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Welcome back to our Classic & Vintage Quilt Series! Today, we’re thrilled to introduce the Bows Quilt, a trendy, Fat Quarter-friendly quilt pattern for confident beginners. Each color combination makes two bow-tiful blocks, and you can watch our FREE quilt block video tutorial to see how they come together!

The Bows Quilt Pattern

DOWNLOAD THE BOWS QUILT PATTERN

The Bows Quilt Pattern finishes at 74.5″ square, and is perfect for confident beginners and bow-lovers who are excited to see this classic motif come back on trend! In the Bows Quilt Pattern, you ...

What's in a quilt name?

Hi there! I'm back in my studio working on a UFO that has languished in The Bins for 17 years. This is another quilt from the book "Sweet Treats" by Sandy Bonsib, and the pattern is Pumpkin Pie. That’s the quilt on the table on the cover of the book.

This one has been roaming around in the back of my head for a long time, but it was farther along than I originally thought. I thought there was an adjustment that needed to be made due to a mis-sized block but ...

Another month done and dusted.  I didn’t post an April OMG update, but I did finish K’s top.  It’s a group challenge with the reveal at the end of May, so no pictures.

My May goal will include finishing K’s quilt, but I also want to finish the beach runner.

I’m about 20% through the quilting.  I haven’t free motion quilted in a long time.  The runner gives me some practice before I start quilting on K’s quilt.  I’d hate to make a mess of the quilting on her project, although I ...

Our Western North Carolina Quilters Guild biannual show is coming up on May 15-16 in Flat Rock at Bonclarken Conference Center in the Youth Activities Building. This is a wonderful show with lots of quilting inspiration and creativity on display with wonderful vendors, our quilt raffle, used bookstore, raffle baskets, special exhibits and a gift shop. This year the raffle baskets are themed with not just sewing, but cooking and gardening among others. The quilting one has fabrics, notions, hotel stay for Paducah and gift certificates with the total worth over $1000!! There will be a food truck on site ...

This is truly an Economy Baby Quilt–the block is an 8″ economy block, and it was built entirely of hand-me-downs and scraps.

The feature fabric is adorable (not sure of line). And the quilting echoes the theme.

Finished size is 40″x40″.

It goes in the donation pile.

No change in the numbers.

I started quilting the beach runner this week.  It’s not complicated and shouldn’t take long.

I moved back to that project because I can’t figure out how to quilt K’s top.  I’d hoped something would come to me while basting it, but not so much.  I browsed several of my quilting design books, and nothing jumped out at me.  I’ll spend a little time every day auditioning designs until an idea steps forward.  One always does.

Fabric Added: 1.375

Fabric Used:  4.625 yards

Net Fabric Used:  3 ...

It was a good and busy month.

Thank you all who identified this border below as Prairie Points...what a sweet name and, of course, I had to look that up. Turns out there are tons of video tutorials showing how to make this. How did I not know about it till now?? It looks really intricate but makes such a unique border. Here is what I'm talking about in case you missed it. 

I was in the sewing room. My daughter Kelli was with me. We were looking for something. She was asking what I was working on. I jokingly said…Welcome to my divided attention. Most of the time, people talk about UNdivided attention…not me. I have divided attention. I have very divided attention, especially when it comes …

You Have My Divided Attention! Read More »

As much as I will always be a Texas girl, I have to admit that New Mexico has a special place in my heart. It's where DH and I began our journey as a married couple. It's where our son was born. It's where the good Lord has set us for the second time. It's home. The sunsets and sunrises are spectacular on a regular basis.  The food is addictive and don't even get me started on how much I

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 ...

If you have ever thought about getting the quilt design software from Electric Quilt, this post is for you. The EQ8 Starter Box is a new offer from Electric Quilt that gathers everything you need to design your own quilts and projects, with extra goodies in one box, all at a discounted price! The great folks at EQ sent me a Starter Box so I could show it to you, and we’ll have a giveaway for one, too!

Opening the box, the excitement begins.

First, a quick overview of what you’ll find to install the software, learn a ...

 I fell off the wagon …

The fabric-buying wagon, that is. When I had a few minutes to spare the day before we left Nashville, I mentioned visiting a shop in Murfreesboro. I checked their website the day before and found this adorable panel:

I bought two of them and also purchased a couple of fabrics (a Christmas green grunge and a black and white fabric that could pass for snow flakes). These will make great Christmas quilts that can hang in a doorway (and one will possibly stay here at our home on top of the ridge).

Christmas panel and ...

Have you ever turned a clamshell design on its side and used it as a border design? Well, here you go!

The machine quilting design Foliage is based on molar feathers and quarter circles. The grid design works well as a single border design or as a repeated grid pattern, like in the image below.

Foliage is loose and structured at the same time. Yes, the grid in this design creates structure, but the molar feathers are loose and free-flowing within their available space. 

Stitch this design from left to right as a single or double row and pre-mark it ...

And it feels good.

We took an 8-day trip. First stop to my sister’s to leave the bird and have dinner with her. 

Everyone wants on the Hubs' lap. The bird is in another room.

Every year, the Henderson county Parks and Rec department hosts an event for older residents called Senior Games and Silver Arts. The Senior Games hosts competitions over a couple of weeks in all kinds of games including pickleball, tennis, cornhole, ping pong, basketball, billiards, horseshoes, bowling, swimming and a lot more. The event kicked off with a catered breakfast with a full hot buffet where the participants got their t-shirts and goodie bags. The following week, the Silver Arts competition was held at Blue Ridge College. Participants turned in their entries on Monday, then were judged and the displays were ...

 I posted week 14 results late, which made me lose track of time in posting things.  This means you get to see two weeks of progress. 

During my week of radiation, I stopped at Cotton Creek Mill quilt shop in West Branch, Iowa. I almost didn’t go, but it was only 20 minutes from my hotel…and when would I go again?? Before I went in, I had a little talk with myself, reminding myself what are okay purchases. Fat quarters… yes, …

Quilt Shop Tour: Cotton Creek Mill Read More »

Next week I’m off to Paducah, KY to teach at AQS!

But when I get back, I will get to work on my Fairy Boutique One Block Wonder.

This beautiful collection is by Lumin Fabrics.

These are the fabrics I requested to make a magical One Block Wonder (OBW). I will be using my Star 60 Tool to create some Hollow Cube 60’s and Star 60’s with these coordinating fabrics. Terri Butler of Mama Said Sew, LLC will be creating one of her gorgeous OBW Jackets.

Follow us both on our Facebook page Mama Said These Threads ...

A little bit of perspective of why I do what I do...

Some of you have figured out that I'm an overthinker (especially since I've mentioned it before). Some of you may even think I overshare things, but it's only about my quilting. I do a lot of thinking out loud and while I'm penning a post to this blog...it's just me. I've been this way for most of my life. I am also a planner and with that, I anticipate a completion that often differs from what really happens (for instance, what ...