Tree Versus House -- Four Months Later

Some of you may not know that my house was crushed by a tree in mid-September. 

Guest room (second floor):

Kitchen ceiling (first floor):

Crack across entire house (second floor):

One tree did all of this damage.  Giant beech:

The trunk would have cleaved the house in two:

The good news:

1.  We were not home when this happened.
2.  Our children are grown and live on their own.
3.  We have no pets.
4.  My sewing room wasn't damaged at all.  PHEW!

While I was teaching in Houston in late October/early November, we finally had the roof (joists, beams, etc.) replaced:

I was sorry/not sorry to have been out of town while this noisy work was taking place.

Once I returned home, though, I got to babysit the tree guys for a few days as they removed the offending tree and several of its friends:

Watching professional tree guys work is a lesson in physics.  I have tons of videos and photos because I have grandsons who love trucks and machines.

This week marks four months since the tree damaged our home.  And we finally have insulation:

I can only show you views of the ladders because:

1.  I don't climb ladders
2.  The last time I went into the attic I breathed something awful and ended up with vicious particulate pneumonia.  So I will only see my new insulation if someone else goes up there and takes photos. 
3.  Yes, it's warmer already.

HURRAY FOR INSULATION!

Maybe we can work on a chimney, ceilings, walls, floors, siding, a deck, and other minor things soon.*

We expected this to take about a year to repair.  We're right on schedule.
_____
*soon = maybe later or maybe later than later. 

Enjoying 2020

One of my goals this year is to have more fun.  I'm looking into vacations, events, and other fun outings to place on my calendar at regular intervals.

One I'm really looking forward to it a cruise in April:

I will be teaching a Cutie (fat eighth quilt) class on one of our at-sea days and the rest of the time cruise will be spent enjoying the weather, the quilters, the food, and the excursions.

Do you have a goal of "more fun in 2020"?  If so, contact Gail Miller and sail with us!

Dottie -- an ongoing project

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh when the steel mills (pronounced "stihl mills" locally) closed and the city suffered 70% unemployment.  My family was hit by the economic downturn and I grew up knowing the value of a dollar.  That is probably why I can't throw any fabric scraps away.

Every time I make a Sweet Tooth Cutie Quilt, and that happens more frequently than you might imagine, I end up with leftover scraps from the strip piecing.  I have bags and Bags and BAGS of these 1 1/2" square pairs.  I'm sewing them together alternately with a 1" pink circle hand appliqued on a 2 1/2" square of scrappy white fabric and this is happening:

I can not commit to finishing this quilt in 2020, but I do commit to hand-appliqueing the circles in the evening in between my Bloom blocks.

Leave a comment telling me I'm insane to attempt to make a 60"x72" quilt out of leftover 1" squares.  It will serve to confirm my suspicions.

28 Days to Better Free-Motion Quilting!

Today is an exciting day!  I get to announce a fun new online series of machine quilting videos on Bluprint.com.

28 Days to Better Free-Motion Quilting

"Welcome to a four-week special event hosted by Angela Walters, featuring instruction from Bluprint’s top quilters. From simple scribbles to full-on feathers, gain the skills you need to free-motion quilt like a pro in just a few minutes a day. Your program includes lessons, templates, worksheets and more. Enroll on your own schedule, then see how fast your FMQ improves!"

Since some of the lessons are taught by me, I'm blushing just a little.  The program is designed so that you can gain confidence and become a better free-motion quilting by practicing one new skill a day at your own pace.

Sign up at Bluprint to join today!

My Brush with a Celebrity -- Angela Walters!

While I was at Houston Quilt Festival last fall, I ran into the fabulously famous Angela Walters and we got to chat.

Since she has a magical life where a team carrying cameras follows her everywhere, We chatted on camera and it showed up in her new season of True Up.

I'm in episode 5, in case you want to subscribe and watch Angela as she travels the world and quilts.

Quiler's World Magazine -- I'm a COVER GIRL!

I write a machine quilting column for Quilter's World Magazine and I'm on the cover of the latest issue!

ok, at least my NAME is on the cover.

