Welcome to Mountaintop Quilting Studio

This is where you find me exploring a variety of creative adventures mostly about but not limited to quilting. I'm a firm believer that one increases their creativity by being open to and playing with a variety of cretative endeavors ... at least that my excuse for today. Enjoy your sourjourn through my studio playroom. May you find encouragement and inspiration, and on occassion, a little pin-prick that may be thought-provoking or spark your imagination. Thank you for stopping by.

TODAY is the day at least for my Oregon Scrappy Sisters - I miss you guys. It's MISTLETOE MAGIC 2011 our annual Christmas quilting party. Time to get together and celebrate long term lasting friendships while enjoying the craft of quilting for the whole day.

Of course, there is the ...

Can you believe it ... we're ready for putting together the last units of the block. These block units are called Tri-Rec units and you will need 4 for each block using the main fabric and the background fabric.

This is one of my most favorite patch units to use ...

Time for the next installment in this pattern. Are you ready? How is the cutting going? Be sure to drop me an email if you have any questions.

After you cut your strips you will need your Omnigrid 96 ruler for cutting the triangles from the 4.5" strips. Many ...

And we're off and rolling with the first step in making your quilt starting with cutting and constructing the block centers. Notice the pattern is sized for THROW, TWIN, QUEEN, and KING bed-sized quilts when all is said and done. Be sure to follow the correct columns and patch ...

As promised, the next installment for this new pattern ...

So it's time to start pulling fabrics and stay tuned for the next installment - cutting instruction will be following soon. Click on the image to access a printable copy of these directions.

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A FUN SURPRISE	POMEGRANATE ...

As I've worked with this pattern it's becoming my new favorite. I love the movement across the top of the quilt and the secondary patterns created when the blocks are placed side-by-side. If you squint you will see whirling circles rather than blocks in a row. Isn't ...

MISTLETOE MAGIC ALERT! Another teaser coming your way. This is a block kit all cut and ready for piecing together. I used the Tri-Recs ruler set, the Omni 96, and a regular straight edge ruler.

Since I'm making my quilt with scrappy blocks I'm keeping the background consistent ...

They're back ... tis the season of the pomegranate once again for another year. I saw them in the grocery while shopping this afternoon and was so tempted to get one. I remember picking the seeds out of the peel and juice running down my chin as I feasted on ...

It the deal of the day! Time to take advantage of the savings while you can. You'll not want to miss out on this great buy and there is only ONE left for ONE lucky customer. Click HERE to buy now!

Be sure to enter the cupon code exactly ...

How can that be? How can 1 dark square in a square plus 1 light square in a square equal a star?

But look, when you put them all together alternating light and dark, stand back and look again and you'll start to see stars popping out all over ...

Ah a day for petting the fabrics, playing in the scrap bins, and getting a little bit ahead on the cutting for several different projects while I prep for Saturday's class using my pattern called MQS 112 DIAMONDS ON THE DOUBLE at Pumpkin Patch Quilts in Lee. Here's ...

Yes, look very closely at the bottom of the photo and you will see it ... that's right, I did an inside trim. If you've been in any of my classes you'll hear me give my reasoning ... the biggest reason I can think of learning how to do ...

It's time for the piecing phase of my business to kick in now and I get to start with creating the quilt pattern I designed for a collection from the Northcott fabric company designed by Sunshine Cottage called Stonehenge Skins.

This yummy bundle of fabrics starts with the gorgeous ...

Dreaming of flowers during our February windy snow storm and a special request from Mitzi inspired this fun play exercise designing with Creative Studio. What better way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon than playing in your studio.

You need:

• Creative Studio ready to go starting a new project.
• 1234 ...

Learning is a funny thing just by the nature of how it happens, and as Marva Collins says, "The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another." So what is this deep thinking all about, Kay, and what ever on earth does it have ...

Cut a strip here, sew a seam there, arrange a set of blocks into a row, apply a few borders and ... VOILA! And such was the tale with the yummy fabric bundle from Northcott. The collection is called Wellesley and includes a beautiful border stripe fabric.

I use two historic ...

• Have you gotten your copy of the September issue of American Quilter?
• Did you see page 68?
• Did you happen to notice the name of the designer for Dragonfly Blossoms? You're right if you guessed my name.

It was a long time in coming but finally the pattern made ...

Imagine my surprise while sitting at my kitchen island thumbing through the latest quilting catalog as I was eating lunch. I turned to the next page and saw one of my quilting patchwork patterns Queen Annes Lace featured with a big splashy NEW sticker! How fun ...

I created this pattern ...

Every summer I host a retreat for my sewing group, The Scrappy Sisters. We meet on Friday night for a "Come One, Come All" BBQ Potluck. We bring, hang, and share quilts and quilt tops from retreats from previous retreats. We have the announcement and awarding of prizes to the ...

They're here! Way last Spring during International Quilt Market 2008 here in Portland I placed an order for a line of 1930's reproduction fabrics. I have quite a stash of 30's but can never resist adding to the stash. I know how hard I look to find ...

• The patterns and catalogs are printed
• The boxes are shipped
• The quilts are packed
• The laptop, snacks, and last minute are packed
• The airline boarding passes are printed
• Market documents are packed.

What have I forgotten? Today I take care of the personal stuff ... haircut, packing my clothes, etc. I ...

Another market season finished and a part of history ... what a grand time to meet up with old friends and make new friends. Market is a place where all of us with quilt related product come together in one large venue to offer our wares to shop owners and ...

Oh my! New grandbabies, getting very sick with a repspiratory infection, and then playing catch-up really does put one behind. But, we should be back on schedule now. So let's get to the fun stuff .. what have I been working on?

Digitizing and Designing seem to be the task ...

A sneak preview of a pattern to be published later this spring in the AQS journal American Quilter with closeups of the quilting designs from the Gossamer Collection. First you see the border design Gossamer Wings and after that Gossamer Block filling in the pieced Blossom block.

I resized Gossamer ...