Online quilting courses are convenient and can help you learn new quilting skills. However, if you have never taken an online course, you may be wondering if they are effective. I felt comfortable giving them a try because I used to teach graduate university courses online. In fact, I helped develop an entire online Master's degree for teachers at my university. Therefore, I already understood that online courses could be effective and that online courses have many benefits.

• ​They are available on your schedule.
• They can viewed as many time as you wish. (This is particularly helpful when you are learning a new skill.)
• They provide an opportunity to learn from well known and respected teachers that might not otherwise be available to you.

​I started by taking online courses that taught skills that I needed to start a quilting business. I found them very helpful. I learned how to develop a consistent brand and how to use the new EQ7 software that I had purchased.

​Recently, Craftsy gave me the opportunity to review one of their online quilting courses. They provided this opportunity because I am an Affiliate. I chose Mix and Match: Inspired Scrappy Quilting by Edyta Sitar because I have admired her work for some time and because the course was about making quilts from scraps. I was interested in learning how to use my scraps more effectively. I was able to watch the first lesson on my iPad while I was traveling by car to Oklahoma City. (My husband was driving.)

​I really like the way the course is set up. There is a supply sheet that provides all fabric and material requirements and includes all needed templates. I like knowing where a class is headed right from the start. This helps me recognize import aspects of the course as it goes along.

​I have just begun the course. In the first lesson, I learned how to select fabrics from my scraps, how to make scrappy strip sets that are attractive and will result in an attractive quilt and how to use the first two templates. My homework is to select fabric, sew strip sets, and use the templates to cut the strip sets.  I will keep you posted as I progress through the course. Right now, I have to get to my stash and play around with fabric. Yeah!

If you have been wanting to try an online quilting course, this is a good time because Craftsy has their online courses on sale though Sunday, May 7th. My Affiliate link to the savings is Online Course Savings.

Happy Quilting!

Welcome to Week Three of the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop. The quilt bloggers who are introducing themselves this week from the Let's Bee Quilt'n hive are:

​Amy at Amy Scrap Spot
​Nicole at Handwrought Quilts
​Barbara at Crazy Red Quilts
Gina at Quilts and Cakes
​Kara at Sunshine Kwilts 

The 2017 New Quilt Bloggers group is led by Yvonne @Quilting Jet Girl, Leanne @She Can Quilt, and Beth@ Cooking Up Quilts.  Yvonne, Leanne, and Beth are each hosting a group of new bloggers. For more information, more fun blogging sites to visit, and a list of sponsors please go to the hosts blogs. You can also register for prizes at any of their sites!

​Good Luck and Happy Quilting!

I love the look of hexies, and I enjoy sewing them using English Paper Piecing, but I also enjoy sewing them on my machine with no Y-seams! For the last two weeks in my blog, I have been traveling down memory lane. I showed some of the quilts that I have made in my 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop Introduction, and I showed my  Eagle Scout Memory quilt. However, it is time to write about what I am doing now. What have I been up to? I have been preparing workshop samples!

Honeycomb Quilt Workshop

This workshop will feature the Honeycomb Quilt pattern by Quilt in a Day. The pattern comes with the needed templates. However, I cut my hexies and equilateral triangles using my Accuquilt cutter and dies. Including the equilateral triangles is the key to sewing this hexie quilt with no Y-seams. In the photo below, I show my progress on the workshop sample. I am using the Deco State Flowers fabric by Tiffany Lerman from In the Beginning. I used a light gray blender for the triangles so that there would be a little more contrast for the mainly white fabric hexies. I wanted a scrappy look, but I liked the idea of having a state flowers theme for the quilt.

To help ensure that the fabrics were more evenly distributed, I divided the cut hexies into three groups. I tried to get the different fabric included and evenly distributed in each group. Now I am sewing the quilt in sections with one group of fabrics in each section. This seems to be working well.

When I teach this workshop, I would like to teach it in two three-hour sessions that are spaced at least one week apart. In the first session, I would teach how to cut the hexies and how to sew them into rows. Participants would then have time to sew the rows of hexies for their quilt. In the second session, I would teach how to sew the rows together and how to sew the binding after it is quilted.

Flower Power Table Runner

This  workshop will be a shorter version of the Honeycomb Workshop, but will feature the no Y-seam hexies as well. The pattern Flower Power Table Runner is from Quilt in a Day and includes the needed templates. The sample is ready for quilting! It was made from a Connecting Threads kit.​

The Flower Power Table Runner Workshop could be taught in one three-hour session if hexies and triangles were cut ahead of time. I am thinking of offering optional fabric kits at additional cost. The kits would contain all the fabric for the table runner top and binding, and all of the hexies and equilateral triangles would be pre-cut!