The gorgeous quilt on the cover was designed by the amazing Nancy Scott of Masterpiece Quilting.  Winter is just starting here and that quilt has me longing for spring!

Did you know that there's more to a magazine than the cover?

Inside, there's a blurb about one of my Annie's Creative Studio classes:

and my article about Creative Crosshatching:

Subscribe to Quilter's World Magazine, ask for it at your local quilt store, or check it out at the newstand.

Happy Quilting!

Scrappy Placemat with Wavy Walking Foot Quilting

I recently finished a scrap quilt made from leftovers of a yet-to-be-released Cutie Quilt Pattern, but it didn't use up all of the scraps from that quilt.  I gathered the remaining scraps and pieced them together in the style of Victoria Findlay Wolfe until the fabric ran out.  It was just big enough to make a placemat for my mom:

When I make placemats for Mom, I give myself permission to play with the machine quilting.  I've played with straight walking foot quilting and wavy walking foot quilting and alternating rows of each, but on this project I switched between straight and wavy quilting in the middle of a row of stitching:

I think I'm in love with this stitching, and the Mellow Yellow FabuLux thread only adds to my joy.

Snowy Days Table Set on Annie's Creative Studio

New York experiences cold, snowy, dark January days so I was tickled to make the cheery and bright Snowy Days Table Set for my latest Annie's Creative Studio episode.

Here's the preview:

Episode description:

Do you want to quilt a cheery snowman to brighten your table? This wonderful winter table set offers three projects in one!

In this Learn, Make, Create! episode brought to you by Annie’s Creative Studio, quilting expert Debby Brown demonstrates the techniques to create the Snowy Days collection to melt away the winter blues.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

·               Make half-square triangles.

·               Piece mug rug base together.

·               Embellish Snowman face with applique nose and machine-stitched mouth

·               Complete the Snowy Days Table Set

Annie's Creative Studio is a subscription-based platform where you can learn from experts (like me!) how to quilt,

knit, crochet, and more!  If you aren't a member yet, sign up for a free trial to watch the entire episode.

Bloom -- an ongoing project

I considered pulling out one UFO each day in 2020, but decided that would be too depressing.  Instead, I'm pulling out a long-term project and committing to finishing it in 2020.

Project #1 -- Bloom

This is a free pattern on Lori Holt's blog.  I purchased her templates and used my scraps of "happy" fabric."  Yes, I keep a box of scraps that is full of fabrics that make me happy.  Each piece is a fun memory.  I'm hand-appliqueing this because I'm able to use my hands currently.  I stitch at night when I sit with my husband (thank you Daylight lamp) and also in hotel rooms (thank you son for the travel light you bought for me for Christmas).  

Do you love Lori Holt like I love Lori Holt?  Do you have a long-term project that you'd like to dig out and finish this year?

Got Gingham?

Did you know that pattern designers still admire other pattern designers?  One of my heroes is Lori Holt.  I've never met her, but I've also never met a quilt of hers that I didn't want to make.

I received a few more of her quilt books for Christmas (Amazon wishlists work!) and fell in love with her Gingham quilt block and quilt.

I modified the Gingham quilt block in Farm Girl Vintage and turned it into a Postcard:

I have some thank you notes to write, and I shall write them on gingham!

In Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage 2 book, she wrote a multi-sized pattern for a Gingham Quilt.  Sadly, I need a gift in a hurry for a sick relative, so I quickly made a red gingham quilt:

This 54"x66"quilt is made from Benartex Superior Solids fabrics.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I can't wait to quilt it.

If you want to make one, too, I put together a kit for you.  This will likely be my go-to gift quilt for a while.  It's quick and inexpensive and fun. 

January Serviettes

I put away my Christmas Serviettes on New Year's Eve and needed something for my January table:

Do you want to build a snowman?

If you do, I have kits available.

I imagine using these whilst warming myself with soup this month, and also whilst sipping hot cocoa (with marshmallows, naturally).

Happy New Year!

