May Color Block Quilt -- I Love You This Much (room)!

 All of the Color Block quilts for 2025 will be suitable for babies.*  If you are new to Color Blocks Scrap Quilts, every quilt starts with an 8" sixteen patch block made from squares.  I have cut all of my scraps into 2 1/2" squares and piece up some Color Blocks when I need some brainless sewing.  Then I can grab a few and quickly piece together a quilt.

May's quilt is I Love You This Much(room)!  I was thinking of Alice in Wonderland, The Smurfs, and Mario Bros. when I designed this mushroom quilt

I added some fun texture in the background by quilting with a 2" Offset Circle Stencil.  

Join the FREE (for now) Color Blocks 2025 class to download the pattern and watch the machine quilting tutorial.

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*This month's quilt has buttons on it.  If you are making for a baby, do not add the buttons.

Squared Away Cutie Quilt -- Pretty in Pink

One of my favorite Cutie Quilts to machine quilt is Squared Away.  I love to quilt ribbon candy in the background and let the Cutie Fabrics POP!  

Last year I decided that 2025 was "The Year of Baby Quilts" and it is proving true.  My circle of family and friends are helping me with this pledge by providing me with new babies who need quilts!

I made this pink Squared Away for a sweet baby girl due in July.  I can show it now since the baby shower was last weekend.

Whenever I need to tidy up my sewing room, which is always, I start stitching a quilt with ribbon candy.  I tidy in between each block.  It's silly, but I make progress that way.

Do you have a favorite baby quilt pattern?  

Do you have any tricks to help you tidy your sewing room?

ABC Stencil -- Circle Heart on a Atkinson Designs Twist and Shout Quilt

 I just finished quilting my sister's birthday quilt (HBD, Sharon!).

I subscribe to Primitive Gatherings Quilt Subscription Box and received a pack of five fat quarters.  I wanted to use them together in a project so I flipped through all of my patterns until I found an out-of-print Atkinson Designs pattern called Twist and Shout that used five fat quarters plus contrast, background, border, and binding.  

I pieced this quilt top at a Sewcation Retreat in Sturbridge, MA in January.  My sister saw the top and called dibs, so I needed to quilt it up in time for her birthday.  

Ribbon Candy is always my first quilting choice, so I considered quilting all of the print strips with ribbon candy.  That would leave the background and the black pinwheels.  These pieces aren't very large and any custom quilting would be teeny tiny, so I sadly, regrettably opted against ribbon candy.  I had to rest in a darkened room to recover for a while before coming up with quilting plan B.

My sister liked this quilt because of the black/white/red colors, the colors of the school she recently retired from.  So the color was the important part of the quilt, not the quilting. I decided to quilt this simply by adding some texture with my ABC Stencil Circle Heart alternating directions and placed in a grid.

I love the circles on this quilt and the texture after washing the pounce powder on it was divine!

Thread color was my next choice, and I thought of black, cream, red, and gray.  I love red so decision made!

I impressed myself by getting this quilted, bound, and mailed in time for her to receive it for her birthday.  I think it's due to arrive a day early even!  I can't be the only quilter who is late with gifts, right?

I filmed the quilting of this quilt and posted it in As the Bobbin Turns, where I post all of my subscriber-only videos.  You can join monthly or annually to peek over my shoulder while I quilt all of my quilts on my home sewing machine.

A last Happy Birthday to my sister, who is the boots-on-the-ground 24/7 daughter to our elderly mother.  She does a great job caring for our mom and I'm so grateful for her.

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• Red 50-weight Konfetti cotton thread
• Red 80-weight DecoBob polyester thread
• ABC Stencil -- Circle Heart
• Batt Scooters

Jack's Star Cutie Quilt -- Machine Quilting on a Home Sewing Machine

Jack's Star is one of the top-selling Cutie Patterns.  

This quilt is quick and easy to piece It uses a Cutie Pack of fabric (16 fat eighths) plus background and binding fabric.  I chose a Knit Together Cutie Pack from Benartex because who doesn't love cats and yarn?  (Cat-haters, please don't feel the need to answer)

I used my ABC Circle Heart Stencil to quilt long lines of hearts.

