All Sports, All the Time

If you have a sports lover in the family, one (or more!) of these prints will come in handy for making a quilt he or she will love! Use all five ball prints in one design, paired with a black solid, or choose one sport to focus on and add in several solids or tonals. Any way you sew it, we guarantee the finished quilt will be a hit with your sports lover!

Find all Sports prints here and ask for them at your local quilt shop.

The Alternative Party: Soup-er Bowl Sunday

In case you missed the news in amongst all the stories about the East Coast snowstorm (how's the shoveling going, New Englanders?), the Super Bowl is this Sunday. If you're a Super Bowl or even just a Super Bowl party fan, we've got a Pinterest board just for you, with all kinds of fun, creative ideas for a party. You can find it here.

But...if the mere mention of the Super Bowl makes you want to curl up in a ball under a quilt and plug your ears for the ridiculous amount of time the game and commercials seem to last, we have a suggestion (and a Pinterest board!) for you too! 

It's not just about the football. Or the commericals.
Have a Non Super Bowl Sunday Party. 
Whether it's just you, you and a friend, or you and your ten closest sewing buddies, do the day up in style. How, you ask?

First, take inspiration from the name of this practically national holiday. Soup-er Bowl. That's right! 

1. Serve Soup. 
Here are a couple of our favorites:

Find the pin here.

Find the pin here.

2. Pick a Project
Keep with the soup theme and try one of these:

Find the pin here.

Find the pin here.

...or check out our Pinterest board for some other one-afternoon/evening projects like mug rugs, table runners, and more. Or just pull out your current project in the works--everyone else is watching football, so you have an afternoon and evening's worth of "free" time to sew on whatever you like. 

3. Don't watch the game.
Easy! You'll be sewing with your friends and eating soup...what more could you ask for on a winter Sunday evening?


There you go--a recipe for a non-Super Bowl Sunday Party with sewing friends! See more ideas here.

Paisley with Style

We've updated that classic paisley look with a fresh color combination: plum and olive. Four different paisley designs play nicely together in this new collection--Chelsea--supported by texture-rich tonals. Imagine a bedroom with bold plum-colored walls and a quilt made out of these Chelsea prints: luxurious, cozy, and out-of-the box, all in one!

Floral paisleys:

A tonal full of movement:

Lacy paisleys:

A more classic paisley, surrounded by leafy vines:

So much detail in each paisley shape:

Plaid and paisley...a perfect combination! 

Make your own "plaid" throw with this cool (and easy!) quilt pattern:

 "Heather Gem" by the Quilting Hen

Download this free pattern here.

See the entire Chelsea collection here.

Get Started! Windsor Woods BOM Quilt

Last fall, we introduced you to the Windsor Woods BOM quilt and suggested that you add it to your "to do" list for 2015. (Read more about it here.) Well, 2015 is here and the BOM program is up and running! This 7-month block-of-the-month design is the perfect way to begin your year. 

Windsor Woods BOM quilt, designed by Pine Tree Country Quilts

Ready to sign up for the Windsor Woods BOM? Ask for it at your local quilt shop or check out these participating quilt shops:

Arizona
Painted Desert Quilts
Holbrock, AZ

Sun Valley Quilts
Sun City, AZ

California
Thimble Towne
Visalia, CA

Colorado
Fabric Expressions
Littleton, CO

Quilts N Creations
Sterling, CO

Florida
The Quilt Place
Rockledge, FL

Indiana
Quilts n Gifts 
Bluffton, IN

Kansas
Material Girls Quilt Shop
Abilene, KS

Quilted Memories
Overland Park, KS

Quilter's Paradise
Baldwin City, KS

Louisiana
Aunt Nell's Quilt Shop
Pineville, LA

Cottage Creations
St. Gabriel, LA

Michigan
Abbi May's 
Twin Lake, MI

Missouri
A Winn-ing Quilt Shop
Jefferson City, MO
Nebraska
Prior's New Generation Fabrics
Imperial, NE

North Carolina
Calla Lily Quilts
Greensboro, NC

The Cotton Quilt
Granite Falls, NC

New Mexico
Busy Bee Quilts
Edgewood, NM

Quilt It Ya Ya
Aztec, NM

Sew What's New
Las Cruces, NM

Tennessee
Stitcher's Garden
Franklin, TN

Texas
Cactus Quilts
Texas City, TX

Calico Cats Sewing Center
Lake Jackson, TX

The Fabric Store
Nederland, TX

One Quilt Place
Fredericksburg, TX

Quiltworks
Cypress, TX

Richland Sewing Center
Hurst, TX

Virginia
The Scrappy Apple
Winchester, VA

It's a party and you're invited!

