Free Quilt Patterns + How to Add a Widget

(For active image, right click on widget in link)
I have spent hours and hours updating my Free Quilting Patterns list and have now created a widget that links the reader directly to this rather large list of sites that offer free quilt patterns or in the case of specific themes, to the actual pattern.

I began my list several years ago, feeling it was very important that I visit and save site information and not just 'copy' others' lists. Far too many of the 'lists' and 'free patterns' are actually not free or have dead links. As an avid blogger, researcher, and sharer of all things good, I spent an inordinate amount of time doing all of these.

When I visit other's sites and I see copying and pasting of others images or words, I know the blogger probably does not realize that they are infringing on another's bandwidth (which we have finite amounts of for the use of each of our blogs) or posting photos of works that may mislead others into thinking that we made the item, when we did not. The whole idea of copyright rights and the dangers of photo and image hosting, or the whole idea of quilting and copyright law are important ones, but it is also important to respect each artist or blogger's wishes by using good judgment and choices.

It is important to use link backs and public domain photos and not 'borrow' from others without their consent. Most of us are delighted to 'share' but appreciate links back.I can't even begin to tell you what enormous pleasure it gives me when I discover linkages from my posts on websites all over the world. My non-quilting articles have been featured on trend and buzz lists of major markets as have my free coupon links and tutorials. This makes me very happy. I feel like my work has value and my research was worthwhile and beside....I dearly love helping others :)

I am happy to offer you the info for placing the linkage for the "Free Quilt Patterns' logo on the right, as long as you please link it back to this blog. You also need to do this, in order to make it work! The widget used is from an altered image taken from public domain through google images and the image linking simply takes you to my own compiled list of free quilting patterns. At one time I tried to keep track of the number of patterns at each link or site...some made it easy for me by simply telling me their number, but others I tracked. I gave up when the list hit over 2,000. I continually add to this list, so my current 'guesstimate' is 2,500 or more free quilt patterns and I'm leaving it at that!!!

To add the widget and the link back for use by anyone, anytime, you follow these steps:

1. Go to Blogger Dashboard: layout
2. Add a page element: picture or image
3. To configure image, fill in the blanks as follows:

Title: Free Quilt Patterns
Link 1 to Heart and Hands blog free pattern site: http://with-heart-and-hands.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-quilting-patterns.html

Link choice 2 to my Free Quilt Patterns and Free Quilt Block Patterns separate blog: http://freequiltpatterns.blogspot.com/2009/03/free-quilt-patterns-list.html

And finally insert in the appropriate edit box this "Image (from the web":

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_aSMWM9ZrRLA/SlHy9IqGArI/AAAAAAAAOHg/uRl4dzvh658/s144/with%20my%20heart%20and%20my%20hands%20heading.jpg

And then finally click on : SAVE!

IF for any reason, your computer won't load this properly, or your blogger template doesn't work the same as mine does, then instead of using the Image (from the web (right click on my saved graphic first, so that it's on your own computer's desktop in a file, then use the optional linkage command of "from your computer" and link to that saved image, instead.

Allow it appear on your edit box as an image, if it does not, put cursor at end of jpg line and hit 'return' to activate it, manually.
It should appear, click save.

Thanks for the link back, I truly appreciate it!

3D Cupcake Quilt

We had the opportunity to tour Salem's deluxe 'Tour of Home's' new product house last week. Even though I am a builder's wife, and I help customers with colors and materials choices...was I interested in the use of new building materials, carpet, granite, marble or tile? Nope.

Where did I head? Right to the beds and bedding. And this little 3 D cupcake quilt in the small girl's room sure hit my 'sweet tooth!' The total decor included a tea party table, co-ordinating bathroom accessories and prints. But it was the cupcake quilt that was so creatively original and it definitely caught my eye and I couldn't keep my hands off of it...and neither could anyone else.

