What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

On cold winter nights, the sky is an icy blanket of twinkling stars. The truth is … I rarely take notice. It’s just too cold for stargazing! 

But if you are willing to bundle up and brave the winter chill, you will be treated to a glittering show far brighter than any summertime stars. 

This week Jenny is whipping up a Winter Star quilt in icy shades of blue and white. This quick and easy layer cake pattern is perfect as a lap quilt or winter wall hanging.

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! If you love Marcia Brady as much as we do, get excited! 

Last year, Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) visited Missouri to meet Jenny. Maureen is an avid quilter and just as sweet in person as she was on TV. (Click HERE to watch the video!)

Now, Maureen has her own fabric collection with Moda, and Jenny used it to whip up a flower applique quilt made with quick and easy half-square triangles. 

These pretty blocks can be laid out in dozens of ways. And whether you choose pinwheels, chevrons, or square-in-a-square, you’ll have a groovy ...

Hexagon quilts can be tricky, but they don’t have to be! Simply grab your favorite jelly roll strips and our brand new 60 Degree Triangle Ruler. Almost like magic, those six-sided beauties come together in a flash—no Y-seams required!

This quilt would dazzle with any 2.5 inch strips, but we sure love Jenny’s choice of Linework and Designer Solids by Tula Pink for FreeSpirit Fabrics. It’s bright, cheery, and oh so fresh! Click HERE to watch the tutorial!

Can you imagine enduring winter in ancient Scandinavia? No electricity. No furnace. No corner grocery store. Just weeks and weeks of darkness, cold, and scarcity. 

During the darkest part of winter, my own Swedish ancestors adorned evergreen wreaths with white candles to celebrate Yule, or midwinter. The evergreen boughs symbolized resilience in harsh conditions; the candles, hope for the warmth and light of spring. 

3,000 years later, I think we can all use a touch of hope, so we’re whipping up a quick and easy Hourglass Wreath quilt. This simple layer cake pattern comes together in a jiffy ...

They say there’s more than one way to skin a cat. (Ew, right?) I prefer to say there’s more than one way to set quilt blocks on point!

Last week Jenny taught one quick and easy way to set a quilt on point; this week, she’s demonstrating another simple method! 

She starts with an easy-peasy bear paw block and stitches it up with setting triangles. It’s the perfect pattern for your favorite 2.5 inch strips, and it comes together like a dream! Click HERE to watch the tutorial!

On Mother’s Day, we shared a bouquet of fabric flowers that bloom year round! We were so excited by your response to this lovely project, that we teamed up with the creator, Missouri Star’s very own, Cassie R., to share a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these easy fabric flowers!

Follow along below to learn how to make your very own fabric flowers. These can be made with any fabric (and are a perfect scrap buster!), however, Cassie used batik fabric strips so that the back side of the fabric is not as noticeable when twisting the ...

Talking about flying geese can be tricky. Is it one flying goose or one flying geese?

Jenny’s Design

Two flying geese or two flying…geeses? We may never know!

Misty’s Design

But you know what’s not tricky? Quilting with those pretty little geese!

Natalie’s Design

This week’s Triple Play tutorial features three new flying geese quilts from Jenny, Misty, and Natalie. And these goose…er…geese blocks are as fun and easy as it gets!  Click HERE to watch the tutorial!

If I asked you to draw a cactus, you’d probably choose the most cactus-y cactus of all, the saguaro. (You know, the tall fella with upstretched arms.) But let’s not forget, there are nearly 2,000 different types of cactus, and we love ‘em all!

This week Jenny is stitching up a desert garden out of 10 inch squares. She’s using several of our favorite templates – orange peels, tumblers, and a cute little petal – to create a dazzling variety of spiny beauties! Click HERE to watch the tutorial!

Jenny wasn’t always a quilter; she was a costume seamstress! But when she took a class to learn the log cabin block, it was love at first stitch! Before the class was over, she had completed 12 quilts—and she hasn’t slowed down yet!

During those early years, there was one pattern that always seemed too daunting: the dresden.  She finally gave it a try, and guess what? It was an instant favorite! Click HERE to learn how to make a fun variation, Dresden Blooms!

