8" line of the Clearview Triangle on the folded edge, and the 2 3/4" line on the raw edge, and cut along the side angles. Discard the little white equilateral triangles or save them in your crumb bin: they are too small to work as the triangles you need for this pattern. You should be able to get 7 hexagons out of one strip; you need 110 total for a twin-size quilt. When you measure the raw edge of the hexagon, it will be just a smidge over 3 1/4", but again, because of the angles, all the edges will finish to 3". Arcs and Canoes: Now we're ready to join 9-patches and triangles into some of the elemental units that will later be formed into blocks. If you're like me, you'll want to do a few blocks just to see where the pattern's going. I call the two units above "arcs" and "canoes" because that's what they look like to me. An arc is 2 9-patches connected by a triangle. A canoe is 2 triangles connected by a 9-patch. My quilt uses 112 arcs and 63 canoes. Looking closely at how the triangles match up with the 9-patches, you can see that the 3" finished measurement is where you will need to start and stop stitching. I drew little dots so you can see. The triangle points extend a little beyond the straight edge of the 9-patch, but because of the angle, the lengths are just about exactly even along the future seamline, 1/4" in from the top edge. You will need to backtack to secure the stitches at beginning and end of each seam. I know, it's a bit of a drag if you're used to chain piecing and never stopping, using leaders and enders, etc. You kind of have to get into a frame of mind where you are not primarily concerned about speed piecing, and you will be surprised at how fast it actually does go. When you are piecing a unit and one seam meets another one, as in the arc unit, make sure to position the seam allowances for the first seam so they are not caught in the second seam. Wheels and Apple Cores: Now we are ready to begin constructing the blocks themselves. There are three basic types of blocks; above is what I call a "wheel." I made it by sewing two arc units onto opposite sides of a hexagon, and then adding two canoes on either side. If you have a stack of arcs and canoes ready to go, you can make a wheel block with 10 seams, each of them 3" long. My quilt needed 28 wheel blocks. The second type of block is what I call an "apple core." It consists of two arcs on opposite sides of a hexagon, just like the start of the wheel block. There are 21 apple core blocks in my quilt. By adding a single canoe unit to an apple core, you create an "end" block, needed for the end of each row in my quilt: I needed 7 of those. Here's a view of one seam of a hexagon joined to a 9-patch. You can see that where the triangle was longer than the 9-patch at the raw edge, the hexagon is a little shorter. But it is even at the 1/4" seam line, which is where it counts. Start and stop stitching at the point where the 1/4" seamlines cross. I tend to eyeball it and it usually works. And you do need to clip the threads close to the fabric after stitching. Again, wherever you have multiple seams meeting at that 1/4" point, make sure not to stitch over the seam allowances. Stitch back and forth a few times at the beginning and end of each seam. I think it worked best if I avoided pressing the seams until after I had joined an entire row or even multiple rows of the quilt. Rows: For my quilt, I joined 4 wheels, 3 apple cores, and 1 end block to make a row that was 8 hexagons long. That's the width of the quilt. In addition, you will eventually need to piece the connector or "chain" rows. In the above photo there are two regular rows and one connector row in between them. My chain connector rows consisted of 8 9-patches alternating with 9 hexagons. The two hexagons on either end will eventually be trimmed to half-hexagons. And yes, when the quilt is ready for binding, I will be binding a very scallop-y, raggedy edge. I will almost certainly need to use binding cut on the bias, not straight of grain. It's similar to the technique used to bind a Double Wedding Ring quilt. The alternative would be to cut with a rotary cutter to make a straight edge, and I don't think I would have the heart to do that! Here's a shot of how I didn't work: I never used pins. But you could certainly do so if you were concerned about hitting the right 1/4" intersection point, or keeping the seam allowances out of the way of the needle. Remember that Jack's Chain has a different rhythm than most modern quilts: there's a lot of stop-and-start seaming, but the seams are short and regular, and you will very quickly get used to how the quilt goes together. My final quilt had 7 regular rows and 6 chain connector rows, and is 67"x94" or twin size. I didn't calculate everything out in advance, and I have enough extra blocks to make a baby quilt, which I'm working on now. I did find that one very thorough pressing with steam at the end of all the set-in seaming was good: pressing before all the seams were joined meant I was more likely to have trouble with a seam allowance getting caught in the stitching. If you find this tutorial helpful, please drop me a line or even send a photo of yours. I'd love to see this pattern become more popular!

