New Pattern!

Hello friends!

I have a wool applique pattern out called "Wildflower Wishes". It's a small sampler comprised of six floral blocks and rectangles and two panels with the verse, "May all your Weeds be Wildflowers". I've included detailed wool applique marking and preparation instructions, as well as full scale applique placement diagrams.

You can find the pattern on my website as either a paper pattern mailed to you, or an instant PDF pattern download.

I've also included instructions in the pattern to make a different version of the quilt, omitting the verse:

On another note, I'm so thrilled that my quilt, "Berries in the Sun" was awarded 2nd place in the April, 2023 Paducah American Quilter's Society Quilt Show and Contest! I have chronicled my progress on this quilt several times on the blog over the years. I finally finished it last year!

I have quite a few more patterns left to write, so I'll post those as I finish them. I am so far behind after our move, but I'm determined to catch up!

Until next time!

Martha

Snow Themed Quilts for Snowy Days!

Happy New Year!

It's that time of year, in half of the world anyway, when many of us are enjoying the beautiful, quiet serenity of softly falling snow. Or, maybe you have young children who enjoy building snowmen! One of my favorite photos is the one I took with the first camera of my own, when I was 10 years old. I got the camera with box tops from a cereal box! Remember when you could get fun things like that? I only took one roll of film, black and white, and my brothers and sister were a favorite subject.

Here is the photo of my little brother and sister proudly standing beside their creation!

I have a fun new pattern, Winter Wishes, with a chubby snowman visiting with some little red birds. I used Aurifil Lana Wool Thread and Valdani Perle cotton for the wool applique. The background is a simple beige pieced quilt, that is pre-quilted before the wool is applied. I'm offering it as a paper pattern, mailed to you, or as a pattern download, perfect for my friends from outside the United States. And, both the paper pattern and the pattern download include a full size applique diagram.

Winter Wishes

And the second new pattern is Snowbird - mostly applique with a center block surrounded by simple piecing. And, like Winter Wishes, you can purchase it as a paper pattern, mailed to you, or as a pattern download (E Pattern). And it includes full scale applique diagrams for all of the applique portions. I give you detailed instructions on how to cut and fold the dogtooth portion of the center block for needle turn applique.

 

Snowbird

I'm working on a fun new mystery quilt sew along associated with my new book, Prairie Patchwork, which I will be rolling out soon. I will be posting the patterns on this blog, I'm hoping in February. We are getting new flooring on the second level of our home, which has created a lot of moving, packing, and a general disruption of our typical routine!

Happy Winter Stitching!

Until next time,

Martha

Prairie Patchwork; Treasured Quilts and Tales of Time

Prairie Patchwork: Treasured Quilts and Tales of Time is my newest book, published by Martingale Publishing, and just released last week! First of all, it was such a pleasure to work with all of the staff at Martingale. It is a very professional bunch, and my book was put together all along the way with the utmost care!

That being said, I'm extremely proud of the result!

 

Prairie Patchwork

You'll find patterns using a variety of techniques for making the quilts in Prairie Patchwork, from hand piecing to machine piecing, foundation piecing to strip piecing. You'll also find a variety of sizes as well: bed quilts, wall quilts and doll size quilts. A pattern for a sweet little wool applique needlebook is also included.

A Festive Fourth of July

This year is almost half over, and it has passed all too quickly! I've spent most of my days working on quilts for a new book, which I won't be able to share with you for quite some time.

I had fun this month putting together a cute little Independence Day centerpiece for the upcoming holiday. It has a few new items from Hobby Lobby, "USA" blocks from my own childhood building blocks, my own crafted paper hat and firecrackers from Country Living magazine patterns from years ago, a vintage star cookie cutter and cup, and red and blue pom poms to fill the tiered trays. Coincidentally, in addition to this new centerpiece, the rest of my little family room is decorated year round with a patriotic theme.

My centerpiece is sitting on my very first machine quilted quilt. For the class, we were told to bring something to quilt, so I quickly pieced a small nine patch quilt and brought that to class. I chose solid red and white fabrics, figuring that even if my first machine quilting was a mess, at least I would be able to use the small red and white quilt in decorating for the holidays - Christmas, Valentine's Day, Independence Day. 

I took my dear little Kenmore sewing machine to the class, and free motioned loops and stars over the top. And to the casual observer, it probably doesn't look too bad. My plan for this little quilt's use in decorating has been fulfilled many times over.

This month my quilt, Autumn Stars, from my patriotic themed book, Betsy's Scrapbag, will hang at the Texas Quilt Museum beginning June 27. The exhibit will run through September 29, 2019. The museum is located in La Grange, Texas, and if I can manage to escape my feverish quiltmaking for my book, I would like to take a trip to the museum, which would be my first time. I have also always wanted to visit that part of Texas, so it would be a fun trip!

For more information on the Texas Quilt Museum, here is a link to their website:

http://texasquiltmuseum.org/index.html

Happy Summer Sewing!

Martha 

Autumn Happenings

Happy Autumn! We've finally had a break in the weather here in Phoenix, and it's a welcome change!

I have a few things to share about the upcoming months to come.

