In our neck of the woods…  wait, let me rephrase that…. here in our corner of the prairie, we had a snow storm earlier this week and are now enjoying sunshine and warming temperatures.  Shoveling the snow revealed a few green leaves of tulip bulbs that had just broken the surface of the soil.  We should be enjoying colorful displays not too long from now.  In the meantime we settle for tulip displays on quilts.

Beautiful Coventry Garden Tulips in your favorite colors combines easy piecing and applique.  Your garden will bloom soon!

Just one Tantalizing Tulip, but that’s all it takes to brighten our day, just one.  Pull out your bright scraps and applique this art deco type flower.

Another lone bloom, Tender Tulip looks romantic and graceful.  Thoughtful selection of your background fabric makes this a dynamic little quilt.  Finishing at 9″ x 12″, it’s just right for a hostess gift, Easter gift, or “just because” gift.

Tulip Festival is shown with a light background, but it would also look great with vibrant colored flowers on a dark background.  This wallhanging finishes at 36″ square.

Here’s a quick project that you’ll be able to finish before the real tulips show up.  A pre-printed, pre-colored design Heirloom Tulips just needs embroidery to be finished.  The size is 4″ x 5″.

Enjoy stitching your spring garden.

A quilted Welcome wall hanging is a great way to greet guests as they enter your home.   Let everyone’s first impression of your home be a quilty one!

Flower Welcome by Bloom Creek is 12″ x 28″.  Choose your method: fusible applique or hand applique.  A charm pack would be great for this pattern.

A Fine Welcome pattern offers three projects.  Make a wallhanging for the front entry and one for the back entry.  Plus a bonus pillow.  Each item has a folksy, slightly wonky, cheerful look to it.

What says Home more than a white picket fence?!  Hang the Welcome sign and change the picket fence gate for each season.  Both pieces together measure 23″ x 32″.

If you are partial to landscape quilts, Welcome with a backdrop of a Rocky Mountain sunrise might be your favorite.  Finished size is 29″ x 16.5″.

And now for something completely different:  Welcome Bunny.  A bold 3-D bunny with carrots and flowers and adorable floppy ears. Your guests will be smiling!

Don’t you just love to hang a quilt?!  That good feeling you get from finishing a quilt for yourself can only be topped by hanging it up for display.  Go ahead and spoil yourself – make a quilt a month!  There are several series of mini quilts that have a design for each month . . . .

The Calendar Pocket series are little patterns for just $5.00.  Each month has a table runner pattern that feature soft edge applique.  Perfect for decorating.  Make an extra block from each table runner pattern and you will have all the blocks you need for a calendar quilt at the end of the year.  The December pattern includes the instructions for the 50″ x 64″ calendar quilt. Start now and you’ll have that calendar quilt ready just in time for Christmas gift giving!

If you like the folk art look, Indygo Junction has a series of monthly little quilts called One Day In The Country.  Make mini quilts or make each month for use in one large quilt…. or do both!

Love Sunbonnet Sue?  She’s busy all year with scenes in redwork, making this the perfect project for handwork in the evenings.  The finished block for each month is 5.5″ square and can be used in so many different projects.  They are adorable little pieces of art.

Through the year by Prairiegrove Peddler includes instructions for two projects, plus instructions for a year end sampler quilt.

Little Quilts Squared Again! are cute appliqued 12″ square blocks.  Bright and cheerful, they have a touch of whimsey, and will be sure to bring a smile to any viewer’s face.

Browse the patterns for the other months and see if you can pick one series that you want to make.  It’ll be hard to pick just one – they are all pretty cute!

Warm your heart and your home with a Valentine quilt.

Ribbons and Hearts is beautiful sampler style quilt.  The borders of alternating narrow and wide nicely frame all the wonderful busyness of the center of the quilt.  Choose your method of applique – hand or fusible.  This wall hanging finishes at 34″ x 38″.

96 happy, scrappy hearts make up the Bee Mine Quilt.  Instructions are given for strip pieced hearts but you can choose to skip the strips and make solid hearts.  Either way, look out scraps -you’re going down!

