Craft U Tutorials

CraftU Tutorials

I'm so glad you are enjoying our new KT Videos. Being on camera has been quite educational (and sometimes traumatic!), figuring out what it takes to put together a good quilting video/tutorial. I learned so much after spending several days in Golden, CO at Quiltmaker headquarters to tape my Layered Patchwork method. Through their Quilt University, I'll be teaching 3 different ways to utilize this technique. After checking out my new KT Videos, how about joining me for a tutorial at Craft U to make all three of the following projects?

Mini Barn Raising 68"sq. lap quilt - features charm and mini charm packs

 

Kansas Sunflower Runner 19" x 44" - simple Jelly Roll pieced background with raw edge applique

Window Garden 28" sq. mini quilt - our Wedge Template creates the illusion of curved piecing over easy 9-patch blocks

Beginning January 18, 2016, we'll explore my technique for simplifying traditional pieced blocks by using layered patchwork and raw edge applique in six tutorials. I'll also share more quilts featuring these techniques and my quilting story. After watching each tutorial, we can chat about any questions you may have. I look forward to seeing you all there! What a fun way to start the New Year! 

For more information and to sign up, go to CraftU

New! KT Videos!

KT Winner

Congratulations to  scottylover.
"Oh my, those blocks are adorable! Love this pattern and it sounds so easy with your method."
You're the winner of a Bees 'n Blooms charm pack and pattern (as soon as it's finished next year). Send an email to our super office manager, Jamie, at lynne@ktquilts.com with mailing info and she'll put on the wait list board. You'll be one of the first to receive the new precut and pattern.

KT Videos

I'm so excited to invite you to my very own YouTube channel! Jake Doan (yes, Jenny Doan's very talented photographer/videographer son) came to KTQ a couple months ago and shot about 10 videos for us featuring some our favorite projects, rulers, templates and books. We even filmed a KT studio tour so you can see where I work/play/quilt at the building in town.  Jake and his wife, Missy, did a wonderful job of putting them all together for us. Click on the links below to go directly to the videos or check them out thru our website ktquilts.com under the KT Videos link. We're planning to do a short video for each new fabric collection/book in the future. Please help us reach 100 views in the first 30 days to earn a dedicated KTQ channel. Tell all your friends! I'd love to know what you think.

 

Lynne's Studio Tour

Barn Raising Quilt w/Five & Dime Ruler

KT Melon Template

Crazy for Pillows Book

Twisted featuring KT Wedge Template

Sunflower Song Quilt/Melon Template

Loose Change Book

Layers of Love Book

Bee's Knees Fabric Collection and Projects

KT Wedge Template

Cozy Cottage Flannels Giveaway

While tidying up my studio, I found a big pile of Cozy Cottage Flannels chunks and scraps from our 3 projects - Huggable, Cuddle Up and Snuggle Me. Interested? Comment here about your favorite video for a chance to win one of 3 scrap bundles!

KT Quilt Shop Closed for Holidays

KT Quilt Shop will be closed December 24 thru January 4th for family fun, grankid games and inventory (not all at the same time). I'm also taking the week after Christmas off from blogging to pack for my first cruise with Jenny Doan. We're so excited!

 A Great Big THANK YOU!

Thanks to all of you for following my blog. I feel like I have dozens of quilting friends out there that are the best supporters and encouragers ever! It makes my day to read all of your comments and see so many come back again and again. I spend most days alone in my studio designing or sewing, so sharing my quilts with you is like visiting with a fellow quilter over a cup of tea. Hope to see many of you next year at the store, at a guild or on a cruise. 

Merry, Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to you all!

Lynne, Robert, Jamie and KT staff

Buzzz Charm Quilt

KT Winner

 Congratulations to this week's winner of Bees 'n Blooms scrap bundle -Victoria M. We'll send your box of scraps as soon as we hear from you. Thanks again to everyone who comments. I enjoy reading them all.

