The 12" Version of Little Trees

I never dreamed this pattern would still be popular 12 years after I designed it!

Please note the original 24" size quilt pattern is in the previous post. Just scroll down.

Little Trees Pattern 12" Version

Make four trees using the Tri-Recs tool, or make a template using a three inch square. 

Be sure to add a 1/4" seam allowance to your template.

Make the trunk with a 1-1/2" strip of brown. 

Measure and add side pieces and trim all to fit 3-1/2" wide, centering the trunk.

Make 20 HSTs that finish at 1 inch.

Cut 4 sashing strips 1-1/2" by 3-1/2"

Sew a HST to the end of each sashing strip as shown.

Sew the sashing strip to the right side of each tree to form a square block.

Sew the trees together so the pinwheel comes together in the center.

Make 4 more pinwheels for the corners.

Cut border strips 1-1/2" x 8-1/2". Sew 2 colored strips together for each side. 

Attach borders with pinwheel corners.

This is a rough pattern and hopefully you can figure it out with the help of the photo.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Marcie Patch

Little Trees Pattern

This quilt finishes 24" x 24"

Perhaps you have seen this little Christmas quilt making the rounds again this year. Its popularity seems to grow more each year. It used to be a free pattern on my website, which is now closed, but people keep asking for it, 
so due to many requests, I am reprinting it here. 
Feel free to cut and paste to make a hard copy.
Click each photo to isolate for printing.

Merry Christmas one and all!

Marcie Patch

Still Stitching...

Well I am still puttering along with my stitching. I am working on this quilt, Prairie Burgoyne, that was a Block of the Month (BOM) from Temecula Quilt Company in 2015. I love the block, Burgoyne Surrounded, and this is the third quilt I have made with this pattern. You can see the many versions of this quilt on my Pinterest page. I think it will be really pretty. The beautiful fabric is a line from Pam Buda at Heartspun Quilts. Pam is amazing! You will love her website!

I made this blue version years ago. It is worn to shreds!

And this is the one I made in the 

APQ Quiltalong. I love it! The pattern was in their magazine and designed by "Moda Lissa", aka Lissa Alexander from Moda Fabrics.

So on the subject of APQ Quiltalongs, last year 

they had a 4-Patch quiltalong going on and I 

jumped into that one as well. Rather than use 

the options in the magazine, I came up with my

own plan and went to work. Below is the out-

come. As you well know by now, I love scrap 

quilts, and this has bits from all my favorite Civil 

War Repro designers. (I can't get rid of that white!)

Someone will ask what size the blocks are, so let me tell you that the 4-Patches are made with 1-1/2" squares, then combined with 2-1/2" plain squares to make the double 4-Patch. For the triangle corners cut two squares at 3-3/4" then cut in half diagonally. You may get by with 3-1/2" squares, I really can't remember, but try one if you like and see what works for you. You will then have to trim the block, leaving your 1/4" seams on each side. My whole block finished at about 5-1/2". Hope you like it!

Now to get a little sewing done!

Hello, Goodbye

Recently my hairdresser (and quilting friend) asked if I had designed any new patterns lately. My reply was, "Only in my head"!  I haven't designed anything for publication in a couple of years. I have had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I have really slowed down. I haven't been able to admit, even to myself, that I was done with my quilt pattern business. I just don't want to work that hard anymore! 

I am happily involved in my life, still making quilts, but just for myself and family. I have also been devoting a lot of time to Family History, as you can see from my previous post. 

As a result of all this, I will be taking down my website patchalotpatterns.com

I want to urge any of you who may be interested in buying any of my patterns to do so before the site is gone. Also, if you are interested in any of the free patterns on my site, get them soon! Once the site is down they will be gone. 

I have moved some of my patterns to Etsy, but don't see this working very well so don't know if I will continue. Let's face it, there is always something new attracting our attention! The world keeps spinning! I enjoy all the new stuff too!

Just for fun I have pictured three baby quilts I made recently. Our family is growing! The blue and white one you will notice, has a twisted block in it. This gives credence to the fact that my eyesight is going, among other things!

Thank you so much for liking my patterns and following along with me over the years. Some of you have been online friends for a long time and I hope that will continue. Patchalot Patterns has been a very enjoyable and important part of my life! 

Underground Railroad in Lancaster, NY

I haven't been taking the time of late to post on my blog, even though there are so many things I should be posting. Something happened the other day that I really need to record and share. First let me say that I am posting this bit of family history for myself and for anyone searching for Winspear family history. The internet has made searching so much easier, but someone needs to make sure the information gets out there so Google can find it for us. I love doing family history research, genealogy. I have had so many emotional experiences when I have found members of my family who I knew nothing about. I have interviewed relatives both close and distant. Everyone is always happy to share and glad to know someone is interested. This is particularly true of the older generation (of which I have become a part). 

So on Friday I spent the entire day searching through family files, scanning and uploading old photos. My mother, Louise Winspear, had been very organized and had file folders where she saved old photos, funeral programs, notes, news clippings, etc. As the "family historian" I was left with much of this information. I have been trying to go through it and make it available to the rest of the family through online sharing.

