Asian Garden

With March right around the corner, we're tiptoeing closer to spring. Here are some fresh flowers and spring-y prints  to hold you over into then, all from our new collection, 

Asian Garden.

What comes to mind when you hear the words "Asian Garden?" 

Glorious, full blooms

Tiny flowers outlined in gold that look like a bowl of candy

Purple petals

Simple leaves in metallic gold

Tight cherry-blossom-style flowers

 

Geometric motifs with an Asian flair

Elegant butterflies

 A detailed print perfect for borders or  fussy cutting

All 15 Asian Garden prints together: a harbinger of spring!

What would you make with these prints?

Dreaming of Dancing Cranes

If you've visited our blog before, no doubt you've seen Ro Gregg's rich and elegant Dancing Cranes fabric line. But unless you have a copy of the winter 2013 issue of QuiltTrends, chances are you've never seen a Dancing Cranes quilt like this. 

"Dancing Cranes" quilt designed by Ro Gregg and pieced by Dawn Connery, 

featured in QuiltTrends winter 2013

Fabric designers often say that they like to see what others are inspired to create from their fabric lines. We think it's equally interesting to see how a fabric designer uses her own work. Ro sat down recently to talk about her queen-size bed quilt design.

Q. How did you come up with the design for the quilt?

Ro: I wanted to do something with an Asian fusion look—east meets west, Oriental style mixing with traditional, yet sophisticated. I really wanted to showcase the panel because it looks deceptively complex, but actually it's not. Then I wanted simple borders to go around the panels. After that I wanted to showcase one of the allover prints—the crane—the namesake of the quilt. I came up with a few ideas for patchwork for the outer border so Dawn could highlight the center.

Q. Why did you decide to use three panels?

Ro: In engineering the 3 panels across, I felt that it really gave a beautiful showcase to the quilt. It also allowed me to make a queen-size quilt

Q. What else do you like about the ensemble?

Ro: I used the Chinese ribbons print for coordinating pillowcases. The print really shines on these.

Q. Why did you decide to use the fan blocks? 

Ro: The crane is a symbol in Chinese for eternal youth, happiness, longevity. I wanted another symbol in the quilt and chose the fan. It's a very traditional Chinese symbol that dates back hundreds of years ago in Chinese culture. These blocks also highlighted the colors in the panel.

Q. What do you like best about this quilt?

Ro: I like how the three panels are showcased in the center. 

Q. What do you like about your fabric line? 

Ro: I'm such a bird lover—I always love cranes. We have them down the shore and they fly up to an island across from our house. They are such a beautiful symbol. I love this panel because it can also be cut. The cranes can be cut apart vertically in half, like Patricia Lackey did on this jacket (pictured). It looks like there are two cranes flying, but it's all made from one panel.

Click here to buy a kit for this project.

Click here to find Quilt Trends winter 2013. 

Folk Heart Bundle Winner!

We're so glad everyone enjoyed Jackie's cheery table runner tutorial! Using random number generator, the winner of the giveaway for the fat quarter bundle of Sara Trail's Folk Heart is:

Congratulations, MaryReade, who said:

You are a no-reply blogger, so we have no way of contacting you. 

Please email us at fabriquiltblog (at) gmail.com by Wednesday, February 27th. If we don't hear from you by then, we will select an alternate winner. 

Thank you!

Catching up with Ro Gregg

Ro has been busy...and not just channeling her creativity to develop many new fabric lines. (watch for sneak peeks in coming posts!) Where is she finding inspiration? How about seeing flamingos on the beach? Keep reading...

What you're working on right now: A new collection called Block Party. It's a floral with an organic look—really influenced by nature. I'm featuring roses, irises, sunflower, tulips set on a neutral background.

Most recent magazine and/or book you've read: Latest magazine was Home Accents Today—a trend magazine for home dec. Latest book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I did like it. Once you got into it, it took off like crazy.

Most recent place you found design inspiration: We were on Flamingo Beach in Aruba over New Year's. It's a regular public beach, and there are flamingos roaming around there. It's beautiful. As a bird lover, it was really incredible.

Photo: arubahouse.com

Current favorite color and/or color combination: Egg robin blue, mocha and sand.

