Crazy Quilt with Corner Fans

I made this crazy quilt with silk fans in the corners about 10 years ago. My Mom crocheted the little white fan in the photo below. She made it for this quilt. She also taught me how to embroider about 50 years ago, and I'm so glad she did. I love to embroider on quilts. Beads make it nice to run your hands over the surface of the quilt too. You know what I'm going to say: click here to see how to make fans.

Barbara Harrison's Silk Fan Quilt

This gorgeous silk quilt is the creation of my friend Barbara Harrison of Doylestown, PA. I wish you could see this quilt in person. The colors are so vibrant, and the quilt looks different as the light changes. She used some plaid silks too. I love the pointy gold border. Nice job, Barbara!

Barbara is an accomplished artist and a frequent lecturer and encourager of other artists. She certainly has inspired me.

My Mom's Sampler Quilt

I made this sampler quilt for my Mom years ago. She has it on the wall in her guest bedroom. She likes green and the shamrocks are a favorite Irish motif. She has a good sense of humor, so I put some goldfish swimming around in there too. 

The house (above) is her house. Haha, I used artistic license here!

If you want to see how to make fan blocks, click here. 

Sampler Quilt with Fans and More!

Sampler quilts are so much fun to make because there's very little repetition. I made this one years ago. See the photo above, in the middle, there are 4 red and gold 9-patch blocks? That's what started this whole quilt. I made them with 1" wide strips, so that was enough! Instead of making more, they became the centers of 4 log cabin blocks. There are 2 more identical 9-patches in the quilt; see them (below)?  

This quilt has 2 center medallions.  Notice there are solids and a few prints? There are even some batiks in there. I like the triangles in the outer border. I was surprised (and delighted) to see how this quilt looked when it was finished.

And yes, here are some more fan blocks. See the pattern for them here.

Eileen's Fabulous Green Quilt

Here's the other green quilt that I told you about yesterday, made by my sister Eileen Lovett.

Didn't she do a great job? She and her friend Nancy had a quilt challenge to use only green and white in a quilt. How about that fancy binding? I love how she sprinkled the yellow-greens around too.

Nice work, Eine! (rhymes with "fine")

Eileen Lovett's Green Quilt

This Burgoyne Surrounded quilt was made by my sister Eileen Lovett of Michigan. 

The main part of the quilt is shown below; part of the border is shown above. 

I love how she used fans to go around the corner. Yayy, Eine! 

She has made several beautiful green quilts. I'll show you another one tomorrow. 

New Give Away! Red Rick Rack Basket

Let's have another give away! This little pincushion basket has a rick rack print cushion and two pretty pinsies. I put some rocks in the bottom so it has some weight and won't flop around when you use it. The rocks are wrapped in batting so they won't jingle around.

Your comment is your entry. Random winner announced on Monday March 24.

Tell us how old you were when you 

made your first quilt. I was 13. 

The winner of the little purse is Karen M. from Kentucky! 

Her blog is: Karen's Sewing Room. Congrats, Karen!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lucy's showing the quilt that she made for her mother for Mother's Day. Doesn't she look happy? Lucy is from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. This is from the Love to Sew blog. I love this photo! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sawdust Fan Quilt

I made this quilt years ago for the AQS/National Quilt Museum "New Quilts from an Old Favorite" competition. This time it was chosen for the traveling exhibit and book: "Sawtooth." 

This quilt started with the four pineapple blocks in the center of the quilt. I played with them on the design wall until I got them into this funny arrangement. You can see this was made during my 1" strip phase.

I like how the fans look like wheels in this quilt. Ironically, these busy wheels seem to provide the "place for your eye to rest" in this quilt. Could it be?

Click here to see the pattern for making fans. 

Worldwide Quilting Day is Today!

"Three Sisters" by Hiroko Nakayama of Japan. Wowzers!!

To celebrate Worldwide Quilting Day I searched the Internet for 

interesting Japanese quilts. Enjoy!

This quilt by Sake Puppets was exhibited at the Tokyo Quilt Festival 2013.

"The Candy Shop" by Miyuki Hambaba. The block is called Sun Dial.

Amazing house quilt from the RandomThoughtsDoOrDi blog.

****Enter to win a fabric shopping spree at: Worldwide Quilting Day Block Contest.****

Fans in an Amish Setting

Are you all planning an intervention to get me to stop posting about fans? I'm kind of shocked too, to see all the fan quilts that I have in my photo archives. I don't see it as a problem yet though.

If you want to risk getting addicted too, click here. 

Golden Pond, A Camp Quilt and Pattern

This is my latest quilt, still warm off the sewing machine: Golden Pond. Each log cabin block (courthouse steps variation) has an "+" on it. When I added the coin sashing, the quilt became rather chaotic. I really like the wild black and orange striped fabric, the hounds tooth fabric, and the large prints too. I think this quilt would be perfect in a casual camp setting, like in the movie "On Golden Pond." 

See the pattern here.

Give Away - Purse Ornament!

 This week's give away is a clear purse ornament filled with little bits of fabric. You can open it up and change the contents of course. Use the beaded handle to hang it in your quilting room.

Your comment below is your entry. Random winner announced on March 18. 

Question: Do you listen to music when you sew, 

or do you like it quiet?

