Brighten up a bed with Calypso Goldfish

Can't get Ro Gregg's cheery, summery Calypso Goldfish prints out of your mind? Quilt Trends magazine just featured this eye-catching runner using these prints, made by The Quilting Hen. Keep reading to learn more about it!

Calypso Bed Runner by The Quilting Hen; featured in Quilt Trends summer 2014

Q. What did you find appealing about the Calypso Goldfish fabric?

Patricia Sue: I love any fabric that has to do with fish or the ocean. This collection especially appealed to me because of the bright colors--I love the cheerfulness, and just looking at them makes me happy! I love pink, and love how it is used as an accent color in this collection. The masterful blend of contrast and matching colors make it easy to use any two pieces next to each other.

Q. What makes a bed runner such a great project?

Patricia Sue: Bed runners are great for using fabrics that you love, but don't necessarily want to decorate your entire room in. They allow you to have seasonal changes in decor or add a splash of color to a room that you do not want to completely change, but need a new look for a time. They allow you to try different techniques without having to creating an entire quilt. If you have a special or light color bed spread, a bed runner is a nice way to protect the end of the bed covering. They are also a must for those who live in cooler climates and need the extra layer on their feet at night!

Q. How did you construct the blocks?

Patricia Sue: The blocks are all applique. I used steam-a-seam™ just on the edges of the appliqué so that the quilter would not have to go through multiple layers of adhesive. I know what a challenge it is to try and quilt through that many layers of adhesive--nearly impossible! Since bed runners do not need to be washed as often, a raw edge appliqué will hold up well enough.

Q. How did you come up with the design?

Patricia Sue: I was going for an interpretive design that could read like a lily pad. The colorful fish on these fabrics look like they should be in an outdoor pond with lily pads and frogs. The blue wave was chosen to represent water and the yellow gives the appliqués a "floating" effect.

Q. What made you decide to use four borders?

Patricia Sue:  I loved all the pieces in this collection and I could not decide on one to eliminate, so multiple borders were a must-do. The dimensional pink border is an added texture that I like to put in my "fun" quilts. Kids especially like this added texture, and these fabrics could easily be suited to a child's room.

Q. What do you like best about the runner?

Patricia Sue: The little dragon flies are my favorite. I did not realize that the dragonflies were even there until I was piecing the quilt. I was admiring the fish and frogs so much that initially I missed them. They are a nice added splash to an already spectacular design.

Q. How is it machine quilted?

Patricia Sue: The "lily pads" are free hand echo quilted. The block backgrounds, setting triangles, and borders are quilted with a combination swirl and wave design. Our long arm quilter, Shawna Crawford, always seems to know just what to put on the quilt to make it a complete look.

Q. Tell us about the coordinating pillow (shown in the photo).

Patricia Sue: The pillow was made using scraps from the runner. The templates for the appliqué frogs and dragon flies are included in our kits. You can put them on the runner, pillowcase, or throw pillow as desired. The appliqués were made with scrap fabrics from the runner also.

Read more about Ro's Calypso Goldfish collection here and see the entire line here.
Purchase the kit for this bed runner here.
Find Quilt Trends magazine here.

Winter Elegance

Q. What do you get when you combine two traditional block designs with an collection of Oriental prints in an updated palette? 

A. A quilt worthy of a magazine cover, rich in texture, detail, and color

"Winter Elegance" by Diane Arganbright and Patricia Sue Nelson, featured in the Winter 2014 issue of Quilt Trens magazine, pairs our unique Cherry Blossoms collection with coordinating Marblehead prints to create a stunning design. 

Keep reading to learn more about it.

Q. What attracted you to the Cherry Blossoms collection?

Diane: The colors and design of the Cherry Blossoms collection were both big draws for us. Pink and purple are not traditionally the colors of Oriental fabrics, which made this collection fun to work with. We always love oriental designs.

Q. Why did you decide to use purple as the main color?

Diane: Purple seemed to be the best color choice to accent the focus fabric without taking away from it.

Q. How did you choose which blocks to feature?

Diane: We wanted to do a traditional quilting design with oriental fabrics. The colors of the Cherry Blossoms collection blend so well together that a log cabin block seemed to be a good choice to use with them.  The stars were added to break up the melting colors.

Q. Can you talk about why you added in Marblehead fabrics as well?

Diane: The blending qualities of the Marblehead collection were the perfect addition to the log cabin blocks to fill in otherwise missing gradient colors. The natural-colored Marblehead used in the background lends a softening touch to the quilt. We felt that a more solid fabric would have been too stark for the desired effect.

Q. What is your favorite part about the quilt?

Diane: The log cabin blocks are my favorite part of the quilt. Patricia Meek and Denise Combs did an amazing job of cutting and piecing this quilt in less than two weeks to meet a deadline!

Q. Tell us about the machine quilting.

Diane: Our long arm quilter, Shawna Crawford, did an outstanding job of combining swirls and feathers to create a unique quilting pattern for this quilt.  The quilting truly enhances the design without taking away from the beautiful fabrics. 

See the entire Cherry Blossoms collection here and Marblehead here.
Find the kit for Winter Elegance here.
Find Quilt Trends magazine here.

(Frosty) Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

We all love a good red and green holiday project, but by the time January rolls around, are you starting to tire of those holiday colors? 

The solution? 

Choose blue and white for a design that can last all winter (and beyond)! 

Then add in diamonds, and you'll have a project no woman could refuse!

Diane Arganbright of The Quilting Hen saw the frosty palette appeal in our Summer Breeze collection and designed the "Winter Breeze" table runner, featured in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of The Quilter magazine. 

"Winter Breeze" designed by Diane Arganbright,
pieced by Denise Combs and quilted by Shawna Crawford;
featured in The Quilter December 2013/January 2014

We spoke with Diane, who explained how she came up with this cool runner design and even shares some tips for working with diamond templates!

Q. What do you like about the Summer Breeze fabric collection?

Diane: We didn't want to cut up the beautiful designs in the fabrics and the colors blue and white have become so popular for Christmas decorating. The fabric looked stunning, with great contrast, so we were excited to sew with it.

Q. Why did you decide to use diamonds in the design?

Diane: Our quilt shop has noticed that templates are experiencing a strong comeback with customers. We chose to use diamond templates to create something slightly more advanced for our quilters, but also easy enough that a newer quilter could give it a try.

Q. Any tips, either for cutting the diamonds?

Diane: In general, a good tip is you can cut a strip of fabric and then put the diamond template on that strip to cut it instead of working with the entire piece of fabric because the 2 long sides are on the straight grain.

Also, lay your ruler over the top of your template to give you extra stability when you are cutting.

Q. What do you like best about the runner?

Diane: The runner looks beautiful in the photograph taken for The Quilter magazine.  Many homes seem to have dark wood, and this blue and white fabric look elegant on that dark wood.

Q. Can you talk about how it was machine quilted?

Diane: This was machine quilted by Shawna Crawford of Lewistown, Montana, and she used holiday themes machine on the table runner.  I have used Shawna for all our machine projects and her work is stunning!

Q. What do you envision this table runner being used for?

Diane: This was designed for the holidays but could be created in many different fabrics for your needs.  It would make a great gift and by switching up the fabric, you could make it more masculine as this diamond style would work for the man in your life too, perhaps as a lap quilt.

See the entire Summer Breeze collection here.

Find the kit for this project here.

Find The Quilter here.

p.s. Can't get enough of this fabric line? 

Check out this free quilt pattern using it here!