What's in a color?

We thought we'd have some fun with color today. What is your favorite, and why?

This article from freshome Design & Architecture explores room colors and how they affect your mood. Sure, paint is great, but fabric is more fun, so we've pulled some of our favorites in each hue to coordinate with the article's explanations!

Kitchen:

Yellow - increases metabolism, brightens rooms, gives you energy

1. Calypso Frogs 2. Marblehead 3. French Connection

Dining Room:

Red - encourages appetite

1. Roses Are Red 2. French Connection 3. Belle of the South

Living Room: 

Lavender - calms the nerves, allows relaxation

1. Nite Owls 2. Cherry Blossoms 3. Marblehead

Bedroom: 

Green - tranquility and health

1. Marblehead 2. Baltimore Album 3. Belle of the South

Girl's Bedroom:

Pink - calming, warm

1. Rio 2. Pretty in Pink 3. Calypso Frogs

Office:

Blue - most productive color

1. Indigo Blues 2. Marblehead 3. French Connection

Do any of the rooms (or quilts) in your house match up with these recommendations?

It's time to vote!

American Patchwork & Quilting's One Million Pillowcase Challenge has passed the halfway mark! 

Stop and think about that for a second--more than 500,000 pillowcases have been stitched and donated to charity through this initiative. That's impressive. 

During the month of July, AP&Q is holding a contest on Pinterest. They've picked 20 of their favorite pillowcases and pinned them. The pillowcase with the most repins at the end of the month will be declared the winner and featured in a special hop. We are proud to be a sponsor of the Pillowcase Challenge, and we'll be participating in the hop in August.

How can you be part of this? Head over to their Pinterest page and repin your favorite pillowcase. 

(And keep reading below to be part of our contest here!)

By the way, did we mention that TWO of our pillowcases made it into the top 20? That's right! We wouldn't want to sway your vote or anything, but we did want to show them off:

Calypso by Ro Gregg

Lady in Red by Ro Gregg

We'd also encourage you to make a pillowcase (or more!) to donate. It's a quick and easy project, and you can make a difference for someone in your own community. You can find a huge variety of pillowcase patterns (including for all the pillowcases you see on this blog page) here.

In the meantime, we're holding our own contest right here, just for fun. Below you'll see all of our pillowcase samples from the Pillowcase Challenge from 2012 and 2013 (photos courtesy of American Patchwork & Quilting). Which one do you like best? And why? Leave us a comment letting us know!

Log cabin pattern using Marblehead 

Uneven hourglass pattern using Fall Tapestry

Churn dash pattern using Garden Whimsy

Cottage in the forest applique pattern using Garden Whimsy

Crazy rail fence pattern using Pretty in Pink

Snowball pattern using Marblehead Pleasing Pastels

Precut strips pattern using Focus

Train pattern using Calypso Frogs

Chevron band pattern using Tribal Council

Spools pattern using Lady in Red

X block band pattern using Flutter

Bubbles applique pattern featuring Calypso

Rick rack pattern using Cambridge Flannel

Share the Love

Valentine's Day is all about the chocolate sharing the love. You may have sent valentines to friends and family, but why not share the love one step further? Reach out and sew something for someone in need. Perhaps a pillowcase?

Fabric: Tribal Council. Photo from APQ.com

Fabric: Pretty in Pink. Photo from APQ.com

American Patchwork & Quilting is starting the fourth year of the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. Each quarter, AllPeopleQuilt.com features four new pillowcase designs, showcasing them in new fabrics from sponsors. We are proud to be a sponsor, and love the look our fabrics in the Chevron band pattern and the Crazy Rail Fence pattern.
Find out more about the Challenge here.
Download the free patterns to make these two pillowcases (and two others) here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tutorial: Secret Pillow

Rebecca over at Our Busy Little Bunch is starting off our Blogging Design Ring free tutorials today. We know you'll love the adorable pillow (complete with secret pocket!) that she has created. After you check out her tutorial below, head over to Rebecca's blog to see how to enter a giveaway to win a fat quarter bundle of Pretty in Pink.

Here's Rebecca!


I'm excited to show you my first project for the Fabri-Quilt design team!  A secret pillow has been on my middle daughter's wishlist for quite some time - she wants a place to hide her treasures from her little brother and sister :)  The fabric for this project is called Pretty in Pink by Ro Gregg.  This fabric line is available this month, check out the 'where to buy' page for a retailer in your area. 

• 3.5" center square (this is great for a fussy-cut or novelty fabric - I like to think that it symbolizes the 'treasure' inside)

• optional: piece of ribbon or trim - about 15" in length

• various 1.5" strips for the borders.  I cut these as I went along, perfect for scraps. You'll need to border the center square four times in 1.5" strips.  

• for the final outside border, use 2" strips.

