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 Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Design Wall Monday

I have a signature quilt for my grandson.

The top is together. 

My second design wall has a miscellaneous T-shirt quilt given to me by a friend.

I also have a Fall Quilt top finished.

I need to find a backing for both tops.

My room is messy because DS put my batting roll on the long arm last night.

When batting is added, I always vacuum under the long arm, so I didn't have him put ...

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If you have a lot of half square triangles to make, the half square triangle paper is going to be your life saver!! You are going to love how quick and easy this makes sewing HST. It’s kind of like a triangles on a roll cheat sheet for quilters.

You’ll be layering your fabric, right sides together with the paper and then following the arrows – sewing on the dotted lines.

It’s super simple and your HST turn out nearly perfect!

You’ll be able to whip up a bunch in no time using the paper method.

Depending ...

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I got a message yesterday late afternoon from a quilter who informed me she’ll send me 5 quilts today.  Even though I’ve been doing this for a couple of years, receiving a parcel still feels like Christmas, not knowing what to expect.  I had to smile as when I got my machine, I thought it might come in handy once on a pension for that little extra income.  In my wildest dreams, I could not imagine this escalating so fast.  I am not complaining though.

The last of the memory quilt for this specific family is made up ...

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 This is the shop sample and kit I designed using the new Wildlife Trail fabrics my shop received recently.

The pattern was written by me specifically for this collection so it's only available in the kits. The quilt finishes at 60" by 76" (twin size). The kits are already listed in my online shop.

I didn't get the entire collection but got one color way of the fabrics, pre-cuts (2 1/2" strips and 10" squares) and the panel.

Click here to view the kits and fabrics

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Click to Read the Whole Story!

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This is a class sample that I made for the Polka Dot Pincushion in Richfield, Ohio. I am making another sample in the some of the same fabric line but with gold metallic accents instead of silver. It will be in a little more traditonal Christmas colors and I will post a picture soon. We haven't chosen a date for this class yet but I'll keep you posted. I am also teaching this project at The Sewing Box in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, June 1st. This design is foundation paper pieced and has 2 options for assembling it ...

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I’m glad it’s Monday and the weekend is over. I honestly did no sewing all weekend….you won’t hear me say that very often, but I just wasn’t in the mood. In fact, the little machine I use at home is still packed up from last week’s workshop. 

I delivered Barbara Black to the Austin airport Saturday morning. We left Victoria at 7:30 am, and I dropped her off at the airport around 9:45. I took the quickest route to get there, but coming back, I decided to return through Smithville and Shiner ...

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Stacked coins quilt by Janice. 
Simple and fun, pieced by Janice. Both will be headed to Annapolis Quilts for Kids. 

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 A new week already!  And almost a new month! 

Last week on Tuesday I took my sewing machine in for a spa treatment - AKA deep cleaning and tune up.  The shop told me they were about 2 weeks out and they would call me when it was ready. That was fine because my smaller machine is a good backup.  However, Friday morning they called and said my machine was ready to pick up. Really - only 3 days?  Awesome!  I hit the road to pick it up.

On my way out of town, in the rain, I stopped at my local ...

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My OMG for April was finishing the April challenge quilt, which had no name in March. The quilt was based on a pattern called Ruffles by Sew Be It. I ended up naming it Freeze Frame.

I painted the background fabric because I didn’t have anything in my stash that I liked with the reds I picked for the flower petals. The fabric in the flower center was painted years ago and textured with salt. I added a second layer of batting under the center that I thought made it too puffy. I added beads to the center to ...

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I chuckled this morning when I remembered the title of yesterday's post—Writing Quilt Patterns. During the Virtual Retreat, we discussed how some patterns are good and some are notoriously bad. Why is that? Do these people not have pattern testers? Do they not get feedback from their audience? 

Most designers will have changes (for free) on their websites, but one designer (I won't mention the name) is famous for writing confusing patterns. And then, I guess once they get enough bad feedback, they reissue the pattern with the same name but a different version—i.e., Backpack ...

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We really didn't get much rain yesterday except in the early morning but I had decided I was going to sew since the end of the month is creeping up and I have my self imposed quotas to fill.  I finished the binding on Charley in the Forest in the late afternoon.

Next I cut the setting triangles for my 1996 quilt.  I need to cut 2 more of them and also the corner triangles today.

After that I cut the binding for this star quilt and got it all finished by machine.

There was still a half hour ...

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Good Morning Quilters!

I saw this paragraph on the internet last week, and wanted to share it with you:

     Some people get addicted to chain-smoking their problems. They spend all day going from sorrow to sorrow. It doesn't have to be that way. You can live each day going from joy to joy—like a sunflower that turns to face the sun as it moves across the sky. It's not about having a problem-free life, but about focusing on the light. Sunflowers still have shadows, but they are always behind them.

Today is a day to look toward ...

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I was inspired by this version of Flower Pop by Sew Kind of Wonderful to turn my one block into another mini quilt for SCBU.

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An excellent start to yesterday. A bit more Quilty water falling from the clouds that put pay to any outside chores and gardening. Quilty Quarters provided a few hours entertainment.  I love sewing with an audio book talking to me, such a relaxing way to spend time. Especially time I thought I would be 'choring'. So here you go.

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Looking for a garden-inspired quilting design? There are plenty of quilting ideas out there for flowers and leaves, but how about adding a garden path to your pattern library?

This garden path design is based on the flow of the filler design called pebbles / pebbling. Instead of repeating tiny circles though, we use irregular shapes. Shapes you would find in a flagstone garden path. Pieced to fit together like a complex puzzle, each shape different from the other.

Having each shape being different gives you a lot freedom to fill any area, and it will allow you to vary the ...

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But we had rainy weather so I can’t get an outside photo until later today I bet.  But finally the binding is done, Hunter’s Star has been washed and dried – so here is an inside photo for now.  Linking to Design Wall Monday — Monday Musings — The back Most of the Mercantile block […]

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It has been rainy here in NE Iowa and that means I can’t do much outside. I did sneak out to mow the lawn but other than that, I’ve been in the house…so I got caught up on housework…and that means I had time to SEW!!!!!! It’s been a bit since I had a really …

What I’m Working On… Read More »

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I’m just got back from teaching in Paducah, Kentucky and had an amazing time. One thing that the pandemic made me realize is how much I love teaching live and in person. When I wasn’t able to do that, it truly felt like something was missing. If you missed seeing me last week, your next opportunity to do so will be at Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California, July 24-27, 2024.

I’m excited to be teaching a full slate of workshops, including two of my signature full-day classes: Walking Foot Bootcamp & Free Motion Bootcamp. Taken ...

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Hello blogland!  I hope you have had a calm, pleasant, and productive April.  I did.

The Chookshed linky party for April is below.  Feel free to add a link and visit the others.

My Pineapple quilt top is completed and off to the quilter tomorrow along with the mystery quilt I finished at the retreat last week.  Yay!  So far I have done well with my goals in this challenge.

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