Three men and two women gathered around it, oohing and aahing and we didn't even know one another...or at least I thought we didn't. The other gal pulled out one of the 'cupcakes' so we knew they were removeable and therefore exchangeable. It reminded me of a giant tic tac toe game.

If I was a child, I'd be moving those delicacies around and constantly rearranging the colors and textures. The cupcakes were fleece, totally removable and decorated with ribbons, pompoms and pretties. I could hardly keep my hands off of them, and the viewers heads ...and hands...out of my photos ;)

Later, I found out that I knew the gal and even one of the guys, but at the time, we barely glanced at each other. There's something about cupcakes....real or not.

For those of you with little girls, maybe this will give you some cute ideas. And hey, if you have a little boy, why not a dimensional quilt with 3D boy toys while you're designing? My head is floating with all kinds of clever ideas...but then again, I'm on a sugar high!


PS
I had to remove my other links on this site. Once they are removed from websites, they can no longer connect here.

Here are some fun substitutes until I find more quilt ideas for free:


Cupcake pincushion by Crativity Amongst Chaos

Make a felt cupcake pincushion
Cupcake Pincushion box tutorial

Full Moon, Summer Solstice, and Flattened Skies

With the incredible full moon energies of June 18th and the summer solstice with its solstice moon illusions, this is an amazing week for change and transformation. The full moon in Sagittarius which represents idealism and faith will lead us into a new quest for truly finding a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives.

As the summer solstice marks its passage, and the the tilt of the Earth's axis is most oriented towards or away...depending on our northern or southern latitude...from the Sun (Latin sol) and appears to stand still (Latin sistere) in what is known as 'declination', it is the perfect time for journeys and journeying.

I just spent several days in Eugene, helping a daughter move into a new brighter environment in a quiet neighborhood outside of the University of Oregon environment. Eugene will soon be transformed by the international energies of the Olympic Track and Field Trials within the next week. The city is not only 'sporting' a face lift of fresh paint, beautiful new buildings and sports facilities but has many new roads, trees, flowers and other energies of re-birth and new growth. For a city, that has often seemed to be stuck in the energies last transformed by Phil Knight/Nike or the hippies of the 60's and 70's, it both energizing and yet somehow commercialized, at the same time. I loved seeing and feeling a new sense of power and movement there and saw it as a positive affirmation of the human spirit and our intense need for change in times of recession.

Many of you might have noticed strange illusions surrounding our full moon on the 18th, which seemed to magnify the moon and create an illusion of a lunar giant (example.) When we look at the Moon, rays of moonlight converge and form an image on the backs of our retinas. High moons and low moon make the same sized spot, yet our brain will create an illusion that one is bigger than the other. This illusion is called 'the low hanging' moon' because it looks unnaturally large as if it is sitting or 'hanging' on the horizon. This week's high summer solstice gives us a low, horizon hugging Moon and a strong Moon illusion similar to what we see when we view converging railroad tracks as they off into the distance. The Ponzo illusion (more info) explains how foreground objects trick us into thinking that the Moon is bigger than it actually is. This 'flattened sky' concept confuses us and creates a fascinating illusion of reality and our ability to perceive and notice perspective sizes.

This week's full solstice moon is part of a mystic triangle and as such, arrives on top of discoveries about our once a planet, not a mere 'plutoid', Pluto, and the hidden worlds that may lie beyond it. The plutoid definition is the new term for celestial bodies that "have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared [their orbits of debris]. All of this intense planetary energy makes it perfect for celebrations and creativity and growth, no matter how large or small celestial bodies might actually be.

As we move into this amazing time of change and growth, jump over new hurdles, set new records in time, space and perspective, allow your inner light to shine through...larger than life and meet and greet the new day and all you meet with joy.

above:
sidewalk mosaic, University of Oregon

Printable JoAnn's Instore Coupon:UPDATED

Click on icon below to get free printable coupon

Please be wary of the other 'coupon' sites, most are misleading and only bring you to online sites, usually the JoAnn stores site where they don't offer printable coupons, either! It requires being on a mailing list, which I am and which you can also sign up for!

