We were also lucky enough to be given permission to pattern 3 of the red and white quilts from the quilt show–one of which is Dream Catcher.

Now, to be perfectly honest, we (I, but who’s checking!?) named this pattern Dream Catcher because, well, I liked the sound of it. I wish I could say it is the original name of this quilt, but I couldn’t, so Dream Catcher it is.

(Someday we’ll have to tell you about the very orderly, precise, scientific way we name our quilt patterns around here. (or not.) You would be pretty impressed, if not entertained. But, I digress.)

So, imagine our delight when we received an email from Laura Valdez in Illinois.

Laura’s quilt came from her mother, who traded her priscilla tie backs for this orange and white quilt that her grandma Gladys had made many years ago. As Laura became a quilter, she became curious about the name of this quilt and eventually discovered that the name of the block is Square and Compass, named for a life-saving crew’s captain.

You can see that the blocks are very similar, but because the patches in the corners of the blocks are different sizes the blocks end up looking just a little bit different.

Laura also shared that the traditional Square and Compass quilts were made in blue/blue-green and white, but her grandmother liked to work outside the box and made hers in orange and white! Wouldn’t her grandmother like to know how popular orange is today?!?

So thank you Laura for sharing your quilt and story with us! We loved the pictures and learning of this name for the quilt!

Hopefully by now you have had a chance to check out Secret Window, the Debbie Caffrey mystery quilt we started in the May/June issue of Quiltmaker. You can also check out the the blog posts about the Step 1 from Carolyn, Denise, and Paula (me – hello!). There is still time to join our online quilt-along over at Quilter’s Club of America too.

In the new July/August issue of Quiltmaker, we gave you Part 2. Even though it’s the middle of summer, I’m still LOVING my fabrics -Winterberry Lane by Whimsicals, which is all about Christmas, snowmen, presents and peace on earth. Just wait till you see my border fabric – it’s a border print that was exactly the right width for the border (I love it when that happens!)

In Step 2 you get to start putting a few pieces and units together and make some little units using either templates or foundation piecing. (I foundation-pieced mine – I’m not crazy about using templates.) (Nor am I crazy about foundation-piecing.) (But taking off those little papers was SO worth it.) (Because I love my quilt.) To print of multiple foundations you can click here.

If you are working on your mystery quilt, keep us posted! I can’t wait for part 3!

Happy Quilting!

Sew Scrappy

We’ve written a free pattern for Sew Scrappy, the wall-size color option shown above for Rhapsody in Bloom.

Perennial Petals

To make crib-size or queen-size versions of Perennial Petals, you’ll find layout diagrams here.

Woolly Petals

Our new editor Paula is crazy about wool applique, and she made the black quilt above as a design option for Perennial Petals. She named it Woolly Petals and it’s a free online pattern.

Rufflicious

We have a new bag pattern free online called Rufflicious. It’s soft and flirty and fun!

Free patterns are available for these blocks from our Design Studio column.

If you admired Carolyn’s blocks in this issue’s Design Studio column, you can find complimentary instructions to make the blocks.

Lattice Garden

If you’re making Lattice Garden, you can download the foundations for piecing the border.

Scrap Basket is featured in Addicted to Scraps by Bonnie Hunter

Are you a Bonnie Hunter fan? Have you been making Scrap Basket blocks from her Addicted to Scraps column? If so, you will find a layout for a 36″ x 36″ wall quilt here.

We feature extras on the web for every issue that comes out, so remember to see the QM Online page in every issue of Quiltmaker that comes your way. (In March/April, it’s on page 14.)

Cornflower Fields by Julie Herman

A while back it was my job to find an alternate color scheme for the quilt which would create what we call a “color option.” You’ll see color options near the end of most Quiltmaker patterns, and they’re meant to expand your vision for a project by presenting a completely different look using different fabrics in the same pattern.

An interesting thing happened as I was thinking about another way to present Cornflower Fields.

Instead of the usual colored quilt diagram (above), I had a diagram with only the lines of the quilt, and no color (below).

I was surprised by how much this opened up the possibilities! Jumping right off the page were trees, trees and more trees. I couldn’t see anything but trees. And so began my inspiration for Hoo’s in the Forest?

A search through our fabric room, which is well-stocked with the latest fabrics from many companies, brought me to Robert Kaufman‘s “On a Whim” owl print. Perfect! I wanted the owls to take center stage, so plenty of tone-on-tones from Robert Kaufman’s basic lines such as Mixmasters Dot to Dot and Fusions fit the bill. For the border, a fun plaid with all the right colors from Flower Child framed the quilt nicely. I left off the border sections in this version, which made it a “design option.” A design option goes a few steps past a color option by changing not just the fabrics, but also how and where they are placed.

Hoo's in the Forest?

Hoo’s in the Forest?, an abbreviated version of Cornflower Fields, is now a free online pattern. We’re excited to offer timesaving kits for Hoo’s in the Forest? as well.

I started thinking about how often I look at colored diagrams or even photos first, and I’ve decided that I’d be much more open to the infinite possibilities if I’d look at only the lines. In a future post I’ll expand on this idea and show you more examples.

We’re kicking off 2010 with a  new column, Addicted to Scraps, by one of my favorite scrap quilters, Bonnie Hunter. Bonnie sent me a funny screen capture recently after her son posted about his “famous” quilting mom on Facebook:

Have you seen French General’s fabric line Rouenneries for Moda? It got a lot of buzz at Spring Market ’09 and now it’s showing up in quilts and stores. Carolyn Beam, QM’s Creative Editor, designed a fantastic pair of quilts with a twin size and bonus doll quilt. (QM Kits of Duette will be available in early December.)

Our 11th pattern designed with Project Linus in mind will be flying high in this issue with Kite ‘n Kaboodle, designed by me with fabric from P&B Textiles.

Leave a comment and tell me what quiltmaking skill you’re looking forward to improving in 2010 by 3 pm MST on Tuesday and I’ll give away this color option + binding fabric from Courtyard made from Maywood Studio fabric in Quiltmaker’s Favorites, Spring ’09 issue.

And the winner is #24, Sarah Vee! Congratulations!

So the giveaway is over, but we’re finding these answers fascinating as we plan content for 2010. I’d love to see more answers–who knows you may influence what goes into Quiltmaker next year!

I’m so excited that Quiltmaker is finally blogging! You’ll be hearing from the QM staff and me as we join all the blogging fun that we’ve been watching for so long.

We’ve been storing up all kinds of content in anticipation of getting things started—giveaways, designer interviews, inside peeks at what goes on in our office and so much more.

Did I just say “giveaways”? You bet I did—where should I start? Since the month of June just started (and that’s my name), let’s give away something from our May/June ’09 issue.

Peekaboo Pixies, color option for Ribbon Trellis, as seen in Quiltmaker's May/June '09 issue.

Peekaboo Pixies, the color option for Ribbon Trellis. That’s right—I’m giving away a color option made from Dance with the Fairies fabric by elinor peace bailey for P&B Textiles—a very fun and whimsical fabric design.

The first place winner will receive the quilt top—the one you see here, along with backing and binding fabric. Bonus: 4 additional winners will receive fabric bundles from the same line of fabric.

Leave a comment by Monday, June 8 at 12 noon Mountain time and tell me what you’d like to see Quiltmaker blog about. I’m looking forward to getting to know you!

[6/12/09 update: This giveaway is over now, but you can still tell me what you'd like to see us blog about.]