Quilt Block Mania: You Can Brew It- Free Tea Bag Foundation Paper Piecing Pattern

This week I am participating in April’s Quilt Block Mania. This is a monthly event where various designers create a free 12″ quilt block pattern according to the current theme. For the month of April the theme assigned was “tea time”. Sometimes you need a deadline to push you out of a burn out. I…

The future for Craft Towards Joy

In just a couple of weeks Craft Towards Joy Patterns will be turning 1 year old. And, as with all birthdays, comes a time of reflection for the past year and a direction for going forward. Last week I caught the very thing that most of us have been trying to avoid for the past…

How to fix a mistake in Foundation Paper Piecing without seam ripping

I started making quilts with Foundation Paper Piecing because I hated the precision needed for traditional piecing. I love the freedom of making mistakes and it not being the end of the world. Even though FPP isn’t as perfection demanding as other quilting methods, occasionally there are times where a mistake needs to be fixed….

Bat of the Month: November- Bat in the Air

What is Bat of the Month? I went over the details in my blog post for the first block in the series. You can read all of that over here, but for right now You just need to know that this series is where I take a traditional quilt block pattern each month and reimagine…

Bat of the Month: October- Dracula’s Puzzle

Apologies We are behind my friends! ADHD, serious family issues, and the computer that occasionally doesn’t want to save any files contributed to an unexpected “vacation” over here. Turns out this little mini break was exactly what I needed to approach this job with fresh eyes and a fresh attitude. We are not designed to…

31+ Halloween Quilt Patterns

Halloween is my absolute favorite time of the year. I’m one of those people who celebrate it all year long, with the exception of November 1- December 26th, which is reserved for Christmas. I, personally, have started more Halloween quilt projects than one person could ever need. Who am I kidding, I need every one…

Free Pattern: The Modern Fox block

Who else loves foxes? After the bat the fox is another one of my favorite animals. In fact, my first traditionally pieced quilt was a fox quilt that I made for my eldest daughter’s baby blanket. A couple of months ago I was playing around in my quilting program and designed this cool modern fox…

Bat of the Month: September- Strip Bat

What is Bat of the Month? Bat of the Month is a series of quilt block patterns I began when I joined a group of pattern designers who, each month, take a traditional quilt block pattern and reimagine it in their own style. This sounded like such a great way to expand myself as a…

FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING TUTORIAL: SEWING YOUR FIRST BLOCK

STEP ONE: CUT OUT THE PATTERN Once you have printed off your pattern, you will want to cut out the pieces. More often than not, patterns you will make will contain multiple sections that will need to be joined together, but the pattern we will be working with in this lesson will only contain one…

Foundation Paper Piecing Tutorial: Getting Started

WHAT IS FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING? Foundation paper piecing. or FPP, is a technique used to piece quilt blocks. Unlike the traditional method (where pieces of fabric are individually measured, cut, and sewn together) and English paper piecing (where fabric is wrapped around paper templates and sewn together bu hand), FPP is a method where a…