What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The Hindi/Urdu word Nihal means happy and satisfied in every way.  Imagine a traveler coming from hot and dusty desert, with a parched throat.  They would become "Nihal" after they had a drink of cool and refreshing water. Happy and satisfied in every way!

Meet Nihal. 

Location Courtesy - Kids Play Structure in Mari's Backyard

To make Nihal, I used a pack of 10" squares - Cheers, designed by Carl and Linda Sullivan of Colourwerx. Cheers is from the Island Batik Spring 2022 Collection.  I also used Island Batik Solid light grey fabric for accent and binding. 

Nihal is published ...

Have you ever wanted to go off-script with your quilting? Like break out of the mold and do something a little bit… unexpected? To celebrate Worldwide Quilting Day on March 19, we’re encouraging you to cut loose in your sewing room and bake up something new. It’s all about cake… Layer Cake, that is.

I don’t know about you, but is there anything better than a 10″ stack of fabric? Layer Cakes go by several names depending on the manufacturer, but they’re basically a 10″ x 10″ square with about 42 different fabrics.

A “big sis ...

Jenny Doan’s family tree is stitched with needle and thread. 

Look back two generations, and you’ll find a pair of great aunts, master seamstresses who traveled from Sweden to work for the acclaimed New York artist, George Inness. 

They stitched and saved to pay passage to America for the entire family–including Jenny’s grandmother, who was just seven years old at the time. 

Jenny says, “When I see these spools, I am reminded that sewing is part of my genetic makeup; it changed our family forever!” 

This week, Jenny is stitching up a beautiful Big Spools quilt ...

Burano is a tiny Italian island known for handmade lace and sherbet-hued homes. 

Why were those little houses painted aqua, lavender, and cotton-candy pink? According to legend…it was to help tipsy fishermen find their way home! 

This week, the Doan girls are stitching up 3 new Drunkard’s Path quilts, and they’re just as colorful and charming as the streets of Burano! 

Watch the latest Triple Play tutorial to learn how to transform layer cakes and charm packs into Drunkard’s Path quilts that are quick, easy, and “sew” much fun!

 This was such a fun piece to quilt!  It's based on the flag of India and was the last "custom" quilt of 2021.

Much of the quilt is hexagons.

FIRST FINISH OF 2022

This one's mine.  Started on New Year's Day and complete ...

Every year when the weather turns cold, the peacock butterfly finds a cozy bed inside a hollow tree. There she naps for months at a time, with her wings wrapped around her body like a quilt. 

At the first sign of spring she emerges, wonderfully refreshed and ready to flutter!  (Add a tiny sewing machine and a stack of pretty precuts, and I’d call that the perfect winter!)

This week Jenny is stitching up a new butterfly quilt using a border print and layer cake from the beautiful Elysian collection by Jason Yenter for In the Beginning Fabrics. 

She ...

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 ...

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 ...

On live TV in 1956, magician P.C. Sorcar began to “saw” his wife in half. Suddenly, the host signed off and the program went dark!

Viewers across the country assumed the worst. (Something went wrong! The poor woman was dead!) But the truth was much less gory: The live broadcast had simply run out of time. How’s that for an illusion falling flat!

This week, Jenny has a trick up her sleeve that’ll earn you big “oohs” and “ahhs” without a single hiccup!

“Wallah!” – or voilà – is a magical layer cake quilt pattern from Material Girlfriends. With ...

If you wish upon a star, your dreams might come true…but be ready for a wait!

The closest star is 26 trillion miles away. That starlight magic won’t reach the earth for 4+ years! (If my calculations are correct, wishes from 2017 are just starting to arrive!)

Of course, if you’re short on time, you can whip up your own lucky stars in a jiffy! 

The Brightly star quilt was designed by Allison Harris for Cluck Cluck Sew. It’s a stunning layer cake pattern that is timeless and modern all at once.

(Watch to the end ...

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 ...

There once was a mischievous fellow named Stingy Jack, or so says the old Irish myth. 

The Devil – who had been tricked by Jack one too many times – didn’t want him, and heaven wouldn’t take him. So when he died, Jack was consigned to roam the earth forever with a lantern carved out of a turnip. Over time, he became known as Jack of the Lantern or, Jack O’Lantern. 

For hundreds of years, Irish folk carved spooky faces on turnips and potatoes to repel the ghost of Stingy Jack. Later, when Irish immigrants arrived in America, they ...

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 ...

It’s simple geometry:

When the 3 Doan gals whip up 3 new quilts using the Equilateral 60 Degree Triangle Ruler, the result is infinite fabulosity!

Natalie’s Design: Mountain Magic

First, Natalie fussy-cuts fabric panels to create a modern masterpiece featuring mountains, trees, and woodland creatures on every block.

Jenny’s Design: Hexi Stacks

Next, Jenny pieces intricate, overlapping hexis using holiday jelly roll strip sets—with enough left over for TWO bonus table runners.

Misty’s Design: Grandma Etta’s Stars

Finally, Misty uses a beautiful floral layer cake to recreate an heirloom triangle star quilt made by ...

If you love cats, you’re in good company!

Catherine the Great kept up to 300 cats inside her Winter Palace.

Florence Nightingale’s personal writings are dotted with the inky paw prints of her feline companions.

Itty Bitty Kitty Committee

And Abraham Lincoln took his cats to live at the White House, where Tabby was fed with a golden fork during a formal dinner with visiting dignitaries, and Dixie was declared to be “smarter than my whole cabinet!”

Cats in the Window

Of course, here at Missouri Star, we love cats so much, we can’t stop quilting them ...

The Periwinkle Template is a magical thing. (In fact, it has its very own playlist of projects!)

We’ve used it for spiderwebs, mug rugs, and butterflies. We’ve used it for modern quilts and old-fashioned classics.

But this week, I think we may have found its true calling.

Periwinkle Plates is a breathtaking applique pattern made with a layer cake, a charm pack, and our beloved template. It’s put together like a simplified Dresden Plate—with only 6 blades instead of 20! 

Jenny used Christmas fabric in her quilt, but – as always – your quilt will look beautiful in ...

Many people shy away from complicated quilts. I can’t blame them. Tiny pieces or curved pieces, maybe even Y-seams would scare anyone. But sometimes you can get the same Wow-factor from simple piecing with just amazing color placement. These cases are when a design wall matters to spread the quilt out and see them laid out the way you want them. Not all of us have that luxury, but for those that do… what beauties they can make! The concept for the following quilts from Quilted Joy’s longarm machine renters are simple, half square triangles and simple blocks ...

A butterfly is the pickiest of guests. 
Invite her for brunch, and she won’t eat a bite—unless you serve her favorite food. (Milkweed for monarchs; white cedar for hairstreaks.)

On evening strolls, the weather must be perfect. If it’s too chilly, your fluttery friend will simply stop, drop, and nap. 

And no matter how lovely the guest room, it won’t tempt Miss Butterfly. Oh, she may request a posh butterfly house. But rest assured she’ll never step inside.

This week Jenny is stitching up a layer cake butterfly quilt fit for a queen. She’s ...