Then I stitched switchbacks between the lines of hearts to add texture and to make the hearts POP!

This simple combination makes the quilting look far more complicated than it is!

My daughter loves cats and quilts and maybe she'll need me to make some baby items from Knit Together in the near future.

Watch how I stitched this quilt:

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Jack's Star Cutie Pattern

Knit Together Cutie Pack

ABC Circle Heart Stencil

Batt Scooters

Waiting for Baby!

I'm expecting another grandbaby in late June.  I have had their quilt stored safely in my linen closet since 2017 and was excited to finally give it to them!

I have many more quilts here for them and many more quilts planned, but this was THE ONE!  It's made with organic cotton and is gender-neutral and was perfect for the shower.

Is it wrong that I'm pleased that the party-goers clapped when my DIL opened the quilt?  Because I am.

The pattern is Jack's Star, a Cutie Pattern I designed and named after my late father.  It's a great quilt to show off larger prints on fabrics.  The next Jack's Star quilt I make will use My Little Sunshine fabric.

Isn't that fabric adorable?

Like all Cutie Patterns, this quilt starts with 16 fat-eighths and adds background, borders, or other fabrics.  Jack's Star is so versatile because it doesn't require any border yardage.  A simple pack of fat eighths (or fat quarters cut in half) will do the job!

Maybe when I make this next quilt, I'll get another grandbaby?  If only it worked that way!

Abandoned BOM FINISHED!

I think this quilt dates from 2012 or thereabouts.  I'm not really sure.  It was designed by my local quilt shop and I finished eight blocks while it was being released before setting it aside for a decade.

I pulled out the blocks before a recent quilt retreat and made a smaller quilt out of the finished blocks with a plain center block.

The video of the floral feather in the center block is available in As the Bobbin Turns, my exclusive video subscription.  You can join monthly or annually.  The class is on sale for $50 annually for my birthday week (until May 12, 2025).

I added a special bonus to this video: I filmed how to restart the quilting when my bobbin ran out.  I hope you find that video helpful!

From Leftovers to Lovely!

Way back in 2020, there was a bright spot in a year to forget:  I made a darling Jack Skellington Bull's Eye Quilt for my daughter.  I recently pulled out the scraps and came up with a fun quilt.  

I just added the over-my-shoulder machine quilting video for this quilt to my As the Bobbin Turns Subscriber-Only Videos.  You can join monthly or annually to see what's going on in my quilting studio.

I show how I used my ABC Botanical Stencil to quilt in the white fabric.  Echoing the continuous curve in the black and white checkerboards, I used a 1 1/2" Grid Stencil to help me stitch continuous curve in the border.

I keep a bag of finished quilts in the back of my car.  When my sister saw this quilt, it disappeared from the back of my car.  It's so odd how that keeps happening!  (My sister is awesome and deserves every good thing in life.)

Do you challenge yourself to make new quilts with the leftovers from other quilts?

Handi Quilter at Blue Hen Quilt Shop, Newark Delaware

Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching at a new-to-me quilt shop in Newark Delaware -- The Blue Hen!

I met so many new friends there and am excited to see where their quilting journeys will take them.

We learned all about Handi Quilter Longarm Quilting Machines.

We played with Free-Motion Quilting:

We learned all about how to quilt Backgrounds, Borders, and Blocks.

We learned all about computerized quilting with the Pro-Stitcher.

Folks near The Blue Hen have such a great quilt shop and machine quilting learning center in their area!

21 Days from Quilt Top to Quilted -- Day 18

WooHoo!  I just finished writing Lesson 18 in 21 Days from Quilt Top to Quilted and it shows how I quilted my Blanket Fort Quilt using my walking foot on my home sewing machine.  You can join this class for FREE while I am creating the class and you'll get to keep it forever; once the class is completed, it will cost $21 -- but not for you because you are smart and joined while it is free.

