Happy Friday! Let's celebrate the almost end of summer with a fun giveaway from Jodie at Fort Worth Fabric Studio. Jodie puts together the most wonderful fabric bundles and has a "Pretty Bird" fat quarter bundle to give to one of my blog readers! To see a list of all 12 fat quarters included in the

 Now that I'm home and semi-recovered from vacationing, I'm hoping to get back on track with my "Wednesday Works in Progress" posts. Since I have less than two weeks of summer vacation left, I'm also in a mad dash to finish some new things and wrap up a few older works in progress! Before

Hello! Today I'm happy to share a little about my love of all things fabric and quilting--today's post will include some photos of some of my favorite projects and offer a little bit of insight into my creative process. I think this is such a fun opportunity to learn a little bit more than what we

Last week I was able to take one of those "bucket list" trips I've wanted to make for a long time. I've never been to Washington, D.C. before, and it worked out that I was able to get away last week and spend time soaking up the incredible history and culture found in the very inspiring museums and

Recently I got to play with one of my favorite new Moda collections, 30's Playtime and sew up a fun and fast new pattern, the "Fat Quarter Fizz" pattern which is a free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop. Abby was able to do this fun all-over quilting design on my quilt which I just love! I

 I've been really trying to finish things this summer...but with a sight-seeing trip coming up soon I started (and finished) something I've been wanting to make for a while: a cross-body bag that isn't too big and isn't too small. After a little internet research I decided on the "Two-Zip

Have you heard about the Sweet Scandinavian Sew Along by Sherri Falls of This & That patterns? It has just started, so it's not too late to join in.  You can find all of the information on Sherri's blog here.  Also, this isn't just any regular sew along...Sherri is putting together this quilt

Happy Wednesday quilty works in progress day! Do you ever have a hard time deciding on a project after finishing up something big? I always have a list of things I want to do, but after finishing up the king-sized Nested Churn Dash last week I had a hard time deciding "what next?" For me, the best

 I hope you're not tired of my Nested Churn Dash quilt. My number one quilting goal this summer was to make a scrappy quilt with all of my Minick & Simpson fabrics. I truly love the combination of reds, creams, and blues--these colors are just soothing to me, and they remind me of summer,

 I'm still working on those Churn Dash blocks! Monday evening I finished up numbers 7, 8, and 9. They've been going together pretty quickly since I'm using chain piecing. I just have to be careful to keep the piles in the right order. Even though it's scrappy I am trying not to have the same

 It's hard to believe that summer is past the mid-way point for me. I only have five more weeks until school starts (I teach English Composition part-time at a local community college), and I'm starting to feel the pressure to finish up at least some of my summer goals. My number one summer

 Did you know Olfa is celebrating 35 years? It's hard to believe. I actually used  Olfa cutters while working at a fabric store called "Cloth World" during the 80's (I know...I'm dating myself). At the time I wasn't a quilter, but it was pretty fun demonstrating how the blade could

 Happy Tuesday, and welcome to Simply Small quilted projects parade day! Last week I thought it might be fun to have a Christmas in July project to share with you, so I used two Moda Candy packs of 25th & Pine to make a couple of potholders and a table runner.  These projects

Recently I was asked by my friends at Fat Quarter Shop to review the new Makin' it Cute Petal Pack templates by Barb & Mary of Me & My Sister Designs.  Since I had seen these adorable templates at market in Pittsburgh I gladly said yes! After playing with my template pack this weekend I

 Happy Saturday! Today I have a fun giveaway from Rhonda of Olie & Evie...Rhonda is one of my wonderful sponsors I was privileged to be able to meet a couple of weeks ago while at the Small Town Quilt Show in Midway, Utah. Olie & Evie is an Etsy shop with lots of wonderful goodies! In

How I love this Nested Churn Dash Pattern! I had to start sewing pieces together the other night...and of course now I can't wait to get this quilt finished. Because I love it already.  Half of the blocks will have red centers and alternate red with blue so that the outer ring is

Happy Wednesday! I love the idea of "works in progress" posts and have done many of those over the last few years; however, I've been thinking that along with the "progress" the important thing is the actual "process" used in creating quilts; I think this is especially interesting in relationship to

