CHURNED DAISIES:)

On shelves now is the 

January 2023 issue

of American Quilter.

The digital issue is now

available for purchase

HERE.

I am SO excited to finally

have this design out in the world:)

and in one of my favorite

color combinations!

These fabrics have been

waiting for me to get my

butt in gear as they sat

patiently for years in this fun 

monogram bag given to me by

my friend, Susan!

The daisy inspiration came

from these ca 1970 home items,

(match tin & recipe card box)

which were found while treasure

hunting with same sweet friend!

All the fabrics cut and 

awaiting assembly into 

one of the cutest and 

easiest blocks in quilting.

The Churn Dash is so

versatile and easy to 

chain piece while watching

your favorite movie on a

chilly winter day!

Once your blocks are done,

stitch them into the 

appropriate rows, 

pinning at seams.

The perfection of this 

design is that you only

have to make half the blocks

needed because the other

half of the quilt is done

in negative space:)

That negative area

is the airy space for 

our daisies!

Using a teflon pressing sheet

to assemble to full flowers,

allows the daisies to be

auditioned on the 

assembled background

before fusing in place.

They can be put anywhere 

you would like them!

I chose a gold variegated

thread that matched my 

centers to stitch my

petal edges down.

I thought it may help

them stand out against 

the background a bit.

Use black if you want

more differentiation or 

white for less.

So many ways to go:)

Look at how awesome

the AQS staging pic is!!

THANK YOU, AQS, for

again, choosing to 

publish my imagination:)

Quilter's Workshop of Tampa Bay, FL 2021 Quilt Show

 This guild does a FAB show 

and they didn't disappoint this year!

One of the members

even wore her best 

poodle skirt and scarf.

Wish I had asked for a pic:)

Here was my booth for 

conducting business and 

catching up with familiar faces!

Lots of vendors with lots

of lovelies!

This fun vintage booth

had a couple of 'take me home'

pieces just for me:)

Then we must not forget

the quilts:)

All silk ties!!

Margaret Stephens

Spinning Spools

Margaret Stephens

LOOK at the fabulous

ribbons they make 

for their winners!

BEST OF SHOW!!

Lorraine Masten

Around the World with

Mary Mannekee.

So much to see and I couldn't

possibly get it all in one post.

Thanks for visiting

and keep stitching:)

Sweet Persimmons

I have never had a persimmon 

and maybe I should try 

one now that I have named 

a quilt after them:)

New in the November

issue of AQ Magazine

meet Sweet Persimmons.

This sweet design started 

out in a 30s rendition.

Once I started thinking in Autumn

colors, I came up with this palette.

Still really like it and may have

to put this grouping to work

in another project!

Looks great, right?

Sometimes I can't see past my 

own vision but I also had 

this Sandy Gervais print sitting

around that I had been wanting 

to use in something....

Voila'! 

Pull some colors right out of 

the print and it is the perfect

assembly of color for this project!

When I started this, I was preparing

to help my daughter after the birth

of our first grand child so travel

hand work was appropriate.

The pic above shows alignment

for needle turn curves.

The pic below shows turning under

my edges to assemble the berries

before applying to the background. 

Here I stitch on a leaf.

Wow, my lighting was 

all over the place.

IF you own a rotating mat, 

it is the perfect way to trim

4 half-square triangles blocks

at one time by cutting 2 sides, 

rotate, cut 2 sides, etc. 

until finished.

Time to quilt.

I free motion quilted this 

sample myself...WHAT??!!

I used my freezer paper leaf

templates to create more

leaves that I could add 

swirls into the center

(bottom of pic).

When done quilting, 

you need a label:) 

I really like using a square 

of fabric folded in half 

and sewn into a bottom 

corner seam allowance.

The size of the square

depends on how much

you want to write.

This was 2 scraps of fabric

sewn together for an 

approximate 4-1/2" square. 

Thank You again, AQ for an

amazing layout!

It is Awesome!

Tea & Crumpets

IT'S HERE!

August brings 

September AQ magazines

to mailboxes all over:)

Soon to be found on 

shop shelves near you.

Within the pages you

will find my cheerful

Tea & Crumpets.

This piece was originally

done in a completely 

different colorway

and in the end we

went with brights!

Before I can order fabrics,

I have to do a test block...

Luckily I had some 

brights laying around 

to play with.

I know paper piecing intimidates

some of you but I would encourage

everyone to have another go at it.

Organization is KEY!

See all the tidy piles and I only 

work on one section at a time 

almost like chain piecing.

Put your favorite movie on

that you know all the words to 

and …...

Add all the blue....

Add all the green...

Add all the red.....

This keeps you focused 

and less likely to goof a piece.

Plus you can play with the parts before 

assembly because you never know

what new shape you will come up with:)

Of course, eventually you will get 

to a step you loath...Mine is trimming!

I dread this step in regular

piecing as well but it is 

necessary to accuracy.

But then....My reward is 

APPLIQUE'!!

Did I hear a, "Nerd!", 

out there somewhere? LOL

YES! I Love it!!

This little flower has been so 

patient, waiting its turn to 

shine in a project:)

Time to stitch it all down 

and get ready for quilting!

I am the first to admit that 

quilting creativity evades me!

It is the dreaded blank page

to me but in recent years

I have started using the applique'

templates to fill in the 

negative space around.

So I start by outlining the 

original applique', then add additional 

leaves and swirls in the quilting.

Also added some contrasting

accents in the red.

So Cute!

(if I do say so myself:)

Meet Tea & Crumpets!!

THANK YOU AQ!

Didn't they do a great job on 

the header?!

Here are a couple of other

color ways to get your 

creative juices flowing.

If picking fabric isn't your thing,

shop for the kit over

at AQS!

Thank you for 

following along

and Enjoy!

Until next time~

Rockets Red Glare

LOOK what hit mailboxes

last week!!

The July issue is now out

and yours truly

has a new quilt within

titled, 'Rockets Red Glare'.

THANK YOU Connecting Threads for 

the perfect fabric line,

Hometown Americana II.

It saddens me that so many quilters

feel overwhelmed by applique' 

because, to me, it is such a 

creative and relaxing form of quilting.

Yes, there are sometimes

many pieces to handle but

no more than some of 

the pieced quilts I have seen.

There are times that even I look

at one of my designs and ask,

"who designed all this work?".

Then I realize how much I 

love it and set to breaking

down each task just as you

would do in piecing.

Piecing steps: 

Iron fabric, measure, 

cut out pieces, sew, 

press, trim, and assemble.

Applique' steps:

Iron fabric, trace templates, 

fuse to wrong sides,

cut out, press to 

backgrounds, stitch 

around edges.

Pretty even in my book:)

Plus, once I get all the pieces 

traced and fused to the 

wrong side of fabrics,

I can pop in a fun movie

and cut all the pieces in 

a relaxed setting.

I am all about the relaxing:)

(NOTE in pic above I 

marked each template with 

the color fabric so I couldn't

mess up while fusing.)

These Karen Kay Buckley 

scissors are the Best!!!

Another nice thing about my

designs is that they don't need

to be laid out exactly.

As long as you leave at least

a 1/4" from the seam 

allowance, (1/2"-3/4" from 

block edge) you are golden!

Fireworks every day of the year!

Machine quilting is not really

my 'thing' but sometimes

I have to rely on my skills.

My default is a set of loop

designs that I free motion

over the raw edge applique'

and then enlarge for the

all over quilting fill in

and around my applique'.

Add a quick triangle label

to my corner and Voila-done!

THANK YOU to AQ Magazine 

for another cool layout!