Tuesday, May 30, 2017

The nostalgia of the polka dot

Do polka dots make you smile? 
Do you have a section of your stash devoted to polka dot fabrics? 
If you do, consider adding our Dot Essentials--tiny pindots--to your collection! 
We have 20 different colors to choose from:


Did you know:

  • Miss America was first photographed in a polka dot swim suit in 1926, and then Minnie Mouse appeared wearing polka dots in 1928? 
  • Brian Hyland’s hit song, “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” brought polka dots to the forefront again in 1960?
  • The name polka dot may have its roots in the polka? 
  • Marvel Comics introduced Polka Dot Man in 1962? 


Learn more about fun facts about polka dots by reading this interesting article on Hairpin by Chloe Pantazi.
See the entire Dot Essentials collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Welcome to our booth! (Day 2)

We spent last weekend in St. Louis at International Quilt Market, meeting shop owners and introducing them to our newest fabrics. The Painter's Palette Solids (all 168 colors) were definitely the stars of the show! (psst...if your local quilt shop isn't carrying them yet, ask them to contact us!)

Here's the second half of our booth; if you missed the post about the first half, find it here

"Hue Knew" designed by Maria Pate featuring Painter's Palette Solids. Such a fun sampler-style medallion quilt!


Our silky smooth cottons are perfect for sleek, classic dresses (in two styles)!



Get your fruits and veggies! Everyone loves Farmer John's Garden Party prints, and they show up beautifully in this log cabin-style design by Maria Pate.


Color Wheel, a rainbow-hued circular quilt, designed by Kim Eichler-Messmer using a huge range of Painter's Palette Solids.


Don't Tread On Me designed by Stephanie Z. Ruyle, using a gorgeous selection of Painter's Palette Solids.


And of course, the second wall of Jacquie's gorgeous art--six more colors of walking foot machine quilting designs. You can learn more about Jacquie's techniques on her website or in her newest book, WalkWe love them! 

Did you miss day 1 of our booth tour? Find it here!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Welcome to our booth! (Day 1)

We spent the weekend in St. Louis at International Quilt Market, meeting shop owners and introducing them to our newest fabrics. The Painter's Palette Solids (all 168 colors) were definitely the stars of the show! (psst...if your local quilt shop isn't carrying them yet, ask them to contact us!)

Here's the view of half our booth; we'll share the second half later this week. 

If these look familiar, you're right! Jacquie Gering machine quilted these beauties, choosing a gorgeous palette from the Painter's Palette Solids, and we used them in our QuiltCon booth. Jacquie has since added to the collection, and we were thrilled to hang them again! 
...and, since many people asked...these are all done on a regular home sewing machine using a walking foot. You can learn more about Jacquie's techniques on her website or in her newest book, Walk

We have more of Jacquie's work in the booth--she created this quilt using a palette of hot reds and oranges. The quilt is unnamed--we asked attendees to leave a business card with a name suggestion--can't wait to see what Jacquie picks from the entries!

More of a showcase on solids--illusion quilts featuring Painter's Palette Solids, designed by Lisa Swenson Ruble.

Our new Woodland Friends collection, featuring the art of Charlie Zabarte, received plenty of attention at the show. Here the blocks in the panel are assembled into a stuffed block:

And the coordinates create an adorable dress for a little girl!

The America Quilt by Cynthia Wismann hung proudly in our booth again! This art quilt combines Ro Gregg's Valor collection with Painter's Palette Solids to create a design that is pure America. 

And of course the Hashtag quilt made with Painter's Palette Solids, which has become a fast favorite since its debut at QuiltCon. (You can find the free pattern for it here.)

Designer (and quilt shop owner) Maria Pate stands with her bug jar quilt, made using the You Bug Me! collection. We love all the different size and shape jars, as well as the appliqued butterflies and quilted spider webs! 

In addition to viewing and ordering our new collections, quilt shop owners could make some impulse purchases. We brought a variety of precuts and Painter's Palette Solids bolts that shop owners could buy and take home right away. These flew off the shelves, so look for them in your local quilt shop!



One last quilt for side 1 of the booth. Originally a free pattern for the Elemental Lines collection, Maria Pate stitched this version using the neutral palette of the Essentials 2 collection. Find a link to the pattern here.

Thanks for taking part 1 of our booth tour!
See part 2 of our tour here.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Summer Round-Up: 15 Tutorials for You!

With summer around the corner, we thought it would be fun to revisit some of our favorite summer-inspired sewing tutorials. These are all easy projects that can be sewn pretty quickly--perfect for those summer days when the gorgeous weather is calling your name and you don't want to spend all day in your sewing room!

