Quilt Minnesota is a huge statewide shop hop that happens every summer for the first three weeks in August.  It is a must-do event that is a ton of fun.

This year the fabric that Holly Taylor designed just for the shop hop is the best yet and it inspired me to make a couple of samples just for the shop hop.

These are existing patterns, you might already have them, so click here for yardage information and a sheet that you can print out and take with you to shop with!

These special pattern covers will be available starting ...

What fun we had at market!  Eating at places like Hell’s Kitchen and The Cooper, shop hopping before and after the show (Rosebud’s Cottage, Silver Lane Quilting, Bear Patch, Four Seasons, The Nobel Quilter, Quilted Treasures, Quilter’s Haven, Blue Bamboo and Fabric Town).  I will post more later, but wanted you to see the booth.  My friend Robin has more pictures of it here (I forgot my camera!). PS – if you think I look tired, I was ready to fall over!

Passport to MN was a huge success – winners will be posted soon too!

Thanks to everyone ...

If you are a shop owner planning to attend Quilt Market in Minneapolis, you don’t want to miss out on this event!

A group of designers from the Twin Cities area decided that we wanted to showcase the talent in our great state.  Passport to Minnesota is a “booth hop” of sorts  with a drawing for 26 stitched samples or products you can use in your shop!

There is a Passport to Minnesota website  that has more detail, a list of participating designers as well as a sampling of the prizes being offered.

Don’t miss the schoolhouse on ...

Rosie is wondering if we will get snow out of the rain that’s coming…..

Thanks for all of the great stories about how you started quilting – I loved reading all of them.

My mom taught me how to sew. I just loved playing with the fabric scraps left from her dressmaking.  I used to wrap them around my Barbie doll and hand sew them to her ….such exotic creations!  My first authentic quilting class was at Glad Creations in Minneapolis in 1983.  A friend from work talked me into it.  The rest is history!

Now for the winners…I ...

This version of Cotton Candy is done in the Astor Manor fabric line from Moda.  I have a weakness for brown and pink….this is such a pretty group!  Again, a charm friendly pattern.

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment this week about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

Hopscotch is kind of an addictive little pattern, a new design in the Just for Fun! group.  I made this one from a Crazy Eight charm pack – a darling Christmas line from Sandy Gervais.  Maybe you have one or two charm packs stashed away waiting for the perfect project?

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment this week about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

Designing and making these little quilts was the most fun I’ve had in awhile.  Plus I love this fabric line – it’s Simple Pleasures from Moda.  This is a one block quilt that can be done with scraps, or you can plan your fabrics.  There is an opportunity to make bonus half-square triangle units to use in another project too!

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five  new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

Twelve Oaks was inspired by Judie Rothermel’s recent fabric line from Marcus Fabrics by the same name.  I love the pops of blue among the browns, reds and golds in these prints.  Two-block quilts are a favorite of mine, the secondary patterns that come out are always interesting!

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five (not four ) new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

I am pleased to be able to start showing you what I’ve been up to all of these weeks of silence!  I have a new book that is now available.  It’s a project book that can work as a block of the month.   There are four size options that you can make with the twelve basket blocks. I love baskets, don’t you?

I will be drawing four names on Sunday May 9th for one of each of the new patterns – be sure to stop back each day to see what they are.  To be included, be sure ...

Thanks to everyone who commented!  What a wide range of favorite projects…scrappy quilts, mysteries, small projects and so many of you give almost everything away!

If the winners could send me their mailing addresses, I’ll send the magazines right away.

Kathie L from Allentown
My favorite projects are quilts to give to family members to mark milestones – graduations, birthdays, etc. I get to enjoy making them and enjoy giving them.

Sequana
My favorite kind of quilt project is one that uses a bunch of fabrics from one collection. I love looking at them all while I work.
One ...

My long absence from blogging has been filled with lots of interesting stuff, to me anyway!

February and March included birthday celebrations for my son, my husband, my father-in-law (who celebrated 80 years!) and my Mom. Spring break for my older two children, which came and went way too fast. And coming up, another spring break for the last child at home….

