BLOG DRAWING #3

Sorry for the delay. Being confined to the house one would think I had more time to do my blog, but I have had a surge in working with different companies designing quilts for their new fabric collections. As soon as they come out as free patterns, I will let you know so you can take advantage of the free downloads.

Yesterday I got a phone call from a Special Education teacher who I used to work with. As I said in my previous messages, I am not very good on the phone and with small talk, so I think about my friends all the time and think about calling them, but don't act on it. I was so happy that she did take the time to give me a call and to catch up. She told me that she and some of the other teachers that I worked with have finally retired. She also mentioned that right after she retired she slipped and broke her foot! She is the fifth person that I know who broke a foot this year.

I have a friend, Rosemary who travels and assists me when I teach and it seems like when things happen to me or her, then the other has the same problem. It started last year with some female problems. I found out that I had to have surgery and a few weeks later she found out she had the same problem and had to have surgery. It's too bad that we don't live closer to each other because we weren't able to keep each other company. After that, I found out that I had cataracts and had to have surgery on both my eyes. A month later, she found out she had to have cataract surgery too! Well a few months ago, she fell down and broke her foot. Lo and behold, a couple months after that, I fell and broke my foot! We are both hoping that nothing serious happens to either one of us in the near future! Her daughters suggest that maybe we should stop hanging around together.

After my accident, I contacted one of my good quilting friends and teacher, who lives in Virginia, to tell her what happened. I found out that she fell down during a vacation and broke her ankle in 3 places, so she was confined to the house for a few months. I was posting an image of the boot on my foot on Facebook and two of my FB friends told me that they also broke their feet this year. I sure hope that this is the last of our calamities for a long time!

I do want to congratulate Patience Griffin again for winning the last drawing. She told me about her website and that she is an author of quilting related books. She is also having a drawing on her website Patience Griffin for one of her books. I love reading books by quilters about quilters! Please visit her website to check it out and enter her drawing.

The current fat quarter collection that I  am giving away tomorrow is another part of the P&B Luxury Essentials collection that I gave away in the first drawing. The colors are just yummy! I love the gold swirls in it.

I started playing with it using my patterns and I decided to use the Glorified Nine-Patch with a Twist pattern. It involves curve piecing but don't let that scare you. The pattern can be made with 4", 6", or 9" templates. Since there are only 7 fat quarters in this group you will have to add some fabric of your own to complete the 4" block (12" square), 6" block (18" square), or 9" block (27" square). I have made this quilt with both 4", 6" or 9" templates with 9 light and 9 dark or medium fat quarters. For the 4" block fat eighths will be enough.

 

The original quilt I made for this pattern uses the 4" template set. I made this quilt with a group of fabrics I won from Miniature Quilt Magazine for one of my quilts that I entered in their Miniatures From the Heart Contest. I entered this mini quilt in one of the local quilt shows in St. Louis and it won a first place prize in the miniature division! I think it won because I matched the binding to the fabrics along the edge of the quilt. I have instructions in the pattern how to do this so you can do it on any quilt to give it an extra detail that will impress your friends and judges for shows. I hope you can see the binding in this image.

I have some wonderful tips for sewing curves for perfect seams and no pleats every time and will include them in the next post after I announce the winner. You can find the pattern along with the templates here: Glorified Nine-Patch pattern and 4" templates. The winner will receive these fat quarters and the pattern with the 4" template set. There is also a 6" and 9" template set available for purchase to make this quilt. Instructions for all 3 sizes are included in the pattern. I am still having that 20% off all regular price purchases so it would be a good time to purchase a template set if you want one. 

Please leave your comment at the end of this post to let me know how you would use these fabrics and I also want to know how you feel about curved piecing. Please share this blog with your quilting friends. Good luck!

As always; do what you love and love what you do. Thanks for reading, Toby Lischko