TWINKLE WHEELS

Meet Twinkle Wheels

featuring 

Connecting Threads'  

new line of fabric 

I was fortunate enough to 

design a new pattern for them

and I needed to test out the 

block design since I 

was doing something a bit

different for me:)

OK, not the first part that

starts with half-square triangles

(some of my favorites to 

design with:).

Figuring out how to align

the center bit was a tiny

challenge but it 

worked out wonderfully

(if I do say so myself:)!

Here is my cover with 

the finished quilt and 

the second layout you

get from your cut aways

so there is hardly any

waste!

Here is another color way 

showing how a splash of yellow

really brightens it up.

It looks much more

complex than the actual

construction is.

Super easy to assemble!

When you are ready to 

make one of your own,

find my fun and simple

pattern HERE. 

THANK YOU,

Connecting Threads!

Dogwood Stars

Welcome Dogwood Stars

featuring Connecting Threads' 

fabric line.......

Now out of print!

During testing I made my

own version using these

fabrics because the 

color way spoke to me 

but wasn't available yet.

I am a sucker for pretty

much any fabric with 

script on it!!

This design has simple

piecing along with 

fusible applique'.

The diamonds in the border 

sections are all applique'

vs. piecing so cut and stick:)

These little tweezers make

placement of small pieces

so much easier.  

I also use a teflon applique' pressing

sheet so that these bits

are all applied making 

completed flowers BEFORE

fusing to borders/blocks.

When you have a small space

to work in, the pressing sheet

is a real time saver!

When you are ready to

make one of your own,

find my sweet, 

DOGWOOD STARS,

pattern HERE.

THANK YOU,

Connecting Threads! 

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!

Honeysuckle Rose

Meet the Botanical Blue collection 

from Connecting Threads.

I am excited to announce 

I have a new kit with them...

Meet 

"HONEYSUCKLE ROSE"

The sweet little flowers in that strip 

are fusible applique' done with 

my method of cutting multiples

included in the pattern.

You can find additional visuals on

my blog within post tutorials.

Cutting Multiples

Heartbursts

This is also a full pattern 

available HERE on my website now.

"Honeysuckle Rose" is available 

through Connecting Threads 

as a kit or PDF downloadable pattern.

I LOVE to see pics of 

finished designs!

~ENJOY~

Beach Glass

Available now....

This is Beach Glass, a fun easy quilt

that will look fantastic in any color way

and has many design options!

It came about through a call for 

submissions from Annie's.

They were looking for quilts

that had one block versatile enough

to create multiple quilts just

by "twisting and turning" the blocks.

VIOLA'!

Once a color way was chosen,

I made a test block to verify

there would be enough value 

differentiation.
I found my perfect fabric with 
Connecting Threads in their
Sea From Space collection
which is All Batiks!

Easy way to verify you are 
cutting in half correctly...
Line squares up on the diagonal. 
This also allows for cutting multiples.

It feels like it was forever ago that 

I made this quilt because it was

done between travel gigs in a 

maddening schedule.

I believe in the photo above I 

am cutting more/bigger squares in half

for setting triangles:)

Such an easy quilt to assembly!

I have noticed that I really enjoy creating

with the sweet and simple half -square triangles.

Here is where the magic will happen!

You will want to play with the blocks

to see what other layouts you can make!

ENJOY the ride!

Model quilted by a professional long arm quilter

with an all over design, Sally by the Seashore

by Christy Dillon of My Creative Stitches.

 Here is the book cover and the beautiful layout

they gave it in the book.

Thank you ANNIE'S!

The link to PURCHASE so you have

all the lovely options and hopefully
create some new ones!

PS: A sneak peek at an alternate layout courtesy of Annie's!

A quick look back before forward to 2020

Hard to believe 20 years have 

passed since this crew was 

together for a new year, decade,

century, millennium!!

We were stationed in Puerto Rico

for 2000 and what a party!

January in Florida is prime

'drink and a nosh on the water' time:)

February was full of appraisals-yay!

March was more hockey watching 

the Bolts kick some ass 

(before imploding later in the season). 

Wearing my new awesome fingerless 

gloves my mom made for me:)

I find them so comfortable for 

handwork too.

April brought a new adventure working

the Connecting Threads booth in Paducah

with this crazy crew!  SO FUN

Meet Amy, Barb, & Micki.

May showed me my 

cutting table for the first 

time in Months...(over a year)!
It was clean once....

Too bad it hasn't stayed clean:)

June was another workshop but  

closer to home.

Thank you Largo Cracker Quilters

July we met some local people

for a day out in Clearwater.

We had a lot of fun once I 

forced my husband out of the house-HA!

August was the BIG trip to 

Grand Rapids, MI for my

long awaited appraisal test!

Great little city and I made 

some new friends too.

My baby girl came to visit

while I was there too!

September brought the news that I PASSED

my appraisal test when I just knew I hadn't...lol

We also celebrated the wedding of

my sweet Lauren to her sweet Clayton!

October brought another birthday

and my baby girls sent me 

this sweet floral arrangement:)

October/November fulfilled 

another bucket item!!!

I was part of the 2019 faculty

at Houston International Festival-WOOT!

Here's to being picked up again for 2020:)

Great life long friends came to 

spend Thanksgiving with us and 

we took them to their first pro

hockey game. So Fun being with them!!!

We have ages of shared history

and love.

I am Very Excited to look forward 

to 2020!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

~R

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com 

for more blogs to follow.