Welcome to the last post in making our Abigail's Doll Quilt . This is the fun and exciting part....where we assemble all of the parts we've...

Finally! Today is the day I can reveal my new Quilt Archaeology sew long project called Antebellum! This will be a long post, so plop in a comfy chair and grab your favorite drink (Iced tea for me!) and read on.... Here's the old quilt we will replicate. It may be a block in a larger quilt, but I think it makes a pretty great small quilt. As a country, we're all coping with this quarantine together, and being it's Memorial Day weekend, the summer is around the corner, and so is July 4th, I thought an Americana theme was appropriate for our little quilt. #USAStrong I named this project Antebellum, which means 'before the war', most often referring to the period of peace before the Civil War. Not many projects qualify for this time period, but I know that the original antique fabric I used to design these fabrics are all of the Antebellum period, so I felt it was justified. Can't you just see the ladies in their fine hoop dresses?! I hope you love this little quilt as much as I do, and I have a way you can get a kit with exactly the same fabrics absolutely FREE! Beginning right now and through Monday, May 25th, place an order of $35 or more (shipping not included) on my website for anything you'd like, and you will receive a kit for Antebellum free, free, free!! You'll also receive advanced cutting instructions. I'll get back to my free offer in a moment. If you'd like to make the quilt from your own fabrics, here are the fabric requirements: Light Fabric: 1/3 yard for background Blue Fabric: 7" x WOF for blocks Red #1: 5" x WOF for blocks Red #2: 8" x WOF for borders & binding I highly recommend preparing your fabric with spray starch or sizing as this helps immensely with cutting, piecing and pressing. The half square triangles will be made larger and trimmed to size. I used a Bloc-Loc ruler which you can find here. I'll post our first block instructions Friday, May 29th right here on my blog. No need to sign up for anything....just visit the blog every Friday. (The easiest way to receive the instructions is via email and you can read how to do that here.) The last post will be June 19th so you'll have plenty of time to sew the blocks together, and have it ready for summer, and July 4th. I'll post more about quilt finishing that week as well. Time to go shopping! Here's what's new.... In the mood for Americana quilts? I have quilt kits and patterns for my new Freedom Trail quilt. Another great summer quilt is Wash Day. Quilt kits and patterns are also available for this quilt. There's a whole new crop of color bank bundles in a wide variety of colors. Loads of light and shirting bundles, too! Check out six different options for Circa 1880 Nine Patch... ...and don't forget I have a new book, Vintage Treasures. It won't be hard to qualify for your free Antebellum kit! Just spend $35 (shipping not included) on my website and I'll automatically pack your Antebellum kit in with your order! I will have your orders processed and packed up to ship to you next week as quickly as possible. I am so excited to begin this next Quilt Archaeology sew-along on May 29th! I hope you are as well. I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting my little business making it possible for me to offer fun things like this. I know you have many choices for quilting goodies, and I appreciate each and every order I receive, as well as the fabrics you buy at your local quilt shop. So...let's get ready to have some fun! Click here to go shopping. I encourage you to follow me on Instagram and Facebook for behind-the-scenes posts that don't appear here on the blog. Be well, my friends....keep on stitching!

Our Spring Thyme Blog Hop is over now, and we really hope you enjoyed it. Did you find a few projects that inspire you? I know I did, and I gained quite a few new recipes to try as well. As promised, I have two lucky winners on this "unlucky" Friday the 13th. They are.... Anonymous, who posted......Pam, thank you for the lovely pinkeep pattern and yummy salad recipe. Can't wait to try them both. the Union Forever fabric is awesome - is it still on the market for purchase. Thank you so much for all your wonderful tips and all you bring to the quilting community. Here is Michigan the weather is slowly creeping into the 40's - Spring is on the way!! Take care. Dolores Dolores, to answer your question about the Judie Rothermel fabric, it may still be available at your local quilt shop, but is at least 2 years old. Happy hunting. and....45th Parallel Quilter, who posted..... Lots of quilting and sewing accomplished this winter. Northern Michigan is known for its cherries so I definitely will be trying that salad ... thanks for sharing! Pinkeep is adorable and would make the perfect Christmas exchange gift for my guild dinner ... thanks for the instructions! Thanks also for the contest ... always fun! Linda Congratulations to the winners!! Please email me at [email protected], and I'll send your leather thimble dots and perfect patchwork pins out to you right away. Hope you like them!! And my heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every one, and hearing about where you live, and what you're stitching on. Thank you so much!! Treenware & Berries by Pam Buda using the Treenware & Berries fabric collection for Marcus Fabrics My Treenware & Berries quilt has just come back from my friend and quilter extraordinaire, Ronda, who worked her incredible magic quilting my quilt. I will be stitching binding all weekend (woohoo!!) so it's ready for photography Monday morning. I thought you might enjoy seeing more pictures of the quilting designs she chose for the quilt. Hope you enjoy your weekend. Spring finally arrived here in Chicagoland, and we're enjoying every lovely moment of it. And, I hope you find time to spend with needle and thread.....Pam

If you're a fabric lover, fabric a-holic, and fabric scrap saver like me...do I have a fun quilt for you to make!!! June, 2015 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine cover photo used with permission I'm blessed to once again to have another original quilt design in the new, June issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine!!! Every Little Bit quilt, by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts Appearing in the June, 2015 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine photo used with permission Photo used with permission of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. The quilt, called Every Little Bit, is aptly named as it really does use just about every little bit and scrap of fabric you may have!! Here is a close-up of one of the Churn Dash blocks. The straight sides of the block are paper-pieced. Now, don't be put off by that at all!! Your fabric pieces can be fairly large when you are sewing with them....and...sewing them paper-pieced-style is easy because it's nothing but straight strips. (Notice the little alphabet fabric print? I jumped a line in the paper piecing in order to see more of the print. You can do that, too, to fussy cut, or show more of a print if you'd like.) Here's a photo I took while making the quilt, and I need to tell you that I worked on this quilt...on and off....for about a year. Trust me...you'll enjoy making the quilt a little at a time. It could have been named "As Time Goes By" because you can paper piece and make the other units a little here and there as you come across scraps....because, of course, the scrappier the better!! Making this quilt taught me an important lesson. Organize!!! Sorting the fabric scraps by color made picking and choosing the fabrics for each paper-pieced segment much faster and easier. The key is to have some sort of organizational system in place, then while you generate more and more scraps, you can 'file' them for future use. All of the fabric pieces stored in these containers are strips, or squares that measure less than 2 inches. The beauty is you can use even the smallest little scraps...ones you might throw away, sewing those sweet prints into blocks, and make yourself a quilt of scrappy happiness! Every Little Bit was quilted by Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple I was twice blessed in that the wickedly talented Linda Hrcka, of The Quilted Pineapple, quilted her magic into my quilt. Please visit her blog to see more photos of the quilting. If she hasn't posted about this quilt yet, she will very soon. Now I know you have lots of scraps, and who doesn't love a classic Churn Dash block?? So the only thing left to do is run out to the store, and buy yourself a copy of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. It will be on the newsstand April 7th!!! I have four orphan blocks leftover from making my quilt, and I think they need a good home. For a chance to win one of the blocks, please leave me a comment about how you organize your scraps, or what kind of scrappy quilts are your favorite. I'll choose four winners Friday, April 3rd, and send you a signed block for your quilt. Happy Scrapping!!

I'm over the moon happy to report that quilt shops all over are signing up for my Circa 1880 Club every day. I believe a shop in Canada is signing up so our friends to the North will be included in the fun. One of the benefits of being a club member is getting the pattern for the six exclusive small club quilts. You will notice that in each of the club quilts, I used the same Uneven Nine Patch block I used in the big quilt. Sometimes they're paired with other fun blocks. Sometimes just that cute little block! Each quilt also features the brand new Circa Basic Essentials fabrics and is given at just the right time of year. The pattern/kit for the quilt above is given in December. There are other benefits of the club, too! But...I don't want to share all my surprises just yet! I hope I have piqued your interest and that you'll look for a participating Circa 1880 Quilt shop in your area or that you can join by mail. I have other news to share with you soon that I'm very jazzed about! No news, however, on the whereabouts of my stolen quilts. From what I'm told, they are likely in a Houston garbage dump. Very sad. If that's the worst thing that happens, I have much to be thankful for as they can be replaced. We have to keep our perspective as there is so much true tragedy with the California fires and people loosing everything. A few quilts are meaningless in the grand scheme.

It seems like it took forever, but finally.....I'm so happy to announce that Plantation Stars is ready to ship. And...it was SO worth the wait!! Plantation Stars was quilted by the fabulous Val Krueger!! I could not be happier with all the designs she chose for this quilt. These photos were taken just before I left for Quilt Market, and it was a very rainy day. I didn't add any light or flash so the quilting would really show, and it does, but it makes the blues look very dark. i just love how the little stars create a circle around the large stars. And...the open space was crying out for Val to work her magic!! Plantation Stars patterns are ready to ship. Click here to order the pattern. I also have a limited number of kits, with all the same fabrics I used in my quilt. The kit includes the pattern and all fabrics needed to make the quilt top. Click here to order the Plantation Stars quilt kit. I'll post some pictures of Quilt Market in my next post. In the meantime, enjoy your day, and make it all the more enjoyable by finding just a little time to sew. Be well....

It's a snowy day here in suburban Chicago and the clouds make for a good day to photograph the quilting of my Pieceful Pines quilt. While the dim lighting is great for capturing the quilting details, keep in mind it makes the fabrics look much darker than they are. Pieceful Pines is not your usual Christmas quilt in that I chose and designed fabrics that still look historic, not full of Christmas-y motifs. So, when my quilter and dear friend, Ronda and I were searching for quilting designs, I didn't want a lot of Christmas quilting designs either. Ronda found lots of really cool designs. I love feathers which look awesome in the red part of the Log Cabin blocks, and really love the spray design she chose for the other half. I think the straight lines give nice juxtaposition to the soft rounds of the feathers....and it kinda reminds me of gingerbread molding. This little design reminded me of two things....a snowflake and the Spirograph I used to play with as a kid! It isn't overly Christmas-y and fits in nicely....I think. The center wreath and star blocks have some other gorgeous designs. I love this center. It would make an awesome table topper centerpiece all by itself. I hope sharing our quilting designs will help you with ideas when your Pieceful Pines BOM is completed. Pieceful Pines begins in April and will end in November, just in time for next Christmas!! Please ask for Pieceful Pines at your local quilt shop! A little birdy told me to say you really might like to check my blog on Friday morning. Something special may be coming your way! Just sayin.....

