Merry Christmas - Late

Merry Christmas!  As usual, I got distracted by all the holiday activities and blogging was not on my agenda. I hope you had a lovely holiday. The only thing missing for me was the snow. Still none here in Chicagoland but a girl can always hope . . . .

A few years ago . . . 

I mentioned in my Facebook group that we'll still be doing the KT Monthly challenge in 2025 as long as there's some interest. Read more about it in one of my previous blog posts. Pick a quilt from one of my books or patterns in my Etsy shop that you've been wanting to make for awhile and start working on it in January.  Choose your fabrics and make the blocks the first week. Take it step by step and try to make a little progress each week. One quilt per month. Before you know it you'll have a nice stack of small quilts.  

Here are a few suggestions - 

Simple star block surrounded by narrow borders. How cute and easy is this??

Rows and rows of flying geese.

Tiny four patches! 

Maybe get back to that Schoolgirl Sampler quilt you started . . . .

Another simple star quilt from my book Small & Scrappy.

Join us in my Facebook group for more quilty fun in 2025!

 

Peppermints and Pinwheels

Here's a repost from a few years ago of something I thought you might enjoy this holiday season - 

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One of my favorite treats I usually only indulge in around the holidays is peppermint bark candy. I'm sure there are places you can buy it all year long but, trust me, it's a good thing  that I don't see it much at other times of the year. I recently bought some packaged Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark squares while I was out Christmas shopping. Let me tell you they didn't last long and and so I thought I'd try to make my own. How hard could it be? There are all sorts of recipes if you do a Google search, and you can certainly take your pick, but basically it's layers of dark chocolate, white chocolate and crushed peppermint candy cut into squares. Very simple.

First, melt some dark chocolate chips (or use better quality chocolate if you care to) in the microwave in a glass bowl. Stir after about 30-40 seconds and again if needed. If you have a moderately powerful microwave, don't let it go for too long or the chocolate will burn and you'll have to trash that batch and start over. Ask me how I know. When it's all  melted, pour into a small square baking dish lined with wax paper up the sides. Smooth the chocolate with a spatula. Place in freezer for 20 minutes. Crush the peppermints or candy canes. Then, melt the white chocolate and smooth it over the hardened layer of dark chocolate. Top the soft chocolate with the crushed candy, pressing it into the layer a bit. Place in freezer for another 10 minutes. When it hardens, lift the wax paper out of the dish and break into pieces or let it soften a little and then cut with a knife into squares. Yum!

This got me started on a peppermint kick so yesterday, after I finished making the candy, I took out some red and light prints and made a few pinwheels. I know you all are still going crazy over red and white quilts after seeing and hearing about that exhibit in NYC. I don't have very many red and white quilts myself and it was time to do something about that. I didn't know where I was going with it but then sat down at the computer with EQ and designed a little quilt around the blocks I'd made. Turned out very "sweet"   if I say so myself.

And - it's for YOU!  Here's the free pattern you can download as a .pdf file. There's not a lot of time before the holidays get here I know but it's very simple so you can still probably get it done before Christmas if you have a little time and you're so inclined. Me? I'm also going to try to make it but I'm still trying to finish the  little runner I began last year . . .  .

Most of you probably have your own favorite method for making half-square triangles for the Pinwheel blocks, but if you're new to quilting and find that sewing triangles makes your blocks a little wonky, here's how I make mine.

I layer my two squares, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line across the back of the lighter square. I use this nifty Quick Quarter ruler I found years ago that makes the sewing lines visible because I'm just not that good at eyeballing it.

Chain piece your layered squares and you can whip them out pretty fast.

This is a tip I recently picked up for making your half-square triangle units even better.  After you sew 1/4 inch away from the diagonal line on each side of the layered squares, PRESS the units open before you cut.  The fabric does not stretch as much and your half-square triangles will not turn out wonky but perfect because the bias edges are stabilized.

Flip and press the other side, then cut on the drawn line. Works like magic and keeps your pieces from getting distorted.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas and Tiny Trees

Have you made any little trees yet? Everyone seems to be making these. Large or small, it's the perfect seasonal quilt project. My pattern is especially tiny  -  each tree is only 2" x 4" finished. 

My Facebook group has inspired me to get a few more trees finished this year. Each December I bring them out and add a few to the pile.  Then I decide to use some to make a couple of gifts or small projects. Before I know it I've used up the ones I just made and I'm back to where I started. This season is going by too fast! I need to keep going so I can have a larger tree quilt someday . . . .