​You might want to see the other workshops I am offering. If you have a guild who might be interested in hosting a workshop, or if your quilt shop might be interested in sponsoring one, please contact me. I live in Oklahoma, but I travel as well!

​The New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop is taking a week off, but we will be back on May 8, 2017. I hope that you join us!

​Happy Quilting!

One day I was going through my jewelry box. We had just moved to Oklahoma and I was still unpacking and getting into our new space. This is what I found:​

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Boy Scouts of America, these are my Mother Pins. Every time, my son earned a new rank or a special designation, like the Order of the Arrow, the troop had a Court of Honor. In that ceremony, the Mother was given a pin. My first thought when I found them years later was, "I don't want to lose my pins. I had better put them in a safe place." Then I thought about my son's rank patches, merit badges, and other Boy Scout awards. He was an adult who would soon be married, but I still had these mementos. So I decided, naturally, that I would make him a quilt, sew them on the quilt the way I sewed them on his uniforms and sash so may years ago, and then give him the quilt. 

​It took some time to find the right material (and the badges). However, when I saw Robert Kaufman's Boy Scout fabric, I knew that was the material that I should use. It was perfect! I had not decided on a pattern, so I guessed on how much fabric to buy and which fabrics to buy from the line. I was afraid that the fabric would be gone before I decided on the pattern, so I went ahead and bought the fabric first. Fortunately, I guessed pretty well.

​For the pattern I chose Stars and Patches from the book, Still Stripping after 25 Years by Eleanor Burns. Below is a photo of the finished quilt:

Here are some close ups. Notice the ten points of the Scout Law in the tan fabric.

The Order of the Arrow badge is on the left, and the Philmont badge is on the right.

​Our son attended Philmont Boy Scout Camp when he was in high school. His Dad had planned to go with him, but he broke his ankle and could not make the trip which included backpacking. The photo below is a portion of the back of the quilt. It includes our son's search and rescue picture. I scanned it into my computer and then printed it on fabric with an ink jet printer. It was very easy.

I am glad that I did not find out that Philmont took a search and rescue photo before the boys went backpacking. They did this just in case they had to go find them in the backcountry. By the time I found out, my son was home safe and sound.  Below is a close up of the Eagle Scout badge from the front of the quilt. We are very proud that he is an Eagle Scout.

The hardest part of making this quilt was that all of the fabric was directional. That made constructing the quilt more difficult. However, I do love the fabric and the extra effort was worth it. I must admit though that I avoided directional fabric for many years after.

​When I made this quilt, I was quilting a memory. It documents our son's progress from a Tender Foot Scout to an Eagle Scout. It was a long journey that everyone in the family shared with him. We were a scouting family.

Do you have a memory that you would like to quilt? Please share it and any other comments below. I tend to reply on the web site. However, you can also email me, and I will reply by email.

​Happy Quilting!

My first quilt was World without End from A Quilter's Companion ​by Deloris Hinson.

​Welcome to Week 2 of the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop! It is my turn to introduce myself.

​I have been quilting as a hobby on and off for about 38 years. My first quilt was a baby quilt for my younger son. I hand-pieced and hand-quilted it. Unfortunately, I did not finish it until he was 12 years-old. So I made it a wall hanging instead. The pattern is  a classic entitled World without End. I found the pattern in my first  quilting book A Quilter's Companion by Delores Hinson.

​I enjoyed making that quilt, but it took so much time. I tried machine piecing, but I was dissatisfied with results. Then, I happen to see one of Eleanor Burns' quilting television programs. It changed my quilting life.  She showed me how to machine piece accurately. Soon I was completing quilts in a timely manner, and I was pleased with the results. Over time, quilting became more and more a part of my life. Some people might say I am obsessed, but I think that is a matter of opinion.

My New Adventure

I live in Oklahoma on a farm called JANDA Bend. It is the home of  JANDA Bend Christmas Trees. We have been raising and selling Christmas trees for many years. My husband started the business when we moved to Oklahoma so that I could take a faculty position at a nearby university. In May 2016 after 17 years of service, I retired as a Professor Emeritus and decided to start JANDA Bend Quilts. I think that this opportunity is a prefect blend of my love of quilting, love of teaching, and my desire to help make the world  better place. We named our farm JANDA Bend by using the first letters our first names. Jerry and April. The Bend came from the bend in the meadow that our log home overlooks.

​At JANDA Bend Quilts, I am dedicated to helping others enjoy the art of quilting.  I hope to do this by teaching quilting skills, designing quilt patterns, and supporting a community of quilters. I provide workshops and presentations for quilting guilds, quilt shops, and other groups and venues. The workshops feature Quilt in a Day patterns and techniques.  I am a Quilt in a Day certified teacher. As I design quilt patterns, workshops will be available to teach those patterns as well. The designs will be available as pdf downloads initially. If you happen to live in Northeastern Oklahoma, I will be selling quilts and quilted items during the Christmas season in our shop at JANDA Bend.

I prefer modern/traditional quilting. I enjoy making traditional quilts, but I also enjoy looking at traditional blocks and quilts in new ways and in new fabric choices. To give you some idea of my style, I have included some photos of quilts that I have made. I want to thank my family for allowing me to borrow the quilts that I gave them so that I could take pictures of them. I had to pinky swear that I would return them.

Quilts provide more than warmth. I was finishing this quilt when my husband entered the hospital for major surgery. While he was in the hospital, I was able to complete it at night. He recuperated under that quilt. Even today, when one of us is ill we sleep under that quilt. It is our official healing quilt and provides both a feeling of warmth and a feeling of being loved. That is the power of quilts.​​

Having grandchildren changed my quilting life! We have a wonderful nine year-old granddaughter, and a marvelous six year-old grandson. Here are a few of the quilts that I have made for them.

I hope you will come back later in the week. I have some surprises planned. In the meantime, please be sure to visit the other 2017 New Quilt Bloggers in the Let's be Quilt'n hive, who will be introducing themselves starting the week of April 17:

April  at​ JANDABendQuilts  (That's me!)
Gail at Quilting Gail
Kathy  at Kathys Kwilts and More
Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting

​The other members of our hive are

Amy at AmyScrapSpot
Andrea at Goofin' Off Around the Block
Barbara at Crazy Red Quilts
Becca at Pretty Piney
Emily at The Darling Dogwood
Gina at​ Quilts and Cakes
Gwen at Tillalili
​Kara at Sunshine Kwilts
Nicole at Handwrought Quilts
Rita at Posterity Quilt Company
Samantha  at Aqua Paisley Studio
Sharon at Yellow Cat Quilt Designs
Vivian at Quilting with Vivian
Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

For more information concerning blog giveaways from our sponsors, please see our hosts:

Yvonne at Quilting Jet Girl
Leanne at She Can Quilt
Beth at Cooking Up Quilts

They have a complete list of participants in each hive and a list of the sponsors for the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop on their blogs. In addition, there are instructions concerning how to register for giveaways. There is a new giveaway each week. So if you did not win last week, you can try again!

Blogging Tip

​As a new blogger, I think it is important to realize that blogging is a learn-as-you-go process. Technology is a moving target. Be persistent and choose what you want to include based on your purpose. It is very easy to get side-tracked by the latest and greatest blogging tool. If you need it, use it. Otherwise let it go, there will be something else new very soon.

Quilting Tip

There is no one best way of doing anything, especially quilting. Do what works for you and follow your heart. After all, quilting is supposed to be fun. That is one of the reasons I do it. I also quilt because it relieves stress; it is creative; and I think that it makes the world a better place.

​Why do you quilt? You can type your answer as a comment at the end of the blog. Other comments are welcome as well. Hope to hear from you! I tend to reply on my blog instead of by email. You can also send me an email, and  I will reply directly to you. I would love to hear from you.

​Happy Quilting!

Hope to see you here Monday. In the meantime, Happy Quilting!

As a new blogger, I wanted to improve my skills by learning from other more experienced bloggers. So I applied to be part of the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers group which is led by Yvonne @Quilting Jet Girl, Leanne @She Can Quilt, and Beth@ Cooking Up Quilts. I am so happy that I was accepted into the group. Since March, we have been learning from experienced bloggers, meeting other new bloggers, and, striving to improve our blogs. I have learned a lot!

​The next step is to for us to participate in a blog hop. We were divided into 3 hives. Our hive name is Let's Bee Quilt'n. Each hive will have their own blog hop during April and May. My week will begin April 17th.

​For more information, please see Yvonne @ Quilting Jet Girl, Leanne @ She Can Quilt, and Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts. They have a complete list of participants and sponsors for the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop.

​As for me, I will be working on getting ready for my portion of the blog hop. It is coming soon!

​Happy quilting!