Make a Pillowcase!

We are once again sponsoring American Patchwork & Quilting's 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge in 2015, and we're excited to show you the two latest designs made in our fabric. 

Sawtooth Star
featuring the Who's Who collection by Ro Gregg

Download the pattern here.

Photo: Allpeoplequilt.com

Diamond in the Rough 

featuring the Tweet collection

Download the pattern here.

Photo: Allpeoplequilt.com

Learn more about the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge (the current count is in the 600,000s!), how you can get involved, and find 40+ additional pillowcase patterns 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.

The Quilter's Ultimate Wish List - part 2

Yesterday we shared a generic version of the quilter's ultimate wish list. However, for a non-quilter, heading into a quilt shop to buy fabric can be intimidating. So today we have a more targeted version of a wish list which will make it a piece of cake for your family and friends to get you exactly what you'd love for the holidays!

Download the printable pdf version of the wish list here.

See all of the fabrics in the featured collections by clicking on the links below.

Who's Who

Cassandra

Bella

Windsor Woods

Lauren

A Walk in the Park

Asian Fanfare

Tweet

Pillowcase Wrap Up

Have you browsed through American Patchwork & Quilting's 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge blog hop pillowcases? All of the hop participants posted their pillowcases last Friday--such a fantastic collection to go toward various charities as part of the push to donate 1,000,000 pillowcases! 

In case you missed the hop, we thought we'd show our contributions in today's post. You can also revisit last Friday's post for links to the entire hop.

Linda Carlson used her 

Imagine This

 fabrics to make this eye-catching red, black, gray and white pillowcase using pattern #25.

Find her post about her pillowcase here.

Heidi Pridemore used the 

Tweet

 collection to make this whimsical checkerboard cuff pillowcase using pattern #6.

Find her post about her pillowcase here.

Tammy Silvers used the 

Vibe

 collection to make this cheery yellow and blue pillowcase using the basic roll pattern.

Find her post about her pillowcase here.

Thanks so much, ladies, for participating! 

And then, with a look ahead to Christmas, we used the Christmas Flannels collection to make a cozy red and green pillow using pattern #6.

Find our post here. 

Find out more about the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge, including the scheduled September Sew-a-thon, 

here.

And check out all 43 free pillowcase patterns from AP&Q here.

1 Million Pillowcase Challenge, Holiday-Style

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

in August?!

With American Patchwork & Quilting holding a blog hop to promote the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge (568,000+ and counting donated!), we wanted to be part of the fun! We're proud to be a sponsor of this initiative, and proud to donate pillowcases to help those in need and get the Challenge closer to the one million pillowcase goal.

Three of our favorite designers and bloggers are officially part of the hop sharing pillowcases they've made using our fabric lines:

Heidi Pridemore (http://heidipridemore.blogspot.com) with Tweet

Linda Carlson (www.lindacarlsonquilts.com) with Imagine This

Tammy Silvers (http://www.tamarinis.typepad.com) with Vibe

We're excited to see what these designers have created, but here at Inspired by Fabric we wanted to join in as well, sharing a holiday-themed flannel case made using our 

Christmas Flannels. 

We used the Checkerboard Band pattern (No. 6), which can be found here--a classic that goes together quickly with strip piecing, and perfect for showing off two contrasting flannels on the cuff!

AP&Q currently has 43 free pillowcase patterns on their website; you can find them all here--with so many choices, it's hard to choose just one!

(Of course, we feel the same way about our Christmas Flannels--how can you choose just one (or three) to use?!)

Find all of our cozy Christmas Flannels here.


Make sure you check out everyone participating in today's Pillowcase Challenge Blog Hop!

·    Alison Glass (http://alisonglass.com/blog)

·    American Patchwork & Quilting (www.allpeoplequilt.com/blog)

·    Barb and Mary of Me and My Sister Designs (http://www.meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog/)

·    The Benartex Design Team: Sew in Love with Fabric (http://www.sewinlovewithfabric.blogspot.com)

·    Debby Kratovil (http://debbykratovilquilts.blogspot.com/)

·    Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts (http://www.laundrybasketquilts.net/blog/)

·    Heidi Pridemore (http://heidipridemore.blogspot.com)

·    How To Sew (www.howtosew.com)

·    Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom (http://www.sisboom.com/blog/)

·    Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts (http://figtreequilts.typepad.com/my_weblog/)

·    Karrie Winters of Freckled Whimsy (http://www.freckledwhimsy.com/)

·    Kelle Boyd of Ann Kelle (http://www.annkelle.com/category/blog/)

·    Linda Carlson (www.lindacarlsonquilts.com)

·    Lori Mason (http://www.lorimasondesign.com/news/)

·    Modern Quilt Studio (http://craftnectar.com/)

·    Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft (http://modernhandcraft.com/)

·    Northcott: Patti’s Patchwork (www.pattispatchwork.com)

·    Shannon Fabrics: My Cuddle Corner (http://shannonfabrics.com/blog/index/)

·    Tammy Silvers (http://www.tamarinis.typepad.com)

·    Timeless Treasures: Sew Timeless (http://www.ttfabrics.com/blog/)

·    Valori Wells (http://www.valoriwells.com/blog/)

·    Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool (http://freespiritfabric.blogspot.com/)

·    Wendy Sheppard of Ivory Spring (http://ivoryspring.wordpress.com/)

FInd out more about the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge, the September 24-hour Sew-a-thon to make more pillowcases (what could be more fun that a sewing sleepover with your friends? Think how many pillowcases you could make in your pajamas!), and how you can participate here.

Design Your Own Palette: Home Dec Prints

We had so much fun sharing the bright and summery mix and match prints the other day that we're back with more of the same, this time featuring some of our more home dec style prints, both those with a traditional and a contemporary feel. 

Let us know what you think of these!

Main print: Bella

Coordinating prints (clockwise, from upper left):

Marblehead

Lauren

Elemental Lines

Piccadilly

Main print: Elemental Lines

Coordinating prints (clockwise, from upper left):

Mesa Verde

Bella Casa

Marblehead

Tweet

 Main print: Windsor Woods

Coordinating prints (clockwise, from upper left):

Lagoon

Marblehead

Christmas Basics

Batiks

See our mix and match bright palettes here.

Design Your Own Palette!

When you head to your local quilt shop, sometimes fabric shopping by collection is the way to go--the designer and fabric company worked hard to put together a well-rounded grouping of colors, different-sized motifs, and blenders--and you can't go wrong by taking their advice.

But sometimes, depending on the project, it's fun to mix and match fabrics, creating your own "collection." We've done just that today--selecting a focal print and then picking four coordinating prints that actually come from other fabric collections. We hope you enjoy our picks and use them as inspiration for your own!

Main print: Calypso Goldfish

Coordinating prints (clockwise, from upper left):

Marblehead Global Brights

Imagine This

Batiks

Tweet

Main print: Imagine This

Coordinating prints (clockwise, from upper left):

Tweet

Batiks

Calypso Goldfish

Bella Casa

Main print: Bella Casa

Coordinating prints (clockwise, from upper left):

Batiks

Calypso Goldfish

Marblehead Venetian Glass

Marblehead Global Brights

Main print: Tweet

Coordinating prints (clockwise, from upper left):

Winter Blues

Marblehead Global Brights

Cosmopolitan

Calypso Goldfish

Which is your favorite?