Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Garden Time!

With spring here, