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?

Improv Fans

This is the quilt that's growing on my design wall. These fans are fun to make. No paper, no foundations. 

More on this soon!

Selvage Sheep Quilt by Lois Cox

Lois Cox of California finished her selvage sheep quilt. The bright green background really makes the sheep "pop." It measures 70" x 71." Nice job, Lois!

Rainbow Selvage Quilt

This gorgeous selvage quilt was made by Natalia in Vladivostok. Her blog is: MishiNata. 

You can translate the blog into English by clicking "Translate" at the top of the page.

The photo below is a close up. Most of her selvages don't have writing. Nice work Natalia!

It's interesting how each quilter has her/his own style for arranging selvages. Some are mostly white, others are colorful, some have lots of color windows, and so on.

Pincushion Giveaway and UFO's

Tell me how many ufo's* you have. I don't know my exact number, but it's over 50. I prefer piecing to machine quilting, obviously. I'll get to them someday. This backlog doesn't bother me.

Want to see more pincushions?

*A "ufo" is an unfinished quilt project.

Hexagon Quilts Down Under

Look at what Melinda and the quilters at Quiltsmith in NSW Australia are up to!

I love these fussy cut hexagons. Wow! 

Want to learn the best way to make hexagons? See the post about Julia Wood's and Peggy Rhodes' recent book: Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts. 

Quiltsmith also has an online fabric store specializing in reproduction and Oriental fabrics.

Elena's Selvage Tote

Beautiful selvage tote bag by Elena has a pretty green batik bow. Nice quilting too. Good job, Elena!

Mom's Selvage Quilt

This stunning selvage quilt was made by someone's mom. Dancingshiba has a flickr page where she posts pics of her dog...and this quilt made by her mom. So that's all I know about the maker of this quilt. Kids :)

I love the wide selvages and the quilting in the white spaces too. Nice job, Mom!

Little Purse Giveaway

This little purse ornament is filled with pretty fabric scraps. It stands 4.25" high and might look cheery in your quilting studio. You can open it up and change the contents if you like. You can change the ribbon too.

To win, just leave a comment. Tell us something that you have in your sewing area for decoration or inspiration. Random winner will be chosen on Tuesday Feb. 25.

Selvage Quilt by Kathleen Loomis

Kathleen Loomis calls this selvage quilt "Jaunty F." Made in 2005, it measures 26" x 30."

Here's another quilt by Kathleen. It's one of her Postage series quilts.

What a talented quilter!

Basketweave Selvage Quilt

This selvage quilt was posted by Patchwork Posse from Utah. She saw it at the Home Machine Quilt Show. If you know who made this stunnning quilt, please let me know. 

Steph's Quilt

This "Line Art" quilt was made by Steph from Indiana. She featured a post on her blog answering all the questions she's received about this quilt: Steph's Stuff. Pretty quilt!

Steph likes scrapbooking, photography and quilting. She's a SAHM of 3. Before all that she was an attorney. 

This quilt reminds me of my pattern: The Stacks.