Paint Chip Mini Quilt

We shared this mini quilt in a presentation at QuiltCon and promised attendees that they could find the tutorial on the blog. We first posted it about a year ago; here's the re-post:

Probably our cutest pre-cut packaging of our Painter's Palette Solids is our Paint Chips--a pack of 2-1/2" squares of 84 colors. It's a great way to get your hands on a large number of the colors!

We thought it would be fun to come up with a design that features all 84 of these squares. Today, we're sharing that tutorial, taking you from this: 

To this:

This mini quilt measures 24-1/2" wide x 26" tall and uses a Paint Chip pack plus Smoke solid, Lipstick solid, and backing fabric. 

Here's how to make it:

You'll Need

One paint chip pack (eighty-four 2-1/2" precut solid squares)

7/8 yard Smoke solid (121-090)

1/4 yard Lipstick solid (121-066)*

7/8 yard backing fabric

29" x 30" piece of batting

Cutting

From the Smoke solid:

(20) 2-1/2" squares

(3) 1-1/4" x 42" strips for binding*

(2) 3-1/2" x 24-1/2" strips

(3) 2-1/2" x 24-1/2" strips

(1) 2" x 24-1/2" strip

From the Lipstick solid:

(3) 1-1/2" x 42" strips for binding*

*We used a flange-style two-color binding. If you prefer a traditional binding, cut Smoke strips the way you normally would to finish the quilt. 

Making the Quilt Top

Note that the diagrams don't show the entire row specified; they're intended to provide an example of what part of the row should look like. 

1. Add (4) 2-1/2" Smoke squares to the paint chip pack for a total of (88) squares to use in the pieced rows. The remaining (16) Smoke squares will be used in step 4 to make half-square triangles (HSTs). Select (12) 2-1/2" squares in assorted colors and sew together into a square row. Make (2) rows of (12) squares each. 

2. Select (16) 2-1/2" squares in assorted colors and cut each in half to make 1-1/4" x 2-1/2" rectangles. Sew the (32) rectangles together to make a rectangle row.

3. Select (16) 2-1/2" squares in assorted colors and cut each in half to make 1-1/4" x 2-1/2" rectangles. Sew (2) assorted rectangles together and cut in half to create (2) two-patches. Make a total of (32) two-patches. Sew two-patches together in pairs to create four-patches, and join the (16) four-patches together to make a four-patch row.

4. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the remaining (16) Smoke squares and (8) additional colored squares. Pair each marked square with an unmarked square and stitch 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut apart on the line and press HST units open. Trim each to measure 2" square. You'll have 32 Smoke/color HST units and 16 color HST units.

5. Noting orientation, sew together (16) Smoke/color HST units to make a Smoke/color HST row. Make 2 rows.

 6. Noting orientation, sew together (16) color HST units to make a color HST row. 

7. Referring to the quilt image and measurements listed below, sew the pieced rows and Smoke strips together to finish the quilt top.

Finishing
1. Layer the backing right side down, batting and quilt top right side up. Quilt as desired. Trim batting and backing even with quilt top. 
2. We used a flange-style binding to add a pop of color along the edge. Use the (3) 2-1/2" x 42" Lipstick strips and (3) 2-1/4" x 42" Smoke strips and follow this tutorial to bind the mini quilt. If you'd prefer a traditional binding, cut strips and bind your quilt as desired. 

A close-up of the flange binding

We hope you enjoyed our Paint Chip Sampler tutorial! See all 168 Painter's Palette Solids colors here and ask for them (and the Paint Chip packs!) at your local quilt shop.

p.s. Are you following us on Instagram? Sign up to follow us so you see all of the pics we post! 

QuiltCon: Day 1

Day 1 of QuiltConEast 2017 is complete! We had a wonderful time meeting so many enthusiastic quilters and introducing them to the silky smoothness of our Painter's Palette Solids! Looking forward to three more days of fun!

This post will be heavy on photos and short on text; we want to give everyone at home a feel for what QuiltCon looks like while it's still going on. Next week we'll post additional details about the quilts in our booth and all of the goings-on at the show! 

Booth #517:

Amy Barickman's Dimensional Fabri Flair designs:

Plenty of Painter's Palette Solids fabrics available for quilters to touch and fall in love with: 

Our pattern giveaway at the show, the Hashtag Quilt by Lisa Swenson Ruble, made using (you guessed it!) our Painter's Palette Solids:

Jacquie Gering's art wall--gorgeous machine stitching on 18 rectangles of our Painter's Palette Solids, simply matted and hung. Definitely a highlight of the booth!

QuiltCon, here we come!

QuiltCon begins on Thursday, and we're on our way to Savannah! 

We can't wait to introduce attendees to our Painter's Palette Solids. 

As much as we rave about them on social media, it's hard to fall head over heels in love with a solid fabric without touching it. One touch is love at first sight! 

So if you're heading to Savannah to attend QuiltCon:

Be sure to attend our three demonstrations as well: 

If you're not headed to QuiltCon, don't worry--we'll be posting photos and updates on the blog, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Cross Road to Grandma's House

Combine two classic blocks like Barbara Eikmeier did in this Waddington Road quilt and you get a cozy, heartwarming quilt that's easy to make! The "Cross Road to Grandma's House" quilt is featured in the March/April 2017 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.