When you sign up for Joann's online and receive their email offers, you are able to use multiple coupons....for example 1 from email and 1 of the available in the store flyer and 1 available in the handout flyer at the store...you can use one coupon of each on three separate full price items, as long as each bar code has a different UPC number. And when you sign up, as I did, you can also have the freedom to print your own instore that often can be used online with a special code, as well.

Please contact Joann Fabrics and sign up for an account, if you would like to receive one.
Click here: Jo-Ann Share a COUPON offer for friends and family. Become a Preferred Customer and Receive




Become one of my 'followers' by signing in on the sidebar...it's free and you don't even need a blog! Get in on the latest frugal finds, free pattern links and more!

Father's Day

Most of us are familiar with the origin and history of Mother's Day and its linkage back to ancient goddess festivals, England's Mothering Sunday, the American political activist Julia Ward Howe, and finally Anna Jarvis's campaign from church to church to declare her devotion to her own mother.

But the history and origin of Father's Day is less well-known. I did a bit of research because of this, and found that the idea of a complementary "Father's Day was the brainchild of Sonora Dodd, who first had the idea while she was sitting in church listening to one of these Mother's Day sermons in 1909.

She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran, who was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children, by himself, on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. Her father had raised them, as a single father, with many sacrifices and in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora believed that if a single father had raised and loved children with selfless devotion as hers had, then those fathers deserved their own day of devotion, just as the mother's had. Thus, the first Father's Day, was actually intended for single dads who served as the only parent, and not all dads in general. It simply grew into the holiday we know it as, today.

Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910. She had wanted the use his birth date but pending legislation was slowed down until President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Eventually, President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation (1966) declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972. In this sense, it is a relatively newer celebration, but one which most of us have celebrated throughout our own lives.

While other countries may or may not have their own versions of this day, some of the variations are quite interesting. In Germany there is no such thing as Father's Day but there are two terms and/or events of an older origin that while similar in name, have entirely different meanings.

Männertag, is always celebrated on Ascension Day (the Thursday forty days after Easter), which is a federal holiday. Regionally, it is also called men's day, Männertag, or gentlemen's day, Herrentag. It is tradition to do a males-only hiking tour with one or more smaller wagons, Bollerwagen, pulled by manpower.

In countries with Roman Catholic tradition, Fathers are celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day, commonly called Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19, though in most countries Father's Day is a secular celebration and celebrated separately from the feast holiday.

In Taiwan, Father's Day is not an official holiday, but is widely observed on August 8, the eighth day of the eighth month of the year. In Mandarin Chinese, the pronunciation of the number 8 is ba. This pronunciation is very similar to the character "?" "bà", which means "Papa" or "father". The Taiwanese, therefore, usually call August 8 by its nickname, "Baba Day." In Thailand, Father's Day is set as the birthday of the king and thus varies from generation to generation of its royalty. No matter what your country, your culture, or traditions, today is still a special day to honor fathers everywhere.

In honor of my own father, who at age 92 still works hard every day of his life caretaking my 83 year old mother who suffers from Alzheimer's, diabetes and is legally blind, I show above the photo quilt that I made a few years ago which I titled "Turning Ninety" , a variation of a "Turning Twenty" pattern that I made for his 90th birthday that I attended in my hometown of Douglas, Alaska where my father is from a large pioneer Alaskan family.

As a WWII veteran, the father of 5 children, and a hard working and very dedicated and loving husband to my mother, I honor him as my own father, today. Happy Father's Day to dad's everywhere!

Superstitions: Friday the 13th

For those that suffer from "triskaidekaphobia", the fear of the number 13, or friggatriskaidekaphobia. a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th, you'd best beware of all of the other ill omens and myths surrounding this day of great portent of impending doom.