My book Annie's Scrapbag is now out of print. 

Annie's Scrapbag

I think it's a book with a wonderful collection of patterns, if I do say so myself. Although I don't have any copies left to sell, either wholesale or resale, there are still copies available at quilt shops nationwide, so please check the internet or on your travels, if you're interested in purchasing a copy.

I have decided, however, to release some of the patterns from Annie's Scrapbag, as individual stand-alone patterns, and those should be available at least by the end of the month. I will also have a new Halloween themed pattern –" Happy Jacks Table Square" – too!

Happy Jacks Table Square

Speaking of Annie's Scrapbag, one of the quilts from the book, "Garden Girl", will be on exhibit at International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, next month, and again at the Spring International Festival in Chicago, Illinois. You'll find it in the exhibit "In Full Bloom".

And I'm also honored to have another of my quilts, "Autumn Stars", from Betsy's Scrapbag, on exhibit at International Quilt Festival in Houston and Chicago. It will then fly solo back to Texas, and be on exhibit at the Texas Quilt Museum in the summer of 2019. Woohoo!

Be on the lookout next month for the Nov/Dec issue of Quiltmania magazine, where I'll have one of my quilt patterns featured! I can't wait to see it myself!

I have another project that I'm so excited about, that I'm hoping will come to fruition by the end of this month. Fingers crossed.

Happy Fall Sewing!

Martha

Betsy's Scrapbag

Today is the first official release day of my new book, Betsy's Scrapbag! It's now on our website, and we have a lot of work to do to get it out and about to your favorite quilt shops.

The first of my Scrapbag Girl TM series began with Annie's Scrapbag, a pattern book of quilts and projects inspired by my fictional seamstress, Annie, a girl living in the early homesteading days of the American frontier.

Annie's Scrapbag

Book 2, Betsy's Scrapbag, follows with quilts and projects inspired by the American Revolution, and Betsy's story of her family's role in the fight for American independence.  And just as in Annie's Scrapbag, Betsy's Scrapbag includes FULL size applique placement diagrams for all of the projects, including the wool applique projects. No drafting on your part needed - whew!

Betsy's Scrapbag

Just like in Annie's Scrapbag, Betsy's Scrapbag includes patterns for quilts, wool applique, and this time a punch needle project, Lady Liberty, one of my favorites! Lady Liberty is made primarily with Valdani 3-ply floss, with the addition of DMC embroidery floss. I also have instructions for my easy method for finishing punchneedle, that "stiffens" it for hanging or applying to a platform, such as a box, or basket, but it's archival, meaning no glues are used.

Lady Liberty

Autumn Stars is one of the five quilts in the book, and is the largest quilt, - a queen size 89" x 89". 

Autumn Stars

There are 10 projects in all, with four wool applique projects, one of which is the Liberty pillow, appliqued using my favorite Aurifil Lana wool threads, which you can also find on our website:

Liberty pillow

To celebrate it's release, I'm having a giveaway for one copy of Betsy's Scrapbag! Just follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, and I hope you find Betsy's Scrapbag soon at a quilt shop near you! I will announce the winner of the giveaway on Monday, March 21st!

Until then,

Martha 

My exciting news

Yes, I have been away from my blog for too long! I was sick with a virus for most of April and then it was followed with a head cold for the first two weeks of May! Needless to say, once I started feeling human again, I had a lot to do! I was also glad to be feeling better as we had a very special graduation to attend in May - our youngest son graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelors degree in Linguistics. It was a very busy but fun weekend!

Now, for my good news - I was over-the-moon excited to find out last week that I was selected as one of the 23 finalists for a new exhibit to be held at International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas this coming October, curated by Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazine. The quilts in the Primitive and Folk Art exhibit are meant to represent and promote the primitive and folk art style.

And, not only that, but my quilt "Annie's Scrapbook" was awarded third place in the Original Pattern Design category. Whoo hoo!

Annie's Scrapbook

I can't wait to see all of the the other quilts hanging - it's sure to be a great exhibit.

Hopefully, I will be back to blog soon about some of the projects I've been working on - and maybe a new fabric line, too!

Until next time!
Martha

Pinterest

My friend Ingrid was over yesterday, giving me some feedback on a new fabric line I'm working on. She asked me if I was on Pinterest, and I told her I had opened an account, but had never done anything more. I didn't really know how it all worked, or how to get started. 

Well, she spent the next 2 hours helping me get set up, and showed me a lot about how it all worked. And I'm pretty sure I spent another 2 hours adding even more stuff. I'm still a little unsure of myself, but I was able to get a few boards started. All thanks to my Pinterest guru, Ingrid. She also said that now I have to get followers. Oh no, how do I do that? So, if you're reading this, Please help! I would love to have you follow my Pinterest boards!  https://www.pinterest.com/w9639/

I also figured out I need a few more things to pin, so I thought I would post a few photos of quilts I haven't posted here on my blog before.