Now that our Remembering Betsy quilt center is sewn, all we have to do is make the Flying Geese and add them as our border. Gotta love a quick and easy little quilt! You'll make (44) Flying Geese for each side border, and add your corner posts. Done and done! Ready for the summer patriotic months. Speaking of patriotic quilts..... Star Spangled Liberty was a block of the month many years ago. I've had a lot of requests for this pattern over the years and decided to make it available as a digital download! The quilt has two versions: one with the America applique in the center row, and the other as an all-pieced version (no applique.) Both versions are included in the pattern. I am adding more patterns to my Digital Download collection all the time. If you'd like to see all of the patterns available as downloads, click here. I'm packing up and hitting the road, headed to Pigeon Forge, TN for the Mountain Quiltfest event. I'll try to post some photos on Instagram and Facebook of this wonderful quilt show, with classes and vendors galore. If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello! I'll be in a classroom, but visit before and after class, and during lunch break. I have lots of goodies with me to buy, too! Keep your needle busy and your heart content. Be well, my friends!

Welcome to my day of... A Primitive Christmas Blog Hop! This is my first year participating in this awesome event, and I'm so jazzed to be a part of it! It has been such blast visiting every designer's blog each morning to see what new and wonderful project awaits. While I adore making wool projects, it's not something I normally work with when designing, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and give it a try. I've been designing original quilts since 2006, and began designing fabric for Marcus Fabrics a few years ago. My first BOM program with Marcus, called A Prairie Gathering, is about to begin at your local quilt shop next month. I have a new pattern series that has just been released, called Tokens of the Past, and Gathering In Red is the first pattern in the series. I designed three quilts for this pattern, and am super excited about the brand new 10 inch precuts of Prairie Gathering fabric that I used to make the units and blocks for all three quilts. Click here to read more about the pattern and a special kit offer with free shipping!! Christmastime certainly brings our family traditions to the forefront in our lives, doesn't it? In our home, we definitely have lots of them we love repeating each year, and sometimes begin new ones. We live in suburban Chicago, so we enjoy (yes, I do mean enjoy...well, most of the time!) four distinct seasons, and Christmas would not be Christmas without cold weather. We all hope for a White Christmas, too, but it doesn't happen all that often. Cookies have long been a part of Christmas at our home. Our daughter, Nicole, has taken over 90% of the cookie baking now. And...our son, Ryan, has taken over decorating the outside of the house. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase's character from the movie Christmas Vacation) is my son's hero, and he'd like nothing more than to wrap our entire house in lights. (Um...sorry, but the answer is no again this year, Ryan.) We make lots and lots of cookies each year to give to family and friends. One tradition we have enjoyed is dropping off large trays of cookies to our local police and fire departments, along with a big "thank you" to them for their service in our community. We've been doing that for more than 10 years now, and little did we know when we began, that our son would one day be a fireman/paramedic! We send lots of cookies to the folks at his firehouse all year long. The recipe I wanted to share with you is also a long-time family favorite. Every year, Christmas Eve is spent at my cousin Debbie's home (who took over for her mom after more than 50 years!), and this yummy dip as one of the dishes I bring. I know our family would be terribly disappointed if I didn't! It could not be easier to make, and actually feeds a crowd. I split the recipe in half, leaving one portion at home to serve on Christmas Day, and the other goes to Deb's for Christmas Eve. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Click here for a downloadable, printable version of the recipe. And now...for the little project I designed just for you!! What is it about a red pick-up truck filled with Christmas trees, coming home from the Tree Farm, that just says Christmas to me? Is it just me, or do you love it, too? That's what I chose to depict in my little wool pinkeep. As always with my pictures, (sigh) the blue background of the pinkeep is much darker, more of a muted soldier blue/navy in color. The color of the blue background looks much better in the cheesy dip photo above. (If you knew how many pictures I have taken of this pinkeep! All I can say is thank God for digital cameras!) I love having pinkeeps all over the house. Love how they feel with crushed walnut shells in them. They look good in a big antique dough bowl arrangement...... ...or on a table vignette. They go everywhere, and add a little, special something in design and texture, which is exactly what wool does, right?! I'd love to have a red vintage pickup truck parked in my driveway, filled with real Christmas trees. (Wouldn't that be an awesome outside decoration for the driveway, Ryan?!) Oh, yes Pam, that's practical!! Well...a girl can daydream. Since that's wholly unlikely to happen, I'll just enjoy my pinkeep, and the good feelings it brings! Click here for a downloadable, printable Tree Farm Wool Pinkeep pattern. I also want to share with you one of my favorite handwork notions...these small and very portable snip scissors by Gingher. They tuck into little bags for your to-go stitching, and snip threads beautifully. I have two of these babies to give away! Leave me a comment, and I'll draw winners on December 15th! Well, I'm so glad you stopped by to visit my blog. Thank you for coming, and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, and a blessed New Year. My thanks to Stacy West of Buttermilk Basin for coordinating the entire Primitive Christmas Blog Hop! What a great event this is!! Be sure to visit Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm tomorrow. I can hardly wait! Happy Hand Stitching to Everyone!

Huckleberry Hill by Lynn Wilder of Sew'n Wild Oaks Designs (c) 2017When I design fabric, 80% of the time, I already have the quilt designed for the collection and therefore, a specific picture is ceme

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting The Country Loft in La Mesa, CA. Oh, yes...what a hardship for this Chicago girl to spend time in the San Diego area in January! Friday, Saturday and Sunday I taught workshops and spent the day with wonderful quilters!! Many attending have been Facebook friends! Always fun to meet them in person! And much to my surprise and delight, designers Cheri Payne (Quilts by Cheri) and Kathy Cardiff (The Cottage at Cardiff Farms) attended Sunday's class. Lucky me because I don't get to see them very often. I so look forward to giving workshops because I maintain there is just no better way to spend a day than with quilters!! Everyone was so friendly, and happy to be sewing. Shop owner, Sharon Smith, had the workshop in the banquet room of a nearby local Italian restaurant. As you can see, the room was bright and sunny....and the food...oh...the food was wonderful!!! The only thing that would have made it any better was if I were sewing, too!! You'll find no complaints from me as I had the best time!! Every chance we had, we went across the street to shop at The Country Loft. Let me show you why!! If you love Civil War repros, wool, antiques, folk art and country decorating, you simply must visit The Country Loft!! Didn't I tell you there are wonderful things in every nook and cranny? Luscious wools and Valdani threads... ...beautiful cottons and inspiration everywhere!! Don't they have great ideas for displaying quilts?!! Like this display of all five of the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Journey quilts! WOW!! A Prairie Gathering Quilt of the Quarter I absolutely loved seeing my Prairie Gathering Quilt of the Quarter displayed on a bed in the shop! So cute with the ticking pillows and bed skirt. Would love to take home some of the antique furniture, too!! Sharon and all the very creative shop girls pay attention to even the smallest things, making them so cute and adding inspiration everywhere!! And...if all that didn't tempt you, they have more antiques in the little cottage in the back yard. Sigh....it's all so much fun, it was very hard to leave!! My heartfelt thanks to Sharon Smith for asking me to visit her wonderful shop. To all the shop girls who made delicious treats Friday night, and who work so hard with Sharon to make a beautiful and inspiring place for all of us to enjoy, and feed our creative souls. And, last but certainly not least...to all of the wonderful ladies who attended the three workshop events....I thoroughly enjoyed meeting each and every one of you. Your warm welcome will get me thru the rest of my Chicago winter!!

It won't be too long now until my Primitive Traditions, Folk Art Stars and Primitive Plaids fabric collections arrive in quilt shops everywhere! We've waited so long! Primitive Traditions Quilt ~ Designed by Pam BudaPrimitive Traditions is my feature quilt for this collection. It's a beauty with how the black fabrics offset the colors and make them just POP! I'll bet you're saying it looks very difficult to piece. WRONG! The units in the blocks are made larger and trimmed down...honest! For this block, there are Half Square Triangles (trimmed to size), Flying Geese and the kite unit in the corners of the block. Intimidated by the kite unit? Don't be....it's made larger and trimmed with a really cool ruler. I'll bet the pieced Pinwheel block worries you, too. Nope...not a problem. You know the Half Squares are trimmed. But, what about those Shaded Four Patch units. Hard to piece? Not a chance.... Make the unit on the top.....and it becomes two Shaded Four Patch units!! Easy...I promise! Primitive Traditions is made using three rulers: Bloc-Loc for Half Square Triangles, Tucker Trimmer I for Shaded Four Patch, and Corner Beam for Kite unit. See....I told you....you can do this! Hickory Sticks Quilt ~ Designed by Pam BudaHickory Sticks is the easiest of the four quilts I designed using the Primitive Traditions fabric collection. The block center is full of the Folk Art Star fabrics in every color! The stars are surrounded by the Primitive Traditions fabrics, creating a Window Pane block made from strip sets. Fun to piece and pretty quick, too! Folk Art Stars Quilt ~ Designed by Pam BudaMy Folk Art Stars quilt was designed to really feature the Folk Art Stars prints. Stars, stars everywhere! Love it! The Ohio Star block (a favorite) is made of the Primitive Traditions fabrics, and has a fussy cut Folk Art Star in the center of each block. Framed by black, green and red sashings and borders adding lots of color, and finished with the blue Folk Art star print. Just love it! Last but not least is Tiny Baskets. Oh, I have wanted to make this quilt for a very long time....and now it's here! Using only the Primitive Traditions prints, this scrappy quilt makes my heart sing. Why? ...because every block is cuter and irresistible when tiny! And, this basket block is just the cutest! With all of the fabric collections coming soon to your local quilt shop, please, please ask for the fabrics and the four quilt patterns there first. I always want you to support your LQS! If your LQS won't carry these collections (sob, sob) then consider my pre-order offer. I am kitting all four of these quilts and they are available for PRE-ORDER right now. A non-refundable deposit is required to hold your kit. (Deposit is applied to your balance when the balance is paid.) The PATTERNS ARE FREE WITH YOUR PRE-ORDER!!! Each a $12 value. I will only be making kits for the quilters who pre-order them. They will not be available after April 1st. I plan to only order enough fabric to fill the pre-orders I have, so you have a few weeks to think about it. You can find all of the details about each quilt on my website here. I'm so excited!! Stay safe and be well, my quilting friends. Thank you for your support!

Cottonwood Creek quilt by Pam Buda ~ Heartspun Quilts If you've been reading quilting blogs this month, you know all designers are in overdrive, overload mode in preparation for Spring Quilt Market taking place in just a few weeks in St. Louis, MO. I am no exception and would never make it without the help of my trusty friends!!! (Thank you Debbie, Bobbie & Ronda!!) I've been piecing Cottonwood Creek and took a few photos during production because, as it hung on my design wall in sections, I started thinking about how if I chose to stop here, it would really be a cute table topper or wall quilt. Same goes if I stopped at the Flying Geese border. Want a throw size? Stop after the Nine Patch border. When you consider quilt patterns, you may just find the perfect quilt you've been looking for if you only made a portion of the design. As you can see, Cottonwood Creek filled my design wall at this point, so I didn't take any more photos and quite frankly didn't think of it either as my only objective was to get that baby to Ronda for quilting. Debbie helped me with the last couple of borders so I could get to pattern writing, and the quilt is now in Ronda's hands. We have been working on choosing quilting designs all week and I am so, so jazzed to see it all quilted!! I'll probably only have it home for 24 hours before sending it off to market to be displayed in the Marcus Fabrics booth. Thought you'd like to see how it was all turning out. Patterns will be available soon, and Cottonwood Creek is made entirely from my newest fabric, Pam's Prairie Basics & Shirtings. :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: Today is National Firefighters' Day and a day that is close to my heart as our son is a firefighter/paramedic. These men and women are on the front lines helping people everyday. They proudly serve their community, and to honor all of them....I wanted to be sure to take a day to salute their dedication to helping others, very often at the worst possible moment in a person's life. Thanks for indulging this proud firefigher mom! I usually keep to quilting, but couldn't help myself today.

