Wooden Scissors Pattern Now Available!

About a year ago I posted my wooden scissors project that my husband and I worked on (see post HERE). This was such a popular post, I decided to make the pattern available for sale in my Etsy Store.

These would be a great gift for the sewist or quilter in your life. They would be a wonderful addition to any sewing studio. I think it would also be a great project for a woodworking student learning the basics of using a scroll saw.


Blue Diamond Quilt Block

Who doesn't love a little bling? My cute Blue Diamond quilt block, designed in facet art style, would make a sparkling quilt.


While designing my diamond I soon realized that the facet colours had to make sense. The biggest challenge in doing faceted art is positioning the colours so that they look just right.

blue diamond mini quilt pattern detail

Below is the inspiration for my little diamond quilt. This stunning quilt titled Bling was designed, pieced, and quilted by Katherine Jones. Bling won Best in Show at the 2017 QuiltCon Quilt Show, and you can sure see why. The details in this quilt are stunning! 

bling by katherine jones
Bling by Katherine Jones

Hexagon Colour Wheel Mug Rug Patterns

I'm introducing three new mug rug patterns to brighten your home for spring. The bright primary colours against white, black,  and grey is a crisp combination. You could use these as potholders as well as mug rugs. They would look lovely in a modern kitchen. They would also be a great gift for an artist or art student. This is a good project for quilters just learning to foundation piece. Instructions assume basic knowledge in foundation piecing. The pattern includes instructions for all three mug rugs.





hexagon color wheel mug rug one hexagon color wheel mug rug two hexagon color wheel mug rug three

Phone book paper for foundation piecing


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Earlier this year, I was able to get the Layer Cake™ of With Glowing Hearts by Grace Noel before it was sold out from pretty much everywhere. I'm using this gorgeous line of fabric to create a commemorative quilted throw to mark Canada's 150th birthday this year.

I decided to make my quilt using the Hunter's Star quilt block because I love the block and it ties in with Canada's fur trade history. Hunting and trapping, especially beaver, was how Canada began.

There are several ways to make a Hunter's Star block. I chose to use foundation piecing because it's the technique I'm most comfortable with. However, this left me with a dilemma. I needed 48 blocks to make the quilt, but I didn't want to use 48 expensive sheets of foundation paper for the project. I know phone book paper is used for strip piecing, so I thought I'd try using it for foundation piecing. I was very pleased with the results. The phone book paper printed beautifully with my inkjet printer. If this were a complicated template, it might be hard to read, but it was perfect for this block. This paper is very light but doesn't curl up with normal iron heat and it tears away easily. Honestly, if I could get my hands on some of this paper not printed I'd buy a box of it.

The Pros and Cons of Using Phone Book Paper for Paper Piecing

PROS
  1. Very light but strong enough to be handled.
  2. Prints very well in an inkjet (not tested on a laser printer).
  3. Tears away with no effort at all.
  4. Doesn't curl up with the heat. 

CONS
  1. Somewhat difficult to read the template
  2. Not a nice 8½" x 11" sheet of paper.
  3. Can't see through it.

How to Print Your Template Onto Phone Book Paper

Because phone book paper has to be cut slightly smaller than normal letter-sized paper, use this method to print your templates.
  1. Copy your templates onto an 8½" x 11" sheet of paper.
  2. Cut out phone book pages to about 7¾ " to 8" wide.
  3. Cut a piece of white paper to the same size as your phone book paper.
  4. Cut out templates and paste or tape them down onto the smaller white piece of paper.
  5. Place phone book paper in your printer paper tray and adjust the paper width bars to the width of your paper.
  6. Center the template page on the printer bed and photocopy it onto the phone book paper.

Pixel Beach Mini Quilt

Inspired by a day at the beach, Pixel Beach is a simple and elegant quilted wall hanging in a checkerboard of neutral tones. What a lovely addition to your summer beach house. Think warm summer sand, collecting pretty stones and sea glass on the shore while the gulls singing overhead. These were my inspirations for my new mini quilt pattern Pixel Beach.