What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The smallest origami crane ever made was just .1 mm square (that’s 1/25 of an inch!) The all-time largest measured a whopping 256 feet. And this week we’re working on the world’s coziest origami! 

The Big T Origami quilt is based on an antique favorite. It’s sometimes called Folded Corners, and it comes together quickly with flying geese and half square triangles. 

In this tutorial, Jenny shares the secret to perfectly sharp flying geese points, and she uses her trusty squaring tool and bias seam tape to keep everything as neat and tidy as true ...

Every year, I look forward to Bonnie Hunter's Mystery quilt which begins the day after Thanksgiving here in the US. It is fun to quilt along with so many others from around the world.

I've completed Clues 1 and 2 of this year's mystery--Rhododendron Trail.

Rhododendron Trail (Clues 1 and 2)

I'm looking forward to seeing how this mystery comes together. 

If you would like to participate, it is easy! Simply visit Bonnie's blog and click on the Rhododendron Trail tab at the top. All the instructions will be posted there each Friday. There is ...

It started like any other Triple Play tutorial.

Jenny, Misty, and Natalie were each asked to design a quilt with pieced sashing. Simple, right?

Natalie’s Pieced Sashing

Natalie created a cute arrow sashing with strip sets and hourglass blocks.

Misty’s Pieced Sashing

Misty used a traditional Seminole technique to sash her quilt with diamonds. And then, there was Jenny. (Oh, Jenny!)

Jenny’s Pieced Sashing

First, Jenny stitched stacks and stacks (and STACKS!) of half-square triangles. Then the sashing began. 

She made pinwheel, chevron, and herringbone sashing. She made flying geese, square-in-a-square, and sawtooth. And then…she kept ...

I usually use either EQ8 (Electric Quilt 8) or Adobe Illustrator when I design my patterns.  For most of my blocks, I love to use EQ8.  You will see my mockup for this block that I develop in EQ8.  This block was so much fun; due to how coloring was done, you get a 3D look in the block center.  

 Well, I just did a search to figure out how long ago I finished the top of this project. 

Answer: Dec 7, 2016! 

It has been basted and ready for quilting since March of 2017.

I needed something to quilt recently to get someone's mid-arm machine working. This is all that I had that was already basted and ready to go. Sadly that is the only reason this one got finished, but I'm glad it is finally done!

You can read previous posts about this project by clicking the following link: Art Group Project That post says that ...

Last week, I showed you how to make the Quickets in my Block Party Block #18, "Pointed Square."  This week, I want to continue with the Wing Clipper tool showing you how to make Flying Geese. 

The Wing Clipper tool is one of the Studio 180 Design fundamental tools that I talked about in my blog post, "What Studio 180 Design Tools Should I start with?."  This tool was created to make traditional Flying Geese units.  

The construction method of these units uses the Non-Waste Method, which uses one large and four small squares to make four flying geese at ...

The Quilt Police are going to have a problem with this video … I show you how I stitch-in-the-ditch with my seams pressed open. GASP!

I think once upon a time when quilting fabric, thread, sewing machines and batting weren’t as good as they were today, this may have cause some issues. So we had this piece of knowledge passed down that you can’t press your seams open and if you do, sitching-in-the-ditch is out for quilting options.

But as long as you are using quilt shop quality cotton, high quality thread, batting, and a modern sewing machine, not ...

The Quilt Police are going to have a problem with this video … I show you how I stitch-in-the-ditch with my seams pressed open. GASP!

I think once upon a time when quilting fabric, thread, sewing machines and batting weren’t as good as they were today, this may have cause some issues. So we had this piece of knowledge passed down that you can’t press your seams open and if you do, sitching-in-the-ditch is out for quilting options.

But as long as you are using quilt shop quality cotton, high quality thread, batting, and a modern sewing machine, not ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts.

In today’s video I show you how to sew a mitered border. This is a technique a reserve only for when the quilt or the fabric calls for it. What I mean by that is when there ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts.

In today’s video I’m sharing how I always use two pins when I am joining triangle points to make sure they all come together correctly. I use one to align the points right on top of ...

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Stitchin Heaven’s Journey’s BOM – Month 12! This has been a spectacular year. You all have worked so hard. Thank you to Deb Luttrell, Founder of Stitchin Heaven, Deb Tucker, Creative Kingpin of Studio 180 Design, Marie Bostwick New York Times best selling author and Jason Yenter Fabric Designer & President of In the Beginning Fabrics for making this all possible. Now to assemble your quilts!

Note: WOF stands for width of fabric. This month you will assemble your quilt top and add the borders.

Gather the following ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts.

In today’s video we’re starting to sew our triangle units together into a block. This can be one of the most challenging parts because it is really easy for your points to get out of alignment ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts.

In today’s video we’re making 4-at-a-time Flying Geese. They’re also called no-waste flying geese. We’re starting out with one square that is 1.25 inches larger than your finished block width for the large ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts.

In today’s video we’re making double pinwheels. We’re starting out with two squares that are 1.25 inches larger than your finished block for the quarter square triangles and two squares that are 1 inch ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts.

In today’s video we’re making hourglass triangles, which are also called quarter square triangles. We’re starting out with four squares that are 1.25 inches larger than your finished hourglass.

We cover the process in ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts.

In today’s video we’re making half square triangles, which are commonly called HSTs. We’re starting out with two squares that are 1 inch larger than your finished HST.

We cover the process in detail of ...

Triangles quilts are absolutely beautiful, but they can also be intimidating. Getting your blocks to turn out the right size with all of your points in the right place can be a bit of a challenge.

That’s why we created the Triangle Masterclass, a collection of eight videos focusing on different types of triangle units that are commonly used in quilts. In each video we cover how to make the triangle blocks in depth from three different camera angles so you always have the best view. We also cover the quilt math of each triangle unit, so you know ...

 Wildflowers are in abundance at Illinois Beach State Park and the forest preserves (McDonald Woods).

Center: evening primrose. Left: white meadowsweet.  Right: butterfly bush.

Soapwort, pinnate prairie coneflower, creeping thistle.   Turk's cap lily (twice), bladder campion, pale purple coneflower, sawtooth sunflower.  

This was new to me.  rattlesnake master, eryngium yuccifolium. Also called button snakeroot or bear grass.  Note the yucca-like leaves.  It's very invasive. The upper-left photo shows an entire meadow of them, with a few ...