Bees 'n Blooms Charm Quilt

The final project to share in our Bees 'n Blooms collection is the charm pack quilt, Buzzz. Easy layered patchwork makes the wings and body of the bee a breeze to piece, even with little pieces. Simply layer, stitch and piece together traditional 4-patches. Joy quilted it with adorable details like butterfly wings and antennae. Too cute!

Leave a comment to win a Bees 'n Blooms charm pack & pattern. You'll have to be patient on this prize as the pattern won't be ready for a couple of months. :)

KT Stitch With Me

Are you ready for our first ever KT Stitch With Me? Stay tuned in January for 4 weeks of fun, stitching up a little quilt featuring my layered patchwork method. It's not too late to order a kit. Tell your friends!

Introducing KT Stitch With Me

KT Stitch With Me

So many quilters out there have asked about my Layered Patchwork technique featuring Moda's precuts. The basic method is layering a precut, like a mini charm, on top of a charm square and topstitching it in place for the look of piecing without all the cutting and seams. Your blocks are more perfect and square, so your quilt sews together more easily. Plus there's the added bonus of the exposed pinked edges creating a cool primitive frayed effect. Totally lovin' it!

Would you like to check out my unique perspective on simplifying traditional pieced blocks? Join me in January/February 2016 for a 4 week series of tutorials, right here on this blog. We'll make a different block each week using mini charms and a few fabrics so you can try your hand at Layered Patchwork. By the end of the 4 weeks, you'll be a pro, ready to try the projects in our new booklet, Crazy for Minis. See where we're going with this? Hee Hee

If you're interested in a kit to make the KT Stitch With Me project, call KTQ at 785-488-2120 to order by December 18th. Kits include 2 KT mini charms and fabrics for quilt top & binding - $30 including shipping. Add backing for an additional $10.

Here are a couple of the projects that are included in the Crazy for Minis booklet. It's a good bet a layered patchwork star and flying geese will be taught during Stitch With Me.

Cozy Cottage Flannels/Huggable Quilts

The Flannels are here! Oh my, I could just fall into these precuts and bolts of fabric, they're sooooo soft and comfy. We used the precuts to make some easy layered patchwork type throws that don't even require batting or quilting. Come on in to check them out. It's not too late to whip up one of these for Christmas!

Snuggle Me

Huggable

Watch for giveaways of flannels soon!

Makin' Honey from Bees 'n Blooms

KT Winner

Congrats to Carol Feye, you're the winner of a Bees 'n Blooms booklet. Please email your mailing address to Jamie at lynne@ktquilts.com. She'll send it out as soon as they're done in late Feb/early March. I'd love to see a picture of your hanging ornaments! Sounds very cool.

Vintage Hexs Made Easy

My love affair with quilts began many years ago when I slept under my Gramma's quilts. She only made three, as was the custom (and her Mother's requirement) for her hope chest. Her real love was rug hooking. I was lucky enough to receive one of the quilts she made as a young woman when I married. I loved that quilt - a double wedding ring with cheddar yellow background and scrappy 30's prints. We used it on our bed, washed it and loved it practically to death over the years. I took my first quilting class to reproduce the vintage quilts I was drawn to, but couldn't afford to purchase as a new wife/mom/student. My mission was to make new quilts that looked and felt like Gramma's. I was fortunate to take quilting classes from a shop owner that collected vintage quilts and totally got it. The traditional patterns and earthy fabrics she chose recreated the look I adored. Over the years, I've adapted and simplified those traditional blocks with my Layered Patchwork technique so I can make more vintage inspired quilts for everyone in my family. One of the latest challenges was this elongated hexagon quilt that I found at an antique show a couple years ago. It's been hanging in my studio ever since, whispering to me that there has to be a way....

