Hi everyone, it's Kimberly here! I’m back to share about my newest magazine feature, Gemma, in the October/November issue of The Quilter! No surprise, I

I had the most pleasant afternoon last week. I sat down with a cup of tea and watched Libby Lehman’s excellent and enjoyable new DVD, A Day of Threadplay, produced by Ricky Tim’s company. I took a class from Libby years ago. She was just as warm and friendly than as she is on the DVD. She’s a wonderful teacher, and I think her style translates well from in-person to digital. Go visit her blog if you'd like to get to know her a little better. Before I cover her DVD, check out some of these fantastic quilts from her site: Skyview II, Crop Circles Leaves in Living Color She starts off with some instruction about her famous “Sheer Ribbon Illusion” technique. She walks through an easy small project, but on the way covers some color theory. She also included a fabulous way to chain piece that i just loved. One thing that is nice on a DVD is that you can stop, rewind, and really get close-up on special techniques. The photography is excellent and clear on this 75 minute DVD. It was a treat watching Libby creating her ribbon illusion with free motion. Her next subject is her “Potluck Applique” style, which is a great way to design in layers. This is her method of doing reverse applique with her improvements. Libby features the decorative stitches on the machine and some tips on satin stitching like a pro. The last lesson is “Sheer Fabric” play, in which sheer fabrics are used in layers. Libby shows how to design, handle, and sew these layers for beautiful effect. She also teaches couching and bobbin work. Even for an experienced quilter and sewer, there is lots of great instruction and tips here. She even shows you her binding method, one that I'd like to use soon. This DVD is so rich in useful information and techniques for all quilters, and it’s one of the best I've seen! AND!!! I have a copy to GIVEAWAY. One lucky commenter will win. You have until February 27th at midnight to make your mark down below in the comment section. And if you don't win, or you just can’t wait, go to Ricky's site and order your own. They’re on sale as of today. You won’t regret it!

© Gemma Correll 2010 www.gemmacorrell.com

This version of the X Plus Block by Angie Wilson of GnomeAngel.com is an ode to fussy cut perfection.

Explore Jessica's Quilting Studio's 7594 photos on Flickr!

My love of the X Plus block just got deeper. I recently had cause to make a quilt for a...

Congratulations goes to Bonnie, she is the winner of my giveaway for a digital quilt pattern of BIRDS (Desayuno 2012), by Cecilia Koppmann. Her winning comment: Oh I would love to win this pattern!…

Mini quilts may be small in size, but they're super fun to sew. They're a fast finish with less commitment, and every month I add a new design to my pattern family to tempt you! Hello lovely! February is off and running, even if we're not quite ready for it - at least we get an extra day this month, right? Hooray for leap years! I'm grateful for an extra twenty-four hours! It's time for me to add a new mini quilt pattern to my collection, and this month it's the stunning Gemma. Isn't she lovely? I really enjoyed working on this little beauty - she's such a sweetheart and a fun way to show off some pretty fabrics. I used Pepper and Flax fabrics from Corey Yoder, and the colour palette of this range works so well in our home. The greys and charcoals are gorgeous, and the yellows, greens and oranges add a pop of colour which makes decorating fun. Gemma would look stunning in any colour palette, so grab your favorite florals, pastels, batiks or solids and create a mini quilt that makes you smile. I've included a colouring sheet in the PDF pattern so you can play around with combinations before you commit to sewing. They're also good for keeping the kids/grandkids busy while you sew, so print up a few to keep the kiddo's busy. :) Gemma is a foundation paper pieced pattern, and she finishes at around 14" square. The sections are generous in size and easy to paper piece, so this design is suitable for all quilting levels. The PDF pattern includes full sized FPP templates so you can print and start creating straight away. They are shaded with the colours I used for my quilt to help you with fabric placement. I've also included step by step instructions and diagrams to make sewing your version of Gemma easy and fun, plus I've added a few tips I think might be useful to you as you sew your quilt. Gemma is a great weekend project, and you'll have her hanging on your mini quilt wall in no time at all. I've also included optional instructions in the PDF pattern for adding a hanging sleeve or corner hangers, so you can proudly display her anywhere you want. I'm using my Gemma mini quilt on our hallway table. I switch my mini's around all the time, and I like to add different pops of colour to certain rooms. It's an easy way to refresh a space, and a fun way to use your mini quilts. The name Gemma means gem or jewel, and I think this mini quilt is very precious indeed. She's going to shine brightly in an array of fabrics, and she's very eye catching. If you would like to sew your own version of my Gemma mini quilt, from today until the end of February, PDF patterns are available at the introductory price of $4.95 (AU) + taxes where applicable in my Etsy shop. Simply click the link below to make your purchase. Don't forget I love to see what you make using my designs, so send me a photo of your Gemma mini quilt, tag me on social media or use the hashtag #gemmaminiquilt and I'll pop over and have a look. Your work could be featured in my monthly newsletter, and I've decided to give a little surprise to my featured Reader's Project maker each month, so don't be shy...show me what you've made with any of my patterns! Have fun with Gemma and I hope she brings a smile to your day - she sure does to mine! Happy quilting :)