So... here we go. This is one of my favorite quilts, "Celebrate Christmas", from Be Merry:

Celebrate Christmas

And here is a close up of Candy Cane Nine Patch, from Vintage Christmas:

detail, Candy Cane Nine Patch

New Quilt Patterns! Free Spirits and French Reel

My fabric line with Henry Glass Fabrics & Co., Sentimental Stitches, will be shipping to quilt shops next month, and I have two new quilt patterns which feature the line!

Free Spirits quilt pattern

Free Spirits features some of my favorite elements:  birds, flowers and berries. The big 24" appliqued block is surrounded by a dogtooth border and finished with prairie points. I've included a full size applique placement diagram, so placing your applique pieces will be a cinch!

French Reel quilt pattern

French Reel is another small quilt, which features the beautiful Sentimental Stitches striped border print.  The French Reel blocks are 6" square.

 

Here is one of the blocks in the process of being appliqued by machine.

Getting closer!  Do you remember my recent post about making my pressing station? I have really been enjoying it - it makes a huge difference. Above you can see some of my other pressing tools. An iron, of course. This is a Reliable iron, which is great for quiltmaking, as it has an auto shut-off override, and it steams really well, without spitting. Yes, I steam my seams! I use the scrub brush to brush off threads and lint from the fabric covered board. I was using a lint roller previously, but I was going through too many rolls of tape, so this brush works just as well. And finally, the strip stick, just barely visible in back, is wonderful for pressing seams open, without distorting other areas of the quilt. I like to press seams open when joining flying geese together for dogtooth borders to make them nice and flat, and also when joining two dogtooth borders to each other..

Henry Glass Fabrics is having a great giveaway on their blog every week, and this week, starting today, you can enter to win my French Reel quilt pattern, along with a bundle of Kim Diehl fabric! Follow this link to enter!

http://henryglassfabrics.blogspot.com/2014/09/happy-fall.html

Good luck and until next time,

Martha

Quilts From Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Fall 2014

My quilt, "Tuscany", is featured in this newest edition of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Fall 2014.

"Tuscany"

I used fabrics from my fabric line, Elementary for Studio e Fabrics.  The block I used for "Tuscany" is the block I designed for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 8, "Martha's Basket". I machine appliqued the handle elements, which made this twin size quilt assemble very quickly.

"Martha's Basket"

The Fall 2014 Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks is on newsstands now!

Scaredy Cats and String Stars

Writing new patterns kept me busy for the better part of July and early August, but, Yay!, they're finished!  I had so many requests to publish my pattern, "Scaredy Cats", that I finally got it done!

Scaredy Cats quilt pattern

It's now up on the website!

I have always had a fascination with string piecing, and have done quite a bit of it. One thing I had been wanting to try for many years, was to make a giant size string star. I was also thinking it might help to make a dent in my fabric stash. I finally drafted and cut out the foundation diamonds last Fall.

As I was moving back and forth in my studio writing my patterns, those foundation papers kept getting in my way. I finally decided to just take a break, and make the big string star, just to get those papers out of my way, at least!

It went very quickly, and I was so happy that my math was correct. The setting squares and triangles fit just perfectly! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I can report, however, that it did very little to reduce my fabric stash, although the background squares and triangles did take almost 2 yards.  I'm hoping to teach how to make the giant string star to fellow string star lovers in the future!

Giant String Star

With the 4 1/2" borders added, the quilt top is approximately 73" square.

I'll have more new patterns to post soon!

Until next time,

Martha

Weekend Getaway

My husband and I decided we needed a little break from the Phoenix summer heat, and so we headed down south for an overnight stay in Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee is an old mining town situated in the Mule Mountains. It is the southernmost mile high city in the United States, so the weather is a lot milder than what we're used to in Phoenix.

We stayed in the Copper Queen Hotel, a hotel built by the Phelps Dodge Corporation and completed after four years in 1902. We didn't have reservations, so we were offered a choice of three rooms, one of which has claims of being haunted. We took a look at each of the rooms, but when we returned, the front desk apologized, and told us that one of their reserved guests had actually requested the haunted room, and could they give us the room that they had set aside for them? You bet! I like to get a good night's sleep when I stay in hotels.

Our first stop when we arrived in Bisbee was The Old Corner Quilt and Dry Goods Shop, a new shop just under 1 yr old. I had met Debbie, the owner, at Quilt Market in Kansas City, so I was looking forward to seeing her shop now that's it's open. Wow! The shop is wonderful! Her displays are so creative, and she is even expanding into another room and working on more displays and eventually a loft. Here are some pictures, but you'll have to go see for yourself if you get a chance!

Debbie in front of The Old Corner Quilt & Dry Goods Shop

Front Door, with wonderful front window display

Vintage Christmas!

Cute Display!

Valdani Threads display in buckets - cute!

Homespuns - like!

Hand dyed yarns

Cute display with old window, door and tin roof with lights

Debbie and Martha

Debbie's shop specializes in primitive style quilts and projects, and by the way, she also carries Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazine. I'm a little late in posting this, but hopefully you've already picked up the Fall issue and seen my Scaredy Cats quilt inside --

Scaredy Cats

Right now I'm currently trying to finish another bunch of Halloween themed patterns. We'll see if I can get them finished before the big day!

Until next time,

Martha