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 THIS TUTORIAL provided a great starting point for our new couch quilt.

I just love it when a pile of fabric, a need and an idea all come together.

And then I found the perfect back!

And I had pre-made binding all ready to go!

Sometimes it is just meant to be. And I look forward to wrapping up in this cozy quilt.

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 ...

Jenny Doan loves to quilt everywhere she goes: In the studio. On the couch. In waiting rooms and on long drives. (Can you relate?) Life is more fun with a needle and thread in tow!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Jenny has whipped up a quilt-as-you-go heart quilt using fat quarters and the fabulous Jewel Template. Best of all, these pretty hearts can be sewn by machine or by hand! 

Jewel Heart is a great project for long waits and nervous energy, and it makes such a sweet gift, too!

 I found an adorable duffle bag pattern! It's a free tutorial from Bernina. Click the link to go to the tutorial:

  Ruffle Duffle Tutorial

The finished size of this duffle is 14.5" by 8" by 8" tall. I have kitted this project in case you want to make one too. The kit includes the laminate, the cotton webbing and a black zipper.

Ruffle Duffle Kit

You can click the link above to go directly to the item in my online shop. Or you can go to AlamosaQuiltCompany.com and click Shop>Kits and this one is probably the ...

There were days I thought it would never end. When I saw Pat Speth’s North Star State Quiltalong I immediately knew I wanted to stitch along. But I also knew that the small scraps of 1930s repro (and some original) fabric that I had on hand would mean making the pieces smaller…much smaller. Yep, that star is 3″.

But, off I went, sure it was all going to be ok.

As I stitched, my ambitions had to be adjusted. NO, I wasn’t going to make a queen size quilt. Not even with borders. I finally decided that ...

My Friday Night Sew In (FNSI),(Wendy of Sugarlane Designs) began with an hour of sewing Friday morning, and continued with more time Friday night. And, continued into Saturday. Between other necessary things, I was determined to get the last 13 setting blocks for the North Star State quilt finished.

YAY! All that are left are the friendship star cornerstone blocks. It is so good to see it finally coming together. It seemed like such a good idea to do the quilt in miniature…or at least much smaller scale. I am glad to have found a use for my ...

Yesterday I shared my improv hammock quilt block. The second block I made for Chris was a book.

The book block was less tricky. I started by cutting book page shaped pieces out of the blue fabric. Then I added borders of white on three sides. I used the blue and white book pages as my template for cutting the background. These strips are about 5/8" wide. Rectangles were cut for the sides and I used the curve edge of the blue fabric as my template to cut the curves white strips.

Next, I cut out the book shape ...

Mae Emma Plumb was a talented lady. 

She sewed and painted and baked excellent pies. She kept a lovely flower garden and volunteered countless hours crafting costumes and planning skits for the local Boy Scout troop. And, best of all, she made quilts. 

Years and years have passed – four generations, in fact – but by some magic, one of Mae’s quilts still exists. It belongs to Mae’s great-granddaughter Kate, our very own Missouri Star marketing manager.

Of course, when Jenny saw Grandma Mae’s antique quilt, she fell head-over-heels in love! She did a bit of research and found ...

In July, Chris asked for blue and yellow blocks showing what summer represented for us.

My immediate thought was a hammock, because last summer my daughter and I spent many hours in the backyard hammock together reading. Eventually, I came around to making a book block for my second block. (Check back tomorrow for that block.)

The hammock was a tricky construction. It was created with improv piecing using smooth improv curves and slice and insert methods to put the frame in the right place. I used this reference photo of my backyard hammock (hello draught "lawn"!) as a guide ...

Have you got your scraps gathered? YAY! Let’s get going!

These directions are for a quilt finishing at approximately 60″ x 80″. Useful on a twin size bed, as a throw or couch quilt, or as a donation quilt. Or, you can make it exclusively because it is beautiful and makes you happy. That might be the best reason of all.

1. Divide your scraps into two piles: Colored and Background. My Colored is all red/blue. My Background is cream or coordinating low volume prints.

TIP: Generally, when cutting scraps, cut the largest piece you can/need first, then ...

Merry merry Christmas in July!!  We've made it through the twelve days of Christmas (sort of) and the big day is finally here.  And speaking of the twelve days of Christmas, do you know how many gifts you would receive if you had someone who followed along with the song and gave you all the described gifts?  364!  Thank heavens for Google - I'm just not up to that kind of math - but it is pretty amazing, isn't it?  Today Karrin of Karrin's Crazy World is going to bring us home with a little bit ...

We're moving into the double-digit portion of the hop, which means we're almost finished - but there's still plenty more inspiration to come!    Today Carole of From My Carolina Home will be sharing some things to use to decorate your home for the holidays.  I don't know about you, but I can NEVER have enough Christmas decor!  I have some favorite pieces that come out every year, but then I pick and choose from the rest so that it looks a little different each time.  

We'll also be continuing work on the second set ...

Do you remember the anticipation you felt for Christmas as a kid?  That feeling that the day would never EVER get there - and yet it was such an exhilarating feeling.  (Does anyone else have the song - or an image of ketchup! - running through their head right now?) I kind of feel that way during this hop as I wait to see what our blog stops have in store for us.  Today we will have two stops to make, and two chances for some serious inspiration!  First stop is Kathy of Kathy's Kwilts and More, and then be ...

It feels so strange to be thinking about Christmas as I sit here on a lovely summer morning writing this, but Christmas will be here sooner than we think, so let's get a jump on our handcrafted gifts!  This is the eighth day of our 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop and quiltalong, and I hope you've been seriously inspired already - but there's plenty more to come.  Today we'll be checking in with Leanne of The Devoted Quilter for our daily dose of inspiration, and I am really looking forward to what ...

Welcome back to the 6th day of this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop and Quiltalong!  I tried to write this post sitting outside on my patio, but whew!  The weather is not cooperating with my feeling all cool and Christmas-y at all!  So now I'm inside drinking a cool beverage and thinking wintery thoughts and trying to get back into a Christmas kind of mood.  And I have every confidence that today's bloggers, Katie of Katie Mae Quilts and Shasta of High Road Quilter, can help me get there.  If you ...

Hi, all!

Are you having fun yet?  I have been so inspired by the wonderful projects and ideas that have been shared so far, and there's still a lot to come in this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop!  Today we"ll be visiting with Joanne of Everyone Deserves a Quilt (ain't that the truth!) and I just know she has something special to share.  We'll also be assembling the first block for the quilt-along quilt - a milestone, for sure!

And here's the schedule for the rest of the hop...

Welcome to Day 4 of this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop and quilt-along!  If you've just now stumbled onto the Hop, I highly recommend you go back and check out the earlier stops on the Hop - you'll be so inspired!  Today Bonnie of In Stitches With Bonnie is up to bat, and I can't wait to see what wonderful deliciousness she has for us.  I've also got the next steps in our quilt-along here on this blog today.

And here's the schedule for the rest of the hop ...