It also included many hours of sewing on new projects for Spring Market…. I can’t show you detailed pictures quite yet, but these are the things that are coming:

Abundance – A new Block of the Month project ...

When I begin a new project, there is usually a draft of the quilt that I use for guidance.  I like to use Electric Quilt 6 to get an idea of layout, size, value, etc.  The quilt that I end up writing instructions for is often nothing like what I started with!

Right now, I’m working on a project using the Twelve Oaks line by Judy Rothermel from Marcus Fabrics.

I love to make scrappy quilts and you know one of my favorite things are Civil War era fabrics.  Although I try hard not to plan toooo much, I ...

I will be teaching my Scalloping Basics class at Silver Lane Quilting in Forest Lake, MN on January 30th from 1:30 – 5:30.  If you are in the area, you don’t want to miss this class.  Contact Silver Lane to register at 651-639-8800.  We will be making a scalloped table topper and you will have the binding on, ready to stitch down by the end of class.  Really!

I was just over at the Fat Quarter Shop and saw that Kimberly is offering my Remember When pattern as a kit! I absolutely love the fabric collection she chose – it’s the Charity line by Howard Marcus from Moda and will be available in February. Click on the image for more info.

For a quick and cute holiday project, head over to Roseann’s blog.  This was her project for the Cross Country Blog Hop that ended last week.  I couldn’t resist!  I added my own touch by chopping off the corners about an inch away from the corner squares. I used Crazy Eights by Sandy Gervais.

I came across this cool little tutorial on making a tissue cozy at Kimberly Mason’s (KimQuiltz) blog yesterday.  She has a project called Share the Love!  Make two – give them to a friend who can keep one and pass one on.  These go together super fast – you won’t be able to stop making them.  Click here for the pattern.  Thanks Kim!~

The number generator came up with four great numbers this morning, I entered everyone who commented this week – thank you so much for visiting!  I’ve email the winners and they should send me their snail mail addresses.

The winners are……

Robin (rnoel57)
Cathy N. (cathyquiltsalot)
Anne D. (batiksbythebay)
Barb (corgitoquiltby)

One of the things I love to do when I’m finished with a quilt is the binding. When I finally mastered making the end and the beginning invisible, I felt that I had arrived! I thought I would try to show you how I do it:

And there you have it.  Give it a try – it’s easier than you thought.  I just know that’s what you’re thinking !

To be entered in the pattern drawing be sure to comment.  I will be drawing four names first thing Saturday morning. Thanks for stopping by!

Congrats to Mindy Peterson – the winner of the issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Collector’s Edition magazine!

I am working on a tutorial for tomorrow that you won’t want to miss.  Be sure to continue to leave comments!  I will be doing another Prize Drawing for four of my newest patterns.  If you comment before Midnight on Friday Nov. 13 you could be one of four lucky winners!

Greetings to all of the blog tour visitors – thanks for stopping by.  Look for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers, Collectors Edition in your local quilt shop, on newsstands after Nov. 16 or purchase from Quiltmaker.com.

I was approached at market in Pittsburgh about contributing to the issue…I thought it sounded like fun and besides, the block wasn’t due until later in the summer.  Well, summer flew by and the deadline was upon me.  My husband chuckled and shook his head.  I guess I am pretty predictable in that way and somehow am always ...

There are some incredibly talented people on this tour – see the list at the Quilty Pleasures blog  for today. I hope you will stop back tomorrow – Wedneday is MY day on the Tour and I will have yardage and a diagram for a cute topper using my featured block.

In addition to that, I will be giving away one of the issues of 100 Blocks to a lucky reader! Be sure to leave a comment on Wednesday’s post to be included in the drawing!

I love to re-purpose things that I find.  This is a shower caddy that I found at Target awhile back.  I was saving it for my daughter to take to college with her this past August.  Wouldn’t you know it, but she isn’t a pink girl…so I got organized!  It’s great – I can take it to class whether I’m teaching or a student.  Lots of pockets and the best part was that it was under $10.

Follow Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily Nov. 9-13 at quiltmaker.com/quilty pleasures for inspiration, ideas and ...