Monday, March 31, 2014

March Madness Final Four

Our Marblehead March Madness bracket is quickly narrowing down! 
After this weekend, we're left with 4 schools/colors vying for the top spot.



Florida:


UConn:


Wisconsin:


Kentucky:


Who will win it all? Which Marblehead color is your favorite?

Friday, March 28, 2014

A New Leaf

Ro Gregg has done it again--another richly colored collection, this one themed for autumn. The collection, called A New Leaf, features warm, welcoming harvest colors overlaid with metallic gold accents. And the best part? There's also a panel, the perfect focal point for a quilt or wall hanging. Soak in these fall prints and then hear what Ro has to say about A New Leaf below.




Q. What inspired you to design a leafy fall collection?
Ro: Fall is one of my favorite seasons. It actually is the way Mother Nature tries to please us with the spectacular show of color before the landscape turns to black, white and gray.

Q. What do you feel the metallic gold adds to the collection?
Ro: I used metallic gold to achieve a "glistening effect" that would emulate the sparkling effect from the sun.

Q. Did you use real leaves as models for the fabric?
Ro: I use actual leaves on the maple pattern and actual hickory leaves on the stripe.




Q. Can you talk about the color palette? 
Ro: The palette was inspired from a harvest sunset scene--a myriad of golds, crimson, and purples accented by forest greens.

Q. Tell us about the panel--why did you decide to make one and how did you come up with the motifs in it?
Ro: I love decorating for the fall, bringing the outside in, and what better way than showcasing the leaves into a panel. The panel is multifunctional for wall hangings, quilts on a cool night, even a table runner to rest a warm mug of cider on.

Q. Do you have a favorite print in the collection?
Ro: I love the maple leaf with the metallic splatter. It reminds me of when I was a child in grade school and one of our assignments were to make a workbook of fall leaves.



 Ready to get started? Download this free pattern from our website, Bright Autumn by Terry Albers.


See A New Leaf collection by Ro Gregg here.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Baby Talk x 2

Is there a baby quilt on your to-do list? Whether the little bundle of joy is a boy or a girl, Michele Crawford of Flower Box Quilts has a pattern in The Quilter magazine that we think you'll love! It uses our Baby Talk collection--fussy cut squares of sweet baby items, like rocking horses, rubber duckies, and rattles, and easy one-block piecing for a quick finish. 

Here's "Baby Talk" in blue/green:

"Baby Talk" designed by Michele Crawford and quilted by Kay Kimball;
featured in The Quilter magazine April/May 2014

and in pink/lavender:

And here's what Michele has to say about her design:

Q. Can you talk about the versatility of the main print you used for the borders and in the blocks?
Michele: I fussy cut designs from the main print as the corner squares of the quilt block. I like to use a border print in quilt blocks and then "frame" the quilt center with the outer border.


Q. Can you tell us about the block design? The frame around it really enhances the basic four-patch.
Michele: The magazine editor asked me to design a quick and easy template-free block for this quilt, and I thought the framed border offered a different look to a simple four-patch block.

Q. We have to ask—blue/green or pink/lavender?
Michele: I do like the blue/green colorway best.

Q. Any tips for fussy cutting the squares?
Michele: I cut a 3-1/2" square from template plastic and then positioned it on the border fabric to see how the design would look after being fussy cut.

Q. Tell us about the machine quilting.
Michele: Since the quilt design is so angular, I asked my machine quilter, Kay Kimball, to stitch an allover circular type design to "soften" the look with white thread.



To see the entire Baby Talk collection, click here.
To purchase the kit for either colorway and learn more about Michele, click here.
To find The Quilter magazine, click here


Monday, March 24, 2014

March Madness Updated

Here's our updated Marblehead version of March Madness. Whether you watch the games or not, it's fun to see the color filling in on this fabric version! 


Thursday, March 20, 2014

March Madness, Marblehead Style

It's that time again...when it seems like all anyone talks about is their bracket and how far their team will go in the tournament. In an effort to appeal to both non fans and fans alike, we're redesigning the March Madness men's basketball bracket using quilting fabric. 

