The crumb quilt project was a great scrap buster. I got 2 quilts out of that project. But for some reason, after all the mess all over my sewing room, and working several months on those crumb quilts, I still had a huge pile of scraps!! They just seemed to multiply!!! So I decided to try scrap strips instead to see if I could lesson my scrap mountain. I put my scraps into piles strips that were about the same length. I had 6 or 7 piles of different lengths. I pulled two from the first pile (let's say they were 5 inch strips), and sewed them together, then without cutting strings, I sewed 2 together from the next pile (lets say they were 7 inch strips), and on down through all the piles. When I had sewn 2 together from each pile, I started back at the top. I picked one from the 5 inch pile and sewed that to the existing 5 inch strip, without cutting strings. I kept my nice big scissors near by, there was a lot of chopping at the machine. This was a donation quilt. So, I used a sheet for the back, and wrapped it around for the binding. I was careful to start and stop my quilting just 1 time because when you're carrying the backing around to the front, you can't just go running off the edge when you're quilting. Do you have a good way to get rid of scraps? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Sometimes I take a quilt class to learn a new technique. Sometimes I take a quilt class for something to do. Sometimes I take a quilt class, because I like the quilt, and I wanna make it. And sometimes, I take a quilt class purely to socialze. Sometimes I don't...

Совместный проект "Блок - урок", вся информация по предыдущим этапам проекта здесь: https://www.stranamam.ru/

Escher Quilt – Finished size: 53″ x 67″ Just finished. I wasn’t sure it was all going to work but it has. If you click on the image above you will see the quilting detail. I…

Last week one of my customers came over to Borderland Fabrics in Jedburgh to pick up her quilt. Carol and her Husband travel all the way from Glasgow to bring quilts for me to quilt and then to pick up quilts again. This quilt was an educational exercise, as Carol was teaching herself to use her embroidery machine on Sateen fabric...nice and slippery it was too! The caffe latte coloured sateen bordered the cream sateen blocks with the fabrics right side up and reversed and with alternate cream cotton blocks. Twin needle work surrounded the large embroidered central motif. Loading the quilt onto the longarm was a little tricky with the slippery sateen fabric, the slippery side of the cream fabric was against the wadding/batting. I used flowing feather swags with piano keys in the borders, a spineless feather in the sashings and then feathers and more feathers to pin down the blocks. I opted for continuous curves in the twin needle setting triangles and some swirls and curls around the feathered hearts. It was a really happy day when this quilt came off the frame, Carol was thrilled to see the quilt finished and couldn't believe how beautiful it looked as she never thought that it would ever be a finished quilt, she named it 'Latte'! Oh, and I think Carol has that embroidery machine stuff down patt now don't you?

Азбука лоскутного шитья. Подарок от Наташи (Литературная)

Rich gold royal blue and rusty red stripestake a trip.

Finished! So happy I stayed with it and got it completed!

I am so pleased that, despite the rush of end of the semester projects, I was able to finish the quilt I was making for my nearly life-long friend Joan. Joan taught math for a long time, and likes things neat and orderly. That is not my normal quilting design style, so when I saw the pattern for Gundrun Erla's "Kira" quilt, I knew I had to get it. I checked out her color palette to try to get a sense of what colors would work. I thought that the 12 fat quarter assortment from Tonga Treats Tuscany line would blend well and complement her colors. I used this opportunity to purchase Gundrun Erla's Stripology ruler, which was well worth it. I did the cutting of the fat quarters and piecing together of the middle at my fall quilt retreat. While the pieces went together beautifully, the layout was a bit trickier. Perhaps it was the wine we sipped while sewing! I have circled the blocks that looked OK at first, but thankfully, someone noticed that they were off! I hadn't sewn them together, and was able to get they layout straight. Because I mostly design my own quilts, I don't often purchase patterns, and I guess I didn't actually read through this one before I started because I got the center piece on my wall, and realized I didn't have any fabric for the wide border. Thank goodness for the internet. I was able to find a few yards of the now discontinued fabric online for the border! I got the top done and pinned for quilting in early November. The addition of Betty and Judy to our household has complicated the quilting process. They are fascinated with the Tiara - so I needed to get the basement room where I have the Tiara arranged so I could shut the cats out during the quilting. Since their beds are in that room, I also had to remove the quilt after each quilting session! It all worked out, and now I have a system in place! Yes - I am talking about you two scalawags! I ended up quilting with an overall easy going meandering stitch, in tan, which blended well with the off white batik back (also used in many of the lighter blocks). The back of the quilt fabric The quilt crinkled up nicely when washed and dried. The first attempt at taking pictures of the finished quilt was a bust. It was too windy, even at the part of our yard that rarely gets wind! The next day was calmer and I was able to get a nicer picture on the deck. A nice warm quilt for a snowy winter! You can tell it was cold because my trusty quilt holder is wearing gloves! Take care, Gretchen

