Monthly Archives: July 2023

Birds in Toyland, Show and Tell…

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Connie Werner sent me a photo of her completed Birds in Toyland quilt and it is fantastic! She changed the design of the top, center, block making the tree bend over with the big ornament. That is super cute and I wish I had thought of it myself!

Connie was in one of the original live Birds in Toyland classes that I taught on Creative Spark during the pandemic. She wrote: “This is my finished Birds in Toyland. Your class made COVID shutdown much happier. Thank you for all your wonderful teaching.“

Connie, you are very welcome. This quilt made lots of us happy during that long, trying time—and if you haven’t made it yet, it can still make you happy! You can find the online class here, or the book here. Happy stitching!

Aunt Millie’s Garden show and tell, #4

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Peggy Schemenauer sent this photo of her Aunt Millie’s Garden quilt that she machine appliquéd and was long arm quilted by Debbie Ramsey, completed in 2005. The color scheme is happy and the layout has space to let the blocks breathe.

I love the scallops around the blocks! They are similar to but very different from the scallops in Nancy Arseneault’s quilt from a previous post.

Alice Smith sent this photo and she wrote:

“I have always loved this pattern and finally jumped in and made it. It wasn’t quick but I persevered and eventually it was finished. The red background always intrigued me so I wanted to do the same which did turn out challenging. During COVID lockdown I spent a lot of time in my sewing room making the flying geese for the sashing I designed. I am so happy with how it turned out. Thank you to you and Linda for your wonderful patterns.
(PS this one was in the AQS 2023 Paducah Show)”

The red background is beautiful and eye-catchiing. I love the way you arranged the colors of the flying geese… they quietly lead your eyes through the quilt. Well done!

If you are interested, click here to find the Aunt Millie’s Garden ebook.

Wednesday Giveaway – Going in Circles!

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We love Tracy Trevethan Designs hand-dyed wool, and these 1-inch circles are no exception! 50 pre-cut hand dyed wool circles are happy and ready to go to work to save you time and effort! Beth Holec, this week’s winner, will receive a Bright Colorway set. We also carry smokey and earthy sets. Click here to view all of Tracy’s products in our store.

I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!

Aunt Millie’s Garden show and tell… #3

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Nancy Arseneault sent 2 photos of her almost completed Aunt Millie’s Garden. I love everything about this quilt! Notice the scallops inside the sashing… so cute! The background has a gingham-like appearance that, when combined with the sunny orange and grassy green, makes me think of a picnic on a beautiful day. Happy!

Nancy wrote:

I think it should be called The Long and Winding Road.

When Covid hit and I was secluded, this is the first pattern I grabbed. I made the blocks with prepared edge invisible machine applique and set them together. Then I set them aside to await a border.  A few months later, I was diagnosed with a serious disease which claimed the next 2 years of my life. No sewing for me at all.

Finally I pulled out the quilt and figured out a border that I could accomplish. The sewing was challenging but it brought me back to myself. I’m not able to manage the quilting part right now so I sent the quilt to Jan Hutchison to be quilted. I’m so happy with the way it turned out. Now I have only to block and bind it. Since I’ve so enjoyed all the photos of this pattern on your blog lately, I decided to show you this one in the works.  Nancy Arseneault, Santa Fe NM

Nancy’s story is not picnic-like, but there is joy in this quilt! Nancy, it’s nice to know you are sewing again!

Aunt Millie’s Garden show and tell, continued…

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Diane Kirwan sent this photo of her quilt, saying: “I so enjoyed make it Aunt Millie.  I felt it deserved custom quilting.”

I love the cool, calm, collected colors that Diane put together. I do not usually have this much self-restraint which makes me appreciate it even more 🤣.

This is Cathy Lucas’s Aunt Millie’s Garden quilt.

Cathy’s color palette includes all the colors in a thoughtful and balanced layout. Purple sashing adds visual unity to the quilt as a whole. Cathy writes:

Here is my version of Aunt Millie’s Garden. I loved making this quilt and seeing other people’s interpretations. My quilt won a blue ribbon earlier this year at our Pride of the Prairie Quilt Guild show. Your appliqué patterns are among my favorite and I’ve made several over the years.  Thanks for being here and being you.

It’s fun to see these quilts together. Each is wonderful in its own way. Thank you, Diane and Cathy, for sharing your quilts with us!

Aunt MIllie’s Garden is available as an ebook. Click here to find it.

Aunt Millie’s Garden show and tell…

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In my recent newsletter, I invited you all to send photos of your Aunt Millie’s Garden quilt. Nancy Bradford responded right away. Her quilt is so happy :-)! And I really like the strips in the top and bottom borders that lead your eye to the applique blocks. Nancy wrote:

My version of Aunt Millie’s Garden won a 1st Place and Best of Show at the 2013 Golden Needles Quilt Guild Show in Conroe, Texas.  I collected the fabrics while on a trip to visit a quilting friend in Minnesota with other quilting friends.

Amy Mitchell sent in the following photo of her Aunt Millie quilt top. The colors sing on top of the deep chocolate brown. And using 9 blocks instead of 12 make a very nice square quilt.

It’s nice that Nancy and Amy shared their quilts at nearly the same time because it’s great to see how the light and dark backgrounds change the look of the quilt. Both are lovely, but they are also very different. I will date myself and say… Cool!

Thank you, Nancy and Amy, for sharing your quilts with us. Happy stitching.