This version of the X Plus Block by Angie Wilson of GnomeAngel.com is an ode to fussy cut perfection.

House quilts really appeal to us, maybe because "home is where the heart is." With dozens of FREE quilt patterns... which house will you cho...

It's autumn already, but I have the spring back in my living/sewing room with the finally finished magnolia quilt! The idea was born in spring, obviously, when magnolias were in full bloom all around Dublin and it was still cold. Although I started the quilt in summer, I think the chilly spring air and the cold grey stone are there)) The top was machine-pieced using a freezer paper pattern, I showed the pieced flimsy here. The more quilts I make using curve piecing, the more I like this technique: once you think through your pattern, you just have to follow the numbers and put together piece after piece until it's all assembled. Supersizing is also helpful: it's easier to work with larger parts and the resulting image has a greater impact. At about 1 by 1.5 meters this one is my largest wall quilt so far! Quilting was, of course, the trickiest part. The flowers were quilted minimally, with kind of veins in variegated pinks, to make them pop up from the background. I tried dense freestyle quilting in the background and I think in some parts the attempt was rather successful. However, in other parts I got carried away and the result is not as good. Thankfully, the dark grey quilting thread blends in with darker areas of the background as well as with the busy prints in the upper left corner. By the way, I used up a whole 800 meter spool of Gutermann machine quilting cotton for the background (both for the needle and the bobbin)! The binding was also tricky, as I quickly discovered that none of my greys would go all the way around - the dark and even middle greys are too dark for the upper part, the bottom part wouldn't "accept" anything lighter than it was itself. I considered making a facing, but didn't look right in the upper part either. Finally, I settled on a pieced binding, though I'm still not sure I pieced it the best way. I'm open to critical remarks and advice, as it's not too late to change something! With this project off my shoulders, it's time to set new goals. I had been planning to try quilt-as-you-go (connecting the blocks, that is), but I don't have enough blocks to decide anything about the layout so far. So I was thinking about another challenge for the OMG and Brave Quilter, and remembered (or rather was reminded in FB) about the upcoming AGM of the Irish Patchwork Society, for which there is a challenge topic "Witches and Castles". I played with it and made a sketch which calls for rather intricate appliqué. So I want to try making it using the "crafted appliqué" technique I've heard a lot about. I'm really eager to find out what all the buzz is about. I've bought the book and supplies and am ready to start! So, my #Brave Quilter challenge and One Monthly Goal for September is to make a mini quilt using the Crafted Appliqué method. Also linking up to Freemotion Mavericks at Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River Let's be Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

This free quilt pattern from Primrose Cottage Quilts is the “Heart Quilt Block”. Download

The more I play with buildings in quilts the more fun I have! This one is the 14th quilt in my Through Ellyn's Eyes series and I had so much fun creating this little rainbow neighborhood... I especially love the way the slant black roofs look on this one. I think I'll probably be moving into the yellow house.... I like the big window! You? This one measures 16"x18" and I walking foot quilted it on my domestic machine. The colors I used are Kona black, red, tangerine, corn yellow, chartreuse, glacier and capri.

Explore Indianna Dreams' 611 photos on Flickr!