After many unsuccessful attempts, the light bulb finally went on and I saw this design in it's simplest form - rectangles and triangles. The revelation was this isn't made as a single block, but in parts laid out in horizontal rows. By layering/topstitching triangles over the corners of large rectangles for one row and sewing matching skinny rectangles together in the alternating row, it creates the elongated hex I was craving. No inset seams and no raveling since the triangles are cut with the bias edge exposed. Hallelujah!

 The finished quilt made with a Layer CakeTM is modeled below by my grandaughter, Aleece. I'm totally in love with BOTH of them!

The mini version featuring a charm pack...

The pattern is called Makin' Honey because that's what bees do in their honeycomb. Both of these sizes plus a runner are included in the Bees 'n Blooms booklet (retail $15.95, available March 2016). My next project is to cut pieces from over 400 different KT fabrics to have a true charm hex quilt.

To receive a Bees 'n Blooms scrap bundle, comment here. Would you like to try this layered patchwork technique?

More Bees 'n Blooms

I'm stuffed full of turkey and pecan pie and ready to get back to some serious stitching. Want to join me in my KT Stitch with Me 4-week series in January/February 2016? We'll be making a sampler quilt with the different blocks used in projects featured in my new book, Crazy for Minis. Watch for more details on kits, etc in the coming weeks. 

KT Winner

First of all, Congratulations to Paula! You're the winner of the Bees 'n Blooms bag of scraps. I realized the girls have brought back all the parts and pieces from the quilts they've made for this collection but some are at the store, some in my studio and some at the cabin. Please be patient while I fill up your goodie box.

For everyone else, watch for specials on Bees 'n Blooms later in March 2016 when it arrives. So fun!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas....

Robert and I spent a quiet Thanksgiving Day cooking turkey and decorating the cabin for Christmas. With limited floor space, we opted for a non-traditional "tree" this year. We spend alot of time in the evenings watching TV or listening to music in our living room with our electric fireplace glowing. So it only seemed logical to have our Christmas decorations where we spend the most time. Here's a look at one of my favorite windows. The snowy backdrop certainly helps with the mood!

Green garland, pine cones, tiny lights, tin stars and red berries are the base for (L to R) a crescent moon windmill weight, a pair of wooden deer and a handmade burl bowl full of pinecones. I try to use as many everyday objects as possible so there's less seasonal decor to store from year to year. I think I like my vertical tree!

More Bees 'n Blooms

The second project in the Bees 'n Blooms booklet is our Queen Bee lap quilt and pillow. The KT Melon Template is featured for the fusible applique making this traditional Honey Bee block even easier. Next week I'll share the secret to making the Honeycomb quilt on the glider with just 2 elements!

This week's giveaway is the Bees 'n Blooms booklet ($15.95 retail). You'll have to be patient as it won't be ready until late February, but you'll be first on the list to receive one.

Introducing Bees 'n Blooms

KT Winner

Congratulations to Sally Hurst -

November 11, 2015 at 10:48 AM

I must make one of these for my daughter--she always says my quilts are too stiff for cuddling up.

You're the winner of our new Huggable Quilts book available later this month. Please email Jamie at lynne@ktquilts.com with your mailing address. You'll be one of the first to receive our book full of cozy, cuddly flannel quilts.

Market Introductions

I've been as patient as possible, waiting to show you my newest fabric collection, Bees 'n Blooms. In my humble opinion, it's one of the best ever! The mill did a fabulous job with the color. We opted for lighter, brighter tans in a range of tones along with my classic KT reds, navys, golds, purples, greens and black for a gorgeous spring group. This line was inspired by a beautiful floral print and a tiny bee print. Together with a diagonal stripe, tiny dots, floral vine and a swirly tone-on-tone worthy of any background, these lovely prints come together to create some delightful projects in our Bees 'n Blooms book.

There are three unique ideas in the Bees 'n Blooms book featuring precuts, layered patchwork and raw edge applique projects. The first is our Bees 'n Blooms quilt, inspired by the prints in the fabric. A background pieced from Jelly Roll strips is embellished with a garden of floral delights. All of the flowers are made with just one template - our KT Melon Template - for easy cutting and stitching. A few busy bees are buzzing around the blooms for good measure.