I thought you might like to see the eye candy work of other quilters for a change. I made the quilt block pictured above, and it was an orphan, leftover from when I was making my Every Little Bit quilt featured in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine (June 2015 issue). I offered a couple of these orphan blocks in a blog raffle when the magazine came out, and Barbara Leyland was one of the winners. She recently sent me this photo of how she framed the block, and I thought it looked really great, and wanted to share her idea with all of you. Love, love the wormed wood frame! Great job, Barb....and thanks for sending he photo for all of us to enjoy!! Last weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling to the Haubstadt, IN area to the quilt show put on by Quilts 'N Blooms Quilt Shop. Shop owner, Kathy Will, her family, and lots of friendly helpers created an outstanding event. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by this beauty, which is a version of my antique quilt, also published in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, called Count Your Lucky Stars (June 2014 issue.) And the surprises when on from there as I couldn't believe how many of the quilts I have designed were hanging in the show!! What a thrill!! Here is but a sampling.... Nabby's Dowry Freebie Sew Along Settler's Puzzle Peacefield Peacefield Marcus Designers' Sew Along called Friends & Companions Market Day Freebie Sew Along These talented bunch of ladies had numerous over-the-moon quilts in the show. Here are just a few of my favorites. The Farmer's Wife...on my bucket list. Dear Jane. She's been on my bucket list for a long time now. Sigh...one of these days! If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know how I L*O*V*E mini quilts and blocks. This extraordinary collection of quilt work was all hand pieced, hand quilted and all using vintage fabrics from a very talented quilter by the name of Sheila Holland. I was in total awe. Honestly, these were but a few of the many beautiful quilts on display at the quilt show. I wish I could have shown them all and named each quilter, but time just does not allow for that. I hope you enjoyed seeing these quilts, and they inspired you the way they did me. Off to do some piecing.....J*O*Y

I'm so jazzed to introduce you to Cheddar & Coal....my newest collection for Marcus Fabrics! There are nine cheddar prints..... Eight assorted black prints..... And seven assorted light prints. I had a whole lotta fun designing quilts with this fabric. Walnut Hollow (above) is the the only large quilt made with Cheddar & Coal. It features two very similar star blocks, each made with Flying Geese and a Cat's Cradle unit. The great thing about the blocks is that you can make the Cat's Cradle unit larger and trim to perfection!! Who doesn't LOVE that?!! The Tucker Trimmer 1 ruler is required for this project, and I have step by step photos, and a video reference, that will walk you through this super easy technique. You'll be so happy with this technique, you'll never want to make another Cat's Cradle the old-fashioned way again! Walnut Hollow measures 63 x 72 and uses all of the fabrics in the Cheddar & Coal collection. The awesome stripe is the sashing print in Walnut Hollow, the two cheddars are inner borders, and the black print at the right is the pretty outer border. Click here to read more and pre-order a Walnut Hollow kit for yourself! Midnight Flight quilt in Tokens of the Past~Halloween Spirit pattern Designed by Pam Buda ~ Heartspun QuiltsI couldn't stop designing with this collection. Introducing three small quilts in my new Tokens of the Past~Halloween Spirit pattern! Midnight Flight is in the photo above. This is the print I chose for the background and border in Midnight Flight, and the blocks are made from all of the cheddar prints. Don't you love the motion the Flying Geese blocks give to the quilt?! Boo!! quilt in the Tokens of the Past ~ Halloween Spirit Designed by Pam Buda~Heartspun Quilts Boo!! is the quilt above. It uses all of the prints in the Cheddar & Coal collection, and just sparkles with the shades of all of those prints. These are the border fabrics I chose for Boo!! Halloween Spirit quilt in the Tokens of the Past~Halloween Spirits pattern Designed by Pam Buda~Heartspun QuiltsHalloween Spirit is the third quilt in the new Tokens pattern. It uses all of the cheddars in the collection. I adore the stripe print and wanted to miter the border which I think looks awesome! I give you step by step instructions on how to miter a border, which isn't as hard as you may think. But, if the mitered border looks scary to you, you can always do a traditional border and it will be wonderful. These are the other prints used in the quilt. The cheddar on the bottom photographed as a yellow, but is really a lovely Halloween orange. (See photo at the top of the blog post.) One of the great things about this trio of quilts is that the scrappy units in the three quilts are made from a 10 x 10 precut!!! That also makes the kit for all three quilts very affordable. Love that! The Midnight Flight and Boo!! quilts each measure 22 x 22, and Halloween Spirits quilt measures 20 x 20. All three quilts are included in the Tokens of the Past ~ Halloween Spirit pattern....and it's FREE when ordering the quilt kit trio! You must place your pre-order for Walnut Hollow and/or Tokens of the Past~Halloween Spirit quilt trio through September 13th. I won't have any extra kits available as I only kit what is pre-ordered. So, you have until September 13th to think about it. A $50 deposit guarantees your quilt(s). I expect to ship the kits late in October. Fabric is due to ship from Marcus (if on time depending on arrival in NYC) in early October. Given time to cut the kits, package and ship, I expect later in October. Click here to read kit details and order your kits. I can't thank you all enough for your continued support of Heartspun Quilts. You all keep me going by supporting my little business and I appreciate it more than words can say. Keep you needle busy and your heart content. And, above all, be well and stay safe my friends!

Primitive Threads quilt ~ Designed by Pam Buda for Heartspun Quilts and Marcus Brothers fabrics. Introducing my Primitive Threads quilt! Boy...this feels so good!! I tell ya....working in secret is hard sometimes, so when it's finally time to share....I can hardly contain myself! This quilt features the entire Primitive Threads fabric collection (for Marcus Fabrics) and uses a black print as the neutral background. I designed two taupe fabrics that I used in the pieced border of the quilt and another I used in all of the blocks. (I have plans for even more quilts using these taupe fabrics. I'm so in a taupe mood these days!) When choosing fabrics for a primitive collection, I knew I wanted darker, muted colors....prints that had a folk art feel to them, and absolutely had to have some stars! What's primitive without stars?? I also wanted the prints to fit in nicely with other historic prints. So....let's take a look at some of the Primitive Threads fabrics and the antique fabrics that inspired them. Several years ago, I acquired parts of a potholder quilt. Just holding it is so sweet and dear. I have several long pieces with six blocks, a couple of twin blocks and some single blocks...all with the same red binding print. I'm not sure how old they are. I think the fabrics in the blocks may be older than the binding, but I'm not sure. All I know is.... they're old! This brown print has been one of my favorites since I've owned these historic pieces, and I thought it fit into the folk art theme I was going for. I just love the whimsical feel of the flowers. It was the perfect choice for the main black background print of the quilt I designed because that print needs to read as a 'solid', and could not have any direction to the pattern. Yet...I didn't want a true solid....I wanted something more fun and interesting. It was perfect! It turned out so great, we printed it in four colors. For the black version, the actual floral print is in a soft brown so it will be seen just a bit, but doesn't change the overall color of the black fabric. The red is actually a darker cranberry color, blue is a navy and the light is a soft warm beige. The red, blue and beige are all tone on tone and are much prettier than this photo makes them to be. (You know me and my camera....sigh....so hard to capture what the colors really are!!) This print is called Folk Art Flower. I used another print in the potholder quilt that I am just wild over!! It's so faded, but you hope you can see how sweet the little star flowers are. It just screamed folky and primitive to me! Here's how that sweet print turned out! I LOVE IT!!! Honestly....please see these fabrics at your local quilt shop. My photos just don't do them justice. This print is called Folk Art Garden. I thought I'd add this photo of the back of the potholder pieces for those of you who like to study old quilts. The blocks do not have any batting in them, and the quilting is just along the edges of the crazy piecing. I think it's just precious. Any guesses how old the potholder quilt pieces are?? I'll show you more Primitive Threads fabrics and their antique fabric inspirations in my next post. Hope you like what you see so far. Primitive Threads fabrics should be arriving to your local quilt shop in April....so please....be sure to ask for them there. It's so very important that we support our quilt shops!! Better get to work on the new things I'm dreaming up for your stitching pleasure. Be well....

Ada Blaney c 1848 Nebraska - used with permission Nebraska Historical Society As it is said….all good things must come to an end. I will not be releasing any more Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Journey patterns. The natural cycle in the quilting business is all about "what's new", and it's time to move on to a new adventure. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of creating the PWSC club, and it has brought me the opportunity to meet many, many wonderful quilt shop owners, and so many thousands of gracious, talented quilters who have all shared my love of nineteenth century living, antique quilts, and our make-do heritage. I am forever grateful for all of the sharing between our kindred spirits! There is so much to look forward to in the future with new and exciting opportunities. My creative soul will always be anchored in the nineteenth century, and I will continue to look for ways to incorporate American history into future projects. My Prairie Gathering Quilt of theQuarter program has four historical stories of how women "gathered" together to bring lasting change in our country. Click here to find a quilt shop near you offering the Prairie Gathering program. Then, there's my new pattern series, "Tokens of the Past", with Gathering In Red as the first in the series, which continues with Civil War reproduction doll size quilts that are very do-able, affordable projects that give you the option of using my new 10 inch Prairie Gathering precuts from Marcus Fabrics or choosing your own fabrics. And, I am happy to continue creating new and exciting things for your quilting pleasure! Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Journey patterns will continue to be available to quilt shops that are continuing with club meetings. Thank you so much for your support of the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club. It's been a wonderful journey!!!