No applique, just piecing, for this large lap sized quilt (60″ x 68″).  Blended Hearts , to symbolize love and marriage, this would make a great wedding gift.

Simple straight piecing and easy fusible applique make Heart Strings a quick, cute finish.  If that curved top scares you, never fear, there’s an option for a straight top.  I love the dangling heart, don’t you?  16″ x 39″

A pair of lovebirds and their love filled home.  For My Tweetheart is number 2 in a series of Tiny Treasures Wall Hangings. Finishing at 7 3/4″ x 18 1/2″ there will always be room for any of the monthly themed Treasures.  If you make this one, be careful, you just might get hooked – they are that cute!

Carry your heart with you wherever you go.  Hearts in Bloom is a beginner friendly pattern for a 18″ square fully lined tote.  Go ahead, brighten your load!

Browse the rest of the Valentine themed patterns to your heart’s content.  You’ll be sure to find one that expresses your love.

Quilt patterns from Pine Tree Lodge (located in Minnesota – have you ever noticed how many talented quilters and quilt designers come from Minnesota? – must be something in the air there!) are full of variety.  Simple pieced patterns, intricate pieced patterns, colorful, muted, applique, piecing mixed with applique, quilts, table toppers, samplers, totes and more!  No matter your skill level, or the type of quilt you prefer, you’ll probably find several patterns that you like.

Homegrown Winter is a sampler with snow scenes, bells, a bright red cardinal, and several traditional blocks : friendship stars, log cabin, flying geese.  Easy applique templates are included in the pattern.  The wallhanging finishes at 34″ x 44″.   Swap this out with the other Homegrown sampler patterns: Spring, Summer and Fall.

 A Parade of Seasons is another group of seasonal samplers.   Both of these sets of samplers are great for cleaning up some of those fabric scraps that seem to keep multiplying.

It’s called Heartstrings, but you can choose pine trees or stars if you prefer.  Use flannel or chenille to add texture.  This makes a great baby quilt.  Grandkids, anyone?!

Daisy Dash uses a modified churn dash block to simulate daisies sprinkled across the quilt.  The pattern includes instructions for four sizes: bed quilt, lap quilt, wall hanging and table topper.  Check out that unusual vine-y border on the lap quilt.

Miss Mabel’s Garden (I have to say I just love this one!) is a collection of patterns with multiple techniques . . . piecing, applique, embroidery.  The book includes placemats, table runners, wall quilts and bed quilts.  Fifteen projects in all for all skill levels.

Be sure to visit the Pine Tree Lodge website where you will find extra downloadable projects to go with some of these patterns.

Just 31 days until Christmas!  While some people may want to celebrate Thanksgiving before they think about Christmas, if you are going to make something (or lots of somethings!) for Christmas you need to start now (or last month!).   Our Christmas quilt kits will give you a running start.  With the pattern AND the fabric you’ll be ready to start right away.

Warm woolen mittens and adorable stockings work well as ornaments, as present decorations, or as mini-gift holders.   The Christmas Woolens Complete Kit includes wool felt, embroidery floss and gold string, plus patterns and instrucions.  Easy to make, fun to use, even more fun to give.

Santa and Rudolph will make a great addition to your entryway, welcoming holiday visitors.  The Santa Complete Kit includes EVERYTHING . . . fabric (for the top, back, and binding), batting, buttons, bell, and complete instructions.  All you supply is the thread and the “work”.  Finished wallhanging is 13″ x 15″.

Celebrate The Season is a sampler style quilt that measures 54.5″ x 46.5″.  Piecing, applique, and paper piecing are all part of the process.  The kit includes all the patterns and all the fabric for the quilt top and for the binding.  It’s wintry enough that you can leave it up all season, not just for Christmas.

Skating Party is another Christmas-y quilt that is suitable for the entire winter season.  Starting with a panel from the “Snow Day” fabric line in a blue/sage green/cream color scheme, it will go together quickly.  Simple blocks set on point finish the look.   The kit includes pattern and all the fabric needed for the top and binding.

Browse the rest of the Christmas Quilt Kits.  The kits themselves make great gifts, especially for new quilters.  Or enjoy the construction yourself, and you can gift the finished project . . . if you can part with it!