When Henry Ford implemented the assembly line, he cut the production time of the Model T from twelve hours to just two and a half! The car was the same. The parts were the same. But putting it together assembly-style was so much faster!

The same is true in quilting! The Diamond Terrace quilt is made of dozens of little pieces, but they come together lickety-split with chain piecing! Click HERE to learn how to make this quick and easy strip quilt!

Have you ever given up on a quilting project? You’re not alone! Wavy blocks and unmatched seams have frustrated quilters since the invention of needle and thread!

As a result, unfinished quilts are commonly found in antique shops, and quite often, they are Morning Star quilts! This pretty star is certainly breathtaking, but all those Y-seams and tiny bias-cut diamonds have caused many a quilter to call it quits. 

Lucky for us, the magnificent Tara Faughnan designed a modern Morning Star for our MODBlock Magazine, and it’s the perfect blend of quick, easy, and exciting! Click HERE to ...

The Double Nine Patch was all the rage during the Civil War. Fabric was scarce—so scarce that every precious scrap was saved for quilts. Patterns like the Double Nine Patch transformed all those scraps into true works of art!

Back then, these quilts were hand stitched one itty-bitty scrap at a time, but now there’s an easier way! Click HERE to watch Jenny whip up a Mini Double Nine Patch quilt with quick and easy strip sets!

In the olden days, laundry was scrubbed on washboards, hand-mixed bread was baked in finicky wood-burning stoves, and the Carpenter’s Star was stitched with labor intensive y-seams. It was a lot of work. Thank goodness for modern innovations!

This week, Jenny is whipping up an Easy Carpenter’s Star using big half square triangles. It’s a gorgeous quilt that comes together lickety-split! Click HERE to watch the tutorial!

With May right around the corner, there’s no better time to create a beautiful Mother’s Day quilt than the present! Many of us learned to sew from our mothers and grandmothers, but even if you didn’t, take some time this spring to celebrate those who helped raise us. Mothers and quilters are an incredible and caring people. Wrap mom in love this season with one of our five favorite Mother’s Day quilts!

May Day Baskets

The month of May starts off strong with the celebration of May Day! Traditionally, May Day baskets are full of freshly ...

Bold and brilliant colors plus sewing-themed designs?! Sign us up! This is what you’ll find in Tula Pink’s brand new HomeMade collection. Designed with her sewing process in mind, HomeMade is sure to dazzle!

To celebrate the HomeMade collection, Tula Pink, Free Spirit and Aurifil are sponsoring the HomeMade Challenge, a juried and judge quilt competition, and we’re proud to be one of the participating quilt shops!! For the complete contest rules, please click HERE. 

The winner of this challenge wins a terrific grand prize valued at over $10,000 (more details on the prizes HERE), AND ...

The tippy tops of the Rocky Mountains are covered with ten feet of snow right now!  But underneath that blanket of white, wildflower seeds wait patiently. And when summer arrives, those mountain peaks will be bursting with blooms!

If you’re like me, you can’t wait till summer; we need flowers today! Click HERE to learn how to create your own Mountain Lily blocks out of 2.5” strips!

Fill your heart with love with the Hold My Heart Valentine’s pocket. In this easy sewing tutorial, we’ll show you how to make this heart-shaped pennant pocket using Lori Holt’s Crazy Quilt Paper. With some fabric and a few other supplies, you can make one, too! This cute pennant finishes at about 14.5″ x 11.25″.

Supplies:

• • 10″ Crazy Paper by Lori Holt
  • 10″ Stacker or Layer Cake. We chose Braveheart by Laundry Basket Quilts
  • One fat quarter of fabric (Ecru Bubbles by Braveheart, 8515-RL)
  • Heat ‘n Bond Lite or any lightweight fusible web
  • Hold my ...

Have you ever watched a subway turnstile as folks pass through one by one? It spins and spins with an easy rhythm, almost like a sewing needle. Click. Click. Click. 

This week Jenny is working on a Turn Style quilt inspired by Me & My Sister’s Ground Cover quilt. From quick and easy quarter-square triangles to simple hourglass blocks, this pretty quilt is as effortless as a spinning turnstile. Click HERE to watch the tutorial!