Here's the Marblehead March Madness bracket, featuring swatches from the various Marblehead collections (200+ varieties and counting!) to represent each team's color. We'll be updating our bracket as the tournament progresses. 


And, we have to ask...which team do you think will win it all? Leave a comment below.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Star Sampler Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone who left comments during the nine days of our Star Sampler Blog Hop! We hope you all enjoyed the tutorials and the fantastic star blocks made using Marblehead Venetian Glass as much as we did! 


We've selected 3 winners from the comments to receive their own bundles of Marblehead Venetian Glass. We added all the comments from the blog hop (531 total), used random number generator to pick 3 comment numbers, and then found those commenters chronologically, starting from the comments on day 1. 

Our winners are:








Congratulations, winners! Please email us at fabriquiltblog (at) gmail.com with your mailing address. Once we have all three addresses, we'll send out the bundles. 


Here are the links for the nine tutorials in case you missed any!


     Star #1: Connie of Free Motion by the River
     Star #2: Joanne
     Star #3: Fabri-Quilt blog team
     Star #4: Dawn from Spring Water Designs
     Star #5: Heidi from The Whimsical Workshop
     Star #6: Fabri-Quilt blog team
     Star #7: Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts
     Star #8: Tammy from Tamarinis
     Star #9: Monica from Diary of a Quilt Maven

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

What's outside your window?


We've seen black and white quilts by Tony Jacobson before (like this one). But this quilt, with just a touch of blue, might be his neatest yet! Tony used the tree print from Ro Gregg's Marblehead Northern Woods to create the looking-through-a-window feel of this modern quilt, featured in the March-April 2014 issue of Love of Quilting magazine.

"Pane by Pane" by Tony Jacobson;
featured in Fons &  Porter's Love of Quilting magazine March-April 2014

Q. What was it about the Marblehead Northern Woods fabric that caught your eye?
Tony: I really enjoy doing black-and-white quilts. The texture created by the patterns of the bare trees in the one print really struck a cord. Mixing it with the other fabrics that also have a natural look to them just seemed right. In this case though, I decided to add just a pop of color.

Q. How did you come up with the idea to split the square of tree fabric?
Tony: The tree fabric reminded me of the timber areas in Iowa in the midst of winter, and the way most winters are in Iowa, you mainly see them through a window. So I decided it would be fun to play with the window concept in this quilt.


Q. What prompted you to add the blue, and also to add it in the block,
replacing that small square corner, as well as in the sashing squares?
Tony: For some reason I decided I wanted to have a pop of color in the quilt but I didn't want the color to scream out. So I decided to go with a blue which also helps to convey the idea of winter cold. I also have an affinity for leaded and stained glass windows. I think the subtle suggestion of pieces of stained glass helps with the ideas of a window pane.

Q. We love the look that the half blocks in the top and bottom row create. What prompted you to try that?  
Tony: If I would have done all of the rows as full blocks I think a viewer could easily look past the quilt and just assume that it's another quilt set with sashing. I think the half blocks add a certain unexpected tension which draw viewers in to see what is actually going on throughout the quilt.

Q. The overall look of the quilt has the feel of looking through windows. Is that the look you were going for?
Tony: I was definitely going for a window look. I've used this concept in several of my art quilts over the years.

Q. Can you tell us about the machine quilting you did?  
Tony: The machine quilting was done by LuAnn Downs. I just gave her free reign to do what she felt would work best. I like how the quilting radiates out from each of the panes. I've developed a relationship with a couple of quilters over the years where I feel I can let them do their thing with my quilt and I'm always pleasantly surprised with what they come up with.

Q. What do you like most about this quilt?
Tony: The textures created by the fabrics and the overall black-and-white aspect to this quilt is what I like the most.  

Q. Anything else to share about the design or the quilt in general?  
Tony: As happens sometimes, the fabrics for this quilt showed up in our offices one day as samples. I fell in love with them and created a pattern that I could create using what was in the box. I did however add the blue fabric.

