More Mini Madness

I've been having a lot of miniature quilt fun this weekend. First, I finished the top for my mini London Roads quilt, which will be patterned in an upcoming McCall's Quilting:

At 4 1/2" square, the blocks aren't REALLY mini, but almost! It went together really well, and certainly brightened up my sewing space and my winter-weary disposition.

After that, I decided to play with my Homecoming mini sampler blocks. I pulled out a fabric palette to start with, and realized the initial block I made awhile back wasn't going to work. So I remade that one and added the other 3 from the design center, and then surprised myself with my sashing fabric choices...I went into this thinking I'd use light-colored sashing, but that just didn't fly:

This is so not my usual style or colors. I'm not 100% sure I like it! But I'm planning to keep on keeping on and see where it takes me. The upper left and lower right blocks are hand pieced, and they were HARD. The other two are machine pieced and were much easier to put together. All blocks finish at 3" square, so pretty tiny! All told, it does definitely remind me of my PA home, and that's the theme, so yay. More later!

Twinkle, Twinkle

The November/December issue of McCall's Quilting is now available, and I've got a project featured in it!

Photo courtesy of McCall's Quilting

Twinkle, Twinkle is a pattern for a fast, easy stuffed star ornament, and if you try it, you might just end up making a whole galaxy of them. Besides being a great way to turn fabric scraps into pretty decorations and gifts, it's a super place to showcase antique or unusual buttons. When I was making the samples, I surprised myself with how quickly they go together.

I love how our art team photographed these. The pattern also has complete step-by-step photos...no diagrams or complicated instructions. I hope you'll give it a try.

Buy digital or print copies of the magazine here, and preview the entire issue by clicking here. And please leave a comment if you try the pattern...I'd love to know how you liked it.

Lone Star Samples

Today's project was making samples for photos for the January/February 2014 issue of McCall's Quilting. The project is a star quilt designed by Lissa Alexander using fabrics from the Vin du Jour collection by 3 Sisters for Moda. I got to do a bunch of strip piecing and segment cutting,

and then to make pieced diamonds and stars.

I'm a lucky quilter...best homework ever!

Precise Piecing ROCKS!

Scheduled for McCall's Quilting January/February 2014 Block Builders Workshop; fabrics from the Prayer Flag collection by April Cornell, courtesy of Moda

What you're looking at there is a block that has 160 patches in it, that measures 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" WITHOUT ANY TRIMMING! Precision techniques take a long time, I'm not going to kid you, but the result was amazing. Look at those points, folks!

I need a break, and then I have to get step by step samples ready for video taping on Tuesday. Miles to go, miles to go...

Building a Block

I need to design a block for the Block Builders Workshop page of the Jan/Feb 2014 issue of McCall's Quilting. It needs to include half-square triangle units, square-in-a-square units, and pinwheels, since the lesson will be piecing tips using half-square triangles. I started playing in EQ and came up with this possible block:

But I wanted to be sure it was a good block for placing in a straight setting. What do you think of this?

Nice stars pop out, and I'm liking the strong diagonals. It's a work in progress, but it needs to be done ASAP!

Lights, Cameras, Action!

Today was the first day of taping for the McCall's Quilting Fancy Flowers Quilt Along. Erin and Valerie, the on-air talent, did beautifully! The entire production crew is super fun to work with, and we have lots of laughs between takes. We taped 5 of the 11 episodes today, and I'm tired. I think the entire extent of my quilt involvement tonight will be snuggling up under one and staring vacantly at the TV until bed time. Nothing comforts like a quilt!

There's Nothing Like a Freshly Laundered Quilt

Acts of Kindness, McCall's America Quilts Together, 2012. Made by the staff of McCall's Quilting; machine quilted by Barb Shie. Photo courtesy of McCall's Quilting.

Back in 2011, I lost my significant other, Scott, to a rare, aggressive form of cancer. While he was sick, my coworkers at McCall's Quilting made me this lovely quilt, which has brought me much comfort ever since. Today was the day I laundered it for the first time. Gently, with a minimum of soap, followed by a short time in a low-heat dryer. And believe it or not, the quilt is even better than ever. Take a look at this gorgeous texture. I'm off to snuggle...happy Friday night, everybody!

In the TV Studio

Next week we're taping Fancy Flowers, the third McCall's Quilting Quilt Along, this one starring Erin Russek and Valerie Uland. You can see the quilt they'll be teaching on the back wall of the set above. I have the fun job of serving as coach/gofer/audience on this project, and today we rehearsed 5 of the 11 episodes, which will premiere on McCallsQuilting.com beginning late this fall. Learning about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into producing a series like this has been fascinating to me. I would guess that for every minute of video produced, about 2 and a half hours of prep work of some kind has been done. About 260 hours of prep and filming will go into this series of 11 short videos, and that's a conservative estimate. From project design to sample making, rehearsals to taping, set design to tape editing, there are SO many talented people involved, and there is SO much work to do. We're hoping lots of quilters will be inspired to try this project...it's so appealing that several of the McCall's Quilting staff members (myself included) who don't appear in the video made their own versions of the project. You'll get to see all our quilts in episode 1! Stay tuned...

Be Prepared!

Do you know any Boy or Girl Scouts with too many badges for their uniforms? I designed these banners for my nephew and niece to display their excess awards, and they have them both quite full now! These projects were presented as free web patterns on the McCall's Quilting website. Download the instructions here and show your Scout how proud you are of their accomplishments!

Patterning Quilts in the Wild, Wild West

This is what I'm doing today...patterning quilts for the next McCall's Quilting America Loves Scrap Quilts special issue. I get to play with my colored pencils, and it's one of my favorite job duties, but it's not quite as much fun as actually working on a quilt! Meanwhile, outside my window....

Yes, those are cowboys. This weekend is Buffalo Bill Days here in Golden, CO, and the Saturday morning parade is essential to the festivities. 

There was also an Indian chief, and a US Marshal...

plus the jail where they lock up wayward dance hall girls.

The most inspiring thing in the parade to me are the balloon vendors...color, color, color.

But, this being Golden, CO, there were also garbage trucks, John Deere tractors, and this huge beer truck. Way different than an East coast parade, but always fun, even when I can't get out and mingle.

Well, it's back to patterning for me. What are you doing on this lovely summer Saturday?