The entries for the 2013 Five Fabric Challenge were amazing this year! It's almost overwhelming to see the various designs that are submitted. The task of finding the top three and picking a winner is difficult. The selection panel always struggles, but we think the winning design will be a crowd pleaser for sure!

Congratulations to designer Michael Michalski, the 2013 Five Fabric Challenge winner for his entry Keystone. Michael is a two-time recipient of the challenge award. His previous winning design, Prairie Window, is available in the Ricky Tims Online Store. 

Michael will receive $500 for his design and Ricky Tims Inc. will publish the pattern for this stunning quilt. The pattern for Keystone, a 42" x 42" wall quilt, will be available in late summer.

Michael says, of this quilt, "This design began with finding different ways to frame blocks using Courthouse Steps as alternate blocks. I found interlocking shapes I thought of as 'keystone' (it reminds me of the Pennsylvania state symbol) and picture frame. Then stars were chosen to enhance them."


Keystone by Michael Michalski.


Second prize, and a $250 Ricky Tims Store Shopping Spree goes to Patti Brown, creator of Rhombus Rumble 40"x40". 

Patti's quilt is paper pieced from 14 different block designs made up of 4, 5 or 7 pieces of material. Each block finishes at 5" square.
















Third prize, and a $100 Ricky Tims Store shopping spree goes to - Cindy Briggs for Old World Reverie, 53" x 41". Cindy says, "I wanted to reflect on the old world charm and opulence of the good old glory days....I feel that this piece evokes the charm and glory of the past, while being fresh and new for today's quilters."






















Start working now. Who knows? You may be the 2014 Five Fabric Challenge Design Contest winner!

Social issues have always been a part of the quilting culture. Quilts supporting war efforts as well as anti-war statements have been created as a way for the artist to speak. Quilts made in support of the temperance movement of the early 1900s were made to express a stance. Artist don't communicate with words, they communicate with imagery which filters in through the eye. Musicians communicate with sounds and emotions that filters in through the ears. I'm an artist more than I am a writer, so for me, music and art are my best vehicles for communication.

I have made quilts that express my personal philosophies. I made a quilt to work though the emotions of 9/11. Yesterday I made a quilt to expressing current social issues on marriage equality. I feel blessed to live in a country where we have the freedom to express ourselves without fear of adverse repercussions,  imprisonment, or death. I mean no disrespect for anyone's choice of opinion, I'm just an artist sharing my work and making my own statement.

Interestingly for me, the simple shapes in the marriage equality logo screamed, "Make me a Modern Quilt!" - and so I did. "Modern Quilts" are a new style of minimalistic quilts.  They tend to have larger open areas of negative space, the pieces are often large, and the quilting creates a dominant, but repetitive texture.

This one is called Red See. It measures 32" x 48".

I have made a tiny little piece (approx 6" x 9") and donated it to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum for their upcoming fundraiser and auction called Fabric and Friends. The event is this Saturday!

I made Wallflower from my hand-dyed fabrics. It features my iconic flower from Bohemian Rhapsody. The stitching is with Rainbows from Superior Threads.

If you would like to bid on this quilt here are the details provided to me from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

They will accept phone-in bids through Friday, March 22 until 4pm Mountain time. Bidders should call 303-277-0377 and submit their starting bid and their maximum bid. Someone from RMQM will bid on their behalf at the auction on Saturday.

You will be asked to give your name, shipping address, and credit card information. Your card won’t be charged unless you have the winning bid.

Have fun bidding!

In honor of International Quilting Day I started working on an improvisational quilt. I made the blocks last night - that only took a couple of hours. I had no idea where this would go, but i put them on the design wall an slept on it. This morning this was my jumping off point.


Today i spent the morning adding a few bits here and there and had the border on by 2:30pm. Whoo-hoo! I'm calling this one Firewall II.



Don't forget that the rest of this weekend, over 140 shows are FREE if you login to The Quilt Show. If you are not a member, you can create a Free account and watch. In addition, there is a huge give-away so don't forget to register to win. Register here.

What did you do to celebrate International Quilting Day 2013?

Today is quilting's biggest day! It's a day to quilt, shop, and be thankful for this amazing art/craft/hobby/lifestyle! My own celebration began last night when I made 20 improvisational (Caveman) blocks. I love playtime. These are on the wall now, but what they will become I don't know yet. 

You can celebrate by watching over 140 episodes of The Quilt Show. Simply login or register for free and watch all weekend long! In addition, there are tons of free give-aways - so be sure to register to win! You could win a Bernina QE, a chair from Gammill, I'm giving away a $450 gift basket and there's a lot more. What will you do today to celebrate International Quilting Day?

If you watch any of my new companion videos for the Gaelic Blessing quilt, you will see something new. What is it?

I created a set of companion videos with tips and demonstrations to go along with the Gaelic Blessings quilt. Let's have some fun and make the quilt together! The videos are in the Classroom at TheQuiltShow.com. The classroom is free, but you do have to be a TQS member, either a Basic Member (free) or a Star Member (premium) to access the videos. Just login to watch.


Click the image above to watch the introductory video on YouTube.

Please Take the poll now on the right.