There's a free paper-pieced pattern in Files in my Facebook group and there's also one on my website. There's another one using flying geese if paper piecing is not your thing.

"It's coming on Christmas, I'm cutting up trees . . . "   

Sew three trees together and add borders. 

Merry Making!

Challenge Yourself to Make a Small Quilt Every Month

Quilters - If you have a desire to make more small quilts, we'll be starting a new Monthly Quilt Challenge in my Facebook group on October 1, 2024. I'll help you become motivated to finish more small quilts from some of the patterns I've designed. This little group venture will be organized to help you achieve your goals by working together on a weekly basis to get some things done. Perhaps you'll learn some good organizing skills in the process. We'll see how long we can keep this up. Wouldn't it be nice if you made several quilts to add to your collection (or maybe start one!)?

                             

                                 

This challenge will involve trying to finish one quilt each month - your choice of project. I'm not going to pick one for you since we've done quite a few monthly challenges over the years and some of you have made many of my quilts from my books. My suggestion is - if you have one of my books or patterns, you probably liked at least one of the quilts enough to buy the book so just go with what you have or like. No need to buy a new book or anything. You are all welcome to join in and post photos of your progress in the group as long as it's a quilt from one of my designs. 

At times, I'll give you a pattern for a specific block and you can challenge yourself to make something from it. Or, keep to your own choice of quilt each month if you prefer. Remember, it's not a contest or race. Some of you will have lots of successful finishes and stay on track. Others may need more of a nudge to keep going if they fall off the path. But please don't fret - if you're in the Facebook group, take advantage of the support I know you'll find there.

So, before we begin, take this time to go through some of my books or patterns, pick out a few you'd like to make and perhaps create a list. If you don't have any of my books, no worries, there are some free patterns in the group files so start there. A little notebook where you can list your quilting goals and weekly progress can be a valuable tool.

This is going to be a very loosely organized event. If you can't start in October, no problem, jump in whenever you like. If you have to miss a month, don't stress - do the best you can. You will be accountable for yourself and set your own goals. We'll be here encouraging you along. Jotting down your progress and goals in a notebook will help you stay on track.

Another suggestion is to set small goals for yourselves - put 2-3 quilts on your list or in your notebook at first, then add to the list after you complete those if you feel like you want to continue. Or, if you have some unfinished KT quilts lying around, work on one of those each month. I have quite a few unfinished tops I would like to finish as well. I'm excited to begin! 

Part 2 Simple Square in Square Quilt

Here's part 2 of my simple blue and white Square in Square Star quilt I posted about last week.

Directions are in my FB group files. I will also put them up on my website later today.

                                   

Make 9 blocks. I know it's a very simple design for some of you but hope you still have fun with it.

Fold your center square in half, then half again (quarters). Line up the triangle points with the lines as you attach the triangles. Sew opposite triangles first, then add the others. 

Make sure you follow the other tips in the pattern for sewing your blocks together so that your points come out perfectly (or almost). I hear some quilters have trouble with points that get lost. This will really help you in making lots of other quilts.

                              

Sew to the right of the "X" to avoid cut-off points.

I finished sewing my blocks together last night and picked out a couple of border fabrics but got tired and couldn't decide so thought I'd just sleep on it.

This morning I woke up and said "What was I thinking??" LOL. I love that print on the left but I'll probably go with the dark blue border . . . . If you squint you can see the Star!

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Coming up: I often hear that some of my followers in the FB group wish they could make more small quilts, or have several of my patterns on a list to make "Someday" but don't seem to be able to get around to actually making them. When I started leading groups years ago we used the Challenge Method: I would select one small quilt per month from one of my books and people would challenge themselves to make that quilt, following along with the progress of others. Lots of quilts were made! 

I always tried to encourage quilters to break down their monthly project into 4 weeks, cutting and piecing in a couple of hours the first week, making the blocks the next week, perhaps taking only another couple of hours, adding borders next and then finishing up in the last week. It's a very efficient way to get things done in small chunks of time if you schedule them. So not too stressful. And it leaves time for doing other things. 

By the end of the year, some quilters had finished twelve small quilts! That's pretty impressive if you think about it and if you're someone who just can't seem to organize yourself to make the things you want to make.

So this means we'll be using these ideas as we begin a few new sew alongs in my FB group soon, working through some of your favorite quilts from some of my books or patterns. Your choice on what quilt you would like to make or maybe I'll give you a block where you challenge yourself to make a small quilt out if it. Seeing photos of what others are doing and watching their progress can be very inspiring. Something to look forward to.