Friday is Frigga's Day. Frigg or Frigga was an ancient Scandinavian fertility and love goddess, equivalent to the Roman Venus who had been worshiped on the sixth day of the week. Early Christians believed that Frigga was a witch and any Friday was the witches' Sabbath. For them, Friday the 13th was neither silly nor a joke. For them, it was a day that caused anxiety if not outright terror.

The origin of the association of this day as being a day of 'bad luck' , like most mythological symbology, has altered with time. But common Biblical beliefs link it to a variety of symbols. Biblical referencing most commonly link it to Friday, the day of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, the beginning of the Great Flood, Eves' offering of the apple to Adam, the day that Noah faced the Great Flood, or the Last Supper, at which Judas Iscariot was said to have been the 13th guest to sit down at the table. Judas later betrayed Jesus, leading to Jesus's crucifixion.

This led to the fear of having 13 guests at a dinner table fortold that one of them would die within the year. This also led to the superstition that the first person to rise from the table, or the last one to be seated, was an ill omen and created the concept of all waiting to be seated at the same time, standing up at the same time, or breaking groups into smaller tables to avoid the seating of 13.

Eventually, by the late 19th century, people went out of their way to avoid anything associated with the number 13...whether it was hotel rooms, desks, cars, floors of a building, rungs of a ladder, or steps on the stairs. These 'ill omens' led to the avoidance of even using these numbers in many places, and led to the renumbering (without the number 12) of hotel rooms, floors and so forth.

Other beliefs include:

• Needleworking: "I knew an old lady who, if she had nearly completed a piece of needlework on a Thursday, would put it aside unfinished, and set a few stitches in her next undertaking, that she might not be obliged either to begin the new task on Friday or to remain idle for a day." (1883)
• Giving Birth: "A child born on Friday is doomed to misfortune." (1846)


• Getting Married: "As to Friday, a couple married on that day are doomed to a cat-and-dog life." (1879)


• Recovering from Illness: "If you have been ill, don't get up for the first time on Friday." (1923)


• Moving: "Don't move on a Friday, or you won't stay there very long." (1982)


• Starting a New Job: "Servants who go into their situations on Friday, never go to stay."(1923) ....and my favorite.....


• Hearing News: "If you hear anything on a Friday, it gives you another wrinkle on your face, and adds a year to your age." (1883)

Update on Randy Pausch

Sept. 2009 Video: Dr. Randy Pausch Video Obituary
July 25, 2008 Update on Randy Pausch: Randy Pausch Has Died
July 29, 2008 The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life (ABC Tuesday Night)
July 31, 2008 The Gift of an Enduring Legacy
August 17, 2008 Carnegie Mellon University plans Randy Pausch Memorial Walk
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blog post as originally posted follows:

June 10, 2008: Oprah replays her television show that introduced us to Dr. Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor whose "Last Lecture", a time honored tradition at CMU of discussing how you would live your life if you knew you were dying became a Youtube, Internet, and Oprah show phenomenon. Randy is an amazing and courageous father, husband, professor and a man who is dying of incurable pancreatic cancer. Randy's book based on this lecture about 'truly living your childhood dreams' has been published and became a #1 best seller. Randy has said he didn't care about any number but 3. He wrote the book for his three young children and the first 3 copies were for them.

Randy has reported, as of May 28th, that the latest round of chemo created debilitating side effects and was discontinued. Previously, Randy has been involved in a number of experimental drug trials and each time, the side effects and the drugs, themselves, have created such extreme problems that they have had to be discontinued. Doctors continue to try to improve his general health so as to try continuing attacks against the tumors, which had spread.

He reported on June 10th, that he had received a letter from President and Mrs. Bush at the White House, where they express their support and prayers for his continuing strength and comfort. The letter can be clicked on and read in the magnified version.

Shown above:
Randy's determination to live life with joy can be seen above as he lifts his wife, Jai, into his arms, to the delight of the May, 2008 graduating class at Carnegie Mellon. Randy can be seen handing a copy of his book "The Last Lecture" to Al Gore during the commencement ceremonies. Randy was honored by giving the 'charge' at the end of the ceremonies to the young students and they were most certainly honored by his presence there that day.