A few weeks ago I followed a link on facebook, which brought me to Kathryn Kerr’s (the designer of the quilt) words: ‘THE ULTIMATE SAMPLER QUILT! Make a quilt block every day for a year. I’ll pres…

Happy Birthday FQG! General description of block: This is a classic friendship star block made with Quilty Friends basic corners. It uses nine patch construction. Cutting directions: (21 pieces) FQG - this months kit is purposefully subtle. Our pinwheels will not pop as much as they usually do...this will allow our stars to shine. Frisco Quilt Guild is, after all, the friendliest little guild in Texas! Add dark coordinating colors from your stash to make the stars and white or off white for the background. from dark (floral in kit) - Cut 1, 5 1/4 inch square. Sub-cut this square diagonally into 4 small triangles. from light (pale blue in kit) - Cut 1, 5 1/4 inch square. Sub-cut this square diagonally into 4 small triangles. from background (white or off white) - cut 2, 5 1/4 inch squares. Sub-cut them on the diagonal into 4 large triangles for corner blocks. cut 2, 5 1/4 inch squares for edge blocks from coordinating (dark blue, green, yellow, etc.) cut 2, 5 1/4 inch squares for edge blocks cut 1, 4 1/2 inch square for center Piecing directions: Corners - Sew one dark and one light small triangle together to make one large triangle. Being careful not to warp the triangles, iron seams open. Sew each set in the same order. The finished large triangles should be identical. Using the right angle to align the pieces, sew each two colored triangle to a large single fabric triangle. Trim the excess seam allowance (this should all be from the large single fabric triangle). Being careful not to warp the triangles, iron seams toward the large single fabric triangle. (The side with the least number of seams) Trim square to 4 ½ inches. Make 4 identical squares Edges - These blocks are the dreaded "half square triangle" you can make these blocks however you want to...however, I've included the directions for those who are new to this block. Draw one diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of each 5 1/4" square of background fabric. (You should have 2) With right sides together, sew background squares to coordinating squares just shy of 1/4" from the line on both sides of the line. This will result in a square of fabric with two parallel lines of stitching about 1/2" apart running diagonally across the square. Cut along the drawn line creating 2 triangle shaped pieces from each square. Being careful not to warp the triangles, open the triangles and iron seams toward the darker fabric. Trim squares to 4 1/2" inches. Block - Assemble block according to the picture being careful to make the points of your star go in the right direction. The points on opposite sides of the block should be parallel to each other. row 1 & 3 - are the same. Corner square with bisected corner on the outside; middle square with background to the left; corner square with bisected corner on the outside. row 2 - Edge square with solid, contrasting corner on upper right; solid center square; edge square with solid, contrasting corner on the lower left. Assemble rows to make one 12 1/2" block. (actual size, including seam allowances.) I picked this block to celebrate Frisco Quilt Guild's birthday. It really is a wonderful group of people. I am honored to be a member of it. Bring your finished blocks to the May general meeting of the guild (May 22, 2012) to be eligible to enter the drawing. The winner gets to take home all of the blocks entered as well as any remaining kits, printed finishing suggestions, and uncut fabric for this project.

Еще один винтажный квадрат украсит сегодня нашу группу!

There Are 13 to Choose From! Kim Diehl, who is one of our favorite designers, has a wonderful sense of color and design. Her quilts tend to be richly colored and are often highlighted with beautiful applique. They quickly capture our interest and it’s not unusual to find ourselves mesmerized by the colors, textures, and …

Awesome quilting by Michele Turner

Everything in the sewing room seemed to be so long term. And this week I needed, absolutely required, a quicker project that could be finished. And nothing soothes me like working with floral

All new ruler by Judi Madsen - the QuickMark Ruler is available at judimadsen.com

This week, I will be featuring interviews with a few longarm quilters. This is an area I know little about,

