"Sunbonnet Sue & Overall Bill go fishing on the Chattahoochee River!"

Row By Row Experience 2015 starts officially June 21st. Here's a sneak peek at our FREE PATTERN you'll receive when you visit the shop. We'll have kits available for our row $11.95. You know how we love "Sue & Bill" so with the water theme for 2015, we had to take them fishing on the Chattahoochee River. You'll never find these whimsical fish anywhere on that river. The Chattahoochee is the nearest water feature we could find near the shop! We hope you stop by the shop to pick up your free pattern sometime this summer. Comment on our row and we'll randomly select three of you to receive our "Applique Sue & Hats for Sue" pattern with twelve hats for Sue for every occasion!

College Mascot Quilt

Joey wanted a special Georgia Tech quilt and we think she achieved it!  She found a website, YouPatch.com, that will turn any picture into a pixelated quilt pattern (not just a picture, but an actual pattern!) complete with fabric requirements and piecing directions.  It's quick and easy with great results as you can see from Joey's quilt top. 

Patchwork of the Crosses

Another fun block to stitch...this block will require careful placement of the acrylic template to cut the fussy cut the pieces for the square.  Some of the units are cut on the diagonal and some are cut on the diagonal reversed.  Cut and piece carefully!

It looks like more, but there are only two fabrics used in this block.  These are the fabrics I used:

This block is a bit of a challenge, but what a great block!

Need more paper-piecing supplies?  Check our website to order.
Don't forget to check out our Pinterest Board for fun and interesting new blocks.

A Darling Row Quilt!

Heather came in to get a border for this quilt she made for her granddaughter Sarah. Sarah's only 2 so Heather is going to hang the quilt in her own sewing room until Sarah is a bit older. Great idea!  It's a beautiful, bright and cheery quilt!

Patchwork of the Crosses

One of the fun things to do in Paducah during the AQS Quilt Show is to visit the Rotary where there is always a special exhibit of quilts, an exhibit of the Hofmann challenge quilts, and, of course, more vendors!  This year, the special exhibit featured Hexagon quilts from the collection of Mary Kerr. None of the quilts displayed were Lucy Boston quilts, but I thought you might enjoy seeing them anyway.
Some of the quilts were very old and fragile, but, they were really, the "stars" of the exhibit.

Often times, in days past, a quilter would display her prized quilt as a back drop for a family picture.  

I thought this vintage quilt was special because I've never seen this setting before in a hexagon quilt. Don't the chevrons give the quilt an interesting look?

This was a fairly large quilt done with small hexies - lots of work in this one!

This old quilt was in very good condition for it's age.  As you can see, it was constructed in 1842.  All four borders were the same with the embroidered initials and date.  It's great to see such an old quilt that has been so well preserved.

This was one of my favorites.  Imagine the amount of work that went into piecing all those stars!

Of course, the nice thing about hexagons is the unlimited number of patterns you can design.  While we tend to think of Grandmother's Flower Gardern patterns first, diamond patterns were also very popular.

This was an example of an older quilt with flower rosettes, but pieced into a diamond setting.

I was really amazed that so many of the old quilts were made with really small hexagon shapes making the designs look very intricate.  They almost made my 1" honeycomb shapes seem "jumbo"!

What a fun exhibit!  My mind is just over-whelmed with the unending possibilities with English paper piecing.  I see more new projects in my future!

We have an extensive seclection of English Paper Piecing supplies.  Check out our website to order.  If you don't see the size of templates and papers you need, just call us and we'll get them for you.

Check our Pinterest Board to see pictures of the lovely Lucy Boston blocks sent in by our customers.

Check out Inklingo if you prefer to hand piece your hexagons without using the paper templates.  Inklingo will print out cutting and stitching lines on your fabric using your computer printer.

Wool Hooked Rug Extravaganza

The 2nd Friday of every month  'wool lovers' gather to work on their wool projects. Deborah shared her Adam and Eve hooked rug and June showed the sheep hooked rug she's working on. Knitters, wool appliqué lovers, even rug braiders, meet in the class room for a morning of fun stitching.

Quilt Market reunion

One of the best parts of Market is reuniting with quilt buddies you have known and loved for years.  I am sure the conversation amongst these quilt designing, shop owning veterans was not to be missed.
Mary Ellen had dinner with Connie and Mary of Country Threads & Janet Nesbitt of One Sister Designs (formerly Buggy Barn) at Quilt Market in Minneapolis - they had a great time reminiscing! 

Calling all Sunbonnet Sue lovers...

Yoshiko and her friend brought in her Sunbonnet Sue blocks she's working on. She's adding sweet embroidery stitches. We have a great assortment of feedsack and 1930's and 40's fabrics.

Patchwork of the Crosses

A new block for May:

I love the way this stripe creates a  radiating pattern around the center.
The fabrics I used for this block:

  Have fun stitching!

Check our website to order additional supplies.

We are continually adding new Lucy Boston blocks to our Pinterest Board.  Check it regularly for new ideas.

Don't forget to check out Inklingo if you prefer hand piecing your blocks rather than English Paper Piecing.

We're in the Magazine!