 Some of my favorite elements come together in a sweet Mini Table Treat. Just a few fabrics and appliques make an adorable 17" round table topper to coordinate with our Bees 'n Blooms lap quilt.

 I'll introduce more of the projects in our Bees 'n Blooms book over the next few weeks. For now, comment here to win a bag of Bees 'n Blooms scraps - leftover JR strips, etc. How fun is that!

Cozy Cottage Flannels

KT Winner

"What?" you ask? Was there a giveaway last week? Not really, because I forgot to say that whatever name I chose for the unnamed quilt would win one of the Crazy for Minis book when it comes out in January. Soooo, congrats to Diane who named it "Fair & Square". So simple, so perfect! Thanks, Diane. Please email Jamie at lynne@ktquilts.com with your mailing address. As soon as the books are printed, you'll be one of the first to have one.

Thanks to everyone for submitting names for the quilt. You guys are really good at this! My brain goes to mush when I have a dozen things to name at once, so I appreciate the help. No doubt I'll be asking for name submissions in the future.

Cozy Cottage Flannels

I've spent the last week petting and fondling my latest fabric collection, Cozy Cottage Flannels. This group has the softest, yummiest flannels ever! I used my layered patchwork technique to create simple throws with no batting and no additional machine quilting. You start with 2 Layer Cakes and charms, plus borders or a few tan fat quarters for each. With no quilting expense, these comfy throws are about $100-$150 each - front, back, binding, done! I made something similar several years ago, cutting all my own squares, called Frayed Edges. They're my kids' and grankids' go-to snugglers for TV watching and cuddling. These easy quilts were a breeze to name since they're all so huggable.  Can you guess their names?

Huggable 68x68

Snuggle Me 57x57

Cuddle Up 57x57

  The basic technique is - 1. Place 2 Layer Cake squares wrong sides together.
                                         2. Add 5" charm or 2 1/2" squares to front LC; topstitch.
                                         3. Quilt the blocks a little more for fun.
                                         4. Sew blocks together with seams on the back.
                                         5. Bind.
                                         6. Enjoy! They only get softer each time you wash them.

Here's the one I've been working on, Cuddle Up, front and back with exposed seams. (Not a great pic out on the porch, but you get the idea.) Since we started with a pinked precut there's no unraveling, just soft fraying on the back. It took me about 5 hours to put it together; now to add the binding. I think I'll do it by machine, too, so it'll be even faster. After all, these are the ultimate in "use them up, make some more" quilts your family will love. Oooooh, how about a smaller version in baby flannels?

Want to win the Huggble book with these three projects in it? Comment here to win!

Quilt Festival Gallery of Quilts

Carrie Nelson's blog (click here)If you weren't able to attend Quilt Festival in Houston, Carrie Nelson, Miss Rosie pattern designer and Moda blogger extraordinaire, posted some great pictures. Check out all the fabulous quilts from Moda owner Mark Dunn's collection, plus the special quilts made just for Moda's 40th Anniversary. I'm so blessed to be part of this great company. Can you find the Kansas Troubles strip in the selvedge quilt? Just wanted to share. Enjoy!

I love automatically receiving Carrie's blog post. Sign up to keep up to the minute on all the latest Moda happenings, too!

What's New for Market

KT Winner

Congratulations to Angelia Lanouette! You're the winner of the not-yet-available-to-anyone-else-on-the-planet Bees 'n Blooms mini charms! Email Jamie at lynne@ktquilts.com and she'll send them right out. What to do with those mini charms? Gee, I might just have an idea....

Crazy for Minis

We had so much fun with our Crazy for Pillows book we're offering the next book full of little quilts made with mini charms! It's the perfect way to taste test my layered patchwork technique on a small project - or make little quilts totally fast for any occasion. Most of these were made in 3-4 hours!

