What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Here’s my easy Christmas Trees and Stars quilt to freshen up your holiday decor. Make a few as gifts for your family and friends!

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2026 Meredith Operations Corporation. All rights reserved.

Happy Mail! I just received my quilt, Festive Firs, back with a copy of the Winter 2026 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. This quilt is perfect for confident beginner quilters; I can’t wait to see all the different versions you’ll make!

Festive Firs measures 59-1/2″ x 70-3/4″, and the blocks finish at 10″. I worked ...

If you have lots of leftover scraps, throw them onto the back to add a creative touch to your quilt. That’s what I did for my Americana version. I do what’s called the “Puzzle Method” where I put the top on my design wall and then cover it up with leftover chunks of fabric until it’s enough.

If I have smaller pieces of fabric, I’ll sew those together into larger segments first, and then make sure they aren’t around the edges since that will get trimmed off the most. If you are just finding this ...

My HOCUS POCUS potholders were designed to be used as an oven mitt, as well as a potholder, or a hot pad. I keep mine hanging on my microwave for easy access, but they are almost too cute to use!

Here is my Christmas version of the double potholders…SANTA CLAUSE POTHOLDERS. I am in love with these Jolly Old St. Nicks!

Here are some of my other popular Halloween patterns…

SPOOKY SPIDER looks adorable in this pillow created by a customer.

FRAIDY CAT is one of my many black cat patterns. I love it’s simple shape. Here’s ...

How is your Dancing Stars quilt going? Remember, during this quilt along you can sew at your own pace! This week we are sewing our blocks together to make the quilt top. I made 2 versions with a couple of tips for each.

First of all, for my black & white version, I had mapped out all of the colors ahead of time so it was simple to sew the blocks and then arrange them in a pleasing order. I created a checker board around the blocks with every other square being light or dark. As you can see above, a ...

Welcome back to the Dancing Stars quilt along! This week it’s time to cut our fabrics. If you are one of those people who loves a pretty pile of freshly cut fabric, this is your week. If you’d rather skip ahead to sewing, hang in there – a little organization now will make the star blocks much easier to sew next week!

Remember, this is a quilt along, not a race. If you don’t get everything cut this week, no worries. These posts will stay up indefinitely, so you can work at whatever pace makes you happy.

• Click ...

Here’s a beginner-friendly appliqué butterfly and stars quilt that looks great as a scrappy quilt or with your favorite fabric collection!

Fly Away – purchase quilt pattern here

Fly Away is my newest pattern release of this year. It measures 56″ x 68″, and the blocks finish at 9″. I worked with the Pixie Patch collection by Lumin Fabrics. If you want your quilt to look just like mine, wait a little, as the collection will ship to stores in January 2027. In the meantime, you can make a scrappy quilt using your batiks or other fabrics you have on ...

Welcome to Dancing Stars quilt along! We will take it nice and easy this week. Jut gather up the fabrics you plan to use and do whatever prep you normally do (prewash, starch etc. if so desired.) The quilt pattern includes 3 sizes and it calls for fat quarters, but this patten works very well with scraps, or fewer colors, too.

• Click here to get the Dancing Stars Quilt Pattern – Digital PDF
• Click here to get the Dancing Stars Quilt Pattern – Printed Hardcopy

Colorway Ideas for Dancing Stars

When choosing colors, think about complementary pairs of fabrics that will work ...

I”m so excited to introduce my latest and greatest quilt pattern, called Mosaic Knots. It can be made either from fat quarters or precut strips and includes 4 sizes to choose from.

Click here to get the Mosaic Knots quilt pattern – PDF download.

I’ve been on a roll, regularly releasing new patterns featuring Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cotton Solids. I chose to make this quilt in the throw size from neutral fabrics, but it looks fabulous in bright colors and prints, too!

In all of my patterns I love to include machine quilting suggestions so that you can ...

Are you excited to join me for another quilt along? Below you’ll find the supply list and schedule to make Dancing Stars, one of my newest and most versatile quilt patterns. I’ve already made it twice, and it’s one of those fun patterns that looks great in any fabrics you choose!

• Click here to get the Dancing Stars Quilt Pattern – Digital PDF
• Click here to get the Dancing Stars Quilt Pattern – Printed Hardcopy

Dancing Stars Quilt Along Schedule

• Week of Sept 4 – Gather Your Supplies
• Week of Sept 11 – Cutting the Fabrics
• Week of Sept 18 – Sewing ...

Here is a twist on our beloved quilted Welcome Wreaths! Download this Modern Log Cabin Wreath Pattern and hang it year-round in your house!

Welcome Wreath Quilt. Purchase the pattern here.