Last Thursday evening, I headed to my local quilt shop, The Quilt Merchant, for a wonderful event to celebrate two special ladies; Judie Rothermel, and Lisa Even, Grand Prize winner of the Just Judie competition, celebrating Judie's 25 years with Marcus Fabrics! Shop owner Valerie Langue (on left) hosted Pati Violick, Marcus' Director of Marketing (on right) and a bunch of admiring quilters for an evening of show 'n tell. Pati came to the shop with a load of quilts....the three top winning Just Judie competition quilts, and a bunch from Judie's own collection, and new Block of the Month quilts from Marcus Fabrics. Lisa Even, of Barrington, IL, holds her Grand Prize winning quilt. The Quilt Merchant sponsored Lisa's entry into the competition. You know how photos of quilts just don't do them justice....well....you can't believe how gorgeous all these quilts really are! Lisa's design and Judie's fabrics came together in a spectacular way! The details and array of color and fabrics are a feast for the eyes! Notice the little Lucy Boston blocks in the corners? Next up was the second place winner made by Sarah Bond of Philadelphia, PA. Your eyes just don't know where to land first! Winner Nancy Yando of Fuquay Varina, NC, made the third place quilt, which if memory serves, was all appliqued and quilted by hand. A bit of a modern twist with Civil War repros! Lovely, don't ya think? In addition to the Just Judie winner quilts, Pati brought along several of the new BOM program quilts to show us. The quilt above is called Mastering Miniatures and is actually a Block of the Week program. The "miniatures" refer to Judie's new fabric collection called Judie's Authentic Miniatures. Stunning, and L*O*V*E the fabric collection. This is a new BOM called Peace and Unity and is the last BOM in the Civil War series with fabric designed by Judie Rothermel, and quilt designed by Sarah Maxwell and Dolores Smith of Homestead Hearth. (Don't worry! Marcus will be doing more CW Block of the Month programs. This is just the last in the series. Whew!) Once again, the photos just don't do these quilts justice. Aren't they are beautiful? This stunning quilt is the newest design by Paula Barnes & Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts, called Hampton Ridge. OK...hating to sound like a broken record here, but really! The fabrics and the quilts are just awesome in person. I wanted to take as many close-up photos as I could so you can really see the fabric and blocks. When I really study the blocks in Hampton Ridge, I get that itch that tells me I want to make them all! Does that happen to you? So...look over all the yummy BOM's here to see which ones give you that itch, and be sure to sign up for them at your local quilt shop!! The next collection of quilts are Judie R's. This quilt is her favorite way to showcase Conversation prints. Love the fussy cut stripe border! Pati told us that this is an excellent example of how Judie likes to use "not your typical" fabric in the background of a quilt. Sign....love this one, too! Judy also loves hand piecing, hand quilting, and miniatures. All three are combined in this cutie! What a great way to showcase a toile, don't ya think? Lots to love in this quilt, too. Sigh....it's probably easy to say there are few Civil War reproduction quilts I don't want to make. The problem is that FOUR letter word.....TIME! Apparently, I was lost in the show because there were more Judie quilts I don't have pictures of. Sorry...I was mesmerized! These patterns may be available for purchase directly from Judie's website, Schoolhouse Quilts. While I may have lost my memory when Pati was showing Judie's quilts, I didn't loose it all when Pati generously handed out packs of Judie's Authentic Miniatures fabric collection, and asked her to give me an extra one to give away! Yay! The pack includes an 8 inch square of each print in the line and Judie's instructions on how to make this wonderful block. So.....I'd love to hear your comments about Block of the Month programs. Do you participate in them? How many do you do in a year? What criteria goes into choosing which program you do? Is it the fabrics, the designer, the quilt design, how many blocks you'll be making, the difficulty of the project? Even if you've never done a BOM, let me know why not. I'll choose a winner on Friday morning. Until then....happy stitching!

I'm back home from a wonderful trip to Nashville. I just loved Nashville!!! What a fun town. The weather was very hot and humid, much the same as it was at home in Chicago....so you go with the flo

Introducing The Save-All Quilts! The Save-All Quilts are my newest pattern. Such a great scrap-buster quilt! The Save-All Quilt ~ Lap SizeThe Save-All Quilts come in three sizes. All are included in the pattern. The quilt above is the lap size quilt and measures approximately 77 x 85. This is the wall hanging quilt. Quilt size is approximately 28 x 33. This is the mini Save-All quilt, measuring approximately 14 x 17. Guess what? SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER! Beginning today, Friday, 2/19/21, through Sunday, 2/21/21, order a kit and receive FREE POSTAGE within the US!!! (Free postage applies only to the quilt kit.) Choose between the Save-All wall hanging or the Save-All mini quilt kit. The kits include the Save-All pattern, background fabric, borders and binding....and 30 assorted prints in a wide variety of colors for your blocks! You don't have to think about what fabrics to use, or go diving into your stash for the perfect pieces. Your kit is ready to cut and begin sewing! Click here to see The Save-All quilt fabrics and all kit details. I'm sorry, but a kit for the lap quilt is not available at this time. Click here to buy The Save-All pattern. Mark your calendars for the return of Monday's With Marcus!!! Once again, each Marcus Fabrics designer has created a new and special project for this event. The project patterns are FREE, kits will be available, and how-to videos will teach you loads of hints and tips. Save the date of March 1st as this will be the launch of the next Monday's With Marcus event! This is the big reveal day when you can see all of the Marcus Fabrics' designers projects and buy kits so you have them in hand the day the FREE patterns are available. If you are not familiar with Monday's With Marcus, you can visit, LIKE & FOLLOW the Monday's With Marcus Facebook page, read about our last event, and keep up with news from all of the designers. I will post all of the details to my blog March 1st so you're ready to go! Be sure to follow me on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK for behind-the-scenes photos and news you can only see there!! It's been fun posting sneak peeks about upcoming events, new patterns and new fabrics. Join the fun! For those of you in Texas, and other parts of the country experiencing hardships right now, our nation is keeping you in our prayers. Do stay safe and be well. We're all thinking of you and hoping these challenging times are over very soon. Thank you all for your continued support of my quilt patterns and fabrics. I couldn't do this without you! I truly appreciate your business!!

My new collection, called Lily's Locket, will be arriving in March. I'm so excited! Sweet Pea quilt, by Pam BudaSweet Pea is the quilt I've designed using all of the fabrics in Lily's Locket. This is the beautiful floral print featured in Lily's Locket. I must admit....I'm not usually drawn to this type of floral, but I am in LOVE with this print! I had to design a collection around it, and Lily's Locket is it. As you can see in the quilt image above, this gorgeous floral is the focus of the quilt. I chose a block that would use the coordinate prints and still show the floral beautifully. I sized the block to be large for the same reason. There are four assorted blue prints..... Four assorted red prints..... Four assorted green prints..... Three assorted pink prints.... ....and four assorted brown prints. These are just some of the blocks for the Sweet Pea quilt. I thought you'd like to see how the fabrics look when they're pieced together. I can't wait to see it all done! The quilt measures 88 x 99. It also features a pieced border of quarter square triangles to bring all of the coordinate prints and colors to the outside of the quilt. Lily's Locket will arrive in March, so please ask for it at your local quilt shop. I always encourage you to shop at your LQS before shopping with me. It's imperative that we patronize our quilt shops and keep those treasured businesses going! If your LQS doesn't carry my patterns and fabrics, then you have the opportunity to pre-order my Sweet Pea quilt, and Fat Quarter or Half-Yard bundles as I have to get my fabric order in very soon. I am taking pre-orders now for my Sweet Pea quilt. Click here to pre-order the quilt. You can also pre-order a Lily's Locket Fat Quarter bundle or Half-Yard bundle. Click here for bundles. Place your pre-order no later than Monday, February 13th. Your order will ship mid to late March, 2023. Thank you, thank you so very much for your continued support of my little business. I wouldn't be here without you!! Keep your needle busy and your heart content. Be well, stay warm!

My recovery from knee replacement surgery is coming along as expected. Some bad days, some good days. It's getting a little easier each day. So many of you have sent Get Well emails, messages through Facebook and cards in the mail, and I can't tell you how much it has all meant to me. Thank you!! A week before my surgery, our daughter Nicki took a fall and broke her foot. She's been in a boot and using crutches while attending nursing school and trying to work. We are quite the sight, her and I. Since I'm somewhat out of commission in the kitchen, and Nicki is on crutches, in an attempt to make meals easier on my hubby, I bought an Instant Pot before my surgery so we he could try to make one-pot meals quickly. Naturally, Pinterest in full of recipes and we've tried a few that were pretty good. I'm wondering if you have an Instant Pot, and can tell me what you like to do with it, and perhaps what you favorite meals are? I've never cooked with a pressure cooker before. I know for many of you, a pressure cooker has been a life-long kitchen staple. Jill Berger made my Old Mill Pond quilt and changed the colors up a whole lot, and I love it! She chose reds and black and I think it looks just stunning! Thanks, Jill, for sharing the photos of your very pretty quilt! Here's is my original quilt made in greens and blues. Click here for the Old Mill Pond pattern. Mary Kate Donais of Manchester, NH sent me the photo of her blue and tan version of my Prairie Gathering quilt. She made it for her son's 17th birthday. LOVE IT!! I think this quilt would be lovely no matter what two colors you chose. Thanks Mary Kate for taking the time to send the photo, I always love seeing what quilters do with the patterns I design. Click here for the Prairie Gathering pattern. In anticipation of many hours of sitting with my leg elevated and ice on my knee, I did prepare a bunch of hand sewing to keep me busy. I do love it, but I have to say that I really miss sewing on my machine!! I have no less than seven new quilts to make for fall market, which will be here before you know it. I am very anxious to get back to work!! I am going to try sewing a little bit over the weekend. My new BOM is in production here and I must keep up with my super-secret-scrappy-project. It's almost time to begin assembly of that quilt, too. The lazy days of summer are coming and all I want is to be back to normal and be busy not lazy! All in good time....I tell myself. But I'm not big on patience when I am bored! I hope you're enjoying your summer. Be well and happy stitching!

For more than a year now, I have been talking about my super secret scrappy project, and boy oh boy am I happy I can finally share what it is! During the summer of 2017, I saw an antique quilt that just captured my heart and I knew immediately I HAD TO MAKE IT! At first I set out to make it by myself, but very quickly I changed my mind and enlisted the help of six friends. The little blocks in the photo above are the results of months of work. I didn't make them all by myself and I will tell you lots more about that very soon. Oh my gosh...they have been so darn fun to make!!! Loved fussy cutting some prints for the block centers and the little corners. Every color under the sun is in these cuties. The quilt of my dreams.....aka my obsession is now a reality. Introducing my Hour~A~Day~Heirloom...... The Circa 1880 Club Debuting at fall quilt market, it's a new national club by me....Heartspun Quilts and Marcus Fabrics! Featuring The Circa 1880 Nine Patch quilt (above) along with fun club projects and activities! The fun begins in January at your local quilt shop and will be available only through participating shops! More details in my next post. I hope I piqued your curiosity!