A Jungle Party, that is! 

Check out these safari-themed prints from our new Jungle Party collection:

Wondering what type of quilt pattern to use with these prints? We suggest the disappearing nine-patch block design. You can find a tutorial for how to make this block here (the tute is for a table runner...simply make more blocks for a quilt!).

And while of course we love the animal prints in Jungle Play--realistic looking elephants, zebras, and hippos, but the coordinates in this line have so much possibility as well!

Toile, African savanna style--perfect for a tote bag lining

A variation on "what's black and white and red all over?" Zebra print mixed with lime green for a trendy stripe.

Rows of zebras! We love this print too.

Faux snakeskin--make a dressy clutch without breaking the bank.

See the entire Jungle Play collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.

As Easy as A, B, C

Inspired by alphabet quilts made by Marianne Fons and Liz Porter, Jean Nolte adapted her design for using pre-cut strips for Quilting Quickly magazine. The result? Twenty-six brightly colored letter blocks, in all your favorite Marblehead Global Brights colors. Perfect for a young child learning and practicing his or her alphabet, this quilt will be well loved for years.

"Alphabet" by Jean Nolte;
featured in Quilting Quickly winter 2014

See the entire Marblehead Global Brights collection by Ro Gregg here.
Download the free pdfs for the letters here.
Watch a free video tutorial for making this quilt here.
Purchase the kit for this quilt here.
Find the winter 2014 issue of Quilting Quickly here.

5 Quilts to Brighten Up a Dreary Winter!

Mid January. The holidays are over. Spring seems FAR away. 

What can you do to keep the winter doldrums away? 

Start a new quilt, of course! 

Here are five of our favorite bright and cheery quilt patterns. The best news? You can download them from our website, easy as 1-2-3! Print out the patterns and head to your local quilt store to stock up on one of these fun fabric lines to get started!

"Calypso Goldfish" by Quilting Hen

featuring Ro Gregg's Calypso Goldfish collection

Download the free pattern here.

"It's a Small World" by Dawn Conery Designs

featuring Ro Gregg's Marblehead Global Brights collection

Download the free pattern here.

"Wonky Zoo Pens" by Tresa McConachie

featuring the Zany Zoo collection

Download the free pattern here.

"Tweet" by the Quilting Hen

featuring the Tweet collection

Download the free pattern here.

"Monkey Wrenches" by Airborne Heirlooms

featuring the Shadows collection

Download the free pattern here.

Sew Quick with Pre-Cuts!

Combine the ever-popular red, white and blue with pre-cut 2-1/2" wide strips and what do you get? 

A quilt everyone will love to make and love to use!

Jean Nolte used our Old Glory Snack Pack to stitch an easy quilt with graphic impact--simply sew strips together and then cut triangles to create this cool design. The quilt is featured in the Winter 2014 issue of Quilting Quickly.

"Freedom Square" by Jean Nolte;
featured in Quilting Quickly Winter 2014

Q. What makes pre-cut strips so great for this quilt? 

Jean: This pattern uses the strips very efficiently – there's very little waste.

Q. What do you like about the Old Glory Snack Pack prints? 

Jean: The patriotic theme is popular with our readers, and if you made this quilt a little larger, it would be perfect for a Quilt of Valor.

Q. Any tips for making this block? 

Jean: Cut carefully so that you get both kinds of triangles (some with blue at the bottom and some with red). 

Q. What do you like best about this quilt? 

Jean: It's quick and easy to make!

Find the Tone on Tone collection which includes the Old Glory Snack Pack here.
Find the kit for Freedom Square here.
Find Quilting Quickly here.

Have you hugged a bear today?

What's warm and cuddly and full of love?

A quilt made by you using the Bear Hugs fabric collection!

You and the teddy bear lover in your family will love
these sweet bear prints and  cheerful coordinates.

Want to see that packed bear print close up? Which cuddly friend catches your eye?

And a panel print, ready for fussy cutting!

We love this Cathedral Window-pattern coordinating print!

