Adorable Free Scottie Quilt Pattern

Click here to get the pattern

This Scottie quilt pattern is absolutely adorable! And what a great time to mix polka dots and plaid! You will also get a chance to work with your fabric value skills, as there is a chance to work some subtle shading into the applique blocks. And then who doesn't have a button collection that you will get to play with - adding some button embellishments on this quilt. Wouldn't this be a fun picnic blanket?

Thank you to EE Schenck for this free quilt pattern.

Free Two Color Quilt Pattern

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This one is a breath of fresh air for winter time! It is made with the 2016 Kona cotton solids color of the year. I am partial to quilt patterns that give you strip cutting instructions as this one does. Templates are too tedious for my liking. Thank you Robert Kaufman for this pattern. Enjoy!

Another Christmas Hostess Gift Free pattern

Click Here to get the free coaster pattern

I don't mean to post too much this week, but this was too cute for you to miss. This free Christmas coaster pattern is from Bernina. Wouldn't it make a great last minute hostess gift? And I am sure you have plenty of Christmas scraps on your sewing room floor! The use a satin stitch on a regular sewing machine to finish the edge - if you have a serger, it would be great too.

Last Minute Hostess Gifts - Free Microwave bowl cozy

Click here to get the free microwave bowl pattern

These bowl cozy's seem to be quite popular now. This would be a great use of some of those Christmas novelty fabrics we all have in our stash. A great hostess gift, or gift for anyone who loves to entertain. Thank you Fairfield for another great pattern.

Quick and Easy - free quilt pattern for boys

Click here to get the pattern

Quilt patterns for boys don't seem to come around very often, so I try make sure I put them out here, for when you need them. This is made out of minky scraps, but could use flannel or quilting cotton as well. Looks fun and very huggable!

Free Christmas Quilt pattern (or not) a great space for machine embroidery in a quilt.

Anytime I see fussy cut squares in a quilt pattern, I see an opportunity to use machine embroidery for quilt squares. I love the wonky stars and the offset feel of the blocks. This free Christmas quilt pattern can easily be for any time of year! Thank you to EE Schenck for the free pattern.

Click Here to Get the Pattern

Leftover Jelly Roll pieces? - Free Quilt Pattern

Click here to get the pattern

There always seems to be at least two or three jelly roll strips leftover after a project - this looks like a quick and easy little project to use them up. Also, did you buy one of each size of the yo-yo makers? (I would never do that! or buy two of some sizes, because I couldn't find one when I needed it.) Now is a good time to break those yo-yo makers out and use them! Thank you to Fairfield for this free quilt pattern.

Free Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern

Click here to get the pattern

I have posted this one before, but it is just too good to let fall through the cracks. I think it is absolutely beautiful. And who doesn't have a jelly roll that needs to be used! This would be a fantastic gift quilt. Thank you Fairfield!

Free Pattern - Red and White

Click here to get the pattern

Here is a free pattern from Fairfield. Sometimes I want to start a quilt, but don't want to spend time sorting through my stash to select colors - this is when I really like two-color quilts, not a whole of thinking on the selection phase. Of course you could do this scrappy as well, just mix lights and darks. Consistently use darks in place of reds and lights in place of whites. Would be a great quilt to use a fat quarter bundle.

Call for Quilts - Davies Homeless Shelter

I have never posted anything like this before, so I am a little nervous. I certainly don't intend to offend anyone, but I do know that quilters are a very generous bunch and often look for opportunities to share.

I am on the board of the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter, located in Rome, GA. Until now, we have operated out of rented spaces. Last year we started an incredible journey of building our own building. This building is designed to house 16 men and will be opening in August/September. We will have 16 beds for men who are homeless and transitioning in life. I think that homemade quilts would go a long way to make their environment feel like a home.

I would like to request twin size quilts for the beds. The beds are 80" long. Please consider making one and donating. They are all men's beds, so colors should be masculine. Please let me know if you can do one. You can e-mail me directly at: michele.hester@gmail.com

The Shelter is not a permanent home, but a transitional home, while these men get the things in place to move into their own housing. Please visit our website to learn more about what we do for these men:: http://daviesshelter.com/ We are a 501(c)3 and donations are tax deductible.

Flour Sack Strip Quilt

Jean Bray – a sister quilter in our guild – gave me these “scraps” of fabrics she had left over from a quilt she had made. The “scraps” are pieces of feed sacks - probably from the early 1900’s.

I used the pieces of fabric just as they were given to me. I didn’t cut them, just designed the quilt based on the fabrics as they were. Long narrow strips of fabric are referred to as “strings."

Anyone who knows Jean, appreciates her sense of humor. It is this sense of humor that endears her to me. In keeping with her sense of humor, I respectfully (and lovingly) named the quilt “String Jean.”

This quilt is a great mixture of old and new. The design and quilting would be considered modern, yet the fabric is older than the maker of the quilt.

Rosa Parks - a piece of history

The Library of Congress recently announced that they had digitized Rosa Parks' personal collection of papers, letters, and photographs. Amongst the papers was a hand written recipe for "Featherlite Pancakes." My children and I tried the recipe today and I was truly amazed by how light they are! Try some - and truly share in a taste of history.

 

 

Sift:
1 cup flour (140 grams)
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Mix:
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup peanut butter melted
1 tablespoon melted shortening or oil

Combine both wet and dry ingredients.

(Note this batter seems really runny, but it works. Make sure your griddle/skillet is hot before you start.)

May I show you my backside?

Of my quilt in progress silly!  Remember this quilt top?

I used the leftover half square triangles from the blue/white X squares that look like this:

  

Seemingly insignificant right? How many times have you thrown away these scraps?

We'll  instead of throwing them away - I made these!

These will be on the back side of this quilt. Each blue/white half square triangle is 1 inch...the total pieced star part of this block is 4 3/4". It was fun to see these come together....what will you do with your scraps?

Embroidered quilt labels

We are hanging our annual quilt show tomorrow at the Rome, GA library.  It is always so exciting to see the quilts adorn the walls and staircase.  In preparation, I needed to label my two quilts that will be hanging.  I made them using my embroidery machine.  I went ahead and made 4 of them, so I guess that means I am committed to two more finishes in 2014!

I used fusible webbing on the back, so all I had to do was iron it on.....have I ever mentioned how much I hate handwork?

Sewing corner to corner NO MARKING

Whether you are joing pieces for binding, making half square triangles or snowball blocks, any time you need to sew corner to corner, this video has a fantastic tip. The video is filled with other great tips too, I just thought the last one was the best and will to be a huge time saver.

Half square triangles

CLICK IMAGE TO GO TO THE ORIGINAL SITE copyright 1994 Mark Jason Dominus

This variation of 72 different squares using half square triangles has been around for a while, but every time I look for it I have trouble, so I am posting here for you and for me!

On the frame.........

Gads, I can't believe that I am just now getting around to quilting a top that has been waiting since 2011! Millie and I are working on String Jean, a flimsie that has been waiting on me to decide how I wanted to quilt it. (I had to look it up to see how old she was and I am astonished that String Jean has been a flimsie since January 2011!)













Part of the reason it has been waiting so long is that it I couldn't decide how I wanted to quilt it. Perfectionism is the number one cause of procrastination......

I finaly just got started - and I love how it is turning out.

.

Here are some photos of how I made it. I started with scraps of flour sacks that a friend gave me. I received them exactly as they are in this photo.











I cut white strips the exact same width and added them on both ends.....













Sewed those together and added extra wide white spaces between......












And String Jean was the result. My friend who gave me the strips name is Jean....

Now I just have to figure out what to use to bind it. I with I had some more flour sack scraps!