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In October, Allie asked us to make ladders for her Quilts Unscripted Bee. She asked that we make blocks that are at least 8" on each side with a ladder going all the way across the block, edge to edge. "The ladder can be curved, straight, leaning, have mismatched rungs, be missing rungs, anything. It can go halfway up the block and make a sharp 90 degree turn. It can be wide at the base and narrow at the top or vice versa." Allie provided the white background fabric and asked us to use choose from a palette of bright ...

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Hello Friends, I hope you are keeping well. Christmas is HERE – it truly is my favorite time of year.

Thank you to those of you who purchased Pine-ing for Christmas pattern over the weekend. I am most appreciative of your support. Pine-ing for Christmas is entirely scrap-friendly. The most tedious part would be to make the 3″ finished Ohio star units, but beyond that, everything else should be a breeze. Honestly, once you get used to ...

Just wanted to share some pieces I’ve had on the backburner. I almost forgot I had this blog. It’s been a crazy 2 years. Hopefully After the Holidays I’ll get back on it.

This fellow is back around the feeders. I always wonder if it is the same ones that come and go ...

When I last showed this quilt’s progress before the holiday, it was assembled and the quilting had been started. I am using a snowflake pantograph called Flurry, with silver grey Glide thread on top and Bottom Line in the bobbin.

Quilting had to be done over several days, one pass at a time as I had time to work on it.

The moose is really cute in his sweater.

The pantograph is not very dense, so this will be a cuddly quilt.

As I finished, and was checking the back, the stitching looked fine, but there are a couple ...

I’m busy cleaning from when the wood trim got installed.  Read about that in the morning post. I thought about not doing a post at all but I know that makes many of you sad.  So I’m doing a very quilt post.   I managed to get two new videos up this past week. The first […]

As I started putting up my Christmas decorations, I realized I have plenty of Christmas tree skirts to choose from. They are all handmade and, of course, all paper pieced.

Any tree skirt pattern can be created as a table topper instead, just don’t cut the hole in the center. The BEARY-Y CHRISTMAS TREE SKIRT would also make a super cute table centerpiece.

When I am decorating using a more farmhouse look, I use this tree skirt.

LITTLE RED TRUCK TREE SKIRT is so easy! Consider using fabric photos to paper ...

I just had to share another of my turkey shots in honour of the great American Thanksgiving 2022 occurring as I write this post. 

It's been a good week and I've managed to keep up my fitness, visit older daughter and older grandson, and do some Christmas shopping. SIL always drops me off a Costco chicken which I appreciate as I seldom get there myself. They are a good size and I get to use them right down to boiling the bones to make a little bone broth. Speaking of Costco...

Look what's on my bed...Black ...

In May, E. A. asked us to make two-color blocks that contained the word "hope."

For my first block I chose Kona Cerise and green to make some skinny strip letters. My skinny strips finish at 1/8" wide. I created boxy letters improvisationally, but aimed for the letters to all be about the same height. The letters are about 6 1/2" tall and the block finished at about 12" x 10".

In my second block I chose a much lower contrast color combination with dark purple and dark grey. I improv cut all the pieces for my letters ...

This simple paper piecing Polar Bear block comes in two sizes 8″ x 8″ and 15″ x 15″.. both sizes included in the same purchase for $8.60

The pattern comes as a PDF download for you to print, the smaller version prints on one piece of paper, the larger on 4. Click here for pattern.

The eyes and nose are appliqued, the ears are free to flap and are inserted into the seams as you assemble the block. This is a great, quick, fun to make pattern. I’d love to see what you come up with.. don’t ...

Just a bit more progress.  

International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX for 2022 is in the books. Festival, as it is affectionately known, is the big show each year in Houston. It is held at the end of October / beginning of November. Quilters from all over the globe come together to celebrate the art of quilting. They enjoy classes, quilt displays, vendors, lectures, and a judged contest. It is a real treat to see the winning quilts.

Handi Quilter is proud to sponsor the Best of Show award for the judged contest. Along with Best of Show, the show presents 5 Master Awards, and 1st ...

International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX for 2022 is in the books. Festival, as it is affectionately known, is the big show each year in Houston. It is held at the end of October / beginning of November. Quilters from all over the globe come together to celebrate the art of quilting. They enjoy classes, quilt displays, vendors, lectures, and a judged contest. It is a real treat to see the winning quilts.

Handi Quilter is proud to sponsor the Best of Show award for the judged contest. Along with Best of Show, the show presents 5 Master Awards, and 1st ...

In April, Isabelle asked us to make confetti inspired pieces for her. She gave us tons of flexibility in what we made for her. "Please create blocks that are abstract, and feature small pieces (1”-ish) within the design. The percentage of small piecing that makes up the block is less important than the impact of the small pieces used in the overall design of the block. Negative space, strip piecing, curved piecing, geometric design – anything goes."

I pulled out my smallest solid scraps, including some pieced bits. Do you see the legs from my "watch me grow" block for ...

Many years ago I made this quilt as a block of the month. It is really a “chunk of the month quilt” as it is made with a 12″ block and small filler blocks. I still love the quilt, but the Thimbleberries fabrics, not so much (it’s not a good photo, but you get the idea!).

I think it would be fun to offer an updated version of this as a skill-builder chunk of the month quilt. Starting in January, I will offer a pattern that will make a chunk of this quilt. The quilt shown is throw-size, but ...

Change Is GoodThank you for joining me here for so many years. We have been through many tutorials...

Ikat is a pattern by Brigitte Heitland featuring fabric from her Fragile collection, one of my favorite fabric collections ever. I've made so many quilts with it, including Fragile, Paradox, and Critical Sunshine, and that's just the ones I've finished quilting! What can I say, I'm a sucker for black and gold.

A November pond view, the day before our snow fall. 

Yes, it snowed overnight Monday into Tuesday and we have a couple of centimeters on the ground. The pond was caught over with ice this morning. The air was cold and crisp on our walk. Here is Ned relaxing with Tony but with an eye on the door. A squirrel ran across his veranda. How dare it!!

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is to share a favourite dish for Thanksgiving, that would be the great American Thanksgiving which is coming up.  I cook a traditional ...