                  

I've supplied 15 minutes of in-depth close-up video showing how I used my walking foot and NO MARKING to machine quilt my quilt.  

This technique is great to get a quilt finished simply and quickly.

Get my Blanket Fort Quilt Pattern, join my 21 Days from Quilt Top to Quilted class, and become more confident in finishing your own quilts on your home sewing machine.

Teaching Color Blocks at my Local Quilt Guild

Last weekend I had the joy of teaching a special Color Blocks Quilt at my Local Quilt Guild.  I only teach this quilt at quilt guilds through 2027.

I designed "Henri the Flamingo" when visiting a friend in Florida last year.

April added a light border to offset her dark background.

Our guild hosts a Super Saturday when guild members teach other guild members.  Henri was one option, but members could also make a star tablerunner.

We also had some quilters working on Disappearing 25-Patch blocks for our Community Quilt efforts.

It was a wonderful day of learning and fun.

Are you a member of a guild?  Do you love your guild?  Would you like me to teach Henri at your local quilt guild?  I will hold this pattern as a guild exclusive through 2027.

Teaching at Calico Gals in Syracuse NY

 I recently had the joy of teaching at Calico Gals in Syracuse NY.  I live only four hours away so we felt safe scheduling a Handi Quilter Longarm Quilting Event.  In Syracuse, NY.  In the winter.  Happily ,the weather cooperated and I had a super-easy drive there and back.  What happened in between the drives, though, was nothing but FUN!

We spent a whole day learning about the Pro-Stitcher, the computerized quilting system for the Handi Quilter machines.  

We spent another day learning all about longarm quilting basics and quilting with rulers.

Did you know that you can quilt using rulers on the Handi Quilter stationary longarms?

Quilting with rulers on the longarm machines on frames can cause some interesting hand positions!  We had fun experimenting with the best ways to hold straight rulers and curved rulers

I'm a "fiddler."  If I'm talking (and I'm always talking), I usually have something in my hands that I'm fiddling with.  Somehow, I ended up fiddling with this most impressive pair of scissors and had to be super careful about talking with my hands!  I'm happy to report that no one was injured as I gestured and that I quickly found something safer to fiddle with!

Calico Gals is a destination quilt shop.  Plan your road trip to visit this beautiful shop and their staff.  Stop in and pick up some fabric, BUT NOT THE SCISSORS!

Squared Away Cutie Quilt -- ABC Stencil

I can't count how many Squared Away quilts I've made.  30?  40?  A LOT!  I think I've quilted all of them using ribbon candy in the background and letting the feature fabrics puff up.

Since I'm in the mood to use my ABC Stencils lately, I decided to quilt this Squared Away using my Moon and Star ABC Stencil.

I completed this quilt so quickly that I was sad that I didn't get to quilt it longer!

I filmed the quilting of this quilt and posted it as a subscriber-exclusive video in As the Bobbin Turns.  Join the other subscribers who get to peek over my shoulder while I am quilting in my home studio.

February Color Block Quilt -- Posy in my Pocket

 This January felt like it was 72 weeks long, am I right?

I needed a little spring to get through the sub-zero temps, so I made a sweet springy baby quilt and named it Posy in my Pocket.

I let bright yellow petals, pink posy centers, leafy-green sashing, and sky blue borders bring some hope to my winter-weary soul.

Grab your scraps, the happiest fabrics you can find, and put a posy in your pocket.

The February Color Block quilt is published, ready to download, and ready to stitch.

Happy Quilting!

Color Blocks -- Hugs and Kisses Machine Quilting

 When I machine quilted January's Color Block Quilt Hugs and Kisses, I knew I needed to quilt it with hugs and kisses!  XOXOXOXO

I stitched continuous lines of Os (loops) and Xs (only four crosses of a snowflake) throughout the quilt.  I used the seam lines to contain my quilting so that I didn't have to mark my quilt at all!

Go to Color Blocks vol. 5 and watch the machine quilting tutorial about how I quilted Xs and Os.