I came across an old newspaper clipping that told of the sale of a house, built in 1810, at 5976 Genesee St. Lancaster, New York. My Winspear family settled in this area after coming to America from Yorkshire, England. This article mentioned that during the Civil War John and Catherine (Wheelock) Winspear lived there, and that they built a tunnel between the house and the 40 x 60 foot basement of the barn where it was used as a hiding place for runaway slaves. Let me tell you, this sent chills thru me! I know well who this family is as I have recorded their names and the names of their many children. John is the brother of my G-G-G-Grandfather William Winspear, who lived nearby. To think that members of my family were involved in the Underground Railroad made me so proud. This area of Western New York is so close to Canada and my guess is that the runaway slaves here headed there.

Even though I feel acquainted with this family through my research, it brought to mind how much I don't know, and how much I would like to know. For example, I didn't know this family was involved in hiding slaves. I don't know what part, if any, that his brother William played. I do know that William's son, my G-G Grandfather James Pennock, joined the Union Army when he was 16, as did his cousin, George Franklin Winspear, John and Catherine's son.   

Now, in the year 2016, I was able to go to the computer and Google the address of the house and find it on Google Maps. I found out that the house is currently an historical landmark called the Hull House, after the original owner, and they do tours and have lunches there, etc. It's amazing what we can find online now. I do a lot of research on ancestry.com, so if you are Winspear searching for information, be sure and check out my Winspear/mwp Family Tree, or contact me--definitely contact me!

All the best till next time!
Marcie Winspear Patch

Family time in Virginia Beach

Summer has come and gone without a stitch. Yes, I mean truly without a stitch. "How is this possible," You may ask? Well for one thing, we were lucky enough to have company visiting on a few occasions. I guess it is considered kind of rude to lock yourself in the sewing room when you have guests to visit with. 

Over the 4th of July our family from Arizona came to visit. We decided to re-pose granddaughter Danielle in front of the little quilt where her picture was taken so many years ago.

Danielle and her mom, Anna Marie at the beach

My granddaughter Mary and her husband Mike enjoying the water. Everyone enjoyed the beach night and day!

Food and family, nothing better!

In October my daughter Polly and granddaughter Katie came to visit. Katie is home-schooled so they manage to get their schooling in wherever they are. Plus, they are able to visit interesting and even historical places off-season.

Jamestown Settlement is a great place to visit!
The museum there is fabulous! (No photos allowed)
They also have guides in clothes typical of the era who explain how the people lived in that very primitive time. There are replicas of the huts that the Indians lived in, including animal skins and utensils on the walls and cots. The above shows Katie standing next to a skunk skin!

This ship is a replica of the Susan Constant, one of the three ships that sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and up the Jamestown River to settle. The ships actually landed about a mile from where we live in Virginia Beach, VA.
You would not believe how small these ships actually are! I can't even imagine crossing the ocean in this! A two month journey! I love all this historical stuff and love reading about how they lived, etc. And I am very thankful for my soft life in current times!

The Virginia Beach Aquarium is always on the list of things to do here. Katie really loved the turtles and felt that one was especially fond of her as well.

It has been a wonderful summer here in Virginia Beach! Possibly my last. More on that in the future.

Thanks for checking in on me and my very irregular writing schedule!

Itchin' and Stitchin'

I thought it was a spider bite, but I was wrong. My husband was afraid it was a flesh eating disease. Thankfully he was wrong too! It seems that I just tangled with plain old poison ivy or oak. It happened a week ago and I am still quite miserable. We have never had it in our yard before that I know of, so it blindsided me. I just reached for it and pulled as I was pulling up other little trees that regularly sprout in our yard. This one, however, fought back!  When it began to spread it took a violent turn. Both arms are covered, some on both legs and on my waist. I went to the doctor on Monday and she gave me some prednisone, which may be helping. I bought something called Ivarest, which has been helpful in controlling the itch somewhat, and it's helping the welts dry out. The skin that is healing looks burned and dried.

Now for the happy stuff! I began making the Cheri Payne Everyday Patchwork blocks and finished them all before I came back to Virginia. I love them! The directions are still on her blog. Scroll back to May 2015. She also has a darling little patriotic quilt on her blog now with the directions. 

The other project I was pushing to finish is a Jan Patek design called Homespun Hearth. Altho the book is on Jan's website, it is still out of stock. Finally Karen- Log Cabin Quilter, offered me her book and so I got busy. 

I have a tendency to change things and so my version is quite different from Jan's. I am pretty happy with it! 

 I like to fill spaces and decided that mine needed a dragonfly and a bird on the chimney, etc.

Another little project that I really got excited about was another Cheri Payne design. Again, mine got changed a bit. That seems to happen as I work and use different techniques, don't follow directions, or whatever. 

So you can see that I have been keeping busy the past few months. You can just think of me stichin' and itchin'!!