Ready to bring some Bear Hugs home? Download the free Bear Hugs pattern designed by Pine Tree County Quilts and get sewing!

Find the free quilt pattern here.

See the entire Bear Hugs collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.

Win a quilt with some adorable owls!

It turns out that we aren't the only ones who love owls, specifically those in Ro Gregg's Who's Who collection! 

Quiltwoman.com is offering a FANTASTIC giveaway featuring this cozy quilt, "I Love Owls!," by Lacey J. Hill of Golden Thyme Designs and L & L Studios, which uses the Who's Who panel and coordinates. The quilt measures 75" x 81", and you have a chance to win it! That's right--not the pattern, but the actual quilt, pieced, quilted and ready to use!

"I Love Owls!" by Lacey J. Hill

To enter for a chance to win the "I Love Owls!" quilt, simply click here to sign up. Good luck!

p.s. If you don't win the giveaway, you can find the pattern here for purchase to make your own. Look for Who's Who fabrics in your local quilt shop.
p.p.s. Check out our other posts featuring Ro Gregg's Who's Who collection here and here.

Cozy up in the cold

With this week's Polar Vortex (is it 2014 again?), sharing a toasty winter quilt seemed appropriate. Kymberly Pease used the cool hues of our Winter Blues collection to make North Wind, a monochromatic half-square triangle beauty that you can curl up under on chilly days. Find the pattern in the winter 2014 issue of Easy Quilts magazine.

"North Wind" by Kymberly Pease; quilted by Kristen Hoftyzer;

featured in Easy Quilts Winter 2014

Q. What attracted you to the Winter Blues fabrics? How did you choose which shades of blue to use for this quilt?

Kymberly: After accepting the pattern Fons and Porter asked me to make a quilt using aqua and navy. Since this quilt was going to be in the winter issue of Easy Quilts, I fell in love with the Winter Blues fabric line. I like that these fabrics make a winter quilt that is okay to stay out past Christmas.

Q. Tell us about making a monochromatic quilt.

Kymberly: Most of my quilts are monochromatic. I struggle with choosing fabrics that compliment each other. I find it much easier to choose a single color and play with different shades of that color.

Q. Tell us about your pattern--did you play around with the block placement before settling on the final design? 

Kymberly: Last year I started working on the Farmer's Wife quilt. I began playing with several of the blocks to see how they worked on their own. After reading "Vintage Quilts" I liked the idea of twisting blocks to discover secondary patterns. I began experimenting with the Flock block and was surprised when the pinwheels popped out at me.

Q. What do you like best about the quilt?

Kymberly: I love that this quilt looks so much more complicated than it is. It's almost like the quilt contains a secret since it's all made from a single block that gets lost in the secondary design.

Q. Any challenges in making this quilt?

Kymberly: I think the biggest challenge with this quilt was working on the deadline. I had a month from getting the fabric before I needed to send it back. Ideally I would spread all of the triangle trimming out over a couple of weeks, but instead I sewed and trimmed 300+ triangles in a couple of days.

Q. Can you talk to us about the machine quilting? 

Kymberly: Since we were working on a tight deadline Kristen (my longarmer) and I wanted to choose a simple design. I like how the stippling softens the sharp lines of the block.

Q. What do you envision this quilt being used for?

Kymberly: I've had this quilt on my couch ever since it came back from Fons and Porter. It is so comfy to curl up at the end of the day while watching t.v. with my family.

Q. Anything else you'd like to share about this quilt?

Kymberly: I've heard some people say that they love this quilt, but don't have the skills to do it. This really is a very easy quilt that anyone can make.

See the entire Winter Blues collection here.

Learn more about Kymberly here.

Find the kit for this quilt here.

Find Easy Quilts here.

New for 2015

It's that time of year again when people make resolutions to ring in the new year...
Have you made yours? 

What do you resolve to do in 2015? And more importantly, how will you stick to that resolution? 
To help with that, check out this article that shares 5 ways to accomplish your new years resolutions.

And share with us...what are your quilting resolutions for the year?
Will you:

• Take a class
• Learn a new technique
• Sew for charity
• Finish a quilt
• Start a quilt
• Buy more fabric
• Sew only from your stash
• Teach someone to sew

Leave a comment below letting us know your quilting resolutions!

Ringing in 2015...

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and fabric-filled 2015!