Open Gate Blog

I have a Christmas present for everyone.  I decided to give you the instructions for the Fit to be Ruler Case.  Several people have asked me for the pattern so here it is: Supplies: 1/2 yard for main body of bag 3/8 yard for lining 1/8 yard for accent 1/2 yard fusible fleese zipper Instructions: From the fabric for the main body, cut: 2 - 12" x 12 1/2" pieces 1 - 3" strip From the lining fabric, cut: 2 - 13" x 16" pieces From the accent fabric, cut: 2 - 3" x 12" pieces From the fusible fleese, cut: 2 - 13" x 16" pieces 1 - 3/4" strip Piecing: Press the 3" strip of main fabric, in half, wrong sides together. Open up and place the fusible fleese at the fold with the fuse side downs.  Bring up the raw edge to meet in the middle repeat for the other side, fold and press.  Fold again and press.  Sew an 1/8" from both edges to make the handle.  Cut the handle in half so that you have 2 - 20" handles. P...

Fall has been a busy time for me.  I have been traveling to teach classes and lecture.  My most recent trip was to New Hampton, IA to visit my friend Denise and teach through her shop, Quilter's Window .  She had a retreat planned at the local hotel and started Friday afternoon and lasted until Sunday morning.  Everyone seemed to have so much fun and I even sewed a little.  I taught Gin Rummy and Speed from my book Fat Quarter Winners .   Gin Rummy Speed  I have also been in Princeton, IL to teach at a retreat for the Covered Bridge Quilt Guild.  The  retreat was held at a Church camp and was perfect.  There was plenty of room for everyone to sew.  I taught Pinochle and here are some of the quilts that were made that weekend.  Awesome! The latest news is that I have designed a 2012 Mystery Quilt for American Patchwork & Quilting!  The first month block is in the February, 2012 issue of American Patchwork ...

Congratulations to the 3 winners who commented on my blog.  Here they are: The winner of a Quiltmaker 100 Block magazine is: Jill who said: "We have a dog named Lexie. She likes to lay under or across my feet whenever I sit down. She is an English Springer Spaniel." Jill, if you could email me, with you arddress at info@opengatequilts.com, I would appreciate it! The winner of the Fit to be Geese ruler is: Karen (Misiz C), said: "Know what you mean about enough time for applique. If we only didn't need sleep! ;-) Your block is beautiful! My fuzzy quilt helpers are the cats. From rearranging blocks laid out on the floor to weighing down stacks of fabric so they don't blow away, they are always involved. We have three. Cosmo, a gray van shelter kitty; Miles, a bronze Egyptian Mau; and Aurora, a calico se Scottish Fold." And the winner of the sampling of Memories of Provence is: Judy said: "I am definitely a dog lover. We have a ...

Welcome everyone!  It's my day for the blog tour .  I hope you have been tuning in daily to the other blog hop participants.  I have checked them out and am very impressed with all the wonderful, talented designers out there!  Here is my block that was included in the latest issue.  Applique, you say?!  Yes, I have been designing a bit of applique these days.  I love to applique but unfortunately, there is not enough time to do it all.  I was inpired by a tile design for this applique and hope you enjoy it too! As for my giveaway for the blog tour, I have a few items to give to 3 lucky winners!  Read below to see how to enter for the drawings.    First, from Quiltmaker, a copy of the Quiltmaker's 100 Block Vol. 4 .  It is an awesome magazine that has some great blocks and lots of inspiration! Second, Fit to be Geese ruler .  If you haven't used my Fit to be Geese ruler, here's your chance to win one!  ...

You've heard of Quilt in a Day, how about Quilt Market in a Day?  Sue and I made a whirlwind trip to Houston for 1 day at Quilt Market.  We were actually in Houston for less than 48 hours but walked the show on Saturday only.  We arrived Thursday night late and I had a 15 minute lecture on the Block of the Month on Friday.  The show didn't open until Saturday morning.    Friday night, Sue had her first experience at Sample Spree.  Sample Spree is a "pre-show" the night before Quilt Market.  Designers and companies set up tables and have everything from fat quarter bundles to patterns and notions.  Check out the lines to get in!  Sue and I waited until everyone was in before got in there.  It was quite a frenzy of buying and looking at the new items.  Here are a few of the fun things that we picked up: Fat Quarter Bundles from Riley Blake and RJR.  Yum!!  Robyn Pandolph for RJR Riley Blake Fabric...

I have been working on some new projects this fall.  I just spend a wonderful, relaxing, and enjoyable weekend with some of my friends.  We retreated in beautiful Lake Mills, WI.  We rented a cottage, set it up with our sewing stuff, laughed, ate and had fun.  I had plenty of things that I "needed" to do but instead, I decided to do some things that I wanted to do!   View from out the front window Before all the tables, sewing machines, irons, chairs, projects and quilters. First, I decided to make ruler bags out of my new fabric and made one for each of my retreat friends.  Sue and I designed a ruler bag for my "Fit to be" series of rulers.  It is about 15" x 11 1/2", with handles and a zipper.  Here is mine.  I used Terry Atikinson's method of putting in the zipper and if you haven't done her method yet, you need to!  It makes putting zippers in so easy!  Also, I did get to work on a new pattern of...