I am in love with my Welcome Wreath! It measures 28″ x 28″ with blocks that finish at 10″. It is a perfect scrap buster, too!

For this project, I worked with fabrics from the Chromatics collection by FreeSpirit and Lower the Volume by Blank Quilting, as I was going for a pastel look. Whatever fabric you decide to use, I recommend tiny prints of contrasting fabrics, so each ...

It’s quilt along season and I’m excited to share one of my newest patterns with you! This fall beginning in September we’re going to make my Dancing Stars quilt. This is a fat quarter friendly design that’s easy to customize and make it your own!

• Click here to get the Dancing Stars Quilt Pattern – Digital PDF
• Click here to get the Dancing Stars Quilt Pattern – Printed Hardcopy

In additional to including three size options and colorways in the pattern above, I’ve already made two versions of this eye catching quilt. The first one was made ...

Here’s a fun and easy Pumpkin Garden Beginner Quilt pattern to download and make quickly. It is perfect for using all your scraps!

Newbie Gardener – click here to purchase

Newbie Gardener is my newest pattern! I made the quilt using The Patch Beneath collection by Island Batiks. It measures 51″ x 51″, and the blocks finish at 10″. I loved working with the batiks in this collection. However, you can use your favorite collection or, better yet, all the scraps in your stash.

The quilt size works as a throw, a table topper, or a wall hanging. I rotated ...

I recently finished two patriotic quilts that I’m excited to share as I say, “Happy Birthday, America!”

This first one is called Positive Vibes and is a remake of a pattern I first had published in a magazine nearly 10 years ago. That was before I became a fabric designer and I always knew I wanted to remake using red, white and blue scraps of my own fabrics.

I quilted it with Red, Aqua, Navy and Gold Metallic threads. In each of the aqua, red and navy rows of plus blocks, I quilted straight lines to represent stars. In ...

America’s 250th Independence Day is tomorrow so let’s get ready to celebrate. We’ll need some patriotic decor, and some great food to last through the holiday weekend. I started the decorating outside, by placing flags in the flower baskets.

Shop your house for red, white and blue to make a festive table. For this table, I used red chargers with white stoneware dinner plates topped with red salad plates. Crystal water glasses and everyday flatware make up the settings. The centerpiece is my melamine flag theme platter with silk flowers and dollar store star sprays.

The napkins ...

Learn how to create beautiful fabric collage quilts with these free patterns and tutorials. If you’ve ever seen a quilt that looks more like artwork than traditional piecing, chances are it was a fabric collage quilt.

Fabric collage quilts are a little different from your usual quilt blocks. Instead of matching seams and precise piecing, you build an image by layering fabrics to create shapes, texture, and movement. Flowers, animals, landscapes, and whimsical designs all come to life one little fabric piece at a time.

And before you think, “That looks way too hard,” don’t worry—fabric collage ...

No change in the numbers. 

Work was really busy this week, and I had a few late nights.  The beach runner is quilted with a goal of finishing it this weekend.  Many other projects wait in the wings, and continuing to buy things doesn’t improve that.  Of course, that didn’t stop me.

The patterns came from the thrift shop and the DVD from the free table at Guild.

The cross stitch booklet is a Hallmark pattern book from the 1980s.  I had no idea they published cross stitch charts.  The quilt pattern intrigued me with its three sizes ...

Download this star quilt pattern for beginners now! Turn half-square triangles into a beautiful heirloom for your home or as a gift!

Autumn Sky – purchase pattern here

Today, I am launching the Autumn Sky quilt pattern! The quilt measures 54″ x 66″ and the blocks finish at 12″. It is perfect for beginners as you will only be making half-square triangles.

For this sample, I used batiks from the Fur and Forest collection by Lumin Fabrics. I love the colors of fall, leaves, and forest creatures and animal prints featured in the collection! Of course, you know I also love ...

For the past year I have been featured in American Quilter. Every issue has one of my paper pieced block patterns, and a link to a helpful video on paper piecing techniques.

The May 2025 issue featured this Spring butterfly and daisy. You can watch all the videos on my Made By Marney YouTube channel. If you are new to paper piecing, or need a refresher, watch PAPER PIECING TUTORIAL: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT on YouTube. This is a great starting point with simple tips for easy piecing.

Try some of my favorite Cute Critters in your next project…

These are ...

We are nearly to my favorite part of any quilt – the machine quilting! But first we need to prep our quilts by making sure the backing is big enough, and then basting. I love making pieced backs from leftovers or other coordinating fabrics because that makes the quilt twice as nice!!

Because I had too many pictures of this process to share, I thought it would be much easier to put them all together into a super short video and talk over the process. You can watch that by clicking play below:

Once the quilt is basted, you are ready ...