We hope you all had a chance to enjoy the Blog Tour of Designers with quilt blocks featured in the new "Quiltmaker 100 Blocks, Volume 11" magazine.  If you weren't able to participate, you might like to check out the following series of videos that will give you a "mini-tour" through the magazine.  If you're looking for a specific style of block for your next quilt, some of the blocks have been categorized by style to make it easier to find the blocks you'd be interested in.  The Designer Gallery link will give you ideas on how others have turned the blocks into little quilts.  Hope you enjoy the videos and find just the block or quilt design you're looking for!
This is our featured block.  It's a combination of piecing and wool applique.  You will see it in the Mixed Techniques or Applique videos.

Click the links below to view the wonderful block designs in the magazine!

Full issue preview
Pieced Blocks
Foundation Blocks
Mixed Techniques
Applique Blocks
Designer Quilt Gallery
We still have a few copies of the issue left - call the shop if you'd like to order a copy!

May Day Show and Tell - Part 1. Hold Me Back...

 Eloise designed her own sweet star quilt.  What a great way to personalize a special quilt!  Eloise used the Moda Letters Booklet to add Clara’s name to the back of the quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Judy used T-shirts from past family reunions to make a very special family quilt

 

Pam made star sampler blocks in batiks for her quilt and then made it extra-special with a star border!

 

Patricia used her Second Saturday Sampler blocks from 2014 and Muriel’s setting pattern, but designed her own outer border for this beauty. Now don't you wish you can last year? Well, we can't go back but there is still time to get in on this year Sampler blocks. Put June 13 (sometime between 9:30 and 11) on you calendar and ask us how to get started.

 

 

Neutral Chain

LQ staff member Tricia just finished this double Irish Chain quilt as a wedding gift for a family member. She used beautiful greys which are very popular in decorating today. What a great gift.....sure to be timeless and enjoyed!

What A Mom Really Wants for Mother's Day

Buy mom a gift certificate or could this be you, if you take mom shopping!

Patchwork of the Crosses

A Modern-Day Fairy Tale                                

     Once upon a time, way back when I first started the Patchwork of the Crosses blog, a lady and her two friends decided to visit Little Quilts.  The lady was very charming and from a country far, far away - England, to be exact (her accent gave her away!).  Her name was Sarah.  Sarah had traveled to Canada to visit friends and they were on a trip down the East Coast of the US visiting lots and lots of quilt shops all along the way.  When they arrived at Little Quilts I couldn't resist asking Sarah if she had heard of Lucy Boston or the Patchwork of the Crosses quilt.  You would not believe my surprise when she told me she was a personal friend of Diana Boston (Lucy's daughter-in-law) and she lived three miles from the Manor House!  It was decided we would be friends forever and email each other with Sarah promising to occasionally send pictures of the Hemingsford Gray gardens and the town where Lucy lived.   

     I was so excited!  I couldn't wait to email my new friend!  Alas, I misplaced her email address. Surely, I thought, she still has my address and she will email me.  I waited and waited, but no message from Sarah.  I was afraid she had lost my address, too.  I was so disappointed to think I had no way to contact my new friend.

     But don't despair, dear readers... this fairy tale has a happy ending!  As it goes, I went to Paducah, KY, with Mary Ellen to help 'man our booth' at the world famous AQS Quilt Show.  We worked very hard to be sure our booth was set up in time for the show.  When the doors finally opened, our booth was swamped with customers.  Can you imagine my surprise when someone tapped my shoulder and there was Sarah!  Her mother had passed away shortly after she returned home and dealing with that sad occasion had kept her from emailing me.  But there we were, two friends half-way around the world from each other reunited once again in only a years time!  What a happy day!

     Isn't that a "happily ever after" ending to a great story?  Sarah and I promised to email each other again and Sarah plans to send pictures which I'll share with you as I get them.  

Sarah and Muriel reunited at the Little Quilts booth, AQS Quilt show, Paducah, KY!

I hope you had fun working on your blocks while I was in Paducah for the show.  I'll have another block ready for you next week.

Click here to see new blocks posted to our Pinterest Board

Click here it you need to reorder paper piecing supplies from our website.

Click here if you want information on how to make fussy-cut blocks using your computer printer.

100 Blocks Volume 11 Blog Tour

Welcome to Little Quilts!  We're so excited to have a block in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 11.   We love flags and  everything patriotic.  We hope the upcoming patriotic holidays will inspire you to try our block, combining cotton with wool applique, to make this block as a pillow, little quilt, or a medallion center.

We pieced the background in scrappy reds, creams, and blues, and then added a wool applique swag. We carry hand dyed wool in the store and love using it in our blocks because it adds such rich color and texture and it's so easy to do! If you are 'allergic to traditional applique'...this is the block for you! Simply fuse the shapes down and use a hand or machine buttonhole stitch to secure the edges - no needle turn stitching or fraying edges!

We'd love to hear if you've tried wool applique before!  Share your comments below and one lucky winner will receive a free copy of Quiltmaker 100 Blocks, Volume 11!

We hope you're having fun and finding lots of good quilting tips from all the designers.  Check out Quiltmaker for more information about other designers in the tour and how to win more prizes!