Recent great meal you've had: Also in Aruba—at Pinchos Grill  & Bar. It's on a wharf, really a beautiful, romantic place with a panoramic view of the shoreline. Coincidentally, it was on the Bachelor (or Bachelorette?). I had Incredible coconut shrimp and grouper almondine.

www.restaurantsaruba.com 

What you do to get through winter: I belong to a spa and I swim 3 or 4 times per week.

Coffee or tea?: Coffee.

Your current favorite fabric line: I love the Marblehead A Star Is Born. I feel that it gives you the ability to design and to create artisan quilts. It has a mod contemporary flair to it, and the colors are bright. My favorite colorway is the purple, blue, lime and green. 

Note: Marija Vujcic of Mara Quilt Designs used these fabrics in a pattern called "Stars of the Season," which you can find for purchase as a downloadable pattern here. 

An ideal Friday night: Friday nights we always go out to dinner with friends. Nothing formal, just simple, to kick off the weekend.

Most excited about right now: Redesigning my shore house. (It was destroyed during the hurricane.) It is a challenge to design it, trying to recreate what we had before.

Tutorial: Cheery Table Runner

Today, Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works is posting here as part of our Blogging Design Ring, sharing a simple tutorial for a table runner. We think you'll like her no-measure technique!

Hello Everyone!  My name is Jackie Kunkel  and I am a quilter, designer, online shop owner, teacher, and try to be an all-around fun gal!  

I hope that you enjoy this quick and easy table runner that I have designed for you using Sara Trail's Folk Heart collection for Fabri-Quilt!  It is fun and funky and will brighten any home! If you like Sara'a fabric, don't miss the giveaway offered the bottom of the tutorial.

You will need 6 different prints (3) 2.5" x 42" strips of each and 4 different tone on tone prints (3) 2.5" x 42" strips.

Also you will need (3) 4.5" inch squares... one from each of the tone on tone prints. (except the black and white print)

Choose one square and one 2.5 inch print strip.

Sew the strip to the square press toward the strip.

Now trim the strip to the size of the square.

Turn and trim the other side.  Continuing with the same strip, rotate the block and then sew the strip to the second side of the block.

Press towards the strip.

Trim the strip to the size of the block.

Rotate and trim the other side.

Continuing with the same strip, rotate the block.  stitch to the next side.

Stitch to the next side.  Press toward the strip.

Trim the strip to the size of the block.

Rotate and trim the other side.

Choose another 2.5 inch strip and stitch to the side of the block with the first strip.

Press towards the strip and trim to the size of the block.

Rotate and trim the other side.

Add the next strip and repeat the process.

Continue to add strips until you have 3 total strips on and have your block.

Take your next 4.5" square and repeat the above process to make your second and third block.   Your blocks will be 16.5" square.

From your tone on tone prints, take one green and one yellow strip.

One red and one green strip.

Stitch the green and yellow strips together and stitch the green and red together, down the length strip and press towards one side.

With each strip set sub-cut into 2.5"  segments.  Yield 8 segments.

Stitch together two segments to create a four patch.  Repeat this 3 more times so you have 4 green/yellow four patches.  Then repeat this process with the green and red segments until you have 4 green/red four patches.

Cut 2 strips of red and 2 strips of yellow, for sashing, to 16.5" x 2.5"

Stitch the four patches together, as pictured below. 

Stitch the 2 red sashing strips to the yellow and green four patches. Press towards the red strips.

Repeat this process for the green and red four patches and yellow sashing.

Layout the blocks and sashing to your liking.

Stitch the sashing to the blocks, pressing the seams toward the sashing.

Repeat with the second sashing.  Quilt and bind with the remaining black and white stripes.  I trimmed that strip down to 2.4" for the binding.

Now you can lay it on the table to brighten your day!

Fabri-Quilt is giving away a fat quarter bundle of the Folk Heart collection to go along with Jackie's tutorial. To enter to win become a follower of Fabri-Quilt's blog (on the right side bar), either through Google Friend Connect or by email. Leave a comment letting us know that you're a follower, and let us know what you'd make with the Folk Heart fat quarters! 

The giveaway is open through Sunday, February 24 at 11:59 EST. The randomly selected winner will be announced on Monday, February 25th.