 "Cross Road to Grandma's House" by Barbara J. Eikmeier; machine quilted by Denise Mariano;

featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting March/April 2017

We asked Barb to tell us about the "Cross Road to Grandma's House" quilt. 

She said: "This is one of my favorite quilts from this collection, and I think it’s because it’s the first Waddington Road quilt I made. I get kind of sentimental about that. But it’s also a really super easy quilt to make."

Q. Tell us about the design.

BE: It features two blocks—the Album Cross block set on point with an alternate Snowball block. I carried the Snowball blocks out into the setting triangles. The Album Cross blocks use all the prints, and then I sorted all of the tan fabrics into a pile and used them for the Snowball block backgrounds. I like the subtle difference in background colors they create—it’s just a subtle change flowing across the quilt.

Q. How did you choose the blue for the Snowball block corners?

BE: I chose the darkest, most saturated fabric in the collection because I really wanted those star points to pop out. 

Q. How did you choose the outer border?

BE: I really love that blue plaid. I thought that I could showcase it in a wide outer border. It really pulls out the dark blue of the star points, and it ties everything together nicely.

Q. What do you like best about the quilt?

BE: Can I name more than one? I like that it showcases the whole fabric collection—so many different prints to see. I really like the mix of backgrounds in it—all the tans and creams. And finally, I like how the blue holds everything together—the blue in the snowball blocks act as star points and really create a secondary design—they fool your eye as to where the block itself is.

Q. How does the machine quilting enhance this quilt?

BE: It was quilted by Denise Mariano. She’s so creative in how she places designs! In the centers of the snowball blocks, she put a motif that fills that space evenly. There are little fleur de lis motifs in the corners of the snowball blocks. The outside border has a pretty interlocking cable that I think goes with the primitive look of the fabrics

Q. What do you plan to use this quilt for?

BE: I’ve just started offering a presentation for quilt guilds about designing fabric and how I use my fabrics in quilt designs. I’ll be sharing this quilt in my presentation!

Q. This quilt was featured in a Love of Quilting episode. What was that like?

BE: This was my second time on the show, so I had an idea what it would be like. The program is built around three teaching points for constructing this quilt. We used a Fons & Porter ruler to trim up the Album Cross blocks. Then I showed the folded corners method on the snowball blocks. Then the method I had figured out for adding corners of setting triangles. Talked a little about color contrast as well. 

We filmed straight through—no segments, no breaks. The crew at Iowa Public TV is phenomenal. Everything goes smoothly, and the crew is so efficient. It’s really a fun experience. It was especially fun for me to see Crossroads to Grandma’s pinned up on the design wall on the set.

See the entire Waddington Road collection here and learn more of the story behind it here.

Learn more about Barbara Eikmeier here.

Find the kit for this project here.

Find Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting here.

What's your Valentine's Wish?

What thrills most people on Valentine's Day:

What thrills quilters on Valentine's Day:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Favorite reds, pinks and more!

Valentine's Day is coming! 
Last week we shared two heart tutorials featuring our Painter's Palette Solids collection (Hearts Aplenty and Wholehearted). If solids aren't your thing, we've put together a little gallery of some of our favorite red, pink and purple prints. Enjoy!

 See all of our current batiks here.

 See the entire Cuddle Print Flannels collection here.

 See the entire Doodads collection here.

See the entire Flights of Fancy collection by Ro Gregg here.

 See the entire Farmer John's Garden Party collection here.

See the entire Samsara collection here.

Goanna Walkabout!

Meet the perfect pop of color for those "when is winter ever going to end?" days! 

Our new Goanna Walkabout collection is inspired by Aboriginal art and rich with symbols. Lizards, rings, boomerangs, animal prints and more--these prints have so much texture and so many layers! We've added a few tonal blenders to fill out the line--pick your favorite focal print to play with and start quilting! 

Fabrics up close and personal:

It's all in the details: so much to see here! 

Rich colors, rich patterns

 Depth and variety

Be inspired to "Goanna Walkabout" and start sewing! 

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

Hearts Aplenty Quilt

So many hearts, so little time! With Valentine's Day around the corner, we wanted to share another heart-themed project with you featuring the rich reds, pinks and purples from our Painter's Palette Solids collection. This quilt measures 18-1/2" square, so you have plenty of time to stitch it up before February 14th! 

Painter's Palette Solids used: (background) Honeycomb; hearts (top row, from l-r) Clematis, Claret, Bubblegum; (middle row, l-r): Real Red, Lipstick, Fuchsia; (bottom row): Pale Pink, Raspberry, Claret

We used this heart block tutorial from Alison of Cluck, Cluck Sew. She offers the block in multiple sizes; we used the 4" finished square size. 

Adding corner squares:

Trimming the squares:

Pressing to make two heart halves:

 A finished heart: 

We made nine hearts--eight in shades of red, pink and purple, and one in reverse: 

Laying out hearts with 1-1/2" x 4-1/2" Honeycomb vertical sashing and 1-1/2" x 14-1/2" horizontal sashing:

Assembling the quilt center: 

Adding 2-1/2" wide borders. We added colored strips on each side just for fun:

Straight line quilting:

Ready for the binding--with a flange-style edge for a pop or color:

Love these hearts!

Simple straight line piecing enhances the design:

A valentine decoration, ready to go in just an afternoon!

Click here to see the entire Painter's Palette Solids collection.
Click here to read about Stephanie's Wholehearted Block tutorial, also featured on our blog this week.