What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

It's that time of the year again! Dust off your broomsticks and polish your cauldrons, Halloween is just around the corner! Get into the spooky spirit with a quick and easy last-minute witch hat garland project with your little ones. These adorable hats are fun to make with fabric scraps or our Fabric Wonders: 10” Square Packs, and they’re perfect for decorating your Halloween festivities!

We’ve whipped up some spooky magic with our 'Spooky ‘n Witchy' premium quilting cotton collection for these adorable little witch hats! Watch our quick how-to-video and download the Little Witch Hats Garland ...

Calling all quilting enthusiasts! Have you ever wanted to showcase your quilting skills while diving into a fun and creative challenge? Our Astrodelic Quilt Challenge is here to offer you just that! 

The Astrodelic Challenge isn't just about making beautiful quilts; it's also about the excitement of competition and the joy of creativity. Our most popular beginner-friendly pattern uses the strip piecing technique, making it easy to create blocks as a canvas for your imagination. It's perfect for a relaxing weekend project or anytime you want to add your personal style to each stitch and seam. You ...

 It's always exciting to be at a quilt retreat. I love being at this retreat house (Retreat at the Farm); we missed all the chaos in the city yesterday. Apparently, the rain was incredible, and the flooding caused many issues with traffic and power. We didn't have problems with either in our immediate neighborhood, but it wasn't fun for some. 

We started the day with a trip to Creekbank Sewing, where we met with Sally, who added to The Pony Express! Actually, it was a very fortunate situation. She had something she no longer wanted and asked ...

Build your favorite city as you piece and applique modern quilt blocks. Select the ones you like for smaller projects, or make the whole quilt!

Welcome to City Blocks – my first quilt book! Published by Leisure Arts and already on sale, this book features 32 blocks I designed, each portraying a place or an experience in a city. There are also six coordinating, smaller projects, many diagrams, and easy-to-follow instructions.

Those of you who have been following me since I began this blog and my Etsy store (2013!) will remember our Sew Along. We made a block every two weeks ...

I can sometimes be my own worst enemy. My alarm went off this morning, and I felt tired, but I jumped out of bed. I came downstairs and sat at the computer to write the blog. Good grief—2:00!!! Oh shoot—when we were in Hawaii, I had to set an alarm for 2 AM so we could get up in time to see the sunrise on Haleakala! 

How many weeks ago was that? And the alarm was still on my phone for Wednesday morning? Let's say the alarm is gone now! And I went back to bed ...

With a new season upon us, what better way to honor the season than by expanding our ever-growing range of colors of one of our beloved blender collections: “Decostitch Elements” with 8 NEW beautiful earthy hues! You need to add these colors to your AGF Blenders stash to complete your projects, infusing that decorative stitch feel with our innovative crafty element.

We know you're eager to get started using these gorgeous new fabrics! (Keep reading to be inspired!) We'll be sharing some FREE patterns that showcase the versatility of Decostitch Elements. We're putting the creative power in ...

Make this beginner-friendly modern batik quilt using your favorite collection or as a scrap buster! One easy quilt block is all it takes!

Use with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting®. ©2023 Meredith Operations Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Nature Study is my latest quilt, published in the February 2024 American Patchwork & Quilting issue. It measures 67″ x 82″, and the blocks finish at 6″. I used greens and blues from my batik fabric ‘collection’ – I still have enough fabric to make five quilts in the same palette! The photographer, Adam Albright, always transforms my quilts into works of art when he ...

Today is the big day!! We are two and a half weeks away from Halloween, which also happens to be my birthday. I didn’t plan on it. I definitely didn’t expect it. Actually, I was trying to get ahead for next year, but here we are in the midst of another pattern release. This pattern is something that I have had in my Halloween pattern file for years. Most of the patterns in there are bat related. Looking back over the years, I can see that I am a little obsessed. Click here to see a deep dive ...

This modern quilt pattern for home decor looks complex, but it’s easy! Beginner blocks and contrasting colors combine for a stunning effect!

Candyboard by Pieced Brain

This is Candyboard, my latest quilt pattern available at my Etsy Store. It measures 64″ x 76″ with blocks that finish at 12″. I designed it for the Tonga Honeycomb batik collection by Timeless Treasures. You know how much I love batiks, right? If you would like to make it using the same collection, I know that Hancock’s of Paducah is selling the kits with all the fabrics and the pattern!

