Berries and Bluebirds

Here is yet another block of the month that we started at the barn!  Gloria is making this one, Berries and Bluebirds, and it's looking great!  All the blocks are cut so you can get it all at once if you choose so you can stitch out of order like I do!  click here to see the whole quilt, by one of our favorite Australian designers, Gail Pan.

Ahh, Summer!

After a long, cold and wet spring that stretched into summer, the weather has finally warmed up and started acting like summer!  And I do love those hot sunny days and long summer nights!  I just  finished another block of "Cabin in the Pines".  I'm not working in numerical order, which I suppose is no surprise, but I wanted to make this one-it's just so darn cute!  I planted the great big 8 foot sunflowers all along the side of my chicken coop and can hardly wait for them to get big and bloom, but wait, that would mean summer was almost over and here it's really only just started so I guess I can wait a while- quite awhile- longer!  For now, I'll just enjoy this block instead!  ttfn

Outside the box....

It's always fun to see one of our "crazies" made up in different fabrics...Here, our shipper, Jan, has used our "Rambling Rose" pattern from "Crazy for Applique" (seen in the background), and left off the applique for a quick baby quilt.  She and MaryEllen had been discussing that it was the perfect size for a baby quilt and it's pretty darn cute, too!  Way to go, Jan, for thinking outside the box and seeing past the applique (she is one  who considers applique, if not the four letter "A" word, but a word she'd rather not have in her vocabulary!)

And see what our gal Kathy has been up to.....Here she is with her (not surprisingly brighter) version of our "Quilter's Village".  How fun is that?

And here is her "Spring Fever" quilt.  She's been a busy bee, but that, too, is not surprising!  

And here's a clever idea sent in from one of our customers, Jane Davis.  She made this cute "Crazy Cats" wallhanging for her office.....notice how one of the cats is facing a different direction from the other two and from how it's shown in our pattern?  How'd she do that, you ask?  Jane shared, that because she was working with batiks that don't have a right or wrong side, she essentially flipped everything wrong side up and stitched the block together "wrong" side up to get a cat facing the other direction!  Clever girl!  Now that's thinking outside the box! Thanks everyone for sharing!  We are all such visual people and it's fun to see things made up in different colors or with a new twist!  Hope this gets the rest of you thinking outside your box, or at least outside your usual colorway!  Have fun!

Happy 4th of July!

Diane shared this "Star Bright" quilt with us which will be a “Quilt of Valor” for her son and will be presented to him soon.  Diane shares: "He was badly wounded in the war in Iraq. He took a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade which blew off his lower left leg.  Even with this injury he went on to become a police officer.   We know we were lucky to get him back and are thankful for every day we have with him."    Thank you Diane for sharing, and thank you to your son and all of the men and women who have and are serving and sacrificing for us, our freedoms, and our country.  Let's all take the time and make the effort today to personally thank our service men and women.   May God bless each of us.  Happy Birthday America!

Happy Flag Day!

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Happy Flag Day!  We are off to teach crazy camp today!  Everybody have a great day!  Our flag quilt, Old Glory, is found in our book, Celebrated Craziness.  Enjoy!

Cabin in the Woods

I've got the first block of Cabin in the Woods appliqued and blocks 2 & 3 glued down as seen here. We've been  contemplating this block of the month for awhile now, but could never figure out exactly how to stitch the blocks together, but after talking to the designer, Jan Patek, at Market, I feel confident that I can explain it to you all so that you will also understand and won't hesitate to get started! My instructions for putting the quilt together will be included with the last block.  I just love this quilt!  It's classic Brannock and Patek and a joy to work on!

Strip-Smart Quilts

Gloria has been busy testing out a new book and ruler, Strip Smart Quilts and the Creative Grid 90* ruler, and we've all given it a big thumbs-up! Gloria gave us all a quick demo that I thought I'd share!

Basically you start with strip sets, align the ruler with the raw edge of the strip set, and cut.

As you get to the middle valley, there's a circle cut-out in the ruler so that your rotary cutter can finish the cut and then begin up the other side.

Working with half strips, or strips cut from fat quarters, you get these three triangles.  The next strip set, you flip around and cut with the white strip at the base of the ruler so then you have three triangles that have a green base and three triangles that have a white base.

Then you stitch four different fabric triangles together for a scrappy block that may look difficult but are a snap with this ruler!  The Strip Smart Quilts book offers many different quilts all using a variation of this technique. One of our new favorite tools!  Thanks, Gloria, for sharing!