As a quilter I certainly have my favorites. This one is definitely toward the top of my list. It's a crazy, busy quilt, but with that little bit of white, it somehow just works. It's mostly just scraps, although I definitely bought fat quarters here and there to add in--especially colors I didn't have, like purple. I love looking at it and thinking of other projects as I see various fabrics. This was definitely a labor intensive quilt, but worth the work. I have seen lots of similar quilts on blogs and a stings quilt was on my list of "must-try" quilts. I see it as a pretty big accomplishment. I used the tutorial from Film in the Fridge to create this one. My blocks are 8 inches finished. The quilt is 8 blocks x10 blocks with a finished size of about 61" x 77" after shrinkage. It's a little short for a bed quilt. I probably should have added two more rows, but I was pretty much done with the crazy thing after 10. Now, for the back. Oh, how I love this quilt back. It is my absolute favorite that I have ever designed. It's basically a quilt on it's own (which I have decided I need to start doing to cut down on my overall quilt production and output). It's two quilts in one--much easier to store. After I finished piecing the front, the idea of the color wheel popped into my head, and I thought it would be a fun way to incorporate more of the same scraps but in a very different way. We have had lots of color discussions in quilt group recently and even have a color wheel class and challenge coming up in a couple months. This is what I envisioned, and I'm so happy it turned out just how I wanted. It also made me realize how many scraps I have as well as where the holes are in my stash. I have very few true blues or true greens, but I do have lots of teals and limey greens. I designed this only with what I had in my stash. I was tempted to go out and buy some fabrics to fill the gaps, but resisted. I paper-pieced the corners to give it a "rounded" feel since I based my design on a wheel. As I was working on this one, Ryan asked me what I was going to do with it. I'm still not sure, but it's definitely staying with me. This certainly isn't headed for the gift-quilt pile.

Week #13 - Plum Star I am tickled when a design plan comes together so star points floats. It gives a little extra breathing room when piecing, so you don't have to worry about cutting off the points. Plum Star is one of those great blocks. We'll add squares for the star points, center and corner blocks using the Connecting Corners method to create triangles. Refer to the HST & CC page included in your first shipment for more information. It's also available for download in the June 30th post. The basics for Connecting Corners are: 1. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the square. I like a fine line white chalk marker to mark on the wrong side of dark fabrics. 2. Sew on the edge of the drawn line that is closer to the corner you'll be pressing toward. This allows a thread's width for the fold for perfect corners. 3. Press toward the corner to check if the 90degree angles match up. If the triangle you press toward the corner is short or long, it can distort the size of the unit and make sewing units together more challenging. Adjust your stitching line if you're not happy with the results. 4. Trim the background triangle and the bottom triangle of the square for less bulk. 5. Press seam open. Use sizing to set the seams. Make sure the star points and center snowball triangles overlap 3/8" to accommodate your 1/4" seam allowance. Plum Star units And here's the final Plum Star block, finishing 12 1/2" square. I'd like to make a lap quilt with this block, too. Hmmmm, if I start with a Layer Cake for scrappiness and change out the center, the possibilities are endless! Watch for my version in an upcoming KT pattern. Thanks for following along on my 20-year journey. See you July 30th.

I took today off from work because my calendar was free and I just wanted another day off. I got up first thing and went to Costco during senior hour. When I got there at 9 am, there probably weren…

I finished this quilt top a number of months ago. I didn’t really have a plan for who the quilt would go to, so wasn’t in a hurry to get it quilted. So now it’s done, and I love i…

I am so excited to finally be able to share this beautiful quilt with you, I have been working on it all week and if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen a few work on progress pictures. This quilt belongs to Megan and the pattern is called Arcadia Avenue. This is a very challenging pattern to piece and Megan did a fantastic job. She asked for custom quilting and shared some pictures of quilting designs she liked for inspiration. The first thing I sketched was the diamond design as it would be the focus in the background fabrics. I knew the rest of the background should be clean lines as the piecing is the main focus and my quilting should enhance the piecing and not take away from it. I used So Fine white thread in the background and Invisible MonoPoly thread in the blocks. The backing thread is was white Bottom Line. Megan sent Warm and White 100% cotton batting. I'm so happy with how flat this quilt lays after quilting! Here are some close up picture of the blocks so you can see some of the quilting designs. I used the quilt the pattern designers had made for Quilt Market in 2014 for quilting inspiration, you can see it here. Some blocks I quilted very similar and other very different. The are all a mix of stitch in the ditch, echo lines and free motion designs. Sorry for the picture overload but since I haven't posted in a week I thought I better make up for that! We had a lot of snow fall this past weekend and it was-26'c with a -32 windchill when I was out taking these pictures this morning. Brrr! We have been having a very mild winter this year so I'm not complaining!

My patterns are currently being revised to be offered in my Etsy shop. I think that will make it more convenient for everyone. I'll keep you...