Hope you’ve had a great week!! I spent most of mine with my baby sister and her husband moving and decorating their new townhome. It was so much fun!! I graduated in interior design, even though I fill my work time with quilting, it’s great to do some decorating every o

The Lincoln Museum Quilt 84" x 96" Deb Rowden and Friends THE GIVE-AWAY IS OVER. Lori is the winner. I picked an arbitrary number (not a random number) of 24 and she was the 24th commenter. Since I read her blog at Humble Quilts I feel like I know her. So Deb & I will pack up some fabric and send it to her to add to her stash. I read all 167 comments! Thanks so much for writing. If you want to buy a box of plaids and a 7-page pattern let me know by emailing me at [email protected]. The starter kit is about 2-1/2 yards of woven fabric pieces in lights & darks for $33 (includes U.S. postage.) A representative selection of wovens from our tubs which we will press, compress and send to you. Here's more about the pattern: I love checking the details in the bedding of Jane Austen movies, Civil War re-enactments and museum period rooms. As a busy-body, I am not above writing a note to offer unsolicited advice to film directors, fantasy corporals and curators. About ten years ago Deb Rowden and I wrote to the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois, telling them that the vintage quilt covering young Abe Lincoln's parents’ bed in the cabin exhibit was an anachronism---vintage, but the wrong vintage. We were thrilled when they took us up on our offer to make a reproduction quilt more in keeping with the time period. We made a quilt for the bed there. Here it is covering the 20th-century quilt that was on the bed. And we wrote a pattern booklet for Kansas City Star Books about the experience with a pattern for the star and squares quilt pieced of woven plaids and stripes. People made their own versions... of plaids and stripes and checks. This is Kim's stash at Thread Heads Unite. And her blocks. The Lincoln Museum Quilt: A Reproduction for Abe's Frontier Family is now out-of-print. Neither of us has any extra copies. So we digitized it. You can buy it as a PDF for $5 to print yourself in my Etsy shop. https://www.etsy.com/listing/556543112/the-lincoln-museum-quilt-a-reproduction?ref=shop_home_active_1 Or I'll print it out in black and white and mail it to you for $8. https://www.etsy.com/listing/556541890/the-lincoln-museum-quilt-a-reproduction?ref=shop_home_active_1 Lynn Schumaker's version If you don't win you can buy a starter kit with the pattern and about 2-1/2 yards of woven fabric pieces in lights & darks from us for $33 (includes U.S. postage). Just send me an email [email protected].

Poplars Quilt

Explore gfquilts' 1845 photos on Flickr!

I went to the show of Freddy Moran collage quilts at La Conner Quilt Museum yesterday. WOW! She is so very inspiring. Inspir...

Explore Pretty Bobbins' 961 photos on Flickr!

Underground Nation by Julia Gahagan Julia said: I wanted my quilt to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground. I have used the London Underground map to create a simple design of repeating lines...

This version of the X Plus Block by Angie Wilson of GnomeAngel.com is an ode to fussy cut perfection.

I have been known to make literal copies of quilts I find beautiful. I'm not ashamed to admit I've done it more than once... Like here, here and here. I don't think that it's necessarily a bad thing, as long as you're not claiming it as your own idea. You know, give credit where credit is due. Blushing Blocks So, after I posted about some pink blocks I was making last year, I decided somewhere along the way to see if my other colors were as prolific as the pinks. Sure enough, I could make monochromatic blocks in each color of the rainbow. Cool! I could come up with something quilt-worthy with them, couldn't I? Since I am a slow, process kind of sewer the blocks have lingered on my design wall all this time. Work in Progress Fast forward to last week when I am browsing my favorite blogs and I come across this post. My reaction?! "Oh, Crap! When I post about my blocks/quilt everyone is going to think I'm a total HACKER thief!!" So, I guess this post is my way of saying I swear I don't steal other people's ideas and claim them as my own! Rita, if you're reading (which I'm sure you're not--I'll send you a nice little email instead) I know that you are way cooler and smarter than me. It just so happens that we came up with a similar looking quilt at about the same time. Go figure! By the way, I love your work!! Sincerely, Emily P.S. Has this ever happened to anyone else before??? So weird!

Learn how to freezer paper piece with this exclusive step-by-step beginner pattern designed by MJ Kinman, gemstone quilt artist and author.