Back in July when I had all the time in the world ahead of me, I committed to the Summer Trip Around the World QAL hosted by Meg from My Tea & Brie... well, summer has come and gone, and I need to get this quilt finished for Christmas! So I'm linking up with One Monthly Goal to finish it and get it wrapped and delivered.

I'm doing something wild this month... joining the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda. Check in and hold me accountable, and be sure to visit all the other great bloggers who are participating, too! ​To stay up to date on my posts, you can also subscribe to my monthly newsletter for BBD updates, as well as news, tips and inspiration from around our creative community!

Back in May, Sarah Goer and I kicked off a round robin for our kids to get them more involved in quilt making and to help build some kid-quilting community. We invited a few of our own quilty friends that we knew sewed with their kids, set some guidelines, and the Kids Quilt Round Robin was off! Over the summer, nine kids worked on each other's quilts in a round robin format - initially creating a block themselves, then each month passing it on to the next child on their team to add a block, until each quilt had four blocks. In September, everyone received their finished set of blocks to make into a quilt, and now we're ready to show off the quilt tops!

Last week I stumbled across the Five Fat Quarter Fun Contest hosted by Jedi Craft Girl & Gigi's Thimble. The two of them have been challenging each other to create designs that use just five fat quarters, plus the option of two background filler fabrics, and they hosted a contest for others to give it a try. The only problem was the deadline - I read about it just four days before the Oct 25th close of the months long contest. ​But a finished flimsy threshold for entry meant I might have a shot.

When I designed my latest quilt, I ventured into "multiple sizes" territory for the first time, and debated back and forth about how big to cap my dimensions. Ultimately, I decided that few people were likely to rush into make a king (full disclosure: I've been quilting for twenty some-odd years and have yet to make a king size quilt myself!), so I'd focus on smaller scales. The pattern is available in five sizes from mini (perfect for throw pillows) to queen. But having recently received a request for how to enlarge it, I now realize there are some king size quilters out there who might want additional guidance, and I'm more than happy to oblige.

{*Psst* pattern extras, like this size guidance, coloring pages, and images of alternate colorways, can be found on my Pattern Extras page under the Shop tab. Updates to patterns, new tips, or images of finishes are posted there for customers' easy access.}

Today may be Thursday ; ) but this was the big splash of color I posted on Instagram this Tuesday for my monthly giveaway! Click here to enter to win this bright bundle of Alison Glass' new Diving Board fabric. (Contest ends 1200 am 10/8/17.)

P.S. My newsletter drops tomorrow... to get your copy, sign up here!

Welcome to my stop on the Back to School Blog Hop organized by the talented Sam Hunter of Hunter's Design Studio. We're on day 25 in a month of helpful sewing tips and tricks, and there is so much wonderful information being shared! Today I'm going to talk starch - what is it, when you should use it, and what to avoid - and I'll share my favorite recipe for making it yourself.

I've been doing a lot of sprucing up here at BBD during the past few months, and it's all been to make it easy to find my new patterns and to have a place to offer pattern extras for my customers. I encourage you to take a look at my new Shop tab above. (And while you're at it, my new Teaching tab, too!) I also encourage you to hop over to Instagram and enter to win my newest pattern. I'll be posting more about the Topiary Quilt in the next few days, but in the meantime, you have a chance to win your own PDF copy!

P.S. This Friday I'll be joining in the Back to School Blog Hop hosted by Sam Hunter of Hunters Design Studio. I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts on starch with you, and hope you'll check out a few of the other awesome contributors, as well!