Blog Index

  • Another Mini and a few more things. . .

    This very cute quilt arrived yesterday from Jana, my (secret) Simply Mini Quilt Swap partner.  Boy, was I bowled over–I love it!  I had to take it outside to my back fence photo studio…

  • Oktoberfest’s Blocks and Quilts and Plans

    While I really love the festive cookies sold during Germany’s Oktoberfest, it’s the giant pretzels I really miss. And who can forget the cute dirndls, wore by the most traditional Bavarian women? (I have…

  • Mini Madness Wrap-Up (Mostly)

    This past summer, I joined four swaps, then had my head examined and swore never to do it again.  It was sort of a good thing to have some small things to try out…

  • What Was Old is New Again

    After a trip to Venice one year, I got the bright idea to re-create the magnificent floor in the cathedral, but with subterfuge.  Some of the sections would bleed into the others, and others…

  • Quilt Abecedary

    Starting in January, I will be participating in a one-year term group where we will make words for each other, with the end goal to make a quilt of letters and phrases and words.  Since gathering…

  • SHINE Circles Block 16, EPP Sew-A-Long

    Radiating Compass RoseFinal Block of Shine: The Circles Quilt This is the Sixteenth and Final Block for my project Shine: The Circles Quilt.  It’s kind of a bittersweet moment, as I spent more than a…

  • Rosette #4–New Hexagon Millefiori Hot Mess Patchwork Quiltalong

    This is where I got stalled on Rosette #4 for The New Hexagon Millefiore Quilt, or as I call it, The Hot Mess.  It may not turn out to be that, but we’ll see.…

  • Breaking the Summer Stranglehold

    The good news is that the first mini from my series of four mini-swaps arrived: a delectible circle of houses from Diana in Virginia for the Kaffe Fasset Mini Quilt Swap. [I’m sending out…

  • Sewing, Tasking, Listening, Remembering

    Sewing This: Sometimes you just need a new direction when you are sick of your own sewing.   The free tutorial for this block, from Sew Kylie, is found *here.*  My bee-mate chose it…

  • Rainbow Gardens

    (from here) Sometimes I feel like this lady here, moving at snail’s pace, trying to make my entrance, but know I’ll miss it somewhere.  Slow-jo, or Missing the Sew-Jo seems to be a topic…

  • Circles Block #15–EPP Sew-A-Long

    Compass Rose Number 15 of the circles blocks in Shine: The Circles Quilt About this time, I was running out of ideas for another two circle blocks, so of course I turned to the…

  • Popsicles in My Way

    This morning, I drove the car down to our local park, walked one mile with my husband by my side, and drove home.  Not a big deal for most people, but it was the…

  • Summer’s Hot and the Recuperating is Easy

    Let’s start with the first item: summer’s hot, and yessiree it is.  Tomorrow is supposed to be 108.  This is a good time to stay inside and keep getting better, which leads us to…

  • Disruption in the Quilting Force

    All the nice nurses lined up to greet me Last week I walked into our local hospital and two days later, was wheeled out in one of my new nightgowns, a vase of flowers…

  • The Woods Run Mad With Riot: A Four-in-Art Quilt

    The Woods Run Mad With Riot A Four-in-Art Quilt, August 2015 #3 in the Literature Series As always, my exploration of a subject in this series starts with the literature, and the poem I…

  • Circles Block #14–EPP Sew-A-Long

    Peppermint Candy Circles Block #14 in the Circles Sew-A-Long Yes, I know Peppermint Candy isn’t orange and pink, but the swirl — a bit fat swirl, this time — reminded me of unwrapping crinkly…

  • Summertime Quilt Fun

    Our quilt guild organized a tour of Hoffman Fabrics this past Monday. I jumped at the chance to go, as I’d passed up several other opportunities.  I decided that it was summer and it…

  • Mini House Quilt Finished!

    My mini houses quilt is finished!  I know you’ve heard that line before, but let me go back in time to a galaxy far far away, to this: Mini House Fail.  Yep.  That center…

  • Matrix and Offset Pattern Giveaway

    Sometime back I wrote about the Mid-Century Modern Bee and all the talented quilters there.  I also mentioned my friend Anne of SpringLeaf studios and how she is a pattern designer and maker.  This…

  • Good Heart Quilters Quilt Retreat 2015

    The Good Heart Quilters had their 4th annual quilt retreat at Lisa’s home this summer.  She is the smiling blonde marathoner in the lower right (I am in the yellow T-shirt).  Some of our…

  • Mini-Quilt Swapping

    I know I’m late to this particular party on Instagram, but I have recently jumped right in and signed up for three swaps.  These are little groups of crazy people who have more than…

  • Happy Fourth of July!

    America Is a Tune: It Must Be Sung Together Happy Fourth of July, everyone!  Here’s a little patriotic quilty eye candy for you, plus a mural that is on the hallway ceiling in the…

  • Shine: The Circles Quilt

    Shine: The Circles Quilt 66″ square First block started June 2014 • Top finished June 2015 I’ve finished my quilt top and am happy to release it into the world today.  I started sewing these…

  • Circles Block #13–EPP Sew-A-Long

    Tiny Swirly GigCircles Block #13 of the Circles EPP Sew-A-Long Since I so rationally decided that I needed SIXTEEN blocks to make up my quilt, all I can chalk it up to is summer…

  • Ready, Set, Begin: Summer Fun 2015

    To truly begin summer off correctly in Southern California, you need a fire, and we have a doozy of one going on right now, only a few miles from my house.  The above map,…

  • My Small World, June 2015 edition

    I don’t often jump on the Latest and Greatest Thing in QuiltLand, but this one called my name.  It’s Jen Kingwell’s My Small World and was printed in the oh-so-elusive QuiltMania Spring issue 2015…

  • Traveling Threads Bee Block: Peaceful Hours, a Few Thoughts on Collaboration

    This the second block I made for my recent turn at the Traveling Threads Bee.  This was was found while trolling the web for new bee blocks, but the templates I found had the…