• scrap piece of batting and scrap fabric - 13.5" square each

• backing of pillow: two pieces 13" x 10", two pieces 13" x 3", and one piece 1.5" x 13"

• lining of pocket: 13" square

• 12" zipper

• enough stuffing to fill a 12" square pillow

First, cut out your pieces:

If you want to add trim, sew with a 1/8" seam allowance around edges of center square - add top/bottom pieces first, and then side pieces.

Now, sew all your border pieces with 1/4" seam allowance. Always add two opposite strips first, press and trim. Then add next two strips, press and trim. Keep adding rows until you've done 5 borders, making sure to use the 2" borders last.  Use your ruler and rotary cutter to square it up to 13".

Next, layer your block with the batting and scrap fabric, baste and quilt it.  Then trim it back up to 13".  Put it aside and we'll work on the back now.

Take your two 13" x 10" pieces and layer them right sides together along one edge of the zipper with the zipper sandwiched between them.  Make sure that the zipper is centered.  Using your zipper foot, sew the top edge, moving the zipper out of the way as you sew.

Press both pieces of fabric away from the zipper, so your piece now looks like this:

Now, take the 1.5" x 13" strip and press it in half, wrong sides together.  Layer it on top of one of the 3" x 13" strips, raw edges together and sew together using a 1/8" seam.

Now, just like we did the other side of the zipper - layer the two 3" x 13" pieces right sides together with the zipper sandwiched between them.  Make sure to put the piece with the 1.5" strip sewn onto it on the right-side of the zipper. Again, using your zipper foot, sew the top edge, moving the zipper out of the way as you sew.

Again, press your pieces away from the zipper, but press the 1.5" strip so it covers the zipper.  Your piece should now look like this - top picture will be outside of pillow, bottom picture will be inside of pillow.  Check your measurements - this piece should measure 13" square,  but if you find it too tall - just trim a little.

Now you are down to three pieces that you are working with.  The back of the pillow, the pocket lining, and the quilted front of the pillow.

Layer the three pieces with quilted front and pillow back right-sides together, and right-side of pillow lining against wrong-side of pillow back.  Sew outer edge with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 4" opening on bottom of pillow for stuffing. (Note: you can choose to zig-zag or serge the edges to reinforce the pillow.  If so, serge or zig-zag the bottom edges separately before you sew the outside edges of the pillow closed.  After you've sewn the outside edge, you can serge or zig-zag the sides and top seams together).

 Turn pillow right-side out.  Fill pillow with stuffing, making sure to get into all the corners. Handstitch opening closed.

And there it is, a finished Secret Pillow!  This one is going under the Christmas tree - one handmade gift done. :) 

Rebecca @ OurBusyLittleBunch


Thanks so much Rebecca! Head on over to OurBusyLittleBunch to learn how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Pretty in Pink, the collection Rebecca used to make her secret pillow. 

How a booth at Quilt Market comes together...

We are back with a post-Quilt Market report! (You can read about getting ready for Quilt Market here.)

The booth is our opportunity to show off our new fabric lines and offer inspiration as to what those fabrics can become: quilts, aprons, placemats, wall hangings, etc...

Let's start the tour! 

Here are two overall shots of the booth, toward the end of set up. (After everyone's booths have been set up, the exhibit hall crews come back and carpet the aisles.)

This section showcases Peggy Sue, Dancing Cranes, Folk Heart, and Pretty in Pink.

This section showcases Cook's Helper, Marblehead, Budding Beauties and Sorrento.

Backing up to set-up, our assigned area started out looking like this:

And ended up like this:

Pretty impressive transformation in a day, isn't it? We have a great team.

Now, onto some close-ups!

The Budding Beauties sample quilt and pouf in the background, a table with a Garden Whimsy placemat in the foreground. All of the chair covers you see in these photos are made from Marblehead prints.

A couple quilts that you're recognize: Marblehead Northern Woods and Joan Shay's Harvest Home, using Marblehead.

Cook's Helper, a Judy Hansen collection that we'll be sharing with you later this week, and a little Garden Whimsy.

A wall hanging and jacket made from Dancing Cranes, as well as the Peggy Sue At the Hop quilt off to the left.

Sara Trail's Folk Heart, shown in an apron, quilt and bag.

Do you remember the Hopi Opportunity quilt? We brought it to Market to hang in the booth, where it received many compliments. You can still buy raffle tickets to win it--click here for contact information. Off to the right, the free pattern quilt for Pretty in Pink.

A unique tote bag by Cathy Miles, made from Marblehead Global Brights.

Who needs fresh flowers when you can have gorgeous blooms by Kim Denault made from Marblehead prints that will last all year long?!

 A close-up of the Pretty in Pink quilt.

Kitchen items made from the Sorrento collection.

Whew! How's that for inspiration? We were thrilled to be able to show off so many different fabric lines and quilting/sewing ideas in our space. 

p.s. Don't forget that you can find free patterns for the QUILTS shown in these photos on our website!