Make no bones about it...*

Do you ever have something come through your Facebook feed (or see something on a Pinterest board, or receive an email, or--if we go really old school here--actually see something in person at your local quilt shop or guild meeting) that you just HAVE to share?

That's how we felt when we ran across the image below on Facebook the other day:

Photo credit

Shanell Papp created this anatomically corrected crocheted skeleton, which was then featured on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

As fellow fiber artists, we can appreciate the amount of planning and work that goes into such a project. And just in case you're not into yarn or crocheting, we looked through our Marblehead prints to find coordinating fabric colors. Because we know you want to sew a skeleton like this! The only bad news is that you'll have to come up with your own pattern for the skeleton.

Suggested fabric for bones:

We won't try to identify the organs and body parts you see beyond the skeleton--anatomy class was a long time ago--but you can match these Marblehead colors to the coordinating areas of the skeleton photo above.

Looking for a less labor-intensive Halloween sewing project?
While we may not be sharing the steps to make this skeleton, be sure to stop back here later this week for two easy-to-sew Halloween tutorials! 

*Wonder where the phrase "Make no bones about it" came from? Read about it here.

Feels like fall!

Have the leaves in your neck of the woods started changing into those rich autumn hues? Even if they haven't (or don't!), there are enough pumpkins and gourds, as well as fall decor in stores, to get you in that fall mood. (And don't forget those tasty fall drinks...and the classic favorite, apple cider!)

We thought we'd help you get in a fall quilting spirit by sharing some of our favorite autumn-inspired designs. You can find more information on each project in the link below it.

"Bright Autumn" by Terry Albers
Download this free quilt pattern from our website

Find more info on these fabrics here.

"In Alignment" by Tony Jacobson;
featured in the Fall 2013 issue of Easy Quilts

 Find more info here.

"Harvest Lone Star" by Betsy Smith:

featured in The Quilter October-November 2012

Find more info here.

"Chocolate Bar" by Tricia Lynn Maloney;
featured in Easy Quilts fall 2013

 Read more here.

Harvest Home by Joan Shay; featured in Quilt Trends Fall 2012

Find more info here.

"Autumn Tapestry" by Pine Tree Country Quilts;
featured in The Quilter October/November 2013

Find more info here.

Pillowcase bundle winners

Thanks to everyone who commented on our post celebrating the One Million Pillowcase Challenge Sew-a-thon! If you sewed pillowcases this weekend (or at any point) for the Challenge, thank you! Every case gets the community closer to the big 1,000,000 goal!

Here are the winners of our 3 pillowcase fabric kits! 

Winner #1:

Winner #2:

Winner #3:

***Winners, please email us at fabriquiltblog (at) gmail.com with your mailing address, as well as your order of preference for the fabric kits (see them at the bottom of this post). We'll match up kit preference with winners on a first-come, first-served basis.*** 

To learn more about the One Million Pillowcase Challenge, click here. 

Looking for a little inspiration? Here are the two most recent pillowcase patterns offered by AP&Q, shown in some of our fabrics:

Fabric: Cosmopolitan; photo: allpeoplequilt.com

Fabric: Imagine This; photo: allpeoplequilt.com

Find these two patterns (and more!) here.

Block Party Tutorial

Happy Monday!

We've got something that's sure to brighten your day...this gorgeous floral quilt made by Connie from Freemotion by the River. Read through her tutorial below (she has some gorgeous close-up photos of the quilted panel blocks) and be sure to add this quilt to your to-do list! Then, head over to Connie's blog for a chance to enter to win some of Ro Gregg's Block Party fabrics.

And now here's Connie!

I had a lot of fun using the beautiful fabrics in Block Party designed by Ro Gregg for Fabri-Quilt to create this quilt to share with you. This quilt is 44" x 44".

You will need the following fabrics:

• 1 2/3 yards of the flower panel #8205
• 1 fat quarter of yellow #8064
• 1 fat quarter of light pink #8070
• 1 fat quarter of medium pink #8065
• 1 fat quarter of dark pink #8067
• 1 fat quarter of light purple #8071
• 1 fat quarter of medium purple #8063
• 1 fat quarter of dark purple #8068
• 1 fat quarter of light green #8072
• 1 fat quarter of dark green #8066
• 1/2 yard of medium pink #8065 for binding
• 1 1/2 yard of light pink #8070 for backing

Cut the flower blocks from the panel measuring 9 1/2 inch square. You will need the following:

 

Cut the following from your other fabrics.

Lay your pieces out as shown below and stitch the rows together, you will make 4 of these.

Layout the remaining pieces to make the rest of the blocks, you will make 8 of these.

Turn the blocks as shown below to create the center of your quilt.

Now you can add the remaining blocks around the center.

Here is the Flower Garden quilt all sewn together and the binding added.

The quilt is about 44 x 44 which means a normal width of fabric won't quite be wide enough for the back. Use the light pink for the backing and you can either add some scraps of the fat quarters or some of the flower panels to give you the width you need.

It was fun to use the beautiful flower panels and do some free motion quilting around them.

I changed my thread for the different sections of color.

The sunflower is my favorite.

All of my piecing and quilting was done on my favorite vintage 15-91 Singer which is only a straight stitch machine.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, I know I enjoyed working with great fabrics!

Head over to Connie's blog to find out how you can enter to win a fat quarter bundle of the Block Party  prints plus a flower block panel--that way you can get started on your version of Connie's quilt! 

Pillowcase Sew-a-thon and Giveaway!

Our post today is all about pillowcases in honor of the 24-Hour Sew-a-thon being put on by American Patchwork & Quilting for the One Million Pillowcase Challenge! Check out some of our favorite pillowcases using our fabric, and then be sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom for a chance to win one of three fabric kits to make pillowcases for charity. Find out more about the Sew-a-thon and the One Million Pillowcase Challenge here. (We're sponsoring the 22nd hour of the Sew-a-thon, so head over to see the Paintbrush Studio video on the APQ website!)

On to some pillowcase fun!

Nite Owls

Marblehead Global Brights

Christmas Flannels

Imagine This

Vibe

Tweet

Now for the giveaway! Each of these bundles includes enough fabric to make two pillowcases, which we hope you'll donate to the One Million Pillowcase Challenge. For a chance to win a bundle, sign up to follow our blog (see options in the right hand sidebar--either by email or through a blog reader) and leave a comment letting us know you're a follower, as well as if you've ever made a pillowcase before. The giveaway will be open through Wednesday, September 24th at 11:59 PM EST. We'll randomly select three winners and announce their names here on the blog on Thursday. 

Cassandra bundle:

Zany Zoo bundle:

Tweet bundle:

Tweet