See the entire fabric line here.
Find the magazine here.



Friday, March 14, 2014

Star Sampler Block #9

It's the last day of our Star Sampler blog hop! We hope you've enjoyed following along as much as we've enjoyed sharing these blocks. Today Monica from Diary of a Quilt Maven is sharing her block. Head over to her blog to see the tutorial, and then come back here to enter the giveaway to win a bundle of these gorgeous prints.
This sampler series of nine star blocks began last week and concludes today. The star blocks are made using Ro Gregg's Marblehead Venetian Glass fabrics. If you missed blocks #1-8, you'll find links for them at the bottom of this post.


Here's Monica's star block:

Looks like a lot of piecing, but it's all made of simple components: squares, half-square triangle units, flying geese units, and quick corners. Piece of cake, all done in warm-weather-inspired greens and blues. Find the tutorial here.

Thanks Monica!

      For a chance to win one of 3 fat quarter bundles of Marblehead Venetian Glass, sign up to follow Inspired by Fabric (using the "follow" button or the "follow by email" button in the right hand side bar) and leave an email letting us know you did, as well as telling us--which block is your favorite in this sampler? You can leave a comment to enter once for each post during the Star Sampler hop (9 entries total). The giveaway will be open through Monday, March 17th at 11:59 EST, and we'll randomly pick 3 winners on Wednesday of that week. 

     Make sure you catch the tutorials for all the blocks in the sampler!
     Star #1: Connie of Free Motion by the River
     Star #2: Joanne
     Star #3: Fabri-Quilt blog team
     Star #4: Dawn from Spring Water Designs
     Star #5: Heidi from The Whimsical Workshop 
     Star #6: Fabri-Quilt blog team

     Star #7: Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts
     Star #8: Tammy from Tamarinis
     

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Star Sampler Block #8


We're back with the second-last star tutorial for our Star Sampler, created by Tammy of Tamarinis. This star shines on a dark blue background! Tammy calls it the "woven ribbon" star, and you'll see how some careful cutting creates "ribbons" that really do seem to weave in and out of the star.



This sampler series of nine star blocks began last week and concludes tomorrow. The star blocks are made using Ro Gregg's Marblehead Venetian Glass fabrics. If you missed blocks #1-7, you'll find links for them at the bottom of this post. Plus, don't miss the chance to enter a giveaway to win a bundle of these gorgeous prints! 


Tammy: I was thrilled to be asked to participate in Fabri-Quilt’s Star Block promotion.  Ro Gregg’s Venetian Glass line is truly spectacular, and any excuse to play with those luscious fabrics is a good excuse, right?

Here’s my block – a woven ribbon star:




Now, before I begin – a funny (short) story.  I was trying to hurry – and we all know what a BAD idea that usually is.  Yep – no different for me.  I pulled up the wrong rendering – and made the wrong block.  Urgh!  I’ll share that one at the end – just so you can see what a different color placement can make!

To begin:

I started with these four beauties – fat quarters of navy with gold, paisley print, mottled blue, and cream with gold.  Strips are cut along the 22” side of the fat quarter.



Cutting:

Navy: (1) 3 ¾” strip
            (1) 4 ½” strip; subcut (4) 4 ½” squares

Paisley: (2) 1 7/8” strips
                        Cut (2) 1 7/8” x 3 3/8” rectangles from one strip

Mottled: (1) 1 7/8” strip
                        Cut (2) 1 7/8” x 3 3/8” rectangles from strip
                (1) 2” strip

Cream: (1) 3 ¾” strip
                        Cut (1) 3 3/8” square from strip
             (1) 2 ½” strip
             (1) 2” strip
             (1) 1 7/8” strip; subcut (4) 1 7/8” squares


Sew the Paisley 1 7/8” x 3 3/8” rectangles to the left and right sides of the 3 3/8” Cream square.  Press to the Paisley rectangles.




