I’m thrilled to be featured as a guest blogger! Quilting has always been such a relaxing past time for me. In 1976 I was working on a needle point picture of Mickey Mouse commemorating the 500 year anniversary of the bicentennial. I was flipping through Family Circle magazine and came across a picture of a quilt made by Jinny Beyer called “Rising Sun.” The magazine had quilt blocks in it and I started making 9 patch and half square triangle blocks mimicking the ones shown in the magazine. I followed the magazine for months and taught myself how to cut squares and triangles and figured out how to turn them into patchwork blocks. I continued to make patchwork from the magazine and bought whatever books I could find on patchwork. I sewed blocks until we moved to Atlanta in 1981. I guess you could say the rest is history.

Little Quilts started with Alice Berg, Sylvia Johnson and myself. Alice, Sylvia and I started making little quilts to sell in the early 1980s. We saw a room setting in one of our country decorating magazines that had small doll quilts hanging on walls or as accents in cupboards or end tables. We loved the look and feel these small doll quilts created, however, they were very expensive so we decided to study books that had antique doll quilts and try to make them ourselves. We made them for ourselves, gave them away as gifts to our friends and we sold them at antique fairs and festivals.

We set up an outdoor clothes line that had the quilts hanging on it and tagged each one with a little story about how they came to be. Over the years we sold more than 500 of these doll quilts. They were not miniature quilts. They were made with squares of fabric never smaller than 1″ and usually the quilt blocks were about 5″. In miniature quilts, the block are usually 3″ or smaller.

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I’ve been playing around in EQ6 this afternoon, planning some ideas for the “New from Old” Quilt Contest for the Alliance of American Quilts. I picked up some lovely super bright fabrics in Lancaster last week, with the plan to use them in some way.

First up, is my totally insane log cabin. These blocks would finish at 7.5″ and each block contains 57 paper pieced sections. While I love the psychedelic look, that’s just a little more work than I wanted to undertake for this contest. I might keep the idea in mind for something else though, but on a bigger scale.

I tried to match the colours in EQ6 with the fabrics I purchased the best I could. The eight-colour option for the fabrics I have on hand, just doesn’t work. The design might work really well with just two options.

Four colours:

Eight colours:

Next up are some pinwheel star options. I like these a lot as they can be quick pieced with Brenda Henning’s Triangulations CD. The blocks finish at 6.5″ and each 1/2 square triangle finishes at 1 5/8″. Small, but piecing them on the paper first really helps with accuracy.

This is my favourite option so far … tentatively called Tuity Fruity Pinwheel Stars:

Solid fabrics (a little washed out in the photo):

A variation without sashing and introducing another colour for the 1″ border:

While I like it without sashing just fine, I prefer the option with sashing.

A couple of different colourways that would use different marble-like fabrics shown below.

I adore these fabrics but wish I had a yellow.

Thoughts, preferences? I’d love to hear them. I’ve never entered a contest before, and I must admit I’m rather intimidated by it. Instead, I’m thinking of it as making a 16″ square mini quilt. Much less pressure.

What about you? Are you entering the contest? All Quilting Gallery fans will be entered into a draw for a special fabulous prize package. Check out this post for more info.

Congratulations to Mary Winegar of Illinois for winning last week’s weekly themed quilt contest, African Inspiration, with her very colourful African Ladies quilt. She won a copy of the Quilter’s Cookbook, Quick and easy recipes, so we can get back to quilting!.

This week’s theme is Easter and is sponsored by the lovely gang over at the Fat Quarter Shop. To enter, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo. Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Fat Quarter Shop

Thanks to Michele for letting us sponsor this week’s Easter-themed contest! We’re really excited to see what you all send in! Our prize will be a Jelly Roll of the winner’s choice! How about this gorgeous Verna Jelly Roll by Kate Spain for Moda Fabrics?

We’re Fat Quarter Shop and we are happy to be serving the online quilting community. We have a wide range of premium-quality quilting fabrics, from Moda, RJR, Westminster, Windham, FreeSpirit, Robert Kaufman, Lecien, Hoffman, Henry Glass, Clothworks, Alexander Henry and so much more. Shop for Fat Quarter Bundles, yardage, specialty precuts, patterns and flawless quilt kits! We’ve even added notions to the store! Also be sure to check out our many clubs, like our monthly Moda Fat Quarter Bundle Club and our exclusive Designer Mystery Block of the Month. We are always bringing you something new!

In fact, we are adding to our inventory almost every day! From batiks to basics to baby, we have something for every taste. We have the largest online selection of Fat Quarter Bundles, and you’ll be sure to find just what you need for your next project.

We also know that you don’t want to wait to start your next project – which is why we offer same day shipping! Fat Quarter Shop is known for quick & reliable shipping, even for international orders, on top of excellent customer service and top-notch presentation!

You can reach us by phone or online in so many ways! Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and check out our Jolly Jabber blog for designer interviews, giveaways, and all the latest Fat Quarter Shop news!

Try us out – we’re eager to help you meet your quilting needs!

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Please share the logo below on your own blog. The more contestants, the more exciting the contests!

There are still a few weekly sponsorship opportunities left this year. Please contact me if you’re interested. It’s a fabulous opportunity to showcase new notions and fabrics.