Are you ready for Christmas yet? Not me! The house is decorated, but I still have about a third of my shopping left to do. Presents are being wrapped slowly but surely. My daughter, Nicki, has begun making Christmas cookies. I used to love to bake them, usually making 15-17 different kinds of cookies, but I no longer have the time, and she wanted to carry on the tradition. Win, win!! It's been very warm here in Chicagoland. Last week, on December 4th, it was 70 degrees! It's nice, but my body clock says it's time for chilly, snowy weather. Christmas just isn't the same without snow! I hope your holiday preparations are coming along nicely for you. Let's take a peek at the last of the Forget Me Not quilts....... Marilyn from Idaho Martha from Minnesota Mary from North Carolina Nancy from Indiana Patti from Texas Patty from Illinois Sara from Italy  Sheri from Illinois Sue from Michigan My heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in my Forget Me Not Sew~Along! Isn't it much more fun to sew with friends?!! I hope you enjoyed all the quilts as much as I did. My next sew along begins in just a few short weeks. And.....I'm already planning one for spring time that will be a bit different from the others! More fun in the works!! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* I know many of you are addressing your Christmas cards right about now and I wanted to encourage you to remember our "Wounded Warriors" recovering from their injuries in the VA hospital. I'm sure they would love to receive a card of well wishes and holiday greetings from your family. If you'd like to, you can send a card here: A Recovering American Soldier c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center 6900 Georgia Avenue NW Washington, DC 20307-5001 Thanks so much for visiting with me today! Pam

Attending Fall Market in Houston was a wonderful, relaxing experience. Because I didn't have a booth, I was able to spend five days submer...

This is an exciting month! Another border will be added, and our quilt is growing. I'm sure you enjoyed the drastically reduced cutting this month! Yahoo!! Construction of our Four Patch border is the first task. I've had about half a dozen emails in the last few weeks about pieced borders that don't fit. This is a very common problem! The solution? Hate to sound like a broken record, but measure, measure, measure. So much of quilting is mathematics....like it or not. Our impossible mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make as close to a perfect quilt as your skills allow. Unless you're willing to take months, if not years making the perfect quilt, it's not likely that each and every unit and block will be truly perfect. I promise you, the only truly perfect quilts I make are constructed in Electric Quilt!! That said, I do everything I can to be as perfect as I can, with skills and tools (if they truly help) to get me there. Measuring is one skill that is paramount in every unit, block and quilt you make. It's easy and the results are soooo worth it. Onward.... Your (on point) Four Patch blocks should measure 3 1/2 inches. Sew 7 pairs together, press, then measure again. They should measure 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 unfinished. If they don't, you only have one seam to look at and correct. Don't proceed until all measure what they should. Next sew two pairs together, press and check that they measure 3 1/2 x 12 1/2. Repeat to make a total of three groups of 4 Four Patch pairs. (You'll have one pair left over.) Proceed to sew the border together, using the three 4 Patch groups and the single pair unit. Your border should measure 3 1/2 x 42 1/2 unfinished. Repeat to make four Four Patch borders. Sew two borders to the sides of your quilt center, press. Sew a Four Patch cornerpost unit to both ends of the remaining borders, press. Sew to the top and bottom of the quilt center, press. The red "chain of squares" will bend the corner nicely! Refer to your pattern and check to be sure your quilt measures what it should. Then, proceed with sewing the next plain border to your top. Here's what our quilt looks like after Month Nine!! So exciting!! You'll also be constructing some Shoo-Fly blocks and working on Half Square Triangles for the Triangle Sawtooth border. It's all coming together!! Only a few more months to go!

Paula Barnes & Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline In my last Quilt Market post, I told you Tara Darr was my booth neighbor on one side...and lucky me....these talented ladies were my neighbors on the other side!! Having great booth neighbors makes market even better!! Recently, fellow Marcus Brothers designer Paula Barnes, and her partner, Mary Ellen Robison changed their company name from Bonnie Blue to Red Crinoline Quilts. I love their new name, don't you? Their latest Block of the Month quilt, Freedom Rings, is right behind them. Loving the vertical print featuring the eagles!! So many glorious quilts to see in their booth! I loved the big red monogram "R" pillow on the bed!! Notice the green quilt and the green color card on the floor? That's Paula's new fabric collection called "Tavern Greens". YUM! Continuing on with fellow Marcus designers is the oh-so-talented Vicki Bellino of Bloom Creek. You may also know Vicki from her fabulous new book, English Paper Piecing (Martingale). Loved seeing the projects from that book in Vicki's booth. I didn't have a whole lot of time to wander the aisles of market, but I made sure to stop at my fav's. Here's a quick tour of my stop-n-go favorite designers. This photo is of Kathy Cardiff. Her company is The Cottage at Cardiff Farms. As you can see, Kathy designs lovely folk art/country/prim plain yummy stuff!! Click on the link above to check out all her designs, and look for her first book coming soon! Leonie Bateman of the Quilted Crow Girls A new and wonderful find for me are the Quilted Crow Girls from "down under". Leonie Bateman and Dierdre Bond-Abel have a beautiful quilt shop in an old church in Tasmania (I saw pictures!). Tara and I had the pleasure of meeting them right here in our home town because they came to teach a class at our favorite local quilt shop, The Quilt Merchant. The girls hung out with us at our monthly Dear Jane meeting. I'm so jazzed to say that they purchased the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club for their shop! The Prairie Women are in Australia!! Me, Lisa Bongen & Tara Lynn Darr Quilt market would never be complete without a stop to see what's new at Lisa Bongean's booth, Primitive Gatherings. You know how I found Lisa's booth? Well, I was really hoofing-it down the main aisle, returning to my booth from a quick lunch, when I saw this blue and light quilt, and stopped dead in my tracks! I mean dead in my tracks! I looked up to see what booth I was at, and no surprise, it was Primitive Gatherings! I instantly fell madly in love!!! I came in for a closer look...... Lisa's quilt is called Colfax County and those tiny triangles are only 1 inch finished. Be still my heart! Honestly, the photos just don't do the quilt or the quilting justice. It is breathtaking. I already own the pattern and am trying to reserve time to start cutting!! This tiny wonder is called Primitive Star and features 1/2 inch finished triangles. Love, love, love it! Here are more gorgeous finds from Lisa's booth. If you see any projects you must have (DUH), please click on the designer links, go forth, and happy shopping! Blogger isn't allowing me to post any more photos for now, so my Quilt Market tour will continue with my next post. I still have at least a dozen designers to show you! I hope you're enjoying this little tour of mine. I wish I'd of had more time to visit and take in each booth. Alas....time goes by so quickly!! Hope you enjoy your weekend. Our son, Ryan, will turn the big 21 tomorrow, so our family will be celebrating. He has taken an interest in wine (he works at a restaurant & winery) so we'll be off to discover the world of fine wines! Should be an interesting dinner! {{grin}} Pam  (All Quilt Market photos taken with permission of the designer!)

I'm over the moon happy to report that quilt shops all over are signing up for my Circa 1880 Club every day. I believe a shop in Canada is signing up so our friends to the North will be included in the fun. One of the benefits of being a club member is getting the pattern for the six exclusive small club quilts. You will notice that in each of the club quilts, I used the same Uneven Nine Patch block I used in the big quilt. Sometimes they're paired with other fun blocks. Sometimes just that cute little block! Each quilt also features the brand new Circa Basic Essentials fabrics and is given at just the right time of year. The pattern/kit for the quilt above is given in December. There are other benefits of the club, too! But...I don't want to share all my surprises just yet! I hope I have piqued your interest and that you'll look for a participating Circa 1880 Quilt shop in your area or that you can join by mail. I have other news to share with you soon that I'm very jazzed about! No news, however, on the whereabouts of my stolen quilts. From what I'm told, they are likely in a Houston garbage dump. Very sad. If that's the worst thing that happens, I have much to be thankful for as they can be replaced. We have to keep our perspective as there is so much true tragedy with the California fires and people loosing everything. A few quilts are meaningless in the grand scheme.

