Duck Quilt Blocks and Donald Duck Day
It is impossible to live so close to a Disney theme park and to have a cat named m. mouse and not recognize Donald Duck Day! Donald Duck Day is March 13. I hear that Donald was born on Friday the 13th and that’s why he generally has such rotten luck. Donald is one of Disney’s firs ...
Silk Quilts
Frequently silk quilts were made using silk, satins, velvets and brocades and were embroidered with elaborate stitches, giving them charm and elegance. Often quilters used more than 100 different embroidery stitches in their silk quilts. Because silk is so delicate (and somewhat difficult to ...
Tips for Making Rag Quilts
Rag quilts are fun and easy to make. They are very forgiving in many ways, and sewing them together is somewhat easier than piecing a patchwork quilt. Here are a few tips that might make the construction of your rag quilt even easier: Fabric 100% cotton homespun plaids or flannels work really ...
Hollow Cubes 3D Quilt
An interest in Outer Space runs in the family. My dad worked a lot on the Apollo program, quilting daughter Stephanie attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama when she was in 5th grade, engineer son Bubba worked some internship jobs at NASA in Florida, and me – well, when I was about 1 ...
Applique Animals on a Quilt
Each year when my kids were in elementary school, their teachers were the recipients of a quilt. The design for the quilt generally came from an idea that they had, and we converted into a quilt. One year, quilting daughter Stephanie found this Thank You card and decided that it would be ...
Transferring Photos onto Fabric
Q: Hello, I am a casual quilter, or have been, and plan to do more now that my grandkids have moved away and my husband has Alzheimers....in other words staying close to home.... I want to make my grandkids a quilt using pictures from their life as they were growing up....where can I fi ...
Host a Charm Pack "Swap Meet"
A purchased package of Charm Squares Sure, you can go buy charm squares. There is a great selection of charm fabrics out there. You could also take a more fun approach to growing your charm collection by organizing a charm swap. The first step is to determine t ...
Screen Printing Fabric for Your Quilts
There are so many ways to embellish quilts. If you have quilted for very long, you have probably tried at least one method of embellishing, whether it’s embroidery or thread painting or adding shiny trinkets like beads and rhinestones. But how can you get the latest, trendy grunge embel ...
Feed Sacks for Quilting
Quilters have been recycling since the 1800s. Way back then, feed and dry staples were delivered in barrels. Someone discovered that cotton was effective for shipping – much lighter weight and easier to stack for sure. A few companies began using cotton bags for packaging their feed. It didn ...
Sashiko Quilts and Stitching
Sashiko is a Japanese stitching technique that can be used for embroidery or otherwise reinforcing sewn projects like quilts. The technique is rather simple to master. It’s just a running stitch. As a matter of fact, “sashiko” means “little stabs” in Japanese. That’s exactly what a running ...
Scrap Quilt with Hearts
If you have ever made a scrap quilt, you might have noticed that, in some ways, it is more difficult to make than a quilt using all new fabric. Several years ago, I took a workshop and made the little heart wall hanging shown below. The project was to take quarter-square triangle patches m ...
Easy Baby Quilts
Easy baby quilt patterns make the best gift for baby and mommy! Moms can never have too many baby quilts and one made especially for her baby will certainly become a treasured heirloom. It isn’t necessary to spend hours toiling away on a baby quilt, easy baby quilt patterns make just as ...
Wedding Gifts from Quilters
Quilting daughter, Stephanie, is planning her summer wedding. It occurred to me the other day that I should be making a quilt. On the other hand, Stephanie has her own ideas about most everything, so before I embark on a quilt project, I thought I'd better ask. Sure enough, she had a quilt she ...
Quilted Gifts
Need some ideas for quick and easy gifts? These quilt projects allow you to use your skills, enjoy your favorite craft and be prepared for the upcoming gift giving holidays. You might like these projects so much that you will choose to make extras to have on hand so you will have gifts r ...
Fleece-Backed Quilts
m. mouse here - i just love soft and cuddly fabrics - whether it is flannel (like i'm lying on here) or fleece. when i'm curled up on a fleece blanket, i remember seeing quilting daughter stephanie curled up with her fleece blanket (you can see it below). the thing is not only are they sof ...
Two-Color Quilt Blocks
Making a quilt should be a fun and relaxing experience, so choose fabrics that you enjoy working with. Two-color blocks have a unique appeal. To be most effective, choose colors that contrast – white with blue, red or green work well. White with pink, yellow or lavender are nice, but do ...
Quilted Lazy Susan Cover
Having a coordinated dining table is a nice touch in any home. Linens, cushions, even coasters can be coordinated to complete a nice, put together look. Then, there’s the Lazy Susan on your table – that plain, utilitarian Lazy Susan. If you want to create a well thought out look i ...
A Quilt Dress for Christmas
As quilting daughter, Stephanie, and engineering son, Bubba, were growing up, each year for Christmas they got some handmade gifts - at least two. One was a pair of pajamas to wear the night before Christmas (so we would have great Christmas morning pictures) and the other was a special Chris ...
English Paper Piecing and Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt
Nothing says “springtime” quite like a beautiful flower garden. For quilters, that translates to “Grandmother’s Flower Garden.” This quilt is made up of hexagon pieces that are stitched together using the English paper piecing technique. English paper piecing is a ...
An Easy Quilt Using 4-Patch Blocks and Strips
If you are looking for a really simple quilt to make, this is about the easiest. Using a design that has simple blocks - whether you use a 4 patch or a 9 patch - and then adding strips between columns of blocks makes this easy while offering many design possibilities. By changing the fabric, yo ...