Sew the Cream 1 7/8” squares to the left and right side of the Mottled 1 7/8” x 3 3/8” rectangle.  Press to the Mottled rectangle. Repeat to make (2) sets. 

Sew to the top and bottom of the Paisley/Cream unit created above.




Create a strip set by sewing the Cream 2 ½” strip to the Paisley 1 7/8” strip.  Press to the Paisley.  Sew the Navy 3 ¾” strip to the Paisley strip.  Press to the Paisley.




Using your 6 ½” square, place the 45 degree line on the seam line between the Paisley and the Navy strip. 





Cut along the right side, cutting along the navy up to the paisley, then making the second side cut along the Paisley/Cream side.  Now turn that around and square it up, cutting a 4 7/8” square.  It will look like this.

          


Cut this square in half once, corner to corner.

                        
Repeat with remainder of strip set to create (2) additional HSTs (half square triangles).  Set aside – we’ll come back to these, plus the center block, in just a moment.

Sew the 2” Cream strip to the 2” Mottled strip.  Press to the Mottled strip.

Cut (4) 3 ½” squares from the strip set.  You will be cutting these in half – but not corner to corner (gesh – that would be TOO easy, huh?).  Measure ¼” down from the top corner, ¼” in from the bottom corner, and cut along that line.  Using the picture as a guide, cut (2) squares in half from top left to bottom right, (2) from top right to bottom left.



It sounds odd – but it works.  (And I know because I had to do this twice – to get it right!).  You’ll be using the larger (non-pointed) HST units in your star block construction.

Ready to start putting all these pieces together?  You should have all the pieces as shown:




The Cream/Mottled HSTs  will be paired up with (2) of the 4 ½” Navy squares.




Note the Cream portions meet at the corner.


Fold the Navy square in half, right sides together, to mark the center point.  Fold the Mottled/Cream HST in half along the long side, wrong sides together, to mark the center point.  Match up these finger creases, and sew the first HST to the marked side of the Navy 4 ½” square.  Press to the Navy square.               




Repeat with the second Mottled/Cream HST to complete one corner, pressing to the HST.  Repeat to make the second corner unit.

Remaining (2) corner blocks:
Note that again the cream corners meet at the center.



Lining up the corner, flip one HST unit onto the Navy 4 ½” square and stitch along the strip set side (the side with the two seams).  Press to the Navy square.


Now repeat with the second HST unit, ensure that placement is correct (cream points are meeting in the middle).  Press to the HST.


   

Repeat with the remaining corner.

Now you should have all sections to create your star.  The block is stitched together on the diagonal.  Lay your sections out in three rows as shown:



Begin by stitching the Mottled corner units to the Paisley sides of the center unit.  Press to the center unit.


Final step (woohoo!) – matching up seam lines, sew the last (2) corner units to the center block unit.  Press away from the center.

And you are done!



And what about that “oops” block, you ask?  Well, here you go.  See what a difference color placement makes?  I forgot about the Navy background when piecing the HSTs, and suddenly the star point is lost.  Oops!!!


Happy Stitching!

Tammy

      For a chance to win one of 3 fat quarter bundles of Marblehead Venetian Glass, sign up to follow Inspired by Fabric (using the "follow" button or the "follow by email" button in the right hand side bar) and leave an email letting us know you did, as well as telling us--what size quilt do you make most (lap, bed, wall hanging, table runners, etc.)? You can leave a comment to enter once for each post during the Star Sampler hop (9 entries total). The giveaway will be open through Monday, March 17th at 11:59 EST, and we'll randomly pick 3 winners on Wednesday of that week. 

     Make sure you catch the tutorials for all the blocks in the sampler!
     Star #1: Connie of Free Motion by the River
     Star #2: Joanne
     Star #3: Fabri-Quilt blog team
     Star #4: Dawn from Spring Water Designs
     Star #5: Heidi from The Whimsical Workshop 
     Star #6: Fabri-Quilt blog team
     Star #7: Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts
     Star #9: Monica from Diary of a Quilt Maven