Autumn Sky - our easy layered patchwork technique makes for perfect star points every time. Done up in dreamy blues and fall tones, it's a perfect accent for your fall decor.

Spring Fling - Tiny pinwheels spin effortlessly made with mini charm triangles all buttoned up in red.

Holiday Goose - So fast & easy - 1 Christmas Mini Charm (or 2 for variety) plus  tan and black and about 2 hours to piece tops! Make one for everyone on your holiday list!

Assorted dark Mini Charm squares are layered with tan MC cut into triangles with a green wool square stitched in the center of each block. What's in a name? This little guy doesn't have a name yet. Help! Submit your suggestions to win this week's giveaway of a Sunflower Song scrap bundle.

 I'm planning a little party to celebrate Crazy for Minis in the form of a quilt-a-long. My designer friend, Pam Buda, of Heartspun Quilts is a master of quilt-a-longs and has convinced me I need to join in the fun. Are you interested? Let me know and I'll put together a mini sampler using a few different blocks to create a unique mini quilt available to you only thru the quilt-a-long.

Fall Birthday Bash

KT Winner

Congratulations to Julie Scott. You're the winner of our new Sunflower Song charm pack. Please email your address to lynne@ktquilts.com. Jamie will send it out right away.

Pumpkins and Other Stuff...

We had our traditional OctoberBirthdayFest Saturday with all the kids & grankids. There are more than a dozen birthdays in our family from Oct. 12-Nov. 30, so we try to have a big celebration for everyone at the cabin while the weather is still nice and before the holidays take over our lives. Saturday night was perfect. Cool, crisp, no wind - just right for a blazing fire and roasting marshmellows for s'mores. Lots of sticky little hands, but so worth it.

Sooooo, that meant I spent much of my free time this past week decor-ing (Robert's term) the house and porch with fall stuff. The Mumpkin from last week's post turned mushy, unfortunately, so more mums, stacks of pumpkins and assorted fall items came out of storage to spruce up the house. It was time, after all, to put away the red/white/blue.  :)

Here's a look out my front door with a pumpkin wind chime that kept us up half the night until I remembered what could be making all that racket.

 

Below, the living room wall with pumpkins galore! I love the pumpkin wreath on the grate with boxes of gourds and things hanging close by. I have several wreaths to change out over the year and can make the boxes into little shelves with the addition of a book on top. Fill or stack with seasonal things and it's easy to decor for the seasons. Even with the best of intentions, though, I never quite finish up all my projects. The glass panel on the left side is an old wooden side light for a front door. It's been propped up there for a while. I don't want to hang it until I've scruffed up the finish a bit, maybe over-painted it and have the grankids pictures in it. Maybe by Christmas???

More clusters of pumpkins and acorn trees. Oh, I can't wait until next year's fall fabric line. It's very hush-hush now, but if you love acorns and leaves, stay tuned.

Right now with market just a week and a half away, I'm designing the last little project for Bees 'n Blooms, piecing just one more pillow and binding my fingers to the bone. Pictures are later this week, so there's no time to spare.

One of my favorite projects from the new collection for spring, Bees 'n Blooms? This long hex quilt based on a vintage find that was hand-pieced out of necessity (bottom of ladder). My version (on chair) features our Layered Patchwork method and uses only rectangles and triangles to create the look of vintage with fast & easy results. So fun! This lap size quilt utilizes a couple of Layer Cakes, but it's also available in pint size using a charm pack.

Watch for more Bees 'n Blooms projects in the next few weeks as we give you a sneak peek at all the new market offerings. Our giveaway this week is a pair of the so-new-it-doesn't-hit-quilt-shops-until-March-2016 Bees 'n Blooms mini charm packs. You'll be the first on your block to have one - and one to share. You won't want to miss the next few weeks!