I ...

Add color to your home with these three easy modern quilts that will bust your fabric stash. I bet you will make all three!

Photo by Annie’s. Used with permission.

Are you ready to hit the reset button on some traditional quilt blocks? Let me show you what you can do with two of my favorite blocks. As you read on, think about how you can adapt my ideas to your preferred color scheme by using prints (a smaller scale will work best in a couple of them) instead of solids, a low-volume background instead of white, or even ...

Download these two Blue and White Free Quilt Patterns to brighten your home decor or to gift to a friend! Stash busters to boot!

Annablue Quilt 1

Here is your first choice: Quilt 1 for the Annablue collection by Satin Moon Designs for Blank Quilting. It measures 57″ x 71″ with 6″ blocks. I love the floral motifs of every fabric in this collection – I am sure you will love it, too! The prints feature butterflies, dragonflies, birds, and paisley tossed in white and blue.

Blue and White look fantastic in any quilt design and are well-suited for areas of ...

How about a quilt with floral fabrics as an indoor garden? Spring is a yearlong season when you are surrounded by flowers at home!

Photo by Adam Albright for American Patchwork and Quilting. Used with permission.

If you do not have a green thumb like yours truly, cultivating flowers of the textile type can be a fantastic alternative! Garden Gate, my newest quilt, just published in the June 2023 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting, might convince you to try my gardening tip! Garden Gate was made with the Sundance collection by Moda Fabrics. It measures 64-1/2″ x 78-1/2 ...

Here’s yet another “classic” post from 2016. You guessed it, I’m still on vacation. This post is especially pertinent as I have just dropped my Modern Quilt Guild membership. I don’t know why it took me so long. Maybe I kept hoping the direction would swing away from all the patterns.

With QuiltCon West underway in California it seems a good time to declare that I am over modern quilting, as defined by current modern quilt practitioners. Back in 2012 I had high hopes for a bolder, less pretty, more personally defined approach to quilting. I read ...

Well its been a little over a week and San Marco,  a BOM from A Different Box of Crayons, is not done, and the table is no longer clear!  But I can show a few progress pics.  I do hope to have it finished today or tomorrow for some Fresh off the Frame picks on Friday.  I will have a finish!!!  I won't be denied!

look at the shimmer of the silk, I'll have better pics the end of the week.

and the rulers, why why why do I have to pull out so many rulers when I ...

 Ok, it took me until Wed to share my messy unorganized design wall.  I really wasn't going to share for a couple of reasons.  One it really doesn't look like who I am as a quilter.  But then I thought, wait a minute, there were no little quilt fairies that put that stuff up.  But if there are quilt fairies, I must say I have a list of things they can do!! And number two the projects that I really want to be working on aren't there.....maybe this can be a goal for a future Design ...

This quilt pattern with star blocks will brighten your home or make a friend happy! Choose your favorite fabrics and get sewing!

Photo by American Quilter. Used with permission.

I love everything about my latest quilt called Market Star: the fabrics I chose, the borders, the whole design. The geometric lines are complemented by the floral and dots prints and lend a modern vibe to the quilt. Change the palette for a traditional piece that will add happiness to any decor.

Market Star measures 72″ x 72″, and the blocks finish at 9″ and 12″. It is perfect as a ...

Ready or not -- I'm as prepped as I can be for my first session of serger events in French. Yikes --- it's like a whole new language! OK -- so it is a whole new language. I remember so many things in French, but I never sewed in French, and my vocabulary of things sewing is well -- limited. What are tweezers called? (pinces) - what are those loopers called? (boucleur inférieur and boucleur supérieur and boucleur chaine). (Sorry -- I don't have time for the accents!)  I mean -- it's one thing to talk about a subject, and I could go ...

Make a Drunkard’s Path quilt using interfacing for a quick alternative to the slow traditional process of curved sewing! Check out a couple of projects I made with it: nope, I am not making money on this post – just showing you a product that I liked working with and that can be a great way to tackle projects that are a bit more involved to make when using traditional curved piecing.

I made this quilt a few summers ago using a Moda Fabrics charm pack (5″ squares) and yardage of a light cream fabric for the background. I love ...