(I hate recipe posts where they tell me a whole bunch of crap before the recipe! Just give them the dadgum recipe, Lisa!) My tutorial makes two 8 1/2" scrappy string half-square triangles. You can make it any way you choose so that it looks like I want it to, but I thought this was a pretty fail-safe way to go about it, considering there will be a bunch of different people making blocks for my quilt. Continuity and simplicity are the keys to success here. :o) Materials 8 1/2" piece of copy…

Over the past several years, I've done a few projects inspired by Bonnie Hunter's Leader and Ender challenges. Every summer, Bonnie introduces a new block to be made while working on other projects. If you have the pieces all cut and waiting next to the machine, it's amazing how much you can get done without really trying. For an explanation of how leaders and enders work, check out Bonnie's page HERE. I've done a couple of leader/ender projects recently with the goal of making one block for…

I love new ideas but sometimes there are TOO many of them!

My rainbow crumb quilt top measures approx 36.5" x 45.5" so it's not huge but when I went looking for an appropriate backing in my stash I couldn't find a single piece of fabric large enough to work nicely. So, in keeping with the theme of the front I chose eight prints/blenders in a rainbow of colours and stitched a simple stripey backing piece. I think I like it almost as much as the front. When it came to the quilting I decided to stitch my wavy lines. Do you know, of all the quilts I…

Scrap Snap Quilt, 60" X 78" I'd like to say that making the Scrap Snap quilt used up most of my scraps, but I can truthfully say only that the canvas scrap bins slide more easily into their cabinet slots. Ha, ha! Better. Thanks are owed to Kari, for the free Scrap Snap block instructions at www.quiltsforthemaking.blogspot.com. The layout for my blocks is my own. This past week I quilted Scrap Snap, choosing to making easy spirals. If you've never tried spiral quilting with a walking foot, I…

I’ve had several people ask me how I’m arranging my colors in my strip sets for my scrappy trip quilt. A couple others have asked for clarification on how I use the metal ruler in press…

My rainbow crumb quilt top measures approx 36.5" x 45.5" so it's not huge but when I went looking for an appropriate backing in my stash I couldn't find a single piece of fabric large enough to work nicely. So, in keeping with the theme of the front I chose eight prints/blenders in a rainbow of colours and stitched a simple stripey backing piece. I think I like it almost as much as the front. When it came to the quilting I decided to stitch my wavy lines. Do you know, of all the quilts I…

The end of the year is coming fast, so I have been evaluating my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts to determine which I want to finish and which I want to carry into next year. One of the RSC quilts I have been working on is the simple color block quilt made with 2.5" squares. For October, I made a couple brown blocks. I knew I needed some red blocks - so I went ahead and finished up three from squares that I had already cut and were in my stash. A couple of yellow blocks were needed too. At…

If you listen to the Chris Evans Breakfast show on BBC radio 2 you may have heard him invite people to share their Smug Zone stories. I am ...

Finished dimensions 38" by 50". A mixture of 4.5" (cut) squares from my stash and scraps. Backed with Riley Blake flannel. Pieced and quilted (on top) with light grey Aurifil thread in 50 wt. and a variegated rainbow Aurifil showing in the backing. Completed March 2015. Blogged here