YouTube - Randy Pausch Inspires Graduates :
Professor Randy Pausch's surprise return to Carnegie Mellon University to deliver an inspirational speech to the Class of 2008 at the Commencement ceremony on May 18, 2008. Pausch was included in TIME Magazine's 2008 list of the world's 100 most influential people. His book, "The Last Lecture," co-written by Jeff Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal and based on Pausch's now-famous talk "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," is a New York Times #1 bestseller.

Please continue to focus loving thoughts and prayers to Randy, Jai, and their three young children...Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.

Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture
The Last Lecture: Transcript Link

Read or Print off a copy of his transcript of The Last Lecture:
Transcript of Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" as delivered at Carnegie Mellon University on Sept. 18, 2007

Randy Pausch's Home Page
The story of Randy's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer
Update on Randy Pausch: in his own words
Randy's famous "Last Lecture."
The Last Lecture:Randy's Book, just released!
Randy Pausch's Last Lecture - UPDATE ETC Global News
Journeys Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood DreamsYouTube - The last lecture of Randy Pausch 1
ABC News: Dying Professor's Lecture of a Lifetime
RandyPauschInformation"The Last Lecture:Randy's Book, just released!

Free Simple Bag Pattern:Updated 2015

I have been on a creative, environmental, and even patriotic mission this weekend creating 'morsbags'..basically, a simple cloth bag that you turn into one with a small base with two simple stitching lines at the bottom.

As someone who has used reusable shopping bags since the 1980's, I jumped on the opportunity to update my shopping bags and join in with the current trend of encouraging their use in others.

I got my own original free pattern from a free bag movement in the UK called 'morsbags'. That project inspired me so much that I made 7 dozen free bags my very first year and gave all but a few of those away!

Morsbags is a grassroots and environmentally-driven project created by Claire ("Pol") Morsman in Devon, UK. Claire had found a dead seabird with its legs trapped in a plastic bag on a beach in Devon and later learned about a dead whale who had washed up on the shores of Normandy with a stomach full of plastic bags. Plastic bags are the serial killers of wildlife. Turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them and die. They are ingested by one animal, which dies and then decomposes around it, after which the bag floats off to find another victim.

Morsman now lives on a barge in West London and has been repeatedly upset to see the number of plastic bags that float by her home every day. She realized that an answer to the problem of plastic bags lay in the our seeming reliance of them and changing our patterns of plastic bag use. Using a previously unwanted sewing machine that her great-aunt had kindly left her, and in spite of her lack of sewing skills, she begged her mum to design a simple bag that anyone could make and convinced her fiancé to make a website (overnight!) so that everyone could join in and make their own bags. That website became a major movement in Great Britain and has now spread world-wide. Morsbags can now be globally recognized by their iron-on labels (download here in pdf format) and only add to the looks, the intent, and the fun!

The goal of morsbags.com is to get people together socially to make reusable cloth bags out of old, free or repurposed materials (sewing or quilting scraps/old duvet covers/curtains/sheets/old jeans/charity shop fabrics etc.) and then use and distribute them amongst friends and colleagues so that collectively we can reduce the number of plastic bags we use. The simple pattern creates bags that are reusable, recycled, fun and easy to make.

But you don't have to use a label showing your support for the original group. It's just a basic, free pattern for your own use or to give away..to anyone, anywhere. 

I use mine for light shopping...running to buy a few clothing items, craft ingredients, socks from Costco. For grocery shopping, like many of you, I prefer boxy shaped bags with stiff bottoms that can almost stand alone. I will be making my own pattern for those next to mimic the ones available for purchase at our grocery stores. Remember, in many countries, there are no recyclable bags for sale, much less for free!

 

And I've made many, many bags in patriotic fabrics and given them away for use in  hospitals or to those who sew for our armed service members in hospitals!

