Happy Thursday! I meant to get this post up yesterday, but I was knee-deep in market sewing! You see, on Tuesday, these fantastic boxes arrived on my doorstep, and by Tuesday night I had six quilts ready to sew...  It's Quilt Market time, and while I've been doing quilt market sewing for

Happy Tuesday! This is going to be a very busy week here at A Quilting Life, so I thought I'd better share these red and green blocks before things got really busy. I've always wanted a red and green quilt and pieced my first two blocks over the weekend.  The blocks are both from a

If you're intimidated by working with angles in your quilt projects, I have a wonderful recommendation. The other night I watched Joanna Figueroa's new Craftsy class,  Smarter Strip Quilting      I watched the entire class in one sitting, and it's absolutely

Some of my favorite quilters have been making some gorgeous pineapple quilt over the past few months. I made a Fig Tree version a couple of years ago but have been wanting to make a scrappy version lately.  Yesterday was the day! I pulled out some of my favorite bright scraps and started

This weekend I got caught up on my Bee blocks...and I realized that three of the blocks would be perfect for scrap quilting. The first block is perfect for left over jelly roll strips and charm squares. Nedra sent three jelly roll strips and a charm square for her block. There were left

Happy Monday! Do you like mini quilts? How about pinwheels? I got a fun email this afternoon letting me know my Summer Spinner mini quilt made the cover of the Summer 2015 issue of Quilts and More...  "Used with permission from Quilts and More magazine. 2015 Meredith Corporation.

I have some good favorites to share today...some new rulers and organizing helps, and then a favorite project of mine right now. First I want to share the new Itty Bitty Eights rulers by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings and Creative Grids. These rulers have already found a place on my cutting

 Happy Wednesday! First, thank you so much for all of the lovely comments and suggestions on my last post! I appreciate it very much and got some good ideas from your comments. Today's post is brought to you by "low volume." I know this "low volume" label is a relatively new term...when I

Hope your weekend was wonderful! We've been having delightful spring weather here...perfect warm days with nights that still have just a bit of a chill! I started working on a mini version of Joanna's "Country Fair" quilt that I shared last week. With the blocks finished it should go together

I know things have been a little quiet here on the blog lately, but I have been busy, and today I can share just a little bit of what I've been working on. I've been sewing sample quilts for Joanna of Fig Tree & Company for several years now, and it's something I truly enjoy. I really do read

I've been working on some quilt market sewing, but for the rest of the week I'm going to work on some of my works in progress --can't wait! Since I was making a lot of flying geese yesterday, I thought it might be a good time to share some tips for piecing these blocks. These tips and

My family and I are enjoying this beautiful Easter weekend. This short but powerful video says it all about why this holiday is one of my favorites. Happy Easter! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Friday! Today's favorites are a few treasures from my grandmother. This little wall hanging hung in my grandmother's bedroom. It is a good example of her beautiful needle-turn applique and hand quilting skills.  I was always going to make one of these little quilts (pattern is

Happy Thursday! I'm sorry I'm a little belated with the "Little Bites" Sample quilts. I was out of town Monday through Wednesday for my Grandmother's funeral. And even though I didn't get mine made this month (I had planned to make it on the days I was out of town)...this is definitely a quilt I

Irons...quilters seem to constantly be searching for the perfect iron. I've definitely had my share of negative iron experiences over the past few years. For a while it seemed that no matter how much I spent on an iron it would invariably break within a year or so--always after the warranty had

It's been some time since I've posted about my scrappy grandmother's flower garden project. This is one of those "life-time" quilts. Except I hope to have it finished in a few years.  I have just over 30 finished blocks, and I'm still undecided what I'm going to do with

 My Bucket List quilt pattern is one of my favorites, and for a little while I've been wanting to make it in a smaller version for a table topper.  Five star blocks (make them scrappy like the original pattern or use solid centers) and for alternate blocks make a fun design. I finally

Happy Monday! It's been a little while since I did a Scraps Monday post, so I thought today would be a good day for that...especially since I've basically been sewing everything with scraps lately!  I'm still working on my "Go Four It" American Patchwork and Quilting quilt along blocks. I

Have you heard about the 2015 AccuQuilt Quilt Block Design Contest? Entries must be designed with AccuQuilt shapes. As always, it must be an original design, which means no copyrighted designs may be used. The contest kicks off Friday, March 20th (yesterday) and runs through April 19th. 

