Template Piecing

Template piecing is a fabric cutting technique that uses either paper templates or plastic templates for cutting the pieces needed for your quilt project. Using templates for me was at first baffling, then frustrating and now I appreciate the accuracy and ease of making quilts with pieces other than the basic square, rectangle and 45° triangles.

Christmas Is Coming

While browsing through Pinterest today I came across some quilted Christmas Tree Skirts and realized it's not too early to be thinking about Christmas. I think this one is a beauty from the fabric choices to the details like the green squares between the star points. I noticed that it is a 10 point star which is a size that you don't often find in quilt blocks.

Autumn Mug Rugs

Here are a few fall mug rug inspirations. I love mug rugs. I use them all the time for my ever present coffee, they're quick and easy to make and it's the perfect venue to try out that block you just found but aren't sure how to use in a full sized quilt. And I can't forget the orphan blocks, great way to use them up too.

New 1904 Star Block Calculator

I've just uploaded the 1904 Star Block calculator. It is a fairly intricate block that I made with multiple quantities only, but I think I've broken it down enough for easy assembly. It does use templates and  I have learned to embrace using templates except when my printer is out of ink :)

Some Pins to Admire

Getting more ideas for quilting was never easier with Pinterest. Here is a traditional quilt block set in a 5 by 5 grid that uses simple squares and half square triangles.

Go Forth and Share!

I was recently contacted by salvationarmypatchworkeasyas for permission to use the patterns on myquiltgenie.com website, which I was happy to do and those ladies sure can quilt.

Ideas from Pintrest

Pinterest has to be one of the best things to happen to quilters of all time. For those of you who don't know what Pinterest is, it is a virtual bulletin board for images. At first, I thought, "big deal", until I tried it. Now I have so many ideas for quilting and other things that the hardest part is getting off the internet and deciding which one to start first.

Potholders, Coasters and Mug Rugs

There are some more projects on the 54 40 or Fight quilt block calculator. Now you can make potholders, coasters and mug rugs too.

MyQuiltGenie - Bright Hopes

Bright Hopes
Newly Updated! Now you can use the calculator for quilts, potholders, coasters, mug rugs, borders & sashing.

'via Blog this'

Mississippi Star

The Mississippi Star block is a beautiful, but challenging block. Many years ago I attempted my first template pieced block with little to no instruction on how to do so. I tried to figure out how to make the template pieces fit strips cut at the ¼ inch and many more mistakes.