Last night was the last night that I was able to use my Christmas Serviettes:

I had so much fun stitching along with Hugs 'n  Kisses Advent Mystery Stitchalong for the month of December:

 
and finished enough to bring to my son's house for our Christmas celebration:

My children's families kept their napkins and will be able to use them each Christmas.

I finished the rest of the Serviettes and have put them away for next season.

Fortunately, Hugs 'n Kisses has more stitchery plans for this year because my fingers are itching to continue stitchin'!

Cotton Cuts Mystery -- part six

I'm tickled to be part of Cotton Cuts Mystery Quilt Blog Hop!  I received clue six in the mail.

The fabric selection for #TeamNicole is printed on fabric.  It was super easy to identify which pieces were which by reading the instructions and matching the pieces with the fabric letters.

I followed along, step by step, and pieced Clue 6A. 

The directions told me which way to press the seams, so piecing this together was a snap!

The directions include the little labels to put on each piece so that the clues are easy to find when it is time to assembly the mystery quilt!

I pieced this during the Christmas season at a time when my energy was at an all-time low.  I can't tell you how satisfying it was to piece this quilt together without having to cut it out first.  I simply sat, fed the already-cut pieces through my sewing machine, and listened to a good audio book.  What a delightful afternoon!

Another rave about Cotton Cuts:  they support employment for the intellectually challenged and for those with other disabilities.  Read more about their mission HERE.

To further support this mission, Cotton Cuts will raffle off the finished quilt made piece by piece by designers like myself.  If you'd like a chance to win this quilt, enter the raffle HERE.

Thanks for following along on my adventure today.  For more quilty goodness, subscribe to my newsletter.

Gifties -- Christmas Serviettes

Now that Christmas has passed, I can show you the gift I made for my daughter-in-love:

Because every family needs a dozen bright green Nightmare Before Christmas serviettes.

I used fabric left from their Bullseye Cutie Quilt and my Serviette pattern.  She was thrilled and will be wiping her dainty fingertips in style for the forseeable future.

Yay for another finish!  But there are leftover bits calling to me to use them in another project:

Will these triangles become another Pterodactyl Quilt?

Spoiler Alert:  yes.

Straight pins, Safety pins, or Wonder Clips?

Which do you use?

I recently filmed a class about this question for Annie's Creative Studio:

Here's a preview of the class:

Pin it. Clip it. Stitch it! It's always fun to learn about new tools and also to see which ones your fellow quilters prefer to use.

In this Quilt & Sew Tips episode brought to you by Annie's Creative Studio, quilting expert Debby Brown reveals the benefits and drawbacks of using straight pins, safety pins and Wonder clips to secure fabrics while piecing.

In this episode, you'll learn how to:

• Consider which options work best for you for holding fabric together.
• Review a variety of specialty straight pins.
• Use fabric clips in a new way.

Annie's Creative Studio is a subscription-based platform where you can learn from experts (like me!) how to quilt,

knit, crochet, and more!  If you aren't a member yet, sign up for a free trial to watch the entire episode.

Evolution of a Scrap Quilt -- Pterodactyl One

When it comes to snow days, I'm still a child.  This week's predicted snowstorm turned into an ice storm, which was still a good excuse to stay in my PJs and play in the sewing room.  This was the result:

I started with the leftovers from a recent (super-secret) project:

and I asked myself, borrowing from the movie Airplane "What do I make of this?"

Since the movie quote is "I can make a hat, a brooch... a pterodactyl" and since I am not making a hat or a brooch, I make must be a Pterodactyl.

I pulled out some white fabric and prepped to do some applique:

My husband and I are looking forward to the release of the final Star Wars movie and watching all of the previous movies.  I finished this applique block during our movie binge, so it was time to make some decisions.

What will this 12" block turn into?

I bordered it with leftover yellow and added the leftover Drunkard's Path blocks:

I still had a few blocks left and some scraps of fabric, so I pieced together another border:

And the final quilt is 41" square (and photographed on the ice on the remains of my deck):

This quilt is going to be so fun to quilt!  The name of this quilt is Pterodactyl One.  I have bags and Bags and BAGS of quilt leftovers.  They will become Pterodactyls, too.

