Steampunk Mona – OBW #122

Wind me up & watch me go! Has anyone seen Leonardo? Steampunk Mona is Leonardo da Vinci’s version of AI. Someone greased Mona’s gears and now she is looking for Leo!

Steampunk Mona Lisa is from Rubin Design Studio and eQuilter. She measures 29″ x 44″.

There was much more color in this panel than I expected. I cut my strips 3.25″ to yield 5″ finished hexies. I got 176 hexies to play with.

I played with the hat for a while but decided to leave it alone.

The Hollow Cube 60‘s in the section represent the platform Leonardo launched his flying machine from.

The clock over Mona’s eye didn’t blend with anything. I stitched the clock hexie and Mona’s eye hexies together to create a diamond. Then added side triangles to create a 10″ Star 60.

Steampunk Mona before borders and tweaking.

Steampunk Mona measures 86″ x 69″. She was great fun to make. But wait! There’s more! Terri Butler of Mama Said Sew is working on a Steampunk Mona OBW coat. Follow Terri and me on our adventures at www.facebook.com/MamaSaidTheseThreadsCouldTalk

@eQuilter @Studio180Design #Star60 #HollowCube60

Quiltfolk Cats Issue is Here!

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I’m beyond excited! I felt honored to be chosen for Quiltfolk’s Cat issue. It’s amusing because I am a Chihuahua mom! But I think cats are cool!

The cat issue is full of beautiful cat quilts and cats!

The panel called Intricately illustrated Kitty is by Rubin Design Studio of eQuilter.com. I named my One Block Wonder quilt “Bedazzled”. The large hexagons are made with Studio 180 Design’s Star 60 tool. I call them Star 60 Spinners. My quilt measures 88″ x 71″. I am on page 106. Thank you Quiltfolk!

You can get your Cats issue of Quiltfolk here.

@equilter @Studio180Design @quiltfolk

One Block Wonder: Quilt & Coat Adventures

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If These Threads Could Talk is joining forces with Mama Said Sew (Terri Butler) to create an awesome new partnership. You can follow our adventures on our new Facebook page “Mama Said These Threads Could Talk”.

We will challenge each other by making a coat and a quilt using the same panel! I, of course will make the One Block Wonder (OBW) quilt and Terri will make a OBW Coat. Aren’t they just fabulous? The panel is Elf and Dragon by Rubin Design Studio.

I just got home from a quilt retreat at White Eagle Conference Center in Hamilton, NY.

Terri and I have great fun together.

Terri is working on Steampunk Mona OBW Coat. I will start designing the quilt this week. We have new panels arriving from QT Fabrics and Lumin Fabrics.

Terri is making me a OBW coat from Creepin it Real panels by QT Fabrics. It’s not quite done yet!

I came home to find this panel by Oasis Fabrics called Hidden Treasures was delivered. It measures 35″ x 43″. This will be so much fun to make into a OBW quilt & coat! We will be sharing more soon!

My car is unpacked, I’m showered and having a good cup of coffee. I am sitting in my recliner under the watchful eye of Tucker!

Thank you to everyone at the Sew Nice Retreat, I had a great time.

Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors having fun!

#OBW’s #MamaSaidTheseThreadsCouldTalk #OBWPanels

Elf & Dragon – OBW #121

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Elf & Dragon panel by Rubin Design Studio on eQuilter.com Panel measures 33″ x 44″.

I cut my strips 3.25″ to yield 5″ finished hexies. I created 10″ finished Checkerboard 60 units with my Star 60 Tool to be part of the dragon’s body.

The photo above is the quilt top stitched together, but no borders yet. Next I hide what needs hiding.

“The Elf’s song was heard through out the forest. The mossy earth began to shift. The dragon rose from beneath the leaves and mushrooms. The dragon would always come when the Elf called!

Can you find all my appliques’? The Elf and Dragon measures 90″ x 70″.

Below is the video for the matching OBW coat made from the same panel by http://www.facebook.com/MamaSaidSew-Terri Butler.

@equilter @studio180Design #elfanddragon #RubinDesignStudio #Checkerboard60, #Star60Tool

I’m Having Great Summer

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I’m having a great summer so far, and I hope you are too! My 13-year anniversary with WordPress is next month. I have logged over a million hits on If These Threads Could Talk!!!!

Spring began with a OBW Workshop at Amy’s Quilt Room in Uniontown PA. Then a OBW Workshop with the Long Island Quilt Society. Teri Butler and I had a blast at H&H in Chicago!

June had me in Idaho at The Quilt Crossing in Boise and Sew In Stitches in Pocatello.

I just got home from the Yankee Quilter in Seymour CT! I have met so many wonderful quilters this year! Thank you everyone!

Teri Butler of Mama Said Sew is now creating OBW Jackets among her other many talents.

Next week I’m off to Amy’s Quilt Room again for back to OBW workshops. Then Back to the Yankee Quilter! In September I’m at the Needle in a Haystack Retreat Center in Sherman NY. Then to Halfmoon Handwerks in Carlisle PA. I’ll end the year in November in Arkansas.

2025 has been pretty good, but 2026 is looking good too! I will be the keynote speaker and teaching at the New England Quilt Expo in Manchester, New Hampshire April 8 -11. I have been invited to teach at AQS Paducah April 22 – 25!

