Magpie Quilts

A while back I had a stack of 5" charm squares from this great line of Xanadu Batik fabrics from Moda. I cut each charm square in half to make two pieces 2.5" x 5".   I then sewed them together in pairs and trimmed them to 4.5"x4.5".  After arranging them on my design wall, I sewed them together into a couple table runners. I quilted them with straight lines as shown and sold one from my Etsy shop and the other at a market just before Christmas. That person took her runner home and loved it so much she wanted a bed quilt made from the same fabrics.  As this bundle of fabrics was discontinued, I had to do a little searching to find enough fabrics for a queen size quilt. Eventually I found a fat quarter bundle and a jelly roll from Sisters and Quilters on Etsy . Sandra was very kind to get me an actual shipping quote so I didn't have to overpay postage. Definitely worth it to ask if you see high postage rates for something you are interested in ...

If you've followed me for any length of time, you will know that I love to made small quilts in between my larger projects. I love small quilts for lots of reasons; they challenge my piecing ability, they don't take a lot of fabric, they are finished quickly, and they are great for trying out new techniques. Square Table Runner  I purchased my Brother embroidery machine, not just for the ability to embroidery some of the fabulous designs out there, but also to try to add some more advanced quilting designs to my smaller projects. This little quilt is just over 18" square. I scaled down one of my favourite 12" blocks, a friendship star and I substituted some four-patch squares for some plain squares. Layout #1 Originally, I was going to make a longer skinny runner with the blocks, but after playing around with them on my design wall, I changed my mind and made it square. Layout #2 If you don't have a design wall, use the floor or the top of a bed. S...

I collect the selvedge from my bought fabrics so I can make these pretty mug rugs. Normally, this piece of the fabric ends up in the trash, but I will cut them off both sides of a piece of yardage. When fabric is pressed and squared and ready to be cut, I line up my ruler and cut about 1" off the edges. This gives me the white strip with the fabric details like designer, manufacturer and colors plus about 1/2" of the actual printed fabric. Some people prefer to sew and not see any of the fabric, but I like the pop of color that I get with this width. Selvedge Mug Rug These are simple, quilt as you go pieces. Cut your backing and batting about 1/2" larger all around than your desired finished size. Lay a single piece of selvedge from one corner to the opposite corner. Line up a second piece over the raw edge (the colorful fabric edge), overlapping about 1/4". Sew close to the selvedge edge of the second piece, through both fabrics, the batting and the backin...

Search Moda Love Quilt anywhere you're online (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) and you'll find so many examples of this beautiful quilt. It's a free pattern found here  https://www.unitednotions.com/Moda-Love-Layer-Cake-Quilt.pdf And sew easy! I started with a pack of 10" squares from the fabric line Grandale by Keera Job Design Studio from Riley Blake Designs that I already had, added a background and I was ready to sew. I have to say that I was amazed how quickly this quilt went together. It finished at 70" square, but I went a little larger by adding a border. If you want to do this, buy some yardage at the same time you purchase your 10" squares. This is now waiting to be quilted as soon as I get some backing! --Ann