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Every 2025 issue of AMERICAN QUILTER magazine will include a Made By Marney Collectible Pattern. How exciting!

Each issue has not only the full pattern, but also has a link to a free video with paper piecing tips and tricks. “Bee My Honey” includes this free video Using the Butterfly Effect While Paper Piecing…

The “Some Bunny Loves You” issue includes this pattern and a free video on Connecting Paper Piece Segments Together. This bunny would be great for an Easter project.

The “Think Spring” block will be arriving in the ...

I've put off learning to quilt with a walking foot for years.  The walking foot was this scary sewing machine accessory that I didn't want to take the time to figure out. I'll give myself a break for when I was working, I barely had time to piece a few quilts each year. But I've been retired for almost 2 and half years.  I have lots more sewing time. But the idea of getting out that walking foot and doing something with it was just off putting. I'd so much rather piece.  But with the ...

In a hand-me-down bag there were these little bits. A 1-1/2″ strip with 6 1-1/2″ squares attached. Twenty of them. Such cute little bits. They wanted to be a quilt.

Adding 6″ stars in matching colors and some sashing fit the bill. I like the way it makes the stars shimmer with movement.

The polka dot binding was an unexpected decision, and the backing is a little odd, too. But they do work, and it all came from stash, so that’s a win.

Second Chance projects can make one dig deep to find a solution. I do ...

 This quilt came about as a request from our girl. She saw this quilt that I had made for her Daddy and she said it was the softest quilt she'd ever felt and she wanted one for herself. Farmhouse Flannel QuiltThis is Primitive Gatherings Flannel and it really is incredibly soft and cozy. I did a little research and found this online...perfect!             

Marking a grid on your fabric gives you so many options for cool freemotion designs. A grid gives you just the right amount of guidance while keeping the hand-guided look.

In many of my designs I use a 1 inch grid, just because my samples aren’t normally big. In a lot of cases you can enlarge the grid to whatever size that works for you. There are only two limitations I can think off. Firstly, some sewing machines will block your view of the fabric behind the needle. You can only enlarge the design as far as you can ...

 Spring has been put on pause while we had a day and half snowstorm starting Tuesday and actually have had light snow falling every day since. Lots of the fresh stuff on the ground and trees; it makes for pretty photos. So Christmassy....big sigh.

A wonderful, quilting-filled long weekend—despite the monsoon rains.

I visited Katrina this past weekend for some good girlfriend time—and the bonuses included (1) a guild meeting where Katrina was the program speaker and both of us won door prizes, (2) attending the Q.U.I.L.T. Guild of Northwest Arkansas’s biannual show, and (3) quilting the Tattoo quilt! 

Katrina belongs to a longarm quilting guild, and she presented a topic near and dear to me—organization. I loved hearing her ideas as well as ideas from the other guild members. 

After the meeting, we slogged our ...

Create this scrappy quilt with stars using fabrics you’ve been collecting over the years. It will add vibrant colors to your home decor!

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2025 Meredith Operations Corporation.
All rights reserved.

Spiral Galaxies appears in the June issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, hitting the stands on April 18! It measures 72-1/2″ x 81-1/2″ with 10″ star blocks and 9″ nine-patches with half-square triangles. It features bakits from my extensive collection. No single fabric was purchased for the quilt, including the (pieced) back, which I will show you soon.

One ...

In a scrap bag I got small scraps of this raccoon/bear/tree fabric. Sort of odd colors, but the print was cute.

The solution was Churn Dash blocks with the fabric in the centers. And some sashing and matching binding.

It will be delivered to a co-worker who is expecting her first baby soon. The baby shower was a few weeks ago…but we are all doing the best we can.

Churn Dash blocks are so versatile.

Edge to edge quilting designs are a great way to a finish a quilt, but they can be a bit confusing. Some freemotion quilters fear getting stuck in a corner and having to break thread.

Well first of all, breaking thread is not the end of the world! Just do it, and continue somewhere else!

Secondly, knowing the structure of the design and its ‘escape possibilities’ are really helpful to prevent ending up with those awkward spots where you have gotten yourself stuck.

And let’s not forget, you are ALLOWED to cross of your already stitched line. There is ...

The Enchanted panel is designed by the Morris Creative Group and brought to us by QT Fabrics. In quilt shops now.

When I first saw this panel I thought of the song “Castles in the Sky” by Ian Van Dahl, 1999. I thought that I would try to design around the castle as if it was floating.

I always say “the fabric starts talking to me” while I’m make the hexies. I cut my strips 2.75″ wide to yield 4″ finished hexies. I did not use the borders when I cut my strips. I ended up with 210 ...

I’m almost always game to try a new-to-me product with the goal of improving my efficiency which is code for finishing the quilt FASTER so I can move on to the next one.

I’m a sucker for quilting notions, and I have purchased a few new-to-me items over the last few years. Cindy and I went shopping at a local quilt shop the last week of December and were delighted to find that the notions were 30% off—a great after-Christmas bonus for us. I spent some time at their notion wall and saw this product:

This is ...

Many years ago while visiting the Michigan State Quilt Museum, in Lansing Michigan, I came across a quilt from 1876. I will never forget it. The boldness of the red and green stopped me in my tracks. Many more years … Continue reading →

Every year, I take some time during the spring and summer months to make some quilty patriotic projects, and 2025 has some star-spangled stunners on the docket! Keep reading to learn about an exciting re-color of one of my favorite patterns, a new FREE pattern you can use for Quilts of Valor, a scrappy tablerunner to sew along with me, and an exciting new pattern from Lori Holt with a sew along!

Brave & True FREE Quilt Pattern

Supplies

• Brave & True Quilt Kit Featuring Bella Solids by Moda Fabrics
• Backing Set for Brave & True Quilt Kit
• Brave & True Quilt Pattern Free ...

 —the first finish of 2025 AND finished on Worldwide Quilting Day.

Goodness, where does the time go? It’s February March and I have a finished quilt to share with you! And talk about uplifting—let’s just say with all the happenings in our family circle and the world, it’s nice to see something get accomplished, although I honestly thought by this time I would have at least two quilts done. Anyone who truly knows me is laughing their butts off reading that statement. 

I started this quilt in 2013 when our youngest, David, said he would like ...

Here’s a quick flannel quilt for beginners, perfect as a graduation gift or home decor. You can make it in one day!

Suede Satchel

My middle son turns 25 today! I had been collecting flannels for a few years to make the Suede Satchel quilt for him, and, while on a retreat at Lake Okoboji earlier this month, I finally put it together! It is smaller than my original pattern – it measures 48″ x 64″ with blocks that finish at 8″ – and I hope he will enjoy it as a throw as he hangs out with his cat, Junior ...

Based on the traditional pattern, Arkansas Crossroads (AKA Crossroads, Kisses and Crosses, River Scraps, and probably other names). I started this quilt sometime in August 2024. You can find variations all over the web: HERE and HERE and HERE are some options.

Mine is based on 2″ squares and finishes at 84″ square.

I didn’t want half-stars/medallions, so I tried for a different finish that keeps them all whole and gives a sort of floating look.

The backing makes my heart happy!

It is living on a guest room bed for now. So I can see it every ...

The Cross my Heart design is a sister pattern to the Hearts Wreath design that I shared two months ago. Both these freemotion wreaths are filled with hearts, but the construction of the hearts is pretty different. The hearts in Cross my Heart are based on big loops that cross over at the intersections of the circular grid. In this design there are 4 big hearts and 4 small hearts.

The Hearts Wreath is more suitable for bigger circles, while the Cross my Heart design fits within a smaller circle, no bigger than 8 inches.

The red fabric is a ...