Diamond in the Rough pattern by Judi Madsen in Secondary Designs with Judi Madsen book. AQS publishing

Small piecing has become a big trend—and modern quilts are a great testament to that. Here are Amy Friend’s thoughts on this modern quilt trend.

The good news is that the first mini from my series of four mini-swaps arrived: a delectible circle of houses from Diana in Virginia for the Kaffe Fasset Mini Quilt Swap. [I’m sending out *th…

The Jen Kingwell Gypsy Wife Sew-along kicks off next week (August 3) and I thought it would be a good...

Here are a few quilts that went home a few weeks ago... From Maureen and Doreen... Firstly Doreen's, made from a Jelly Roll plus backin...

I’ve had this idea for years that I could build a quilt in a globe form and make it into an isolation chamber. And boy, are we isolated. My dreams had a room full of these things that people could put their heads into. They might see the inside of the outside idea. The undergrowth of the wild surrou

While in Savannah for QuiltCon, my husband and I happened on an exhibit of quilts by Pamela Wiley, a professor emerita of SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). I’m sorry I missed her cl…

I hope you all had a great holiday – I’m finally getting everything back to normal around here and can’t wait to get back to my sewing machine. I finished this quilt before Christ…

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6, Block 7, Block 8, Block 9, Block 10, Block 11, Block 12, Block 13, Block 14, Block 15, Block 16, Block 17, Block 18, Block 19, Block 20, Block 21, Block 22, Block 23, Block 24, Block 25, Block 26, Block 27, Block 28, Block 29, Block 30, Block 31, Block 32, Block 33, Block 34, Block 35, Block 36, Block 37, Block 38, Block 39, Block 40, Block 41, Block 42, Block 43, Block 44, Block 45, Block 46, Block 47, Block 48, Block 49, Block 50, Block 51, Block 52. Materials: 8 3.5" squares of Color A 8 3.5" squares of Color B *note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time! Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go! ROW 1 ROW 2 ROW 3 ROW 4 After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning. Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 19 to go! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group! Please, if you have questions, email me at knitnlit AT gmail DOT com, or make sure you leave your email address in your comment. I've had several folks ask questions in the comments, but if you are a no-reply commenter, I can't email you back.

Week #11 - Woven Star We're starting the second half of our block-of-the-month countdown with one of my favorite blocks - Woven Star. I could see all the fun possibilities when piecing it and made a separate lap size quilt just for fun (below). It's one of the bonus patterns that comes with the 20 Years of KTQ BOM pack of patterns. This block is usually made with a 4-patch in the center. I eliminated a few seams for easier piecing and made my block in 4 sections. The assembly is simple with half square triangles and connecting corners. Refer to the HST and CC detailed step-by-step instructions included with your pattern. When adding the connecting corners (CC) to the A and B strips, be sure to note the direction of stitching. Here's the block in quarters, and fully assembled with the bottom sashing strip. If you love this block as much as I do, make a quilt! The Woven Dreams lap quilt is 12 star blocks using a Jelly Roll for even easier cutting. The large blocks make a good sized quilt in a hurry. I'm hoping to make one in my new Sweet Holly fabric this fall. Would you like a Woven Dreams digital PDF pattern? Comment here to win. Do you enjoy making a quilt one block at a time in a block-of-the-month? or do you prefer to complete your quilt more quickly in a weekly quilt-a-long?

Welcome to Stitchin Heaven’s Journeys BOM Month 9. You all have worked so hard. This month you will learn to use your Corner Beam tool. Sue Tucker & Naz are my helpers for Month 9. Print …

There is a dedicated gallery space at the new Bay Quilts in Richmond, CA at which I was lucky enough to see Cathy Miranker’s exhibition Modern/Minimal. A member of the San Francisco Quilters …

It's raining here this week so it's a great time to be inside sewing. Do you need a new pattern? From now until the end of April (i.e. midnight on the 30th), there will be free shipping and handling on all patterns ordered from the checkout of my website. No need to use a code, the amount will be manually adjusted and credited back to your card as soon as the order arrives. On a fun note, there's an amusing story attached to the above picture of NY Roundabout Again. Normally, I would have secured the top of the quilt to the railing with clear tape to take the photograph. However, it was too cold that day for the tape to stick so we had to come up with a clever way to hold the quilt in place. You can't see him, but my hubby is crouched sideways behind the quilt, balanced on one foot so the other one wouldn't show. He said "shoot fast" and I did. The things we do for love, huh?