Quilters Sharing

Thanks so much to Sharlene Jorgensen for sharing her quilt,  Cleopatra's Fan, featuring KTQ fabrics. It's gorgeous! The use of color and the border print to frame it are absolutely perfect.  

For more information on Shar's new book including this quilt, contact her at quiltwithshar@gmail.com. 

Sunflower Song in the House!

KT Winner

Congratulations to Janan Doster. You're the winner of the Sunflower Song fat eighth bundle. Precuts and yardage have been arriving all week (we LOVE our UPS guy!) Now to cut kits and post all these goodies to our webpages.

Fall is Here

I. Love. Fall. 

The weather is perfectly gorgeous here in Kansas - cool sunny days made for throwing open all the doors & windows, chilly nights just right for cuddly under my newest quilts. Time to decorate with pumpkins and mums - or mumpkins, if you please!

 I've wanted to plant a mum in a pumpkin for several years but never got around to doing it. After cleaning out the pumpkin, you need to spray it inside and out with a sealer so the gourd lasts more than a few days. So much easier to walk into the greenhouse and choose from half a dozen mumpkins already complete! Score!

It's always fun to search the piles of gourds and pumpkins for the just the right sizes and shapes to make a stack like this one. Now I want at least one more stack for the front porch at the cabin. I might be developing a pumpkin/mumpkin addiction!

Here's what it looks like all together in front of Kansas Troubles Quilt Shop. We have a group of retreat ladies coming in this weekend so we're sprucing up the place a bit. (At least I packed away all the red/white/blue and got out some leaves and fall stuff. :)

Notice the lap quilt in the chair?

 It's a new favorite I'll be teaching in a series of online tutorials for Quiltmaker next year called Mini Barn Raising. Learn my Layered Patchwork technique while making 3 projects. Watch here for more info.

The pillows are from our book, Crazy for Pillows with 6 different pillow sleeves that can be changed for the seasons. It's my new favorite way to decorate!

The sequel to in the "Crazy" series is coming soon. Watch for pictures in the next few weeks.

This week's KT blog giveaway is a Sunflower Song charm pack. Comment here on your fall decorating favorites for a chance to win.

Time Flies

KT Winner

Congratulations to Redfinch in FL, you're the winner of the Heartfelt pile of scraps. I've added to it since I posted the prize so hope you enjoy!

Catching Up

I can't believe it's been several weeks since I've posted! One blog post was supposed to pop up automatically, but it didn't (user error, for sure). Old news now, so I'll just start from scratch.

I definitely over planned my summer. With weeks full of grankids, traveling to teach, preparing for video tutorials, cleaning my studio for said videos, quilters coming for retreats, and unexpected happenings that are sure to crop up in everyone's life, it's been a crazy 3 months. Whew! Now, we're primping the shop for the arrival of Sunflower Song this month.  I'm so excited to get my hands on more of this new fabric collection. I love sunflowers! They're in bloom all around us right now, so the inspiration is everywhere. My Mom collects sunflower stuff for her great room where we all gather for holidays. When she heard about my new fabric, with sunflowers, she requested a table runner to fit the 3- 8ft. long tables end-to-end that we use for meals. No problem. She's so hard to buy for I appreciate any suggestions, especially if they're quilting related. After calculating the length needed, though, I figure it'll take me a month of Sundays just to bind it! Oh well, she very seldom asks for something specific, so I'm relieved that Christmas for Mom is in the bag. Just hope I get it done before then!

Here's another look at the new Sunflower Song fabric collection and what we've whipped up so far.

This is a chart of all 40 of the prints in Sunflower Song. I post these swatch charts on my website for each fabric collection. You're welcome to print them for shopping reference, if desired.

Sunflower Song - queen quilt. Jamie says we have a couple more spots available for our 6-month BOM that begins in November. Just sayin'...

I LOVE this little charm quilt! It makes such a happy wall quilt with just a charm pack and 3 fabrics.