As the morsbag label states....sociable...guerrilla....bagging. The idea is to make enough of the bags for yourself and friends and family members and then take the leap to 'socially' making them in groups and using 'guerrilla' or 'catch them by surprise' tactics, and hand them out to others. Collective pods (as in whales) will often have sew-ins at shopping malls, zoos, businesses, and other public places...and simply offer the made at the site bags to others as an alternative to their using plastic shopping bags.

Every single bag helps. By making a couple of bags for personal use or for distribution, you can eliminate the use of about 150-200 plastic bags a year!!! Even if I only made 20 bags and distributed them here in Salem Oregon....that would be 400 plastic bags eliminated from use in a year! Hopefully, I will make lots more than that ;)

My first bags took longer than they should have because I wanted to decorate them a bit, but all of them have been made out of thrift shop fabrics and donations...including the glow in the dark rickrack! Future bags will be far more simple...especially when I begin to hand them out to shoppers ;)

Even the recipients of the free bags feel more attached to a unique cloth bag than a flimsy plastic one and if people get into the daily habit of carrying cloth bags, we can save 1000’s of animals, birds and fish”

Basic Bag Directions from morsbags.com(PDF) or Basic Bag Directions (MS Word)
More Instructional photos

 Additional Bag Patterns can be found at my primary post for that on my primary blog:
With Heart and Hands...links always up at the top 'pages' bar.


For those in England and elsewhere making them for the original cause:
morsbag website: http://www.morsbags.com/
Morsbag Guide (PDF)
Morsbag Guide (MS Word)
How-To Animation
Labels (PDF)
Labels (MS Word)
Make your own labels with fabric and freezerpaper: (do not mirror reverse image, just print off)

****Amazing photos of some of the bags that have been made. You HAVE to see these!
Flickr: bargebaggers' Photostream

Elmer's Glue For Your Quilt Binding

One of the newest online techniques for attaching quilt binding is to glue it down with Elmer's Glue-All school glue. The idea is that the glue makes it easier to hold the binding in place for hand or machine stitching it down...without needing pins or clips as you do your sewing .

I decided to see for myself whether it worked, how much I did or did not like the process, and whether or not I saw it as helpful, necessary or just a fun extra.

I attached the binding as usual, simply clipping it down to hold it in place, as I went around the edge. I used Elmer's multi-purpose glue, not 'school' glue as is recommended. My previous research indicated the name was more of an advertising ploy to get mom's to buy 'special' glue for the kids and not send them off with the old bottle of 'sitting around the house' glue. I was told by several teachers, that the glue seems to be about the same. It stays and/or washes out about the same, it holds down about the same...the multi-purpose may be a bit thicker and it aways works better on hard surfaces because of this.

I used what I had...and since I had 6 bottles of it, I wasn't inclined to go out and buy a new 'school glue' bottle ;) It worked great. I used a chopstick to help push the binding over the glue as I used the regular nozzle (I didn't have a fancy supplemental bottle tip, either) to make a thin line and/or beads (whichever came out first) along the inner crease of the inside fold edge. Even the beads never expanded outside of the binding, so that was no problem at all. I didn't really need a fancy tip, but if I'd had one, I'd probably have used it ;) The chopstick worked great...no glue on my fingers and the binding and I remained friends without conflict.

The glued seam was dry enough to hold the binding down by the time I'd gone around the entire edge of this small baby quilt...less than 15 minutes. I experimented with some hand stitching...no interference from the glue at all.

Would I do it again? Possibly. It was interesting, I'm glad to know it works. But frankly, I don't have that big of a problem with just using my little hair clips to hold the binding down as I sew, so I'm not sure I actually need another step to add in. And part of me does wonder...where does that glue go when you finally wash the quilt....does it stay put or wash all over and out?

At this point, I'm not feeling the need for any further experimentation.....this was interesting, but that's enough fun for one day. Howver, I am getting the urge to find my Crayola crayons and do some art quilting project ;)