June 16, 2014

Aunt Nancy's Favorite

Aunt Nancy's Favorite (or as I prefer to spell it ... "Aunt Nancy's Favourite") is an easy to intermediate level quilt block to produce. This four patch block is only difficult due to the number of pieces used to create the block. But, it is well worth the effort. Also note that some of the pieces are constructed as mirror images of others.

Aunt Nancy's Favourite quilt block (c) W. Russell
Aunt Nancy's Favourite
Download the free quilt block pattern.

As you probably know by now, to be a successful quilter, all you need is to be precise in your cutting and piecing. So on that note I thought it was appropriate to feature some quotes today about success.

Quotes about Success

  • "If you want to be successful, it's just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing."
    ~ Will Rogers

  • "Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."
    ~ Charlotte Whitton

  • "Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things."
    ~ Frank Clark

  • "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."
    ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Aunt Nancy's Favourite image © W. Russell, patchworksquare.com 

June 09, 2014

For the love of flowers

Peony Basket quilt block
Peony Basket
I can't see the logic in the name Peony Basket for this quilt block, but then I was not the person who chose the name. So, that being said, this is a easy quilt block to make and perfect for those quilters who like 10" blocks. The components of this block are squares, rectangles and half square triangles -- all very common units and easy to work with.

This five patch quilt block is sewn together as an uneven nine patch block -- the nine patch being (probably) the most common style of quilt block. Download the free quilt block pattern.
Image courtesy of dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Peonies and Sunflowers

Quotes about Flowers

  • "There are always flowers for those who want to see them."
    ~ Henri Matisse

  • "Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into."
    ~ Henry Ward Beecher

  • "Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet."
    ~ Jeremy Bentham

  • "Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts."
    ~ Sigmund Freud

More Flower Quilt Blocks

Peony Basket image © W. Russell, patchworksquare.com
Flower pot image courtesy of dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

June 02, 2014

The Blacksmith -- aka -- the Monkey Wrench

Monkey Wrench quilt block
Monkey Wrench
The Monkey Wrench quilt block has been around for a long time. History tells us that quilt patterns were used as codes to help escaping slaves reach Canada along the 'Underground Railroad'. The Monkey Wrench quilt block pattern was designed to represent the blacksmith (named for the inventor of the tool -- a London blacksmith named Charles Moncke), and was one of the many quilt blocks used in the code.

By hanging a quilt with a certain pattern over a railing -- supposedly to dry -- the slaves were directed to a certain location on their road to freedom, with no one in authority being the wiser. Download the free quilt block pattern.


Today's Quotes about Tools

Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney
  • "Science is a tool, and we invent tools to do things we want. It's a question of how those tools are used by people."
    ~ Margaret Atwood

  • "Men have become the tools of their tools."
    ~ Henry David Thoreau

  • "One of my primary objects is to form the tools so the tools themselves shall fashion the work and give to every part its just proportion."
    ~ Eli Whitney

  • "Don't force it ... get a bigger hammer."
    ~ Arthur Bloch

Monkey Wrench image © W. Russell, patchworksquare.com
Eli Whitney image courtesy encyclopedia.com