'Tis the Season for a Festive Quilt Class

Simple quilts rock my world!  I recently filmed a class on how to make the Treetop quilt for Annie's Creative Studio:

\\

I love that the pattern for the quilt is included with the class

Class Description:

Display a Christmas themed starfield when you quilt the lively Treetop Quilt!

In this Learn, Make, Create! episode brought to you by Annie's Creative Studio, expert quilter Debby Brown demonstrates how to cut, piece and assemble the Christmas stars in this youth-sized quilt pattern design.

In this episode, you'll learn how to:

• Prepare and piece accurate half-square triangles.
• Press strategically to reduce bulk.
• Quilt the stunning Treetop quilt.

Annie's Creative Studio is a subscription-based platform where you can learn from experts (like me!) how to quilt,
knit, crochet, and more!  If you aren't a member yet, sign up for a free trial to watch the entire episode.

Treasures from Scraps

I've been giving myself permission to play with my quilting, and this week I played with a Tiny Dresden Template from Suzn Quilts:

While sorting through little bags of leftover scraps from finished quilts, I found a little pile of leftover bits of Dreamscape fabric and wanted to see what I could make from it.

I pulled out this fun Tiny Dresden Template from Suzn Quilts and my it's winter and my arthritic hands are aching hand-friendly Quilters Select rotary cutter:

I patiently stitched them together by machine and turned them right side out using my Purple Thang:

I put the colors together randomly since I only had little bits of a few colors each:

I only had enough fabric to make four little Dresden Plates.

But I'm sure I'll find something lovely to do with them.  First, I'll hand applique the center circles, then stitch to background fabric.  I'm thinking black?  Any other suggestions?

I have a few ideas for making a quilt with only four 4 1/2" blocks, but I haven't settled on one yet.  I'll be sure to share with you when I make up my mind!

'Tis the Season

While I love holidays and people, I'm not big on decorating or having holiday-specific things in my house.  I dipped my toe into the decorating water when I joined Hugs 'N Kisses Advent Mystery Stitchalong.

Tracing the pattern was a breeze using my Daylight Wafer light box:

The circle around the design is a cutting line, but I liked it as part of the design and decided to stitch it as part of my design on Northcott Dublin Antique Lace:

I next paired it with some wonderful Christmas fabric from Riley Blake and made a cloth napkin using my Serviette pattern:

I doubt I'll have time to make one each day, but I should finish enough of them to enjoy festive meals and maybe gift some as hostess gifts.

Are you crafting for the holidays?  Are you stitching along with Hugs 'N Kisses?

Scraps of Inspiration

As I'm cleaning out my sewing room, I'm finding little bags of leftover bits from scores of finished quilts.

Do you bag up project leftovers, sure you'll have the perfect use for them someday?  Have you ever figured out what that use is?

Every time I find a bag of scraps, I think "What do you make of this?" and a scene from Airplane plays through my mind:

I could make something hand pieced, appliqued, scrap pieced, or a pterodactyl.

I'm open to any suggestions.

Ten-Four, Good Buddy! -- a free pattern

In the latest battle in my personal war against scraps, I took aim at my bucket of 1 1/2" scrap squares.

1,600 squares later, this happened:

I named this quilt Ten-Four, because it has 10-inch pieced blocks and 4-inch sashings.  The entire quilt is 60"x60", a perfect size for gifting.

When was time to machine quilt it, I looked to some of my favorite threads:

FabuLux Midas Touch and DecoBob dark gold.  I decided to stitch a walking-foot wiggle every inch.  It was a joy to quilt and went so fast!

Do you have far too many 1 1/2" squares in your sewing room, just looking for a quilt?  Check out my free Scrappy Charity Quilts class.  The pattern for Ten-Four in included in that free class.

If you want to learn how to stitch a walking-foot wiggle, check out my free Blowing in the Wind class.  I show this same technique on simple charm square quilt.