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Bordered Diamonds is such a great pattern.  

The original pattern is in Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts by Kaffe Fassett, but that book is out of print now, so I've been using Midnight Diamonds from Quilts in Burano by Kaffe Fassett.  I think the patterns are the same, but I haven't got out my ruler to check.  

I've had fun mixing the fabrics and applying borders to the fussy cut blocks.  I especially like the big Cactus Flower block above, surrounded by the blue section of the Diamond Stripe.  The blue in the border highlights the blue in ...

Life is a whirlwind of extremes. Happy times; hard times. Miracles and loss. But as our hearts are stretched in a thousand directions, they sure do grow! 

If you’re anything like me, you pour your emotions into your quilts. And this week’s quilt is bursting with love!

Watch Jenny stitch up the wildly popular Exploding Hearts quilt by Laura Piland for Slice of Pi Quilts. This stunning heart quilt is a triumph of triangles with half-square triangles, hourglass blocks, and quarter-square triangles, too. (We love Exploding Hearts SO MUCH, we created a kit with the pattern and beautiful ...

It doesn’t get easier than this classic quilt block! Using Layer Cakes cut into half-square triangles, the chevron quilt block is the perfect project for a new beginner quilter! Even if you’ve been stitching up quilts for awhile now, this simple pattern offers a unique opportunity to quilt in a hurry (not like any of us would EVER wait until the last minute to make a handmade gift).

To make this into a full quilt, all you’ll need is a solid layer cake and a printed layer cake – but the good news is you can truly make ...

I've just finished making the Starry Night pattern from Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in an English Village and it was a bit tricky due to the Y seams, so I thought I'd record what I did.  

1. Always check www.kaffefassett.com/book-corrections/ for pattern corrections before you start.  There is a pattern correction for Starry Nights because Template A diagram is too long in the book. The short parallel side should measure 2 3/4" and the long parallel side should measure 8 3/4". So make that change in your book before you start.  

2.  I ...

Have you ever heard of a Colorado block? Many quilters know this quilt classic by another name, the Dutch Windmill. Using layer cakes, this traditional half-square triangle quilt block comes together in a flash creating a unique and vintage design that has been loved for many years. How many years to be exact? While Jenny couldn’t find much information on the original of the name Dutch Windmill, the Colorado quilt block can be traced back to 1941 where it was published in the Kansas City Star!

To stitch up this classic you’ll need two layers cakes, one of ...

When Quiltfolk announced a webinar with Kaffe Fassett I signed up right away.  That was months ago.   Finally the weekend arrived.  The class was held for three hours Friday and three hours Saturday.

The event was called Kaffe Fassett’s Laboratory of Color: A Virtual Workshop With Jenni Smith.  The blurb:  "Host Jenni Smith will take attendees on a tour of the colorful, surprising, and rarely seen home and studio of world-renowned artist and textile designer Kaffe Fassett. Then, back at Jenni’s studio in Yorkshire, she’ll teach you how to make her unique Ribbon quilt, which was designed ...

(Note: see the next post for the wonderful Quiltfolk workshop with Kaffe Fassett!)

I sewed and I sewed until I'd made 41 four-patch basket blocks.  I used up ALL of the red 30's print.   I had a 3" x WOF piece of red that I cut in half and sewed back together along the long edge. That gave me enough for three large triangles and the rest of the small triangles to get the count to 41 and achieve a symmetrical layout.

I put the blocks away for the time being as I attend to other projects.

I ...

The Hourglass quilt block is one of the more simple traditional blocks and comes together with ease using 10″ squares of precut quilting fabric. All you need to do is chop up your layer cake corner to corner, recreate a square using two different fabrics and stitch them back together – and just like that you’ve put together a gorgeous and traditional quilt block!

This block in it’s own is an absolute favorite amongst quilters, but why stop the fun with just the basic hourglass! This block can be used in a wide variety of quilting patterns that all ...

Garden Plot is one of my favorite patterns I’ve designed because it is perfect for showing off fabrics you don’t want to cut up.

The large sections of fabric and constant color changes make it perfect for Kaffe because you can just have a riot of color and show off those beautiful designs.

The shot cotton background is absolutely fantastic. The mix of a deep teal and purple threads almost gives it an iridescent look to it.

Shop the Kaffe Fassett Collective: https://shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com/product-category/kaffe-fassett/?orderby=date

We just got more Kaffe Fassett Prism kits back in stock! I was so excited to work with Free Spirit to bring Kaffe’s Prism pre-cut collection to life using our patterns.

The last time we had these in stock the quilts were just digital images, but my team has been hard at work making real quilts so you can see the quilts and fabrics in all their glory. And let me tell you, they’re fabulous!

First up we’re going to share our tutorial on Retro Tiles, a quilt made with one 10-inch charm pack and background fabric ...

It's a long weekend in New Zealand, and I'm hoping to get quite a bit of quilting done.  

First I need to put away all the new fabric sitting on my kitchen bench! 

The Kaffe Fassett ones on the left were a birthday gift from my mum and dad.  I chose them, and ordered them, but they insisted on paying.  I also received Kaffe's latest book for my birthday, so I'm enjoying that at the moment.

The spots and stripes were from a quick trip to Palmerston North on Monday. I was invited to judge the ...

This week I've been working on my Tea Party quilt.  How I wish I had coffee cups like this at my house!

and shiny tea cups like this too.

I think they work well with my tea pot.

I've still got to applique flowers on to all of these blocks, but I'm happy that I've finally decided on my cups and tea pot.  Although I do like the softer colours used in the pattern, I like the darker cups and tea pot even more. 

Book lovers, rejoice! Studies show that reading isn’t just fun—it’s good for your health, too! 

A regular date with a good book can reduce your chances of Alzheimer’s by 2.5 times, reduce stress, exercise your brain, and even extend your lifespan! In other words, a well-stocked library is like a real-life fountain of youth!

This week, Jenny is whipping up a bookcase quilt filled with books of all colors and sizes. She used a gorgeous Kaffe Classics Prims layer cake, but this bookshelf quilt is just begging to be customized with your prettiest scraps and ...

I have another finish to share with you today.  

This is "Material Girl", a quilt that I started in a class with Anna Maria Horner back in November 2019, in Wellington, New Zealand.  It's based on Anna Maria's pattern called Cross Country. 

My plan was to use a lot of Anna Maria Horner's fabrics in this quilt, but somehow I gravitated back to my Kaffe Fassett favourites as you can see below!

I've decided that I'm tired of walking past this quilt every day, so it's time to finish it.  

I did have grand plans to use this quilt as a hand quilting sampler, but I really don't like hand quilting through cotton batting.

Color is king when Kaffe Fassett comes to town! In 2019, we were thrilled to host the world-renowned color guru himself at a workshop and a lecture highlighting his latest projects. It was a feast for the eyes to see the Kaffe Fassett Collective’s designs up close and personal and our fabulous social media manager took a moment to sit down with Kaffe and Brandon Mably to chat about the sources of their inspiration and how they are able to collaborate so seamlessly together. These ...

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It's Huge!

Fresh from the photographer! My newest quilt - it's about 70" high. I should have blocked it, look at that top edge, curved like an archery bow, oy!