I know things have been a little quiet here on the blog...I've been organizing and doing a lot of spring cleaning over the last ten days. I normally do this at about this time every year, but this year was a little different.  I had to make a new ironing board cover for the occasion...my

Hello! It's time for block 3 in the Snapshots quilt along from Fat Quarter Shop--it seems like the days have flown by this month. Today's block is an adorable tea kettle block--a nostalgic block for me since I always remember a tea kettle on the stove at our house and at my grandmother's

Spring is definitely in the air, and I've been doing a bit of spring cleaning and re-decorating this week. I truly love using and decorating with my quilts and have had a few thoughts about that topic as I've been re-arranging.  I have a guest room which I decorate primarily with Fig Tree

Yesterday I was able to pick up a quilt from the quilter--it was one of those quilts that melts your heart, and of course I had to bind it right away!  The quilt is from the Fig Tree pattern "Jumping Jacks," and I made it with Fig Tree scraps I've saved over the past few years. As I

   Happy Friday! We have some very spring-like weather here in southern Nevada right now, so I'm a little bit torn between doing some much needed gardening and catching up in the sewing room. Hopefully I'll be able to get to both! My four-patches are definitely favorites. They are turning

 Good morning! Today I'd like to introduce a new mini pattern, my "Summer Star Mini Quilt." This fun mini quilt finishes at 14 1/2" x 14 1/2" and is one I've been wanting to make for quite a while.  The full-size version of this quilt is found in my book C&T Publishing Fresh

Happy Monday! Welcome to our belated parade...thanks so much for your patience. I had a scheduled post yesterday...and then I spent most of today enjoying our rain and grading papers. This month's parade features the "Jumping Jacks" mini quilt (pattern by Fig Tree & Company). The version

Note: The Go Big Electric Fabric Cutter, Churn Dash block die, and fabrics were provided for me to use for my post today. Welcome to my day on the Go! Big Blog Hop featuring the Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter and the 12 1/2" unfinished Churn Dash block die. Yes, this is an electric cutter. I

Happy Friday! Today half-square triangles made with Aloha Girl are one of my favorite things...they are for the next "Simply Small" project...and having these finished up means my mini quilt will come together soon! I have a couple of other favorites to share today too...time-saving

 Happy Tuesday...and welcome to what is really the Scraps Monday post! It was cloudy and rainy yesterday (so appreciative of the moisture), but it didn't make for good photos! I'm taking the last week of the month to only work on scrap projects, nothing new until next week. But since my "Go

 Today's Friday Favorites post is kind of a mix of this and that. Hope you enjoy it! For starters, using the quilts I make is high on my list of the important aspects of being a quilter. Sometimes I have to store quilts I use for teaching and trunk show, but we also have quilts on display in

I had a little finish the other day! I added the final border to my "Sweet Honey Braids" quilt (pattern by Fig Tree & Company). I'm not sure why I was hesitant about pairing the aqua and lime green borders...I absolutely love them!   This is such a fun scrap project. Whenever I finish

It's been four-patch after four-patch around here--I hope you're not tired of them. I'm still having fun with them. I change up color combinations pretty frequently, and I alternate between cutting, sewing and pressing. I'm well past the half-way point, so soon I'll be able to start putting these

Hello! Today is the day the free pattern for block 2 in the Snapshots Quilt Along from Fat Quarter Shop is available (you can read my first post for this quilt along here). This month's block is an adorable aqua sewing machine! I had so much fun piecing this--I have always wanted to piece a

Yesterday was one of those days where I just wanted to finish something. I have plenty of works in progress to choose from, but this one from 2010 has been calling my name.    The pattern is "Sweet Honey Braids" by Joanna Figueroa from one of her "Fresh Vintage" booklets. I started it

 Happy Monday! Welcome to the "Scraps Monday" quilt along edition! As I mentioned last week, I headed out for a few days to teach at a retreat in beautiful Bryce Canyon, Utah. My "me" sewing for the evenings was my American Patchwork & Quilting  "Go Four It" project. Since this is a

Happy Works in Progress Wednesday! And thank you so very much for all of the kind comments on the Memory Quilt...I appreciate them so much! I'm getting ready to head out to beautiful Bryce Canyon, Utah to teach at a retreat for the next couple of days. Getting ready to go has involved cutting kits

 Sometimes projects (and quilts) come along that really have a powerful effect on me personally. This quilt was one of those quilts, and I would like to tell its story...  Last fall son number 1 asked if I might be able to make a quilt for a former co-worker. He said her father had

Hello! It's parade day! (February already?) First, I'd like to announce our mini quilt for the March 1st parade. How about a mini Jumping Jacks quilt? Last summer I made the full-size version and have been wanting to make the mini version by Fig Tree ever since.  So when Sinta suggested it as