Here it is! A sneak peek at Gaelic Blessing, a new quilt that I designed with you in mind. I hope this variation of the Double Irish Chain will make you smile because the border is integrated right into the patchwork! The central Celtic cross is an inspirational Irish icon. My quilting friend from Belfast says, "Most Celtic patterns are for smaller items like cushions or wall hangings. How wonderful to have a blessing on your bed!" 

If you are Irish - have Irish heritage - like Ireland - like The Celtic Women - believe in Leprechauns - enjoy Guinness - wear green on March 17th - or can spell "Ireland" - no doubt you'll want to make this quilt!

The 63"x63" quilt is created using four of my hand-dyed fabrics and the pattern and kit will be available near the end of February. Be sure you are on my General Newsletter list and watch your inbox for a special edition so you can be the first to get the pattern or the kit. This is an easy-to-make pseudo traditional quilt will find the luck of the Irish rubbing off on you.

First of all - let me say...... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I wish you all the best in 2013!.


It happened yesterday! I finished the quilt top for my Streak of Lightning quilt. I will admit this is the most ornery quilt I've ever made and mostly because it was made by using very traditional techniques. Quilts like this with a kazillion small pieces means that the margin for error is nonexistent. The slightest changes in seam allowance will throw things off. Actually, I was VERY careful to make sure I was as accurate and consistent as possible to avoid problems. Let me tell you what I learned.

All of the columns were okay and not that difficult. It was important to mark where the columns should meet so that the ziz zag remained the same width. I did one column where I just pinned the top and bottom and a couple of places in between thinking it would just 'fit' -which it did. But that seam had to be picked out because the points of the blocks would shift and fall in odd places messing up the ziz zag - and it was visually obvious.

Notice the triangles pieced on the left and right of the body of the quilt. Those were cut the exact same size and the triangles that were cut to put onto the nine-patches. However, after piecing those, they were at least an inch (maybe slightly more) longer than any of the other columns. Still, I 'eased' them onto the quilt. At that point things were NOT looking good. The quilt was NOT flat, waving and rippling horribly. I almost decided to remove them from the quilt totally, but I didn't. So.... what did I do?

I had faith - that's what! I had faith that if I measured my length down several nine-patch columns, took the average (which was only maybe 1/4" difference at any spot) and made my border exactly that length (again easing those pecky triangle strips) that the quilt would go back to flat. It was important that my borders were cut on the length of the grain so that it was strong and stable to support the problem spots. Also, I pinned a LOT. As you know, I'm known for not being a pinner - but I DO pin when it's necessary - and this was necessary.

In this case, I found the center of the border and the center of the side and pinned that first. Then I pinned the corners. Then I tugged from center to corner to ease the fullness, and pinned in middle of that. I continued this until I had about 12 pins on each border.

After putting on the left and right borders (which I had already cut the miter corners on), then I measured across the quilt to get the best average. This measurement was pretty much exact across so I used that measurement to make my top and bottom borders. Again, I pinned to make sure everything was positioned correctly. After competing the four miters, the quilt top was FLAT - and FINISHED! Whoo-hoo!

This would not have happened if I had just sewn on a border without measuring, easing, and pinning. But now, I'm confident that it will look good when it's quilted and will be square as well. 

Today I dyed the fabric for the backing - and soon I'll be quilting it.

Have you ever had a project that, after a lot of work, you felt would simply not turn out. Did you toss it aside? Put on your thinking cap? Did if finish better than you expected?

Oh - Since the pattern is a traditional Streak of Lighthing, I was thinking of calling it St. Elmo's Fire (not the movie). St. Elmo's Fire is a weather phenomena created with electrical energy. However, a Facebook friend suggested Northern Lights. That works for me because I have a song on one of my CDs called Northern Lights and I really like using musical terms, phrases, or titles for my quilts. So. Northern Lights is is!

I'm so happy to say my shopping is done and I have time - finally - to get back to quilting. This week I started (and finished) a self-portrait quilt. Does it look anything like me?

And, I have turned my attentions back to the design wall and am plugging along to get this top assembled in the next couple of days. Cross your fingers and wish me luck.

Oh - and what did you put on your Santa's wish list?

Under the African Sky (2012) by Peg Weschke

Congratulations to Peg Weschke from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Peg has been chosen as the Ponnie Brinkman Scholarship Recipient for 2012.

As a new quilter, Peg has quickly been recognized by her guild, the Palmetto Quilt Guild, as a 'new-bee' who is "fun, talented, energetic and always trying something new and different." Her recent works feature beaches and African themes. She is described as "an enthusiastic quilter who gives back to her guild and community."

It is always a difficult decision to select our scholarship winner. To all of our nominees, congratulations on your quilting journey and success thus far. We encourage you to continue quilting with passion and enthusiasm.

Each year Ricky Tims Inc accepts nominations from quilt guilds for new quilters showing great promise and enthusiasm. This scholarship enables Peg to attend a La Veta Quilt Retreat. Her tuition will be covered and in addition she will receive $500 toward expenses. For complete details on the Ponnie Brinkman Scholarship visit this link

Please join us in congratulation Peg on this well-deserved honor.