The Ella Pom Pom Kantha Quilt in Olive, Tan, and Faded Gold - King/Queen Sized *PRE-ORDER*- this item is on pre-order and will ship in approximately 6-8 weeks  For the first time ever, we now offer our best-selling Pom Pom Kantha Quilts in King/Queen size! These large, gorgeous quilts fit beautifully on both King and Queen sized beds. Boasting beautiful colors and intricate patterns, Kantha Quilts add a perfect touch of color, texture and culture to any room. Each side has a different pattern, making these quilts a great two-for-one deal!  Size: approx. 90" x 108" Hand wash cold and line dry Because these quilts are made by hand, each may have a variation in color, size and pattern. There may be minor variations in color between dye lots. Minor signs of fading, discoloration or other imperfections are not considered flaws but add to the authenticity and charm of these beautiful home goods.

Mama loved old quilts and buttons, she would look through an old jar full of buttons for hours picking out her favorites to use on a project...

"Bali Wedding Star" pattern is by Judy Niemeyer. I picked the colors myself - I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The double wedding ring (not this pattern) was the very first quilt I ever attempted and I never finished that first quilt. I actually ended up throwing it away! So I'm happy to have crossed a Wedding Ring quilt off my bucket list. In continuing my theme of photographing my quilts at my favorite places, here is the quilt at the Everett Arboretum. It's a lovely garden in North Everett close to Jetty Island. The rings are batik fabric and the black is my favorite black from Faye Burgos that I also used in Lollypop Trees. I did do the quilting myself. Also sharing, because I think people might get a kick out of it, that this is how I photograph my quilts. I have no walls big enough to do it inside. It measures 83" x 85".

Pink inner lining as a trendy highlight Subtly integrated gold thread for a glamorous look Handmade fringes, double frayed ends 4 patch pockets Padded shoulders Pearl effect buttons on the pockets A slightly quilted back ensures a beautiful silhouette Subtle hook closures Skirt with zip and elastic waistband for a comfortable yet stylish look This beautiful light beige costume should not be missing in your wardrobe. The inner lining in pink provides a trendy highlight. Finished off with double frayed ends at the hem, collar and sleeves, this model is sure to turn heads. Perfect for women looking for a classic look with a modern twist. It can be worn wonderfully on chic occasions as well as in everyday life.

View the stunning embroidery work of Michele Carragher, customer designer for Game of Thrones and Elizabeth I. Read the full interview.

View the stunning embroidery work of Michele Carragher, customer designer for Game of Thrones and Elizabeth I. Read the full interview.

Découvrez le kintsugi, c'est art japonais de la réparation sublimée. Symbole de résillience, il offre une seconde vie à vos objets cassés.

hand made green and gold bias binding for celtic designs ,quilt -as -you-go ,all hand quilted, machined sashings and binding. This took me 9 months.

Gold Metallic Diamonds and Squares Cobalt from the collection Gustav Klimt by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman. This fabric is great for quilting, apparel and home decor.

As an exhibition of work by "accidental artists" opens in London, Izabella Scott goes in search of naive art from around the world.

“Every quiltmaker in the 1970s (was) an innovator… People made their own rules, broke them and came up with their own solutions to the problems they encountered while making quilts.” Bill Volckening, quilt historian and collector The 1970s were a landmark period in the history of American quilting. A whirlwind of change led people to...

Explore seahorsequilts' 343 photos on Flickr!

This is such a gorgeous detail of a painting. Love the ruff and the earrings. The quilted fabric too. via

Printed design for an embroidered man's nightcap, in corded quilting, about 1725, by Margaretha Helm (1659-1742).

Anemone Vase Art Deco Necklace At the Show Blue Hair Slide Bridal Bag Bride and Bridesmaid Bags Brooch Butterfly Panel Butterfly Purse Cala Lily Vase Clematis Vase Close up of Clematis Vase Harebell Vase Decorative Dress Collar and Brooch Dragonfly Organza Panel Ely Cathedral Organza Hanging Festive Hanging Lantern Fish Lamp Flower Medley Panel Hand