Friday Faves: 6 Animal Quilts

Happy Friday!

There's a new free quilt pattern up on our website featuring the Jungle Play collection. We love animal quilts, so we decided to share some of our favorites with you and on a Pinterest board. Download these pdf patterns and head to your local quilt shops to purchase the fabric. Happy sewing! 

1. "Jungle Play" by Pine Tree Country Quilts featuring Jungle Play

Download the free quilt pattern and see the fabrics here.

2. "Eggcellent Adventures" by Heidi Pridemore featuring Eggcellent Adventures

Download the free quilt pattern and see the fabrics here.

3. "Bear Hugs" by Pine Tree Country Quilts featuring Bear Hugs

Download the free quilt pattern and see the fabrics here.

4. "Wonky Zoo Pens" by Tresa McConachie featuring Zany Zoo

Download the free quilt pattern and see the fabrics here.

5. "Romance in Flight" by The Quilted Button featuring Who's Who by Ro Gregg

Download the free quilt pattern and see the fabrics here.

6. "Peek A Boo Nite Owl by Judy Hansen featuring Nite Owls

Download the free quilt pattern and see the fabrics here.

Looking for more? See additional animal-themed quilts on our Pinterest board here.

Make a Pillowcase!

We are once again sponsoring American Patchwork & Quilting's 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge in 2015, and we're excited to show you the two latest designs made in our fabric. 

Sawtooth Star
featuring the Who's Who collection by Ro Gregg

Download the pattern here.

Photo: Allpeoplequilt.com

Diamond in the Rough 

featuring the Tweet collection

Download the pattern here.

Photo: Allpeoplequilt.com

Learn more about the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge (the current count is in the 600,000s!), how you can get involved, and find 40+ additional pillowcase patterns here. 

Name that animal!

American Wildlife...our latest collection, inspired by nature, and perfect for the nature and animal love in your life! 

Bonus points if you can correctly identify all ten animals!

Realistic animal prints are fun to work with, but let's face it--they need to be paired with some carefully chosen tonals so they can really shine. We've matched each of the prints above with three coordinating prints. Look for these fabrics at your local quilt shop and get started on your Animal Lovers' quilt today! (Prints are identified in clockwise order starting from the upper left)

1. Classique; 2. American Wildlife; 3. Marblehead Gemstones, Jewels & Quartz* by Ro Gregg; 4. Graphix 3

1. American Wildlife; 2. Graphix 3; 3. Marblehead by Ro Gregg; 4. Graphix 3

1. Marblehead Gemstones, Jewels & Quartz *by Ro Gregg; 2. American Wildlife; 3. Shadows; 4. Marblehead Gemstones, Jewels & Quartz* by Ro Gregg

1. American Wildlife;  2. Marblehead Gemstones, Jewels & Quartz* by Ro Gregg; 3. Classique; 4. Classique

1. American Wildlife; 2. Classique; 3. Changing Seasons*; 4. Classique

1. American Wildlife; 2. Graphix 3; 3. Classique; 4.  Batiks

1. Shadows; 2. American Wildlife; 3. Shadows; 4. Marblehead by Ro Gregg

1. American Wildlife; 2. Classique; 3. Marblehead Gemstones, Jewels & Quartz* by Ro Gregg; 4. Changing Seasons* 

1. Classique; 2. American Wildlife; 3. Classique; 4.Classique

1. Batiks; 2. American Wildlife; 3. Classique; 4. Classique

See the entire American Wildlife collection here.

*Changing Seasons and Marblehead Gemstones, Jewels & Quartz will be available in quilt shops in April.

Make your own Washington Pavement block!

In honor of President's Day, we showed you a few blocks with presidential connections using the Vera Cruz collection. Today we're back with the cutting and assembly directions for the Washington's Pavement block.

