This year, we’ve put together something extra magical for all of our quilty friends (and the people who have them on their gift list)! Whether you’re shopping for yourself or someone else, the 2024 Holiday Gift Guide is your one-stop shop for finding something special this holiday season. To make your browsing (and sharing) a bit easier, use the links below to jump to the category you’re interested in!

Stocking Stuffers

Tis the season to surprise your favorite quilter with unique and useful stocking stuffers! Add ...

This Nativity pattern is 27″ wide x by 33″ high and uses 3 reds, 5 blues, 5 browns and one near-white. The Paypal link lets you use any charge card for payment. You’ll immediately be given a download link for files to store on your computer. Ideally print the pattern pages (which are already mirrored) on sheets of freezer paper to be taped together. There are general instructions, specific sequence instructions, a color chart, and some single sheets ...

A chill is in the air and there are howls on the wind, calling in all the Halloween freebies for a spooktacular roundup. Thirteen free Halloween projects and three free Halloween Quilt and Stitch Alongs await you. Keep reading… if you dare! The urge to make something is all but guaranteed to strike.

Home Decor

Creep your home looking spooky and cute this Halloween with one of these free projects! Which one will bewitch you this spooky season?

Spooky Bat Bunting

The Spooky Bat Bunting works up in two flaps of a bat’s wing and is frightening fun for ...

Hope you had a good holiday celebration!

I have some good news and I promise I will get to it. But please let me whine first. After all, if I don't do it here, where can I?

In Yorktown

Paul and I decided to visit Colonial Williamsburg so we made hotel reservations a few weeks in advance. The plan was to spend July 4th in Yorktown, July 5th in Williamsburg, and July 6th in Jamestown.

I booked us a sailboat cruise (6:30 - 8:30) on the York river, after which we could watch the fireworks. As we drove ...

This weekend, we pause to count our blessings and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. To help you celebrate, here are a few of my posts with patriotic theme projects, food and tablescapes.

I made this Patriotic Table Runner some time ago, and it is the foundation of most of my patriotic tablescapes.  The complete tutorial on how to make the tri-rec star blocks and put it together including putting borders on points, and binding non-90-degree angles HERE.  It is easy and fast, you could have one made in time for the July 4th ...

No stitching to show off today.  We're eclipsing. Fingers crossed we get some clearing around noon so we can enjoy the show. If not, I'm going to have one very disappointed My Guy. 

Do you have Easter Egg hunts planned for today?  That was such a big deal with my mother in law when she was alive.  The grand kids always looked forward too the hunt after lunch.  Now our chick is way to big for egg hunts, but she still really likes those marshmallow bunnies and chicks.

As far as the stitching week, I managed to make it to the sewing room every day. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Mar = 30/30 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 90/90 days
• Success rate = 100%

This 72″ tall by 32″ wide Folded-Freezer-Paper-Piecing pattern is based on a famous painting by Polish artist Eugeniusz_Kazimirowski of a depiction of a 1931 vision described by Polish nun Faustina Kowalska.

Order this $23.75 pattern from Peggy Aare.

See previous post for more pattern details.

Click here for previous post

— Peggy Aare

This 72″ tall by 32″ wide Folded-Freezer-Paper-Piecing pattern is based on a famous painting by Polish artist Eugeniusz_Kazimirowski of a depiction of a 1931 vision described by Polish nun Faustina Kowalska.

Order this $23.75 pattern from Peggy Aare.

It comes with a color chart for the 27 colors (specified Kona solid colors, though certainly you need not restrict yourself to one line of fabric), an exploded assembly diagram, and pages to print on freezer paper, plus general ...

I'm just back from a lovely family holiday in Nelson.  It's such a pretty place with beautiful beaches and bays. We stayed in an Airbnb overlooking Tasman Bay and I loved watching the ebb and flow of the tide and the sea changing colour throughout the day. 

It is 2024, and I am happy to turn the calendar over to a new page. I am looking forward to this new year in the hopes that the issues of the past couple of months are resolved enough to go smoothly now, at least for a while. I thought it was a good sign when more than 2 dozen robins showed up in the front yard and meadow. They are hard to pick out in the photo below, but you can see a bunch of them between the rails of the veranda.

The birds were all over the front ...

It is almost New Year’s Eve, time to get the final preparations done to ring in the new year. Once again, I am reposting some previous ideas that I do year after year. Thank you for your indulgence with these round-up posts of previous writing as I deal with other things. I hope long time readers will enjoy these traditions, and new readers will see something fresh for the last of the holiday celebrations.  Putting away the red and green, I usually like to do tablescapes for the New Year in black, white and gold. This one used black ...

Wishing you love, joy and peace during this holiday season.

Kate

My Guy

Grad Girl

(and Queenie)

In this time of holiday cheer, I’d like to take a moment to thank you, dear readers. It is humbling that so many of you want to read my ramblings, and take the time to comment. I am very grateful for each of you, those who only read, those who do the projects I offer or cook my recipes, all of you who leave wonderful comments, those who are inspired by a post, and everyone who shares on our Facebook group. The support of all of you makes writing a pleasure and gives me encouragement to keep blogging when ...

I’m taking a step back for a time, so I looked to the archives of past posts for some ideas that you may have missed, or for new readers to see. I have over 1800 posts, categorized on the sidebar, so you can always browse for more ideas. I’ve picked out some fun posts from past years for your enjoyment today. Let’s start with a Nine Patch Star Christmas runner. We did this as a quick quilt along in 2017, in three parts.

This Wool Applique Christmas Penny Rug was perfect for my tiny frolicking reindeer.  This ...

The holidays are right around the corner and gift-giving is on everyone’s mind, so we gathered a list of the ultimate DIY holiday gifts to guide you in your handmade gift giving this season. Keep reading for quilting, no-sew, and sewing projects to make your holidays bright that include video tutorials and step-by-step blogs! You can even invite your family and friends to join you for some extra-special holiday merrymaking!

Christmas Stockings

Embrace the holiday spirit by decking the halls with the perfect Christmas stockings using the Fat Quarter Stocking Template Set. Kimberly’s tutorial guides you through ...

Are you enjoying this Thanksgiving Weekend and beginning of the holiday season? I sure am! This weekend, my Thanksgiving cactus burst into bloom all over. I think these blooms are so interesting, with their shapes that make me think of little rockets.

The plant has blooms all over, most are red.

On the other side, there are a few yellow ones blooming, and more buds on the way on the fronds behind.

Several people asked about the difference between the Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti on the leaf shape. The spiky ones are Thanksgiving. But if you cannot decide, look at ...