ABC Alignable. Block. Collectible. Stencil Home Machine Quilting -- Primitive Gatherings Tilda Throw

I subscribe to the Primitive Gatherings Subscription Box. In October 2024, I received two packs of Tilda Creating Memories Charm Squares and a pattern for a throw.

I decided to quilt this using my ABC Graphic Circle stencil. This one small stencil made a great overall pattern!!!

Watch how I used this one stencil to quilt my entire quilt:

_____ Creating Memories charm squares from Tilda ABC Graphic Circles Stencil Batt Scooters

Found in My Sewing Room

 I'm continuing to work on cleaning out my sewing room.  I emptied a drawer that had a scrap project in it.

This was from years and Years and YEARS ago.  These fabrics were leftover from a baby quilt I made.

This quilt has been set aside for many years for my daughter for when she becomes a parent.  At this time, the quilt is slated to be transferred to her in June!

Anyway, I made one block with the scraps to make another baby quilt.  The pattern called for all half-square triangles.  I think that is the theme of my year as every quilt I touch is full of HSTs.  My current quilt requires 1,000 of them!

I don't love this quilt so the one finished block went into my orphan block basket, the fabrics went into my scrap bin, and the finished HSTs became pinwheels for my orphan block basket.

That emptied drawer is now filled with fabrics for the upcoming Unity Quilt Along at Primitive Gatherings.

Squared Away Cutie Quilt -- Machine Quilting on a Home Sewing Machine

Squared Away is the very first Cutie Pattern I designed!

This quilt is quick and easy to piece using 16 fat eighths and very fun to quilt.  I used Figo Treehouse fabrics and these woodland fabrics were just what the baby's momma wanted!

I stitched only the background and used wool batting.  The contrast between quilted and unquilted and the loft of the batting make the quilting POP!

These Treehouse fabrics are a delight and I can't wait to use them to make more quilts!

Watch how I stitched this quilt:

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Squared Away Cutie Quilt Pattern Treehouse Cutie Pack (16 fat eighths) Batt Scooters

Blanket Fort Quilt Along -- Mystery Solved

Four clues over three hours yielded some beautiful quilts!  Here's one of mine:

I used Orleans fabric by Jan Shore.

Students are starting to send in their photos and every quilt looks so different and beautiful!

If you'd like to get the pattern for this fun quilt, click HERE.

Now that everyone has a new quilt top, the question is "How are you going to quilt it?"

Well.... I have an idea.  Next Saturday, January 11, 2025, I'm launching 21 Days from Quilt Top to Quilted.  It's free to sign up now, but it won't be free forever.

In 21 daily installments, I will cover topics like Preparing Your Quilt Top, Selecting Your Threads, Free-Motion Quilting on a Home Machine, and Walking Foot Quilting.  If you are a longarm quilter, follow the free-motion quilting suggestions.

I hope to see you and your Blanket Fort quilt in my next class!

Ongoing Resolution

 It's not exactly new, but I'm continuing to clean out my sewing room.  I am sorting through my baskets and boxes and buckets of quilting "stuff" and deciding what to do with each one.

If it's worth finishing, I set it aside to finish.... someday.

If it's not worth finishing, I have to decide what to do with it.

These scraps were leftovers from a Gudrun Erla quilt project from 2020 or so.  I'm not sure why I set them aside or what I had planned for them.

I cut my scraps into 1 1/2" strips and 5" squares.  I regularly use 1 1/2" strips in Cutie Patterns like Freeze Frame, Big Cheese, Sweet Tooth, and Picnic Patch.  I'm saving 5" squares for the upcoming Primitive Gatherings Unity Quilt Along.

My sewing room is 1 bag of fabric lighter now.

Color Blocks -- Hugs and Kisses

January's Color Block quilt is Hugs and Kisses.

2025 will be a year of baby quilts; this small, simple quilt is quick to piece, quilt, and give away!

I pulled out some gray and blue Color Blocks from my stack and had this quilt pieced in no time!

Grab a few of your Color Blocks (or make some new ones), download the pattern, and stitch this sweet baby quilt.