1. The Happy Pouch featuring the Happy collection


2. The Iris Garden Placemat featuring Ro Gregg's Garden Rendezvous collection




4. Land that I Love Wall Banner featuring the American Pride collection






7. Triangle Block Quilt featuring Dryad by Shannon Brinkley


8. Sew Many Strips Quilt Back featuring Dryad by Shannon Brinkley


9. Vintage 30s Drawstring Bag featuring Vintage 30s Ruby's Treasures collection by Barbara J. Eikmeier


10. Quilt-As-You-Go Tote featuring Sophisticates by Ro Gregg


11. Embroidered Drawstring Bag featuring Vintage 30s Ruby's Treasures collection by Barbara J. Eikmeier


12. Pillowcase Frenzy featuring the Sports collection


13. Windfall Squared featuring the Windfall collection





Looking for more tutorials? Visit our Tutorials to Try board on Pinterest.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Pillowcase Fun!

We're proud to be a continuing sponsor of American Patchwork & Quilting's One Million Pillowcase Challenge in 2017, and we'll be sharing the Challenge's new designs with you quarterly. 
The goal of the Pillowcase Challenge is for one million pillowcases to be donated to local charities. You can make a pillowcase, donate it in your community, and then enter your donation quantity online. 

Here are the two newest designs from AllPeopleQuilt.com, 
featuring our newest fabric collections.

Pattern 64: Plaid Band
Featuring the Flights of Fancy collection by Ro Gregg
Photo credit: American Patchwork & Quilting; find the pattern here

Pattern 65: Reversible Quilted Pillowcase
Featuring the C'est La Vie collection
Photo credit: American Patchwork & Quilting; find the pattern here
Find more information about the Pillowcase Challenge here.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Church Kitchen Ladies!

Do you have a group of church kitchen ladies in your life? 
Yes?
Whether you're one of them, remember those sweet ladies from your childhood, or see them at church each week, you'll love this fun line. The Church Kitchen Ladies collection pays tribute to this important group of women--they're the ones doing the behind-the-scenes work, making sure everyone is fed and cared for. They're the ones laughing and chatting together before and after the service. They're the welcoming committee. 

These nine prints celebrate the bond of women's friendship. Cartoon ladies, text prints, and sweet florals all work nicely together in a bright pastel color palette. 

Imagine aprons for the church ladies made from these prints! Or placemats, small wall hangings, even special quilts for an ailing friend.

The overall print is punctuated with humor: 

Plenty more of that on the text prints:

Ladies having fun! 


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

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

A chat with designer Ro Gregg

Last week, we showed you Ro Gregg's two newest collections, Mountain View and Natural Beauty. Today we're revsiting those lines and sharing Ro's insight and inspirations on these lush, nature-focused fabrics.

Mountain View:

Q. Where did the idea for this collection come from?
In 2016, I attended the Pigeon Forge Quilt Festival in Tennessee and fell in love with the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I began doing research on this region and wanted to create a comprehensive nature study of the trees, shrubs and flowers as well as its panoramic skyline.

Q. Tell us about the panel.
This 24" landscape panel is digitally printed from hand painted art. This process exquisitely captures a myriad of realistic details and a multi-tonal range of color.
It consists of several different scenes: the pond and river bed, the winding river, spring trees and shrubs as well as a timberline, mountain range and a spectacular skyline and sunset.
As an avid nature lover, the mountains always symbolized a calm serenity. Climbing mountains, you rise to a new heights, and it is almost a spiritual and mental rising.



Q. Tell us about the coordinates.
The coordinates are also digitally printed to keep the style extremely realistic. They vary in color and scale: all-over pebbles, flowing river water, panoramic trees, and a sunset skyline.

Q. Do you have a favorite coordinate?
The skyline sunset is my favorite pattern as it has a heavenly and serene feel about it.  The three different color palettes are diverse and vivid.





Natural Beauty

Q. Tell us about the panel. Why does in include vases, birdcages, butterflies, etc.? What inspired it?
I wanted to infuse romance into this panel by mixing lush roses with decorative vases and ginger jars as well as a profusion of color and interesting textures.
Also included are the pretty song birds in decorative cages, and of course butterflies.



Q. How did you come up with the color palette?
The colors are both soft and vivid: gentle corals and peaches, dark rich pinks, sprout greens, gray, sandy neutrals and a dramatic black

Q. What can you tell us about the different rose prints?
The focal print has the lush Natural American beauty rose, and the small roses and birds are a reduced version, using similar style roses on a smaller scale. The all-over abstract rose serves as a modern water color floral texture.





Q. Which is your favorite print?
My favorite print is the water color floral. It is fun and fresh and adds the needed color blocking for quilting.



Q. The tonal coordinates have such an elegance to them! Can you talk about their design?
The damask angel print is romantic and adds high light color. The tonal bird print has an art nouveau feel and brings subtle sophistication.



Q. What do you envision these fabrics being used for?

Bring the beauty of the outdoors inside with these romantic, nature-inspired prints by creating beautiful quilts, place mats, and wall hangings. The possibilities for creative decorating and quilting are endless as well as timeless.

Read the original Mountain View post here and see the entire fabric collection here.
Read the original Natural Beauty post here and see the entire fabric collection here .