I know you're all anxious to meet Tucker, and I'm betting you're going to quickly scroll down to see what the finished results looks like, and I can't say I blame you. I'd likely do the same. Now that you've had a first look....are you scratching your head? Are you thinking....'this is the path she lead us down?' Well....as I said from the beginning, Tucker wasn't to be my typical quilt design, but.....it was most definitely designed with a distinct purpose in mind! I hope you'll keep an open mind as we finish Tucker, and I explain the method to my non-madness! From the pieces you have left, you'll be making (8) Flying Geese units. To construct them, draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all light print squares. Position a light print square on the left side of a dark print rectangle. Sew just inside the drawn line, and press, checking the accuracy and placement of the light print triangle. Then, trim a quarter inch seam allowance from the center and bottom fabrics. Repeat on the right side. Make (8) Flying Geese units measuring 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" unfinished. I used (8) Flying Geese units I had lying around. Orphans, if you will. They were much, much larger than what I needed, so I used the Wing Clipper ruler to trim them to size I love, love, love this ruler! You can create Flying Geese units in sizes from 1 1/2" to 10 1/2" with this ruler, and trim them to perfection each and every time!! Obviously, it also works to trim larger,m orphaned FG to any smaller size like I did. Notice the ruler's 2 1/2" vertical line on the left side light print, and where the line turns the corner, it travels horizontally to meet the seam allowance for the right side light print. That shows your first cut. Notice, also, that there is extra fabric above the pink goose point. I trimmed that as well. After trimming the first two sides, you rotate the FG unit, and trim the last two sides. Absolutely perfect results every time. You can't beat that! Click here to read more about this ruler, and order one if you're interested. Here are all my trimmed Flying Geese. Now sew them into (4) sets of pairs. Each pair should measure 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" unfinished. Sew your pairs together to make (2) foursomes. With small pieces like these are, the size of your pins is more important than ever!! Thicker pins will distort your patchwork, and while thick pins are no good no matter what size unit you're making, the smaller the pieces, the more impact thick pins will have. I love these fine patchwork pins and wouldn't use anything else!! If you'd like to know more about them, click here. Your foursomes should measure 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" unfinished. Sew the (2) foursomes together for one long Flying Geese strip measuring 2 1/2" X 8 1/2" unfinished. Sew the Flying Geese strip to the top of the star block; press. Quilt should measure 8 1/2" x 10 1/2" unfinished. Sew the remaining patchwork block to the Flying Geese strip; press. Your little quilt should measure 8 1/2" x 16 1/2" unfinished. This is how my sweet, little Tucker turned out. In finishing my Tucker quilt, I did not use batting, and did not quilt it in any way. This was quite deliberate on my part as you'll see why shortly. I just chose a backing print, and basted the top and back with big stitches. Nice and easy! I cut (2) 2" x WOF strips for double fold binding. I normally cut my binding strips at 2 1/4", but because I didn't use batting, I didn't need the extra width. So, keep that in mind when deciding the width of your binding. You can certainly add batting and quilt yours if you prefer, but before you make that decision, read on. Now that Tucker is done, it's time to show and tell you why I've named it Tucker. You may remember in my first post, that I said Tucker wasn't going to be my usual quilt design, and that I had been inspired my Mary Campbell Ghormley's vintage doll quilt collection at the International Quilt Study Museum in Lincoln, NE. A lot of the nineteenth century quilts collected by Mary don't have a block pattern or ordered design to them. They were likely made of units, blocks and scraps the quiltmaker had laying around. That didn't mean they were any less wonderful, and are certainly treasured now, not to mention are presently living in a museum! If you're a regular reader to this blog, you know how much I love early American history. These quilts touched me deeply as I imagined our quilting ancestors sewing the patches together for a child's doll. No batting, no quilting, just love stitched for a little girl's happiness. (Of course many had batting and quilting.) Their living situation meant they had to be frugal, and wasted nothing. Did they have any idea how charming these quilts would be to us? Inspiration struck with a solution to a desire I had been ruminating over for many months!! I've been wanting to make a bunch of little quilts that I could tuck into several places here and there in my home. Nothing fancy, not a lot of work, but pleasing and interesting, of course. Why it took visiting the International Quilt Museum and Mary's collection to spark the inspiration, I don't know? I've learned not to question why, but to follow my instinct. Having a little "tucker" quilt inside a Furkin was one place I had wanted one, and the missing batting helps with fitting the lid. For a utilitarian quilt like this, batting and quilting is just not necessary. What do you think? Will you miss the quilting stitches when you look at it, or just enjoy it the way it is? For some of these little cuties, I know I won't miss them. But, if you would, you should! This is where Tucker will live in my house. It's my lowly laundry room. You know how much time we spend in there! It's also a mud room for us, so we're in here all the time, entering from the garage and back yard, etc. I want this little room to be a happy place, so I've decorated it to be just that. It needed a quilt! Tucker is tucked into an old feed/grain scoop. This handmade treenware tool has been with me for many years, and I love it. The flowers are inside the compartment where all the feed/grain would have been collected. There is another handle that the quilt is covering. It has a lot of character, and no doubt spent many years in service to its owner. What stories it could tell...if it only could! It was the perfect place for a little quilt, but it had to be small and thin, or I thought it might overwhelm the scoop. Like you, I don't have a lot of time to piece all the things I want to make, but studying Mary's quilts made me realize that I could use orphans units and patchwork squares I already had laying around, and create something lovely without a lot of fuss. About the "tucked" part of Tucker....if I only had me to think about, I would have used more orphan units/blocks, such as Half and Quarter Square Triangles, Nine Patch blocks, etc., just like in Mary's quilts shown above, but, that would have meant more piecing for you if you didn't have the same blocks. I felt I was already taking a risk inviting you on this unusual piecing journey, so I asked you to just use your scraps, hopefully spending no money, and not too much of your valuable time. The tucked part of the quilt won't be seen, so you might wonder, why piece anything at all? Why not just use plain fabric? Good question, and you certainly can, but.....I really wanted to do as our quilting ancestors would have, and I'm so glad I did. I thought they would not have wasted a large piece of fabric on something that wouldn't be seen, and would have chosen to pieced random scraps for the job instead. That's how I imagine it, anyway. By now, you know why I named this sew-along Tucker. Hope it makes you smile! My next Tucker quilt will likely use a large orphan block leftover from another quilt project. Isn't that a great use of a large, leftover orphan block? In case you're not loving my Tucker idea, please know that I am sorry. I tried to forewarn everyone from the beginning that it would not be my typical sew-along, and to prepare you. If you have cut and sewn your scraps thus far, all is not lost! With a little un-sewing of your patchwork squares, you can add to them to make another star block, and create a little table runner. I hope that eases your disappointment!! My apologies for the unusually long blog post, but I had a story to tell you! I would really, really love to know what you think about Tucker quilts. Yes, it's a term I've coined and hope it will continue. I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment with your feedback, I will choose one winner to receive a Fat Eighth bundle of one of my fabric collections. And, I most definitely want to hear all comments...favorable, and non-favorable. I'll choose a winner November 14th. I've also added a little poll to the side-bar of my blog, so click here to cast your vote in the poll. It will be fun to see what you all think! I will also host an Airing of The Quilts for Tucker on December 15th. So, please email a photo to me (as an attachment) to [email protected]. (Your quilt top need only be pieced. It doesn't have to be bound.) I'd also love for you to post your Tucker quilt using #TuckerQuilts on social media! It has been my pleasure to take this Journey with you all, and I thank you so much for sewing along with me once again! I appreciate all your comments, your emails, and your business, and hope to be able to continue sharing things with you for a long time! Now...it's my turn to wait to see what you think and what your Tucker Quilt looks like! Piecefully Yours.....

My new collection, called Lily's Locket , will be arriving in March. I'm so excited! Sweet Pea quilt, by Pam Buda Sweet Pea is the qui...

My new Piecemakers Sampler fabrics will be here soon! If you'd like to pre-order a Fat Quarter, Half Yard or One Yard bundle of this gorgeous fabric collection, here's your chance. The collection features five assorted neutrals, and twenty one assorted prints in a wide variety of colors! Twenty six prints in all. The color of the blue print at the top of this photo is not color correct. A truer representative of the color is in the photo of the quilt above. You can pre-order a Fat Quarter, Half Yard or One Yard bundle of Piecemakers Sampler from now through December 20th. I expect the fabric mid-January, so as soon as I can cut fold and bundle the fabrics, I'll have them out to you ASAP! Click here to pre-order a luscious bundle for yourself! Merry Christmas to YOU! The Piecemakers Sampler quilt (pictured above) is a block of the month. It's only available through participating quilt shops. There are many participating, so ask your LQS if they are. The program begins February, 2024. IN THE STUDIO..... I'm busy as always working on new fabric collections. And, oh boy, there are some goodies coming very soon! Next up will be.... I just received my sample yardage of this to-die-for collection, so I'll be starching, cutting and sewing as soon as I can. Strawberry Emery is due to arrive in February. I want to share this beautiful quilt with you. It was made by Cindy Williams of Louisville, KY. She used bundles from my two Plumberry fabric collections. Cindy used Marsha McCloskey's Storm At Sea pattern. I sure love the Storm At Sea design and this quilt does not disappoint! It's stunning!! Thanks, Cindy, for allowing me to share your gorgeous quilt with everyone. Keep your needle busy and your heart content! Be well....

Here is your sneak peek at the second Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club project called Prairie Huswyfe . This quilt combines two of my fa...

Oh I love when I get to tell you about something that's been in the works for a long time. Keeping secrets from you is hard, ya know. ...

I'm back home from a wonderful trip to Nashville. I just loved Nashville!!! What a fun town. The weather was very hot and humid, much the same as it was at home in Chicago....so you go with the flow. The food was yummy, the town was fun and the people are so friendly. That's southern hospitality for you! I will definitely go back again someday. My thanks for the ladies of Music City Quilters and Lakeshore Quilters for a lovely time. I so enjoyed meeting everyone! Mrs. Miller's Apprentice. 2019 Block of the Month by Pam Buda and Marcus Fabrics My Mrs. Miller's Apprentice quilt returned home from her trip to Las Vegas where she was quilted by Val Krueger. Val does not disappoint and did Mrs. Miller proud. Before I send her off to be photographed, I thought I'd take some photos of Val's beautiful work. I took these photos in natural daylight inside the house to show off the quilting. This, of course, does not show the true colors of the fabrics. I love crosshatching and Val put a lot of it in the quilt. I'm so happy! This photo shows the fabric colors a but better. I very humbly say that I adore each fabric in this collection! So jazzed with how the quilt turned out and the quilting just put it over the top! Mrs. Miller's Apprentice is my new Block of the Month for 2019. Quilt shops are signing up now to offer the program which begins in January. So....ask for Mrs. Miller's Apprentice at your local quilt shop! Fabrics will ship in December. It is so very important to support our LQS!!! Too many of them are closing. It's terrible. Besides binding Mrs. M., I have been putting the finishing touches on the Mrs. M patterns, and writing the diary stories that will accompany the monthly instructions. It's been fun! I've also begun constructing the quilt that is my super-secret-scrappy-project for the last year! I will finally....(finally!) be able to reveal all sometime next month. There's a whole lot of preparation going on here and at Marcus for the big announcement. I can barely contain myself! I can't believe the summer has whizzed by, although I do welcome the cooler days of autumn. I'm also getting ready for my new Vintage Patchwork book to be delivered next month! Yikes...there's so much fun stuff going on. I hope you have some time to enjoy these last days of summer. Be well.....

Right after fall quilt market, I introduced the first pattern in my new Tokens of the Past series, called Gathering In Red. I'm so happy to say that this pattern has been very well received. You may remember that I made all of the units and blocks for all three quilts from just one of the brand new Prairie Gathering 10" precut squares! Add the borders and binding and your done! How's that for easy, breezy?? Gotta love simple patchwork like the Checkerboard blocks that make up the center of this quilt. Had to add the star block border....who doesn't love stars anyway? They're always a welcome addition to any quilt, and I named it Checkerboard Stars. Why call it anything else? This quilt measures 24" x 24". I wanted to feature that pretty medium red fabric, and put is smack dab in the center of the star block for this quilt, and it seems to radiate in a burst of color from the center star. And, so I named this quilt, Starburst. This quilt measures 24" x 24". I wanted a simple table runner that had a lot of movement to it, and this quilt, simply called, Friendship Stars, certainly has that. The full range of creams and reds are perfectly set off by the deepest red border for a stunning presentation. This quilt measures 22" x 16". The Prairie Gathering precut features forty 10" x 10" squares, two each of twenty prints I selected myself. Look for the Prairie Gathering precut at your local shop in February, 2015! As we are about to give thanks for the blessings in our lives, I'd like to extend a special offer to you....a little something to show my gratitude, and thank you for your business, for reading my blog, for your comments, and friendship. I'm offering FREE SHIPPING for Gathering In Red kits!! The Prairie Gathering 10" precuts are available for a very limited time, in limited quantities. Because of this, it's best to pre-order yours to be certain you'll have one. You can order just the Prairie Gathering precut, OR order the Gathering In Red pattern and the precut, OR order the complete set of the Gathering in Red pattern, the precut and all of the borders and bindings to make all three quilts....and you'll get FREE SHIPPING for your order!! Obviously, red and white quilts are still all the rage as seen in this stunning exhibit at Fall Quilt Market in Houston. Be still my heart! Prairie Dresden Pincushion by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts And...as an additional bonus, with each order, I'll also include the pattern for my Prairie Dresden Pincushion! Another FREEBIE!! You can use the scraps from making your quilts to make the pincushion, or two, or three! So, visit my website to place your order. Order by December 22nd and you'll get free shipping within the U.S. International orders will receive a $9 credit toward shipping. All orders will ship as soon as the precuts arrive, sometime in February, 2015, when a wonderful package will arrive at your doorstep. Wishing you and your family a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!!

