Hi ,

School is out and vacation time is here, which is why this week's newsletter is running a bit later than usual!

We've just gotten back from a terrific trip to Pensacola, Florida where we visited with Josh's grandmother. This trip was special because for the first time I aimed to ask Betty about her family's collection of quilts.

Instead of quilts, however, Josh's uncle shared his huge collection of Iranian textiles. You can see all the beautiful bed spreads, table runners, and tapestries right here.

What I loved learning about from this trip was just how much people love to share about special things like this. We all collect beautiful things that are special to us, and there's always an interesting story behind them. You just have to ask to hear it!

This week we're quilting our first design in a Pinwheel quilt block: straight lines and zigzags:

Click here to check out post #23: Free Motion Quilt Zigzags in a Pinwheel Block

This simple design allows you to flow through one quarter of the block at a time and quickly knock it out with this graphic design. You also have the option of not stitching in the ditch for this block, which makes the quilting fly by even faster!

Josh also tackled this block and found it easy as well because of all the practice we've gotten stitching straight lines in so many quilt blocks.


Yes! Many of the quilting designs from the Building Blocks Quilt have now been turned into stencils by Quilting Creations International!

Click here to see the entire collection of stencils

This beautiful set of stencils which will make using these designs so much easier on all of your quilts. If you've been really struggling to mark the designs using a light box or tracing paper, these stencils will allow you to mark the quilt block easily from the top side.

Not only do we have 8 inch stencils to mark the blocks of the Building Blocks Quilt, we've also super sized many designs to create 10" and 12" stencils as well.

These would be fun to use for bigger blocks or on plain fabric. With a single stencil, you can infinitely mark over the surface of plain fabric so much easier and faster than tracing through a light box.

I've already been playing with this Drunkards Path stencil and found it makes a terrific pattern when repeatedly marked over plain fabric. There are lots of possibilities for fun projects and maybe some wholecloth quilts?!

Check out the collection here at Quilting Creations International and stock up on fun stencils that will mark a huge variety of quilts!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day