Appleton Dance

27 x 37-inch baby quilt with Tracy Lizott'e "Housing Boom" panel made by Linda Theil, January 2019 by Linda Theil I recently completed this 27 x 37-inch baby quilt using the  "Housing Boom" panel from Tracy Lizotte's Beautiful Birds collection for Elizabeth's Studio LLC Patt #4319 (2016) Available on  Amazon . Closeup of "Housing Boom" panel from Tracy Lizotte's Beautiful Birds collection for Elizabeth's Studio LLC Patt #4319. The 2-inch sashing is white-on-white, and cornerstones are fussy-cut from the  overall bird-print #4310 in the same collection.  Binding is also cut from the overall bird print, #4310. Since it is a baby quilt that will be laundered frequently, I used machine stitching to secure the binding.  Quilting is also machine stitched following piecing lines. Note: The individual birdhouses are not printed square, and so care must be taken to square up each birdhouse and not simply add one-quarter-in...

Anita Solomon's "Make It Simpler Star Variation/Square Star" block  pieced and hand quilted by Linda Theil 2018-2019 by Linda Theil I took  Anita Grossman Solomon's  class, " Make It Simpler Star Variation/Square  Stars", on March 27, 2018, hosted by the Western Michigan Quilters  Guild in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anita Grossman Solomon, Wyoming MI March 27, 2018. Photo credit: Linda Theil Solomon is a New York-based designer and teacher who is known for her innovative approach to piecing. I was introduced to her work in 2011 when I took a class based on her "Arrowhead" block from her book  Rotary Cutting Revolution  (C&T Publishing, 2010). I posted an article,  " Arrowhead quilt block from Solomon's Rotary Cutting Revolution"  ,  about that class in August, 2011. I think she is a genius and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to take her "Square Star" class last winter. I don't think that her method...

by Alisa In 2016 I purchased supplies to make a quilt for a coworker. When she announced her retirement in the summer of 2018 it was finally time to get to work! The quilt is a throw-size Jelly Roll Race-style with angled seams. These two YouTube tutorials were my guides:   START YOUR ENGINES! Jelly Roll "Drag Race" Quilt by Jordan Fabrics  and Jelly Roll Race 3.0 by Missouri Star Quilt Company . The fabric from Sarah J Maxwell for Marcus Fabrics Primo Batiks in Desert Sky is no longer available. What I used was: one jelly roll in Desert Sky, 1 yard of the Desert Sky Dot Roses Greenish Gold  yardage for the binding and 4 yards Desert Sky Spiral Motifs Navy/Multi yardage for the backing and binding. The quilt was machine quilted and hand-bound by Material Obsession Long Arm Quilting Studio  in Tecumseh, MI. The custom label is from Border City Quilts on Etsy. I am very happy with how the throw quilt turned out but my favorite detail o...

by Alisa In the Fall of 2018 ADP held a volunteer blanket-making drive to benefit Project Linus .   I wanted to participate, so I pulled out a     Moda Grunge Seeing Stars by Basicgrey   layer cake I had originally purchased from Missouri Star Quilt to make a '54-40 or Fight' quilt . For the Project Linus quilt I wanted a simpler design because my goal was to piece and quilt it myself so I used the Emerald Isle tutorial from MSQC as a guide. I started by selecting 15 of the patterned squares and 15 white squares from my layer cakes and began making the 'easy 8' half-square triangles one color at a time. You can make many different designs with the resulting half-square triangles. I decided to make diamond shapes and sewed together the 8 smaller squares into two 9" blocks. It didn't take long to have 30 blocks compete and ready to assemble. I arranged the blocks into six rows of five blocks each, sewed them into rows and then co...

by Linda Theil I had fun making fourteen pillowcases for Christmas presents this year. I used my stash of holiday fabrics for the one-yard cuts I needed for the body of the cases, and ordered basic solids to use for the pillowcase cuffs in Christmas red, Christmas green, gold, ivory, and white to coordinate with my stash prints. You can cut three to four cuffs from each yard of coordinating cuff fabric, depending on how wide you want your cuff to be. I cut mine at 10-inches across the width of the fabric  (around 42-inches),   making a finished 4.5-inch-wide cuff on each pillowcase. Each pillowcase takes about 60-90 minutes to make. There are lots of videos on the Internet showing how to make a pillowcase using the "burrito"-style construction method. I have listed a few resources at the end of this post. I particularly like Jean Trulove's videos, including the one linked at the end of this post showing how to make a pillowcase using a directional print. I us...

Purl Soho Cross-back Apron, regular sized, front view Purl Soho Cross-back Apron, regular sized, back view by Linda Theil This is the Purl Soho Cross-back Apron featured on their website at  https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/11/20/cross-back-apron . Their page includes complete directions for making this one-size-fits-most apron with large, side-pockets and cross-back straps. This retro apron is so nicely made and looks so much like the apron my grandma wore in the Nineteen-fifties that I had to make one for my friend who appreciates the nostalgia and the beauty of this design. Although this apron pattern, as published, can adjust to several sizes from 2-10; I also made a larger option, adjusting the width of the pattern pieces to accommodate up to size 16 and up. Size adjustment may also be made by varying the length of the straps. These notes are a record of my experience with the pattern, and should only be viewed as commentary; your results may vary. ...