Recently I posted about a guild program we had on block exchanges.  After that great program our guild decided to do some, too.  Robin, you inspired us!  

Of course it was my idea, so I was put in charge.  I decided since this was new to all of us, we’d start out simple.  The rules were to make twenty-four 6″ nine-patch blocks from red and white fabrics.  Here are mine.  Of course I used fabric from my red and white toile line, Through My Window.

I put them up on my design wall like an Irish Chain.  I must admit that for years I didn’t know an Irish Chain was just nine-patch blocks and plain setting squares!  I actually think the Irish Chain is a very impressive quilt made from a very simple block.  (Yes, I know that there are more than 24 blocks here, but there were extra segments left from my strip sets, so I sewed them all up!)

I don’t know yet how I will put my final blocks together.  I’m excited to see the different reds and whites that everyone used.

I have a great book called 101 Nine-Patch Quilts by Marti Michell.  I’m sure I’ll find some inspiration in there.

We interrupt this Ohio adventure for a quilt kit give-away!

This Red and White Delight quilt is featured on the cover of Quilts and More–and it uses my fabric!  The quilt was designed by Maebeth Oxenreider, and the folks at Q&M were nice enough to let me offer kits for the quilt on my web site.  One cool thing that Q&M does is show fabric requirements and cutting instructions for lap, twin, queen and king sizes.  There’s even a pillowcase kit!  Here’s the queen size – photo courtesy of Meredith Corp.

So, I thought it would be fun to give away a kit for a lap sized quilt.  It finishes 42″ x 52.”  I’ll include the magazine, of course, so you’ll have the pattern.  This give away is worth $46.98.  All you have to do is leave a comment and on June 8, I’ll use a random number generator to pick a winner.  Oh, and if you want a bigger size, you can apply the $$ toward a bigger one.  Hope you win!

It’s wonderful to have talented friends!

For more than ten years now I have belonged to a Redwork Club.  It started when I had the shop, and we continue to meet each month.  It’s really become more than a Redwork Club.  We do all kinds of embroidery and while we often have a projects, we love to share show-and-tell of anything needlework that we’re doing.  This is some of what was shared at our meeting.

Linda W. has taken the Through My Window panel and added her own special touches to it!  Not only is she embroidering the whole design, for each month she is adding a little something extra–black eyes on the snowmen, satin stitched hearts for February, a green shamrock for St Paddy’s Day and a purple Easter egg.  Don’t you just love them!

Ethel K. has completed our last years project–Playmates.  She made it for her great-granddaughter, Ellie.  

I’ll share more next month!

I’ve been meaning for some time now to share a free wall hanging pattern with you, but, being technically challenged, hadn’t been able to.  Thanks to the wonderful people at beachdog–who help me with all things computer, like my web site, email newsletter and blog–I actually made my own pdf. file today!  Woo hoo!  Okay, it may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but it’s a BIG step forward for me!  

 When my Redwork and Toile fabric line called Through My Window came out last fall, I made a fun quilt using the Courthouse Square setting from the red colorway.

Then I took the blocks from the panel in the black colorway and got out my crayons and had a good time!  Have you ever colored on fabric?  It’s lots of fun.  

Once I had the blocks colored, I decided they needed a way to be displayed.  Since each block represents a different month of the year looking into my window, I decided a house wall hanging was just the thing.  This is what I came up with, and the pattern I want to share.  From start to finish, I had the sewing and quilting done in less than an hour.  It took me that long to stitch down the binding because I’m the world’s slowest binder, but that’s a different story!  Here’s how it turned out.

When I decided to post the free pattern, I looked up my notes.  Miracle of miracle, I knew where to find them!  They were quite clear, but I decided to stitch up another one just to be sure.  I finished a red version just a few minutes ago.  The cutting and stitching of the top only took 30 minutes.  

Although I still need to quilt it, I’m glad to have a red one now, too, and may even embroider a set of the red blocks–although they’re pretty cute just as they are!  

I’m going to cut black kits and red kits and put them up on my e-commerce site, so if you need the fabric it will be easy to get.  If you have the fabric already, or your favorite quilt shop has it, you can just click the link below for the free pattern.  

Through My Window Pattern

Happy stitching!

My new fabric line has arrived. Yeah! This is my first line with Timeless Treasures Fabrics, and I’m soooooo pleased with it. The colors came out just like I wanted. I’ve been designing 1930′s repro prints for a while now, and with this line we’ve gone a little more hip with the colors. They’ll still work for those people who want to recreate the look of vintage quilts, but they are also young and fun and chic! The blue is a little bit dusty, the orange is true (that’s me, true to my orange!), the green is a little bit apple-y, the purple not too red and not too blue and the yellow is sharp and crisp. I’d love to know what you think of the colors.

As always, I’ve done a panel, but this time, it’s not blocks or a wall hanging, it’s an apron panel – the Saucy Circle Apron! Circle aprons are so flattering, and I think this one is adorable, although while I was trying to arrange the ties for the photo, I kept getting images of the Trix bunny in my head!

It’s done with the Daisy May print and has the Duo Dot for the apron strings. You can make this apron from the pre-printed panel. All you need is a little piece of fusible interfacing for the waist band, and everything else is printed right on the fabric – including the instructions!

If you want to make it reversible, you can buy two panels or an extra yard of fabric and have two aprons in one! It took me just an hour and a half to stitch this one up. Here are some photos I took along the way.
I used one panel of orange and one of green, stitched them together, turned them right-sides-out and top-stitched.

Then I did the same thing with the apron strings. The top-stitching is important so the apron still looks good after you wash it, and it doesn’t take any time at all. (If you’re not doing the reversible version, you only have to hem the edges!)

I don’t have a lot of experience garment sewing, and it always amazes me that you can stitch something round to something straight and it works! Here I’ve pinned the waistband to the apron. The anti-pinning voice in my head says, “You can do it without pins.” But the anti-ripping voice is louder and says, “If you don’t want to rip, pin!”

Once that’s stitched on, it’s just a matter of flipping it over to the other side and stitching again. More pins, please.

Almost finished! It’s just a matter of slipping the apron stings in the end of the waistband and top stitching everything.

Wasn’t that easy! If you’ve been thinking of having a handmade Christmas, think about a few Saucy Circle Aprons!

I’m Karen Snyder and I approve this message!