Quilts and Other Stuff from Frances

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The Quilters of West Wing

March 12, 2026 2 Comments

At the beginning of each year, I pick one well-loved program to binge-watch during tax season.

Last year it was Midsomer Murders….

138 episodes of murder in Midsomer County, England….

At 90 minutes each, it is needless to say, I didn’t finish until well after tax season was over!

This year I have gone with “The West Wing”…..

155, fifty-minute episodes of political goodness!

During my “No QuiltCon Mini Retreat”, I chose to continue the binge watching.

And, of course, the episode featuring quilters came on. Here is the scene…..

White-haired quilters are meeting with the Vice-President while he ignores them and continues talking to the aide present in the room.

Two things bother me about this scene….

  • FIRST, the quilts are outstanding, and he should be amazed at the work!!
  • SECONDLY, not all of us are white-haired and bespeckled!! Some of us cover up that white hair with Clairol Natural Instincts!!

Having said that, I am reminded of walking past the “Lost and Found” desk at the International Quilt Festival and seeing a HUGE pile of reading glasses….

Apparently, we often wear glasses, but obviously can’t keep track of them.

JUST A BIT OF FUN FOR A THURSDAY IN MARCH!!

Calendar House UFO

March 11, 2026 6 Comments

Continuing with my series of Inherited UFO’s, we now come to my Mom’s Calendar Houses.

As part of her love for button-hole stitch applique, she made these 12 blocks….

I love the details, like chickens pecking in the yard…

….and the Santa coming down the chimney in this southwestern scene…..

It was fun to find her notes to herself about adding ribbons to the maypole….

Although the blocks are cute, I don’t have any particular desire to finish it off.

I would love to hear your thoughts…..

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Circle-Liner for the win

March 10, 2026 1 Comment

If you have been around here for long, you know that I spent one year trying various quilted mandala patterns, and I am still thinking about new ways to use mandalas in the future.

But, the problem has been drawing the base for the design. I was fine as long as it was only 12 inches in diameter, but I couldn’t easily make the pattern for larger ones.

UNTIL……

Several years ago, I discovered the tools of Sue Heinz of Kismet Quilting.

Two of those tools are the Circleliner and the Circleliner Extension…..

I used the tools to create a 16-inch circle base…..

…. and split it up into equal segments…..

Once I had the design elements marked, I couldn’t resist spending a few minutes designing a new mandala….

I stopped with a 16-inch circle because that was the size of my paper, but I could EASILY extend the design up to 24 inches!

When I get ready to use it on fabric, I will do a video showing exactly how to use it.

I can’t wait to design more big mandalas and then quilt them!!

STAY TUNED!!!

PS….This was part of my “no QuiltCon” retreat!!

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