My new Block of the Month, Rachel's Tribute, made her debut at quilt market last week. I thought I'd show you the drop dead beautiful quilting my friend Val Krueger (Las Vegas, NV) put into my quilt. I designed this quilt to replicate and honor the many, many green & red quilts that were so popular in the 1850's. Often those quilts were appliqued, but many were pieced like Rachel. I kept the lighting in the room low as it makes the quilting easier to see. Val did a truly spectacular job! This quilt has tons of space to show off beautiful quilting. Yours will, too! There's just one light print in the collection to replicate the look of the muslin used in the vintage quilts. The light print isn't a solid like muslin. It has a very soft print making the color even yummier. There are also nine new red prints and nine new green prints. You can see the entire collection here. Rachel's Tribute begins next March, and is only available from a participating quilt shop, so ask for Rachel's Tribute at your local shop! They want to know what you're interested in! Big, big thanks to Val Krueger for putting all that beautiful quilting into Rachel. Love your creativity and talents, Val!

It's August and about two months until my very first book with Martingale is ready! Twelve scrappy projects await you! I am so, so jazzed to be able to show you more of the projects in the book. This little quilt is called North & South. So sweet, so fun, and so easy! This cutie is called Tess. I love Half Square Triangles! They sure can create striking effects in little quilts! Flying Geese and Pinwheels make this quilt a breeze to piece together. Quilt is called Little Women. Even the tiniest pieces can make a darling little quilt. And, they're perfect for hand quilting. That's just a sneak peek at four of the twelve projects. They are all named after nineteenth century best selling books. Did I mention that I made all twelve projects from just one 10 x 10 precut??? Yup...I really did and you can, too! I used one 10 x 10 precut of my Pam's Prairie Basics & Shirtings collection. Talk about an easy kit! And...what a value, right? I'm taking pre-orders here for the Vintage Patchwork book alone. Click here to order a combination of the Vintage Patchwork book and the 10 x 10 precut together. Order before Sept 15th and I'll include a special little Thank You gift. And...you will get a personalized, signed copy just for you! Please place your book or book/fabric combo order separately from other items. Your order will ship in October as soon as the books arrive! Thank you so much for the support you give to my little business. It enables me to keep working on fun stuff to inspire you. Be well....and happy stitching!

Even Use Fabric Bits You Might Have Thrown Away. Make yourself this sweet scrappy quilt using every bit of fabric, no matter how small. All of the fabric pieces for the Churn Dash blocks can be mad…

At long last!!!!! I am ready to show you the quilts for Journey Three!! It feels soooo good!! (Pardon my over use of exclamation points, but I really needed to do it. Teehee!!) There are two big changes to Journey Three and I hope you like them. First, we are changing our hand sewing project from Yo-yos, which I still adore, to hexagons, which I absolutely love!! I wanted to keep things fresh and fun, and boy are those hexagons fun!! To buy a Hexagon Starter kit, including a finished sample hexagon, click here. Secondly, I am adding alternate sizes for all of the quilts. In my own Prairie Women's group, we talk about how some of us (me included) love small blocks....but not everyone does! I don't want anyone to feel left out, so I decided to offer alternate sizes, giving options. In this way, I hope there's something for everyone. Quilt One ~ Contrary Wife We start our Journey with this quilt called Contrary Wife. This is a replica of an antique quilt that I own. I've always loved the reel block and thoroughly enjoyed every moment making this quilt. There are three alternate patterns for the Contrary Wife (two with no applique)! This is the only lap/throw size quilt in the series. The quilting on this quilt is stunning. I can say that 'cause I didn't quilt it! Quilt Two ~ Windy Hill Farm I never get tired of the classic double pink and indigo blue fabrics! This is an easy quilt to make featuring our most traditional blocks - the Nine Patch and Pinwheel. I love the motion the Pinwheels give the quilt without over taking it. I had a great time choosing the fabrics for it, too. And when I did....I cut a kit one for one lucky quilter to win!! As promised, it's time for our Journey Three kit contests to begin!!! Yay!! To enter, leave me a comment about your favorite blocks, and/or your least favorite block, and why. It is very helpful if you include your email address in your comment. Be sure to comment by midnight, Saturday, Oct 29th. I'll choose a winner for the Windy Hill Farm kit (which includes the Windy Hill Farm pattern) on Sunday. There will be three more kits coming, so visit often! Good Luck!! Pam P.S. Lynne Hagmeier and I have received news that our quilting cruise to Alaska is beginning to fill nicely! We'd love for you to join us on The Great Girlfriend Get-Away!! Don't forget to check out our cruise brochure.....click here!

Attending Fall Market in Houston was a wonderful, relaxing experience. Because I didn't have a booth, I was able to spend five days submerging myself in all things quilting and had time for visiting with friends I don't often get to see. A Prairie Gathering Quilt and the three Tokens of the Past: Gathering In Red Quilts by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts My Prairie Gathering Quilt-of-the-Quarter quilt hung in the center of the Marcus Fabrics booth along with other outstanding quilt projects that will soon be coming your way! Tokens of the Past: Gathering In Red quilts by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts My brand new Tokens of the Past: Gathering In Red series quilts made their debut at market, and I'm so very happy to say, were met with rave reviews!! The three Gathering In Red quilts are made from just one of my new Prairie Gathering 10 inch precuts!! Yes, Yes!! You can make all of the units and blocks for all three quilts from just one package of 10 inch precut squares!! Much more about this, and a special offer from me, coming in just a few weeks, so stay tuned. Anyway...back to market news..... Mill Works by Nancy Rink Also in the Marcus Fabrics family is Mill Works by Nancy Rink Designs. A new BOM. Judie's Album with fabrics by Judie Rothermel I loved seeing Judie's Album quilt in person. As with all quilts, of course, they're so much better in person than a photo. I have long admired this quilt when I first saw it on the cover of Judie's book, and signed up to do the BOM. My kits will come in 2015, but who knows what year I'll end up making it! No matter....it will be there whenever I'm ready. Do you do that too, or am I the only one?? LOL The Quilted Crows Pantry Club Well, The Quilted Crows sent a bevy of new projects for their new Pantry Club. Missed you L & D, and your awesome quilts and projects made for a whole lot of eye candy in the aisle!! Add caption Victoria Park fabric by Karen Styles of Somerset Patchwork & Quilting Red Crinoline's booth was just across the aisle from Marcus. Soldier's Waltz by Red Crinoline Quilts Hanover Stars by Red Crinoline Quilts Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison had lots of new quilts. These are just some of their new pattern offerings. Bonnie Blue by Red Crinoline Quilts If I had a favorite, it would be this quilt, Bonnie Blue, because I just love me a two color quilt!! Joyce Weeks of Geoff's Mom Designs As I roamed the market aisles, I found quite a few friends and their gorgeous designs! This is Joyce's new wool BOM...just loving the textures in all that wool!! Had to buy the pattern for this small quilt called Weezer's Paws. Kathy Cardiff of The Cottage at Cardiff Farms and me Always have to stop and see Kathy Cardiff of The Cottage at Cardiff Farms. Her wool designs really speak to me. They say 'buy me, make me!" Geez..there's so many goodies to choose from, but I must admit..... ..it's the wool pinkeeps like these..... ...that get me every time!! Both of Kathy's pinkeep books came home with me! Annemarie Yohnk of Quilts Remembered Annemarie Yohnk of Quilts Remembered always, always has quilts that touch my heart. Abigail pattern by Annemarie Yohnk of Quilts Remembered This red and cream quilt stopped me dead in my tracks! The pattern is called Abigail and I fell madly in love. (Are you giggling over the "No Photos Please" sign? I had Annemarie's permission, I promise!) Kansas Troubles Quilters booth No visit to market would ever be complete without stopping at my pal Lynne Hagmeier's (Kansas Troubles Quilters) booth. We all got our first look at Lynne's newest fabric collection, Clara's Garden. Clara was Lynne's great, great-grandmother, and she has quite a story. Click here to learn more about Clara and Lynne's fabric line. Lynne never fails to WOW me with how many different quilts she creates from her 'layered patchwork' technique. Isn't this just awesome?? One of my favorite quilts to see at Market was Di Ford's mystery quilt for Quiltmania magazine. It was just jaw dropping-ly beautiful!!! I was thrilled that Di chose to use so many of my fabrics in her quilt, and as I stood there, I got goosies just looking at them. Actually, there are many, many Marcus fabrics in her quilt, including fabrics from Judie Rothermel, Paula Barnes, and Molly B's. Every market has a large exhibit of quilts. I usually don't have time to peruse them as I'm always in the booth, but this time, I had time to wander. As you can imagine, this exhibit was a show stopper. Much like the Infinite Variety show in New York City a few years ago, this display of red and white quilts had everyone talking. What is it about red and white quilts that draws us all so much? They're vibrant, striking, colorful, and happy.... but maybe that's just me? Do you like red and white quilts, too? Perhaps you're working on a collection of your own? May I suggest a few new red quilts for your collection? Shameless, I know, but you can't blame a girl for trying! I hope you found a few things in these market pictures that are speaking to you. Thanks so much for visiting my blog today!

Ada Blaney c 1848 Nebraska - used with permission Nebraska Historical Society As it is said….all good things must come to an end. I will not be releasing any more Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Journey patterns. The natural cycle in the quilting business is all about "what's new", and it's time to move on to a new adventure. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of creating the PWSC club, and it has brought me the opportunity to meet many, many wonderful quilt shop owners, and so many thousands of gracious, talented quilters who have all shared my love of nineteenth century living, antique quilts, and our make-do heritage. I am forever grateful for all of the sharing between our kindred spirits! There is so much to look forward to in the future with new and exciting opportunities. My creative soul will always be anchored in the nineteenth century, and I will continue to look for ways to incorporate American history into future projects. My Prairie Gathering Quilt of theQuarter program has four historical stories of how women "gathered" together to bring lasting change in our country. Click here to find a quilt shop near you offering the Prairie Gathering program. Then, there's my new pattern series, "Tokens of the Past", with Gathering In Red as the first in the series, which continues with Civil War reproduction doll size quilts that are very do-able, affordable projects that give you the option of using my new 10 inch Prairie Gathering precuts from Marcus Fabrics or choosing your own fabrics. And, I am happy to continue creating new and exciting things for your quilting pleasure! Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Journey patterns will continue to be available to quilt shops that are continuing with club meetings. Thank you so much for your support of the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club. It's been a wonderful journey!!!