The winner of the purple and orange pincushion is Laura from Virginia.

Her blog is Sewing Our of My Comfort Zone. Yayy, Laura!

Fan Quilt - Another Variation

I made this quilt using the same method as for the Ferris Wheel quilt. This quilt now lives in the Netherlands. I love it when my quilts have interesting lives. 

As I chose each strip for the fans, I tried to keep it basically "dark, light, dark, light," with some areas of higher contrast, and some areas of lower contrast. I think that adds depth. There are so many interesting ways to use this block.

Tree of Life Center Medallion with Fan

This is the center portion of a red and white sampler quilt that I made a while back. When I learned a fast and easy way to make half square triangles, I made a bunch of them and decided to create a tree of life design. The foliage got so big that it needed a big root system to balance the design. I made the "root fan" by eye. It's the same method as used in the Ferris Wheel pattern. Are you getting sick of me talking about all the cool things you can do with these fans? I hope not because I still have more, I'm pretty sure. 

This is the whole quilt. See what happens when you learn how to make fast and easy hst's? This is one of my favorite quilts ever. This photo is from a quilt exhibit at the Pearl S. Buck estate in Dublin, PA when I was a member of the Charm Girls quilt group. Hello to my friends Barbara, Helen, Linda, Ellen, and Stephanie!

Burgoyne Surrounded Silk Quilt

I made this silk quilt a few years ago for the AQS and the National Quilt Museum's "New Quilts from an Old Favorite" contest that featured Burgoyne Surrounded quilts.  It wasn't chosen for the book and exhibit. But I do like the 12 fan blocks and the black and red coin border. 

When This You See, Remember Me

I made this quilt in memory of my two grandmothers. It carries a lot of sweet memories: playing with buttons and the pearl necklace, flowers, having tea, and butterflies in the garden. I love how the super jumbo ric rac gives the outer edge a postage stamp look. The words are written with buttons, including an old Girl Scout uniform button.

See all the fan blocks? Here's the pattern for them.

What's Your Culinary Specialty?

Let's have another give away while we wait for spring to show up! 

 Random winner announced next Wednesday Mar. 12. 

Your comment below is your entry. 

Tell us what food dish you are best at making. 

What do your friends hope you'll bring to a pot luck dinner? 

My specialty is apple pie. My dad showed me how to make it when I was little. 

I use McIntosh apples, a New England favorite.

Want to see similar pincushions?

King Size Fan Quilt!

This is a king size custom fan quilt that I made for an Etsy customer. 

It's the same method shown in the Ferris Wheel quilt pattern.

Notice how the small fan block in the lower right corner (above) helps the border turn the corner? 

How cool is that?

Maika Christensen of Utah did the beautiful free motion quilting. I love her work.

My fan block method uses no foundation, no paper-piecing, and no fancy cutting.

Center Medallion Star with Fans in the Border

Here's a quilt I made years ago when I cut my stash into 1" strips. That action inspired lots of good quilts.

 I love this one! See all the fans in the border? View pattern for making fans. 

These fabrics are mostly oldish prints. Think: Lucy Ricardo's dresses. I like how the black print looks with all these colors.

Shirley's Selvage Tote

This selvage market tote was made by Shirley McIntyre of Illinois. She used a pattern by Jodi Nelson featured on Pleasant Home. Shirley says she has plenty of selvages now that her friends know she has a use for them.  Nice job, Shirley! I like the gray striped fabric next to the selvages.

Ferris Wheel! The Fun Way to Make Fans!

Here it is: the Ferris Wheel Quilt! If you don't want to bother with paper piecing or fabric foundations, this quilt pattern is for you! These fans are pieced "by-eye." Once you get the hang of it you'll find uses for these clever blocks in lots of quilts. (For example, going around the corners in borders.)

I like how it looks like a wheel when you use striped fabrics.

Here's another variation below. The "by-eye" aspect is more evident in this red and pink variation.

The whole quilt measures 65" x 81. This quilt is really fun to make, and really packs a punch.

Please spread this quilt around the Internet: Pinerest, your blog, flickr, or FB. Use any of the photos. Thanks so much!

The link to the pattern is: https://www.etsy.com/listing/181236785/ferris-wheel-quilt-pattern-fan-quilt-fun?ref=shop_home_feat_1

Also, scroll down to enter the current pincushion give away.  :)

Pincushion Give Away and Bucket Lists!

I made this earthy pincushion by knitting 2 rectangles using wool. I felted them, sewed 'em together, and stuffed it with polyfill. Then I needle-felted the green moss and added the pinsies. 

I can't make just one! See more here.

 Enter by leaving a comment below. 

Tell us something that's on your Bucket List. 

Random winner will be announced on Friday the 7th. 

Shirley McIntyre's Love Note Pillows

This fabulous Love Note Pillow is the creation of Shirley McIntyre of Illinois. It's about 12" square, made with a handkerchief and embellished with buttons, yoyo's, ribbons, and crocheted lace. I love how she used postcard fabric to make the envelope in the middle. She suggests giving it as a gift with a special note, gift card, or other special gift in the pouch. See more at Old Fancywork Quilts. Nice work, Shirley!

P.S. How about using some interesting selvages too?