I hope you all had a great weekend!  I was busy writing a pattern for a deadline and packing up quilts to fly to Seattle this morning!  I’ll be doing a signing, visiting with my mom, and my friends at Martingale all in a quick 36 hours, then get back to family life here again!

Before I take off, a big thanks to these lovely ladies that took the time to participate in the Blitz for Modern Basics II -

Emily Herrick , Amy Newbold, Dana Bolyard, Amy Webb, Martingale , Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Katie Blakesley, Kimberly Jolly, Terri Harlan, Mary Kolb, Pat Sloan, Natalia Bonner, Candy Glendening, Vicki Christensen

I was happy to know that some of you learned something new from my friends, and hope that you all had fun visiting my friends.

Now for the fun stuff!

***Modern Basics II ebook winners:

Read More »

Hi there! For those of you quilting along with me, I have a giveaway for you today!

Jackie of Canton Village Quilt Works is the sponsor this month, and has agreed to giveaway a Kona Berry fat quarter bundle!

Enter the giveaway by linking up with a post about your progress, if you are just on flickr, share your most recent picture in the linky.

 Don’t be shy – share your progress! I’ve copied papers and cut fabric for a third of the blocks I plan to make, (30) but haven’t sewn any! I need to get a couple deadlines behind me first!

Can’t wait to see where you are in the process – a winner will be selected on Monday.

Good Luck – Amy

Hi there! For those of you quilting along with me, I have a giveaway for you today!

Vicki Welsh is the sponsor this month, and has agreed to giveaway a stash pack of your choice!

Enter the giveaway by linking up with a post about your progress, if you are just on flickr, share your most recent picture in the linky.

Don’t be shy – share your progress (or lack of!) this is as far as I have gotten.

ETA – Ack! Linky fail – I’ve updated the code!

All the fabrics are selected, brights are cut, but not the background or white yet.

I had hopes of  sewing a bunch of blocks this week, but have been hit with a nasty cold, and getting off the couch … Read More »

Picking a favorite block is like trying to select a favorite quilt for the Festival each time it comes around! I decided that I wanted to find a good basic block, that anyone can make, to share today.

The Road to Oklahoma is a simple block of squares and half square triangles, and when stacked create a fun pattern of stars and four-patches.  Here’s a quick example, before I show you how to make it!

This is a star askew, but if you turn the blocks, you have a classic star.

Simple and fun results!

To make a Road to Oklahoma block, select a block size and cut the squares.

Cutting 6” block
Print fabric, cut:
6 squares – 2” x 2”
2 squares – 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
White fabric, cut:
6 squares – … Read More »

Hi friends! It’s been two weeks since I released the pattern for Dancing Stars and over 800 people have downloaded the pattern!  I’m looking forward to seeing all of those beautiful quilts!

If you’ve checked in on the flickr group, you know that there are a few new blocks, in some great color combos. If you haven’t pieced a block yet, don’t stress! Me either, sure I’ve pieced the few for the tutorial, and as examples, but I haven’t really started yet.

I’ve cut the brights, since I had to put the piles of fabric away, but still need to cut my background and white fabrics.

I might just cut those on a “as needed” basis.

Here’s a recap of posts : 

 Fabric Requirements & Selection

Video Tutorial

 Kits, Templates & … Read More »

Who’s quilting with me?

Lots of good stuff to tell you about for the quilt-along!

Vicki Welsh and Canton Village Quilt Works are sponsoring the quilt-along and offering giveaways over the course of 6 months.  Look for a linky at the end of each month, to post your progress, and be entered to win!

Vicki Welsh is also offering a beautiful hand dyed kit for the quilt.

I love the ombre/gradient background! To order a kit visit Vicki.

Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works will have kits available shortly too – check her shop for details.

Jill at Tabslot has cut templates for us!  If you aren’t a fan of paper piecing, give the templates a try.  Simply cut fabric the height of the template and … Read More »

Hi there!  Yesterday my book released – at last!  Joe and I celebrated with a special lunch, while most of our kiddos were in school.  Owen was a trooper, while we traipsed around town.  My copies of Modern Basics II are on the way, and I will ship autographed copies the day after I receive them (Hopefully by Saturday!).

In other news, Dancing Stars blocks have started popping up on flickr and instagram! 

1. #dancingstarsQAL #oldredbarnco progress…, 2. P1060484, 3. Dancing Stars, 4. Dancing Stars QAL
Nearly 600 people have downloaded the Dancing Stars pattern – I can’t wait to see all your variations!  If selecting fabrics is overwhelming to you, I’m working on a couple of kit options with great shops, and templates will be available soon, if you prefer not to paper piece.  I’ll have details for you shortly!

Amy

Hi there! I disappeared last week, but I’ve been working on lots of good stuff! First up is a video tutorial for the Quilt-Along :

I hope that this is helpful for some of you!  If you don’t have a pattern yet, click over here for a free download.  This is the ruler that I used in the video, I’m really liking it!  And the papers are here – Enjoy.

Yesterday we celebrated Emmalie’s 9th birthday – I am so blessed to be her mom!  I look forward to seeing her grow and blossom into a beautiful young lady, next year she hits double digits…where has the time gone?

Tomorrow Modern Basics II starts shipping, and I will be sharing more about the quilts in the book soon, for now I need to stock up on shipping supplies.

More soon … Read More »

Happy New Year!  I’m excited to start the new year with a fun project with many of you!The above picture is the pattern cover that you can download here.  I included fabric requirements and cutting instructions along with the pattern.  In the next week I plan to have a video tutorial to help with piecing the blocks for anyone that is new to paper piecing, for today I have my fabric selection process!

If you haven’t yet, join the quilt-along group on flickr, there will be lots of helpful discussion, and new friends to be made!

Also in the next week, I have sponsor and kit options that will become available, if you need to shop for a few pieces or the whole quilt, wait to check out the options soon!

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To select … Read More »