I'm back home from a wonderful trip to Nashville. I just loved Nashville!!! What a fun town. The weather was very hot and humid, much the same as it was at home in Chicago....so you go with the flow. The food was yummy, the town was fun and the people are so friendly. That's southern hospitality for you! I will definitely go back again someday. My thanks for the ladies of Music City Quilters and Lakeshore Quilters for a lovely time. I so enjoyed meeting everyone! Mrs. Miller's Apprentice. 2019 Block of the Month by Pam Buda and Marcus Fabrics My Mrs. Miller's Apprentice quilt returned home from her trip to Las Vegas where she was quilted by Val Krueger. Val does not disappoint and did Mrs. Miller proud. Before I send her off to be photographed, I thought I'd take some photos of Val's beautiful work. I took these photos in natural daylight inside the house to show off the quilting. This, of course, does not show the true colors of the fabrics. I love crosshatching and Val put a lot of it in the quilt. I'm so happy! This photo shows the fabric colors a but better. I very humbly say that I adore each fabric in this collection! So jazzed with how the quilt turned out and the quilting just put it over the top! Mrs. Miller's Apprentice is my new Block of the Month for 2019. Quilt shops are signing up now to offer the program which begins in January. So....ask for Mrs. Miller's Apprentice at your local quilt shop! Fabrics will ship in December. It is so very important to support our LQS!!! Too many of them are closing. It's terrible. Besides binding Mrs. M., I have been putting the finishing touches on the Mrs. M patterns, and writing the diary stories that will accompany the monthly instructions. It's been fun! I've also begun constructing the quilt that is my super-secret-scrappy-project for the last year! I will finally....(finally!) be able to reveal all sometime next month. There's a whole lot of preparation going on here and at Marcus for the big announcement. I can barely contain myself! I can't believe the summer has whizzed by, although I do welcome the cooler days of autumn. I'm also getting ready for my new Vintage Patchwork book to be delivered next month! Yikes...there's so much fun stuff going on. I hope you have some time to enjoy these last days of summer. Be well.....

The purging and re-organizing of my fabric stash goes on......and on......and on. I can't spend all day working on this (and quite frankly, my mind would go numb!), so for a few hours every day, I whittle away at it. Seems I'm not the only one as my dear friend, Gloria Parsons (Olde Green Cupboard Designs) is doing exactly the same thing! She moved into a new home, so that's why she's going thru her stash, and she said in her last blog post, she's finding fabric from 10 years ago! So nice to know I'm not the only one!! Yesterday, my sorting and purging was interrupted (thank you, FedEx!!) with the delivery of two boxes of sample yardage of my new fabric lines!! That delivery will never get old. First up are the new wovens line called Prairie Wovens, Dobbies & Chambray. When Marcus asked me if I'd like to do a wovens line, I jumped at the chance. I asked if dobbie prints and a chambray could be included and they were delighted to oblige. It's very common to see a mix of wovens, dobbies and chambray paired with cottons in antique quilts of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, especially in scrappy quilts, and this gives us all a chance to work them into our reproduction Prairie and Civil War era quilts. Let me show you an example. Antique doll quilt and the inspiration for At Mama's Knee pattern in Journey One of the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club. This is one of my favorite antique quilts. Not only is it just the cutest thing, it's an excellent example of a "Make-Do" quilt. (Click here to read about the difference between a Make-Do and Scrappy quilt.) I believe that a child made this quilt, and it has a make-do backing, too! Notice the blue woven, the pink and white dobbie, and the pink chambray fabrics. The combination of the cotton prints and the textures from the wovens is just luscious and makes the quilt all the more interesting, in mho! Here's a photo of the back showing blue chambray, more wovens and dobbies mixed with cotton prints. Using what she had, she pieced the back, no doubt from scraps of home goods, shirts, and cotton prints perhaps from dresses, aprons, or drapes. Sweet! The palette in this quilt is mostly pastels, of course, but my Prairie Wovens, Dobbies and Chambray are not. They, along with my Pin Money cotton collection are colored in my eight favorite (darker) colors: red, blue, green, plum, brown, black, gold and dusty pink. These are the colors I use all the time. String Stars quilt in the Spring 2013 issue of Primitive Quilts magazine Not sure how all of those colors would play together? Take a look at my Star Strings quilt photo above. All eight colors were used in the creation of that quilt. Would you include the pink? I L O V E the pink in there, so long as it's dark and dusty, and not bright. I'll post more examples of cotton prints and wovens pieced together when I share photos of another of my antique quilts. This spectacular make-do quilt was published in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine a few years ago....so stay tuned. :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: May I offer a friendly reminder to email me your Pocket Patchwork Orphans & Scraps quilt photos! You have about 3 weeks to send them to me. Remember, it doesn't have to be quilted or bound. Wait until you see the wide variety of ways quilters from around the world creatively set the blocks! Please email your photos, along with your name and the city and state (country) where you live, no later than April 1st. Then, be sure to visit my blog shortly there after for the official..... Airing of the Quilts (aka Show-n-Tell) Thanks for visiting with me today! Pam

This quilt was made a few years ago. It has a big problem. Perhaps you can't tell from the photo, but it's very apparent in person. You see, I chose a very sweet background print with colorful flowers for this scrappy quilt. (The quilt is featured in my Tokens of the Past: Nine Patch Reverie pattern and is one of many quilts in the pattern.) The little print is in a grid format. When the top was complete, I knew there was something wrong....it was as if the background was psychedelic! It kinda whirled, and swirled, and made you dizzy. It was then I realized that this is a quilt with a lot of angles, what with the blocks on point, and all of their seams, and the setting side and corner triangles. All of these parts disrupted the grid pattern and had it going in every which direction. Not good - not good at all! I couldn't use it for my pattern cover so I made a new one with a calmer, non-directional fabric. So this sweet little quilt sat folded for about a year when I decided to have it quilted. It looks just fine folded up, and no one will see what's happening in the crazy edges of the quilt. And....I think it's a perfect project to use some of those scrappy binding pieces I've been saving. So....please learn from my mistake. Think about your background fabric and how it will be used in your chosen quilt. I use grid printed fabrics all the time, but never again as a single background in an on-point setting quilt. We learn something new everyday! I finally finished my new Quilt Archaeology quilt over the weekend. I'll be taking photos, and putting the finishing touches on the pattern tomorrow, and getting everything ready for you. You will find everything you need to know about my new Quilt Archaeology right here on my blog. The BIG REVEAL is coming Friday, October 18th!!!! I can't wait!! As always, my dear quilting friends, do stay safe, be well, and keep stitchin', because it's what's good for your soul.

As a designer, I love all of the quilts I design. Now and again, you have some that become your favorite, and Starry, Starry Nines is sure a favorite for me! It has lots of Nine Patches, Ohio Stars and a fun border that looks like Flying Geese but isn't and is great to piece together. Add the scrappy fabrics and I ask you.....what is not to L*O*V*E? We have made a few kits of this yummy quilt in the small, wallhanging size, all in an assortment of my fabrics. The quilt size is 23" x 29". Starry, Starry Nines in just one of three quilts featured in the pattern Tokens of the Past: Nine Patch Reverie! The pattern includes directions for all three quilts with alternate sizes or versions. You can order the kit with fabric alone, kit with pattern, or kit with pattern and backing fabric. Click here to read all details and order info. Hope you find some time to stitch today. I'll be stitching while cheering on our Cubbies in the World Series. (To know me is to know I NEVER watch sports, but this is a very special occasion, and as a life-long Chicagoan, a duty!)

This is an exciting month! Another border will be added, and our quilt is growing. I'm sure you enjoyed the drastically reduced cutting this month! Yahoo!! Construction of our Four Patch border is the first task. I've had about half a dozen emails in the last few weeks about pieced borders that don't fit. This is a very common problem! The solution? Hate to sound like a broken record, but measure, measure, measure. So much of quilting is mathematics....like it or not. Our impossible mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make as close to a perfect quilt as your skills allow. Unless you're willing to take months, if not years making the perfect quilt, it's not likely that each and every unit and block will be truly perfect. I promise you, the only truly perfect quilts I make are constructed in Electric Quilt!! That said, I do everything I can to be as perfect as I can, with skills and tools (if they truly help) to get me there. Measuring is one skill that is paramount in every unit, block and quilt you make. It's easy and the results are soooo worth it. Onward.... Your (on point) Four Patch blocks should measure 3 1/2 inches. Sew 7 pairs together, press, then measure again. They should measure 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 unfinished. If they don't, you only have one seam to look at and correct. Don't proceed until all measure what they should. Next sew two pairs together, press and check that they measure 3 1/2 x 12 1/2. Repeat to make a total of three groups of 4 Four Patch pairs. (You'll have one pair left over.) Proceed to sew the border together, using the three 4 Patch groups and the single pair unit. Your border should measure 3 1/2 x 42 1/2 unfinished. Repeat to make four Four Patch borders. Sew two borders to the sides of your quilt center, press. Sew a Four Patch cornerpost unit to both ends of the remaining borders, press. Sew to the top and bottom of the quilt center, press. The red "chain of squares" will bend the corner nicely! Refer to your pattern and check to be sure your quilt measures what it should. Then, proceed with sewing the next plain border to your top. Here's what our quilt looks like after Month Nine!! So exciting!! You'll also be constructing some Shoo-Fly blocks and working on Half Square Triangles for the Triangle Sawtooth border. It's all coming together!! Only a few more months to go!

The boxes are packed, quilts completed, patterns stuffed, and the brochures are all done. My very long To-Do list has been whittled down to just one page! Crossing things off feels oh-so-good!! Yesterday, I delivered almost all of the stuff for my booth to my traveling pal and fellow designer, Tara Darr's trailer. We were both giddy that we're finally at this stage! Pack and load.....has a different meaning for quilters....teehee! I'm shutting my office down for two weeks! I wanted to leave you with a few more new quilt photos. They aren't up on the website just yet, but will be shortly after I return. Introducing Heart of the Prairie! This is the name-sake pattern that accompanies my new fabric line. It features most of the prints from the collection. I was inspired by an antique quilt that my dear friend Docia owns (she's the owner of my favorite local shop The Quilt Merchant). Docia allowed me to replicate her quilt, and I think it turned out great! Lovin' those Indigo blues, pinks and greens together. It's everything I was hoping for when I designed the collection. Stillwater Creek is another pattern featuring my Heart of the Prairie collection. It was designed with easy piecing in mind. For those of you who love large pieces, (I know....it's so unlike me!) this is the project for you! The Flying Geese in the pieced border are 3 x 6 and the Ohio Star blocks are 18 inches!! This quilt is a wonderful lap size quilt, and........for those of you joining Lynne and me on our Great Girlfriend Get-Away to Alaska this is the project we will be making!! All kitted with fabrics from Heart of the Prairie! That is why I was unable to show you my Alaskan cruise project until now! I couldn't talk about it then! Hope you forgive me!! Last, but not least, is the lap size quilt for Journey Four of the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club! You asked for a quilt featuring schoolhouse blocks and you got it!! This quilt, called Ye Olde Schoolhouse, uses one background print and 6 Indigo blue prints from Heart of the Prairie. The schoolhouse block is very easy to piece with no dreaded "Y" seams! There will be a smaller version of this quilt offered to club members as well. The remaining quilts and TWO bonus projects for Journey Four will all be revealed once I return from market. Hopefully, this will hold you over. I will have my iPad with me in hopes of blogging throughout market, so you can come along, too! Whether I'm successful or not depends on my Wi-Fi connections. So, please stay tuned to my blog and Facebook page. I hope to send you lots of news and images from Kansas City! To all of my blog readers around the world.....I wish you all a Happy Mother's Day!! Pam