Hi ,

Have you ever had a big project not quite go as planned?

Well, I have good news and bad news - the good news is we have an awesome new book coming out that's going to explain all the steps to piece perfect quilts.

The bad news is it's not quite ready yet! I want to be sure this book is absolutely perfect and have taken a few days to design a new cover and give it one last read-through and polish. As you can see, the new cover is definitely a great improvement!

Just in case you can't read the back cover details, here's what you will find:

• Expert advice on preparing and cutting your fabric
• Patterns for five skill-building practice quilts
• Full color photos illustrating each step
• Full sized patterns for two paper pieced blocks
  

I'm definitely going to get all the little details wrapped up this week so be on the look out for my email next week when How to Piece Perfect Quilts launches on Wednesday!

We've finished our House blocks and have moved on to the basket block. It's going to be a fun month!

First, we will need to piece the block. I absolutely love this block and the combination of half square triangles and the cute curving handle of the basket. We're getting our feet wet with a bit of applique with this block, and I'm excited to be able to teach you my favorite turned edge applique method.

Click here to learn how to piece the basket block and watch Leah's video.

Above is the first free motion quilting design in the block, Matrix & Lines. Immediately to the right and above is Josh's take on the same design. Once again, he's skipped some lines. I just love comparing the two blocks and seeing how far he's come in his free motion.

Click Here to watch my video on quilting Matrix and Lines in a Basket Block.

Click Here to watch Josh's take on his first basket block.

Meet the newest member of our family! We were leaving my in-laws house and this little guy ran out in the road in front of our car. With no houses nearby and no owner in sight we figured he was abandoned and most likely going to get hit by a car if he stayed near the road. Josh scooped him up and we brought him home.

The first thing he did was jump right out of my arms and onto the kitchen counter, which gave me the inspiration for his name: Kitchen!

Kitchen has been with us four days now and I can't imagine life without him. Three cheers for cute kitties!

Of course, quilting isn't all I've shared this week so here's a few extra posts to enjoy from the blog:

Amazing NC Aquarium - James had a half day at school so we decided to visit a local aquarium that just opened in Concord, NC. Come check out the cool photos and loads of inspiration we found during our outing!

New Hand Applique Class with Mimi - If you've ever wanted to learn hand applique, this is the Craftsy class for you! Mimi Dietrich breaks down the steps to beautiful hand applique around many simple shapes. Click Here to sign up for this class and save 17%!

So that's it for today! I'm off finish editing and testing How to Piece Perfect Quilts. I can't wait to launch this new book next week!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day