To make this block, cut:

From the white solid:

(4) 2-5/8" squares

(3) 4-1/4" squares, then cut each diagonally in half twice

(2) 2-3/8" squares, then cut each diagonally in half once

From the green zigzag:

(8) 2-5/8" squares

From the blue floral:

(1) 2-5/8" square

From the paisley:

(4) 2-5/8" x 6-7/8" pieces

Step 1: Assemble (4) 2-5/8" white squares, (4) 2-5/8" green zigzag squares and (1) 2-5/8" blue floral square into a ninepatch.

Step 2: Sew (2) 4-1/4" white triangles to a 2-5/8" green zigzag square. Add a 2-3/8" white triangle to the top. Stitch a 2-5/8" x 6-7/8" paisley piece to the bottom. Make 4. (Triangles are cut larger and will need to be trimmed after block is assembled.)

Step 3: On two of the units from step 2, add 4-1/4" white triangles to the short sides of the paisley piece.

Step 4: Sew the remaining units from step 2 to opposite sides of the ninepatch. 

Step 5: Sew the units from step 3 to the remaining sides of the ninepatch. Square up the block to 1/4" past points so it measures 12-1/2" square.

You're done!

And just for fun, here's what nine Washington Pavement blocks look like in a quilt.

Block Assembly Source: Civil War Quilts

Find more details for making this block, as well as its history and variations (hint: with different fabric placement, this is also the classic Album Block!) at Civil War Quilts as well.

See the entire Vera Cruz collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.

Briarcliff: Classic Romance

Briarcliff...the very name evokes thoughts of classic romance in an English Manor. Detailed paisleys and floral scrolled motifs pair with matching coordinates for a beautiful, traditionally-inspired fabric line. 

 Briarcliff in fresh spring-like colors:

Briarcliff in traditional home-dec inspired colors:

Take a closer look at a few of these prints:

Click here to see the entire Briarcliff collection and ask for it at your local quilt shop.

Were Washington and Lincoln Quilters?

Maybe these two famous presidents never actually stitched quilts, but there are several blocks named after them! 

In honor of President's Day, we're sharing several Washington and Lincoln-themed blocks here with you today using our new Vera Cruz collection. Leave a comment letting us know which block you like best and we'll post the directions for making the most requested block next week.

Washington Pavement Block

Washington's Puzzle Block

Lincoln Quilt Block

Log Cabin Block 

(okay, technically this block isn't named after Lincoln, but as every elementary school child learns, Lincoln and log cabins go hand in hand!)

Want to see more of the Vera Cruz collection?

It's a breath of fresh air--big blooms and paisleys with zigzag, floral and scroll coordinates--just the touch of spring we all need in mid February!

See the entire Vera Cruz collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.

What's on the menu?

February 14th is not only an opportunity to get creative in the sewing room; it's also a chance to prepare some fun treats in the kitchen. Here are a few of our favorites from our Valentine's Day pinterest board:

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake

Find the pin here.

Strawberry Brownie Kabobs

Find the pin here.

Mozzarella Cheese Filled Hearts with Red Pepper Pesto

Find the pin here.

Caprese Salad

Find the pin here.

Heart-shaped Fried Eggs

Find the pin here.

Heart-shaped Fruit

Find the pin here.

Peek-A-Boo Pound Cake

Find the pin here.

Conversation Heart Cake

Find the pin here.

See our entire Valentine's Day pinterest board here.

Follow us on Pinterest.

Red-apalooza!

With Valentine's Day around the corner, we've created a virtual gallery of our favorite reds, pinks, mauves, fuchsia, maroon and even purple prints. We hope it inspired you to do a little valentine sewing! Look for these fabrics at your local quilt shop.

See the Batiks here.

See the Eggcellent Adventures by Heidi Pridemore collection here.

See the Changing Seasons collection by Ro Gregg here. 
(Available April 2015: Coming soon to a quilt shop near you!)

See the Classique collection here.

See the Graphix 3 collection here.

See the Marblehead Gemstones, Jewels and Quartz collection by Ro Gregg here.
(Available April 2015: Coming soon to a quilt shop near you!)

See the Shadows collection here.

See the Vera Cruz collection here.

See the Marblehead Global Brights and Marblehead Pleasing Pastels collections by Ro Gregg here and here.