Open Gate Blog

Happy Monday! Sorry that I didn't blog last week but it was a busy week.  I lectured in Decatur, Illinois at the Decatur County Quilt Guild.  Everyone was so wonderful and I had a great time. On Friday, I left for New Hampton, IA to demo my rulers at my friend, Denise's quilt shop, Quilter's Window .  She was involved in a 9 bus tour and we had over 400 ladies come through her shop.  It was a great turnout and it looked like everyone had a blast!  They got to travel to different shops in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa on a 2 day bus tour.  Everyone that came through seemed to enjoy the experience.  I know that I enjoyed meeting everyone!  I'm sure she will do it again so look for a bus tour at your local shop. I had every intention of writing my new Ask Monique column last Monday but as you see it was a crazy week.  So, I decided to do it this Monday.  My first question comes from Tracey and she asks: Most patterns say ...

Coming up with diamond names for the quilts in my book was fun!  I looked up names on the web because I don't have a lot of diamonds in my jewelry collection to pull from :) I think my favorite in the book is Marquis.  It is a combination of 1/4 square triangles and courthouse steps blocks.  I love the way the blocks sewed together and the interesting effect when you pieced the quilt top.  Here is Marquis: For this quilt, I used a French General fabric line, Rouenneries Deux and is all fat quarters except for the border and the binding.  This is done in pinks, reds and creams but can be made in any colors. If you are interested in taking a class from me and live in or want to travel to either the Michigan or Missouri areas, I will be teaching this quilt in those areas.  On June 7-8, I will be in Elkton, MI (The Thumb), teaching two quilts from Diamond Traditions.  Marquis is one of them and Diamonds & Pearls is the other.  The retreat...

Hello and Happy Monday!  Last week I received an advance copy of my book, Diamond Traditions with C&T Publishing.  It is due to come out in May.  The cover is SO cool and I am just thrilled with this book!  It is another fat quarter book and with this one, I use fat quarters as backgrounds for some quilts and 1 fabric for background for others.  There are 11 different quilts and most have multiple sizes.  Here is the cover: The quilt on the front, Blue Heart Diamonds, was pieced by my friend, Peggy Drake and quilted by another friend Danette Gonzalez.  Here is a picture of the entire quilt: This is one of the quilts in the book that uses a scrappy fat quarter background.  In the book, I also provide instructions on using either my rulers or the traditional method of piecing.  Are you wondering where the name of the book came from?  Well, when I was designing the quilts, I saw a diamond theme coming out in each of the quilts, ...

Happy April Fool's Day!  I won't pull any tricks on you and I will give you the block!  Hope everyone had a nice Easter and are ready to sew your next block. Click on the link to get the instructions:  Blogger Girls Block of the Month Block #4.   Note that on step 6, square to 8 1/2", not 6 1/2". Don't forget to check the other Blogger's blocks, here is the list: Sherri from A Quilting Life - aquiltinglife.blogspot.com Thelma from Cupcakes ‘n Daisies ~ cupcakesndaisies.blogspot.com Lissa from Moda  Lissa  ~ ModaLissa.blogspot.com Denise from Quilter’s  Window ~ Quilterswindow.com/blog/ Nicole from Sister’s Choice  ~  sisterschoice.typepad.com Lisa from Stashmaster ~ The-Stashmaster.blogspot.com AND make sure that you check out the flickr group: Blogger Girls BoM to see other participants blocks.  There are even a few that have put their sashing blocks up! Block #4, version 1: Block #4, version 2: Blogger Girls Block ...