Vacations are always good, but I did miss my sewing machine. I was happy to have lots of family around for the holiday weekend, but it was also good to get in a little sewing. First on my list was my Homestead wall hanging quilt (pattern by Fig Tree & Company). I'm making a 9-block version of

 Hope you are having a wonderful day, and Happy Fourth of July to my American readers! Pictured above is my very first mini quilt...circa 1999. The pattern is a "Little Quilts" design. I also made little pillows from that pattern...and they are sitting on an antique rocking chair with one

 Hello! Happy July first! Today is kind of a special day here at A Quilting Life; you see, today is the 6th anniversary of my very first blog post! I'm always filled with gratitude when I think about how many blessings have come into my life as a result of starting this blog. I began blogging

 I've been making more of the "Sew Together " bags I posted about here and here. And I still have more to make. Some I'm gifting now, and I have a whole list of people I should make them for for Christmas gifts! Anyway, some of the tips I'd like to share today apply to any small bag sewing

This is a "finish it up" post for the Sew Organized series I posted in the month of June. Although I still have a few odds and ends to finish up, I'm so much better organized than I ever have been in this space.  I've received quite a few emails about my cutting table, and I did a little

This is one of those quilts I've been wanting to make for sooo long! When the mini quilt craze sort of exploded last fall I knew I wanted to make my "Shine" pattern as a mini. It seemed perfectly suited for a mini... But there were always deadlines...so I kept it on the back burner until

Happy Monday...sort of...I'm getting this post up just under the wire for Monday, Pacific time. It's been a busy week--along with my sewing room organization project we've had a sort of house reorganization project, too. My oldest daughter and her husband are moving in with us for a couple of months

Happy first day of summer here in the northern hemisphere...and what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway from Southern Fabric?! Aubrey from Southern Fabric is offering a $25 gift card to one of my blog readers. Visit Southern Fabric and come back here to leave a comment with your favorite

Today is my day in the Nested Churn Dash Quilt Along! I'm happy I can finally share my finished mini quilt with this block (I wasn't sure how much I could share before my "official" day, so I'm sorry for the sneak peeks here and there)! This block and this quilt were so much fun! I'm definitely

Hello! This post was supposed to be up yesterday...but it was one of those days...I was early to my first appointment, late to the next, and just couldn't seem to get anything together at the "right time." On top of that I had to take out just about everything in my sewing room so we could move in a

Welcome to Simply Small parade day where I showcase simple projects made with 2 1/2" squares. As I thought about what to make for this month's pattern, I immediately thought of scrappy place mats perfect for summer get togethers and 4th of July celebrations (if you are here in the U.S.).  I've

Today I'm happy to share a giveaway from one of my blog sponsors, The Loopy Ewe! This is a unique family-owned brick and mortar and on-line shop specializing in not only fabric but also yarn. If you click on fabric from the home page, you'll find links to fabric, kits, notions, and patterns--with

 Happy Friday! Thanks again for all of the support and the terrific suggestions that are coming in through comments, emails, and Instagram (find me over on IG at @sherrimcconnell). Another IG note: if you'd like to post progress photos there I'm going to start using the hashtag

Did you know that Craftsy is currently running a big summer sale with 50% off classes...be sure to visit here if you have been thinking about one of their classes! Also, the Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring an amazing giveaway Sweepstakes during the month of June. Go here to find out all about

Hello and happy Wednesday! Thanks so very much for all of the support for this  organizing series. If you come across any tips to share as you are working on these projects, please leave your ideas in the comment section on any of the posts in this series; later, I'll set up a page to compile

Thanks so much for all of the support for the summer organizing series...looks like there are a lot of us that will be working on this over the next few weeks! I'll be back tomorrow with day 3 and day 4 tasks.  Along with my summer organizing I've been beginning and finishing a few

If you are looking for Blogger Girls Block 6...I posted it this morning, and you can find it here. Hello, and welcome to the parade of Schnibbles quilts. If you are new here, Schnibbles are quilts that can be made with two charm packs and a little extra yardage. The patterns are all designed by