A lap quilt, runner and pillow sleeve are included in the booklet, Sunflower Song, along with the queen size quilt above. Lots of options to coordinate your home decor projects.

We've also been busy in at Kansas Troubles Quilt Shop & Emporium, meeting quilters from all over the country stopping by to check things out, hosting retreats and welcoming bus tours from quilt guilds for a demo/retreat tour/shopping day. So much fun! Here's one of our latest retreat groups from NE, some of the happiest KT fans ever! Thanks, ladies!

Are you lovin' Sunflower Song? Comment below to win a fat 1/8 bundle of the complete collection (as soon as it arrives!). Hope to see you again next week!

Another Memorable Trip

KT Winner

This week's winner of Aleece's 20-pack KT Jelly Roll is Carol Feye. Please email us at lynne@ktquilts.com to claim your goodies.

Traveling with Great Helpers

Our oldest grandaughter, Aleece, accompanied Robert and I on our latest KT trip. Aleece was in that last-week-before-school-so-there's-no-day-camp dead zone and usually comes to stay with us. We look forward to her helping in the store and watching what her latest crafting craze is from adding rhinestones to flip flops to painting a t-shirt to stitching up bags for her friends from the scraps the retreaters left. She loves to create and I love to encourage it! A trip to Hobby Lobby or Michael's is always on the agenda, as well. This year, I happened to have a working trip that week, so Aleece was naturally going to come along and help. When we were loading the car, she told Grampa "You know, Gramma and I can probably handle this ourselves if you need to stay home and work." Really??? He told her if she could load the car by herself, it was a deal. Needless to say, the large suitcases filled with quilts outweighed her, so Aleece decided Grampa was a vital part of the trip. I later found out the main reason she wanted to come with me alone was so she could sit in the front seat! Until she can help drive, Grampa's coming along, too.

Our first stop was at the Kankakee Quiltmakers of IL guild meeting where we shared quilts and stories in a trunk show. Aleece had a great time holding quilts, selling KT product and counting the money. The glasses were a Claire's purchase to make her look cool and smart. Note the t-shirt!

The next day, a dozen or so quilters started on their 30-Something quilts, using our unique layered patchwork technique. Here's a peek at some of the wonderful color combos in progress.

Classic KT red/tan/navy - gotta love it!

Adore these black/white/gold stars. Check out the way the shirting stripe circles the block. So cool!

The corner white stripe squares are cut on the bias so they won't unravel, then layered/stitched on top of the background square. I makes the block assembly so easy but looks so totally amazing!

Such cheery stars in shades of purples and plums.

The whole bunch of quilters with a whole bunch of stars! Excellent job, ladies!

 When our class was over and good-byes were said, we were on the road again to Wabash, IN. Cheryl Ross, owner of Heaven on Earth Quilt Shop, hosted a lovely day in Roann, IN at the Community Center. I shared my quilts with the ladies, we were treated to a delicious chicken dinner (with special cupcakes for Aleece's birthday!) and a Crazy for Pillows workshop in the afternoon.

Aleece had alot of fun visiting with the quilters and offering advice on my layered patchwork method.

Here I am doing what I did most of the afternoon - chat and sign books. My favorite part of a workshop!

We headed back to Kansas Saturday evening in hopes of making it to Kansas City in time for a special dinner on Sunday for Aleece's REAL birthday with her parents. Her breakdown of the week? Four states in 5 days; 4 nights in motels with 4 really fun pools/hot tubs; really nice ladies that wanted to constantly touch her curly hair; getting to eat anywhere she wanted; listening to an awesome book in the car; getting paid for being such great help. Sounds like a good trip to me, too!

I'll be gone most of next week to a retreat with  other designers so I'll get to sew. Wahoo! So check in September 1st-ish for all the latest KT news and happenings. Tell me about your favorite retreat experiences to win a bag of Heartfelt scraps I found when rearranging my sewing area. My find is your gain! Have a great end of your summer.