What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Burano is a tiny Italian island known for handmade lace and sherbet-hued homes. 

Why were those little houses painted aqua, lavender, and cotton-candy pink? According to legend…it was to help tipsy fishermen find their way home! 

This week, the Doan girls are stitching up 3 new Drunkard’s Path quilts, and they’re just as colorful and charming as the streets of Burano! 

Watch the latest Triple Play tutorial to learn how to transform layer cakes and charm packs into Drunkard’s Path quilts that are quick, easy, and “sew” much fun!

Do you remember discovering precuts for the very first time? Vanessa Goertzen sure does! 

It was 2010, and Vanessa had just learned that her new baby was going to be a girl. On the way home from the ultrasound, she stopped at a fabric shop to pick up something pink.

There, she laid eyes on a stack of precut 5 inch charms, and a creative fire was lit! (12 years later, Vanessa designs incredible precut patterns for her very own Lella Boutique!)  

This week, Jenny is stitching up one of Vanessa’s prettiest patterns. Chandelier is a quick and easy ...

Mastering a new quilt block is like learning to ride a bike. You may feel a bit intimidated. Your uncertainty might cause a few wobbly stitches. 

Then, just like magic, you’re soaring across the fabric without a care in the world, cranking out quilt blocks like a pro! 

This week, Jenny is working on a modern black and white asterisk quilt, and just you wait and see! Once you’ve conquered those first few seams, you can ride off into the sunset with a trail of beautiful quilt blocks in your wake! 

Click HERE to watch the Ditto quilt ...

A Round Robin quilt is the sweetest of group projects. It is passed among friends, each adding blocks or borders of their own.

And when it is finished, that quilt represents the talent and creativity of everyone involved. (I get all tingly and sentimental just thinking about it!) 

For this month’s Triple Play tutorial, Jenny and the girls stitched up one big Round Robin quilt. They named it Sparkling Stars, and it sure is a beauty! 

Jenny built the center with 9-patches and half-square triangle lemoyne stars, Misty added pretty sawtooth star blocks and quarter-square triangles, and Natalie finished ...

Signature quilts – or friendship quilts – first became popular in the 1840s. Sometimes they were used as sentimental wedding gifts. Sometimes they honored a beloved teacher or minister. And sometimes, they were carried across the plains by pioneer women as a reminder of dear friends left behind. 

These quilts were so cherished, many have survived the generations and can be found in hope chests and museums even today.

This week, Jenny is making her own family signature quilt. It’s adorned with hand-written names of all the Doan kids and grandkids, and I have a feeling this pretty quilt will become ...

The 4th of July is getting close. Let’s celebrate with stars!

The original American flag had just 13 stars—one for each state, and we’ve added a star with every new state. 

Imagine those poor flag makers. Just as they mastered one design, they’d get the news: “Hold up, everyone! Kentucky is now a state! Start unpicking, and rearrange your stars!” 

(Sometimes the layout was changed every single year. That’s a lot of star shuffling!)

This week we’re stitching up a Star Sashed Nine-Patch in ...

When pioneers trekked west, they took only what could fit in one small covered wagon. Most worldly treasures were left behind. 

But quilts? Quilts were an absolute necessity. They were used as shelter; they were used for warmth. Quilts swaddled babies and protected fragile family heirlooms as they bumped and jostled along the dusty Oregon Trail.

Those antique pioneer quilts were made from scraps, skillfully stitched by hand into simple 9-patches, log cabins, and pinwheels. 200 years later, we are making those same old-fashioned patterns, and they’re just as pretty as ever! 

This week Jenny is working on a ...

The closest star in the night sky is about 25 trillion miles away, give or take. If you plan to visit, be sure to pack a lunch; it will take 75,000 years to arrive. Of course, if you’re short on time, you can create your own gorgeous stars at home!

This week Jenny is stitching together a breathtaking star quilt made with jelly rolls and the Missouri Star Equilateral 60 Degree Triangle Ruler. 

This pattern produces very little waste, and the bits of extra are used to make a fun, pieced strip for the back of the quilt!

Are you anxiously waiting for spring to arrive? You are not alone! The residents of Longyearbyen, Norway, have lived in darkness since October 25th. That’s 3,000 hours with no sunshine at all! 

But on March 8th, the sun will finally peek over the horizon, and the townsfolk are ready to par-tay with a week-long festival called Solfestuka. Choir children dress like sunbeams, folks feast on sunshiny pastries, and a few brave souls dress in swimsuits and sunglasses! 

Of course, no celebration is complete without a quilt, so Jenny has whipped up a gorgeous new pattern to welcome the ...

Imagine the perfect neighborhood. Are the homes quaint and colorful? Are the streets lined with stately oaks? (Is there an ice cream shop on the corner??) 

Best of all, who lives next door? Is it your dearest friend? Your grandkids? Maybe it’s Jenny Doan!

This week you can stitch up the neighborhood of your dreams with tiny houses, big houses, two-story houses, and even trees made with the scraps! Click HERE to learn how to make this quick and easy layer cake pattern!

Before Jenny Doan, there was Nancy Cabot.

During the 1930s, Nancy wrote a column for the Chicago Daily Tribune featuring a new quilt pattern every single day. A diagram of the daily block was printed next to helpful tips and bits of quilt history. (The pattern could be purchased for “5 cents in stamps or coin.”)

Nancy’s column was chatty and casual, like a tea time conversation between friends. I think I would have loved her!

On January 27, 1933, Nancy highlighted a simple half-square triangle pattern called The Old Gray Goose. Of course, like all old-fashioned blocks, it ...

If you’re interested in learning about the basics of quilting, then you’re in the right place! 

Getting started with something new is usually the hardest part. Quilting can be a laborious process — it requires many steps that can seem really overwhelming when you’re new to it all! Many beginner quilters can get stuck when thinking about piecing together their first blocks, but we’re here to help! Today we’re going to be talking about the steps before you start piecing. A good foundation is ...

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!

Quilts are an incredible thing. Whether they’re hanging on the wall or tucked safely upon a bed, they add an artistic flair to the room. Clean, colorful quilts with plenty of white space can brighten up the room, but sometimes a darker touch can really add a comfortable and cozy ambiance.

Quilts that utilize bold color choices complimented by black and dark space aren’t just for the Fall season! These beautiful quilts draw attention and focus to the complimenting colors, creating a wonderful effect that makes the designs pop. Check out these five darker quilts and find some ...

They don’t make them like they used to. Many of us were fortunate enough to have learned the art of quilting from our ancestors; parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles have long since been the best teachers to pass on the gift that is quilting. They stitched differently, as limited resources required more time and perseverance with each block. Each stitch was made with love though and the quilts survived, being passed down as family heirlooms for generations to come. Those beautiful patterns, bound in time by thread, became classics of the quilting world.

These projects have carried with them ...

February is the perfect time to start dreaming of warm summer days in the sun. When the cabin fever of being cooped up indoors starts to really set it, take that opportunity to begin planning your summer projects! With summer months right around the corner, now is the perfect opportunity to begin work on wedding quilts, graduation gifts and those fun projects that make us wish for warmer weather!

Needing some inspiration? Here are some great summer quilting projects that will have you stitching up sunnier days in no time!

The Road Trip Quilt

Document your summer travels and never ...