Keep checking back to see what I’m up to next!

Mystical Horse 2 Ways – OBW #120

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I chose this panel for all the horses I have loved.

Mystical horse by Rubin Design Studio is so vibrant, I just love it.

This is me on Buck, our first horse. In 1966 I was living in Las Vegas. I was in the 4H Club. Every year we participated in a parade down the Las Vagas Strip. I was such a tomboy. I once caught a wild mustang and brought it home. He was tearing up the corral so bad I had to set him free the next day. At least he had water and a meal.

Mystical Horse OBW measures 94″ x 71″. I cut my strips 3.25″ which yielded 5″ finished hexies, cut with the First Choice ruler. I included 10″ finished Framed 60 Units made with the Star 60 Tool and Island Batik fabrics.

My friend and fellow Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor Terri Butler has challenged herself to make a OBW coat for every OBW that I make. She got hers done before me.

You can see her model the finished coat on https://www.mamasaidsewllc.com/

The coat is so fabulous! I want one!

@RubinDesignStudio @Studio180Design @MamaSaidSewllc.com #MysticalHorse #Framed60 #Star60Tool #FirstChoiceRuler #OmniThread #IslandBatik

Daydreamin & Repeating Ourselves

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Terri and I did a thing! Terri Butler is my friend and fellow Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor. While we were at H&H Americas in Chicago we had an idea.

These two panels were created by Frond Design for Northcott Fabrics. Terri had it on her design wall and I have had them in my OBW stash for a couple of years. The normal thing would be to stitch the halves together and design around them. Why be normal? We decided to do what we do best. A One Block Wonder coat and quilt out of the same panels!

Terri chose the layout, quilted the individual sections and cut out the coat pieces.

Terri did such a great job with her interpretation of Daydreamin, I just love it. You can follow Terri at Mama Said Sew. Terri is a great pattern designer.

After aligning the 2 sets of panels, I cut 3.25″ strips that yielded 294 – 5″ finished hexies.

I didn’t want to just design what was expected. The words that kept creeping into my mind were mutual attraction, cross pollination. I decided to create a flower in the center that came from a seed dropped by a bird. My design wall is 106″ wide by 72″ tall. That’s why my OBW’s look like murals. I filled my design wall and still had 63 hexies left over.

Daydreamin measures 97″x 65″. The colors are just mesmerizing. We will share photo’s of the quilt and coat together soon.

No hexies were harmed during the construction of this One Block Wonder. The Supervisor was on the job.

#FirstChoiceRulers #Star60Tool

1776 – OBW #118

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1776 panel designed by the Morris Group for QT Fabrics measures 38″ x 32″. This beautiful Eagle panel will be in shops Fall 2025.

The 1776 fabric line offers everything needed to create your own 1776 quilt. You can finish it in time to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday in 2026.

I chose 5 coordinating fabrics to add to my story. I choose fabrics before I know what my design approach will be. The flags with the light blue background ended up on the back of the quilt.

I used Deb Tucker’s First Choice Rulers to cut my strips 3.25″ wide, yielding 5″ finished hexies. The stars were created using the Star 60 Tool by Deb Tucker. I started placing my hexies on the top section first.

Numbering the rows keeps everything organized. Once I attached the top and bottom sections, I stitched the hexies on the left into rows. It shows how much the rows shrink when stitched together.

The photo on the left shows the quilt top together without borders. On the right the borders have been added, but not yet tweaked.

1776 measures 75″ x 66″. I wanted to make the eagle’s wings look larger than they were. As if their strength created air currents that actually moved the stars.

@QTFabrics @Studio180Design #Star60Tool #First Choice Rulers #QuiltersDream Batting #Juki #OmniThread

1776 Unboxing

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I wanted to share my next OBW project using the 1776 line from QT Fabrics. (Correction, the video states 1776 will be in shops Summer 2025. 1776 will be shops Fall 2025)

@QTFabrics @Studio180Design #1776, #Star60Tool

Enchanted – OBW #117

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The Enchanted panel is designed by the Morris Creative Group and brought to us by QT Fabrics. In quilt shops now.

When I first saw this panel I thought of the song “Castles in the Sky” by Ian Van Dahl, 1999. I thought that I would try to design around the castle as if it was floating.

I always say “the fabric starts talking to me” while I’m make the hexies. I cut my strips 2.75″ wide to yield 4″ finished hexies. I did not use the borders when I cut my strips. I ended up with 210 hexies.

I knew I wanted to add Hollow Cube 60 units. I started designing, trying to figure out where I would place them, and what would they represent. I thought I would add them as part of the sky. Suddenly, while designing, the words “Middle Earth” settled in my brain. I used the Star 60 tool, and the Hollow Cube 60 Technique Sheet. I made a 12″ Hollow Cube 60, with 4″ hollow cube 60’s inside it. The area below the White Tower would represent the Shire where the Hobbits lived. The Hollow Cube 60’s are Hobbit Houses!

The White Castle in Lord of the Rings is the greatest city of Gandor. The citadel of Minas Tirith is a towering, fortified community built into the side of the White Mountains.

SO, Middle Earth was the inspiration for my design. I used QT Fabric’s Aura line of blenders for my cubes and the blue half hexies surrounding the castle.