Magpie Quilts

Hearts like these have been popping up all over the place and I'm sure you can find tutorials and instructions for something similar if you look. I started with a bunch of pink 2.5" squares that I had already cut - they are the basis for the single Irish chain baby quilts I frequently make. Sew 3 pink and 1 white/background 2.5" square together to make a 4-patch block as shown below. These little 4-patches should measure 4.5" unfinished. Don't worry if yours aren't exact, you'll just have to make some adjustments as you continue.  Add a 1.5" strip of white/background 4.5" long (or the actual measurement of your 4-patch) to one bottom edge of the 4-patch. Press toward the white! (I don't press to the dark side all the time!) Then add da 1.5" strip of white/background 5.5" long (or the actual measurement of your 4-patch plus the first white strip) to the other bottom edge of your heart. Again, press towards the white! ...

This piece began as a class from Renske Helmuth at Quilt Canada when it was held in Calgary, Alberta in 2010. It's my oldest unfinished project at the moment and my goal is to finish it this year! I took the class to learn to do needle turn applique and fell in love with the Sashiko stitiching used in the border. The Sashiko design was transferred to the fabric with a light box and a heat disappearing white marking pen. I don't remember the brand name, but if you want something that disappears after stitching, test first so you don't end up with permanent marks on your quilt. Renske was an awesome instructor, but I did eventually go back to doing the applique with a freezer paper backing that I'd remove when stitching was complete or nearly complete. I'm sure that if I had finished it soon after taking the class, I would have continued with her method of using the freezer paper on the front, but I left it too long! Normally, quilt borders are sewn on in f...

I don't always follow a pattern when making my quilts. Usually I start with a few coordinating fabrics, in this case a beautiful rose print on a black background, a rose and a gold that coordinate with the rose print. Deep rose table runner First I make a few basic quilting units - some four patches and some half square triangles. Then I play with them on my design wall. Long and Skinny? My design wall is just a length of white flannel yardage that I pieced together and tacked to the wall near the ceiling. I love being able to put my fabric pieces on and being able to rearrange them until I'm happy with the layout. Or square? First I tried out a layout for a long skinny runner, then I tried a square layout. Although I liked them both, the square layout won and I finished the piecing. Machine embroidered quilting I decided that this would be a great project to try out quilting with my embroidery machine. There were a few bumps in this process, but in the...

These tea cozies go pretty quickly, but I though I'd share the few I recently made. Bee lovers tea cozy Pattern is Afternoon Tea Party by Pink Sand Beach Designs I use batting left over from quilting projects and for these tea cozies, fabric from my stash collection.  Blueberry tea cozy The hardest part of these cozies is gathering the bottom of tea cozy onto the base. The first few times I've made these, I used my sewing machine to make the gathering stitches, but I found it was easier to gather when I used a 12 weight thread and did a running stitch by hand. Rose tea cozy I keep all kinds of ribbons and such from gifts and fabric bundles and try to use them for things like these cozies. I thought this black ribbon would look good on this tea cozy but I think I'll be changing it out to an ivory to match the lining. Rose tea cozy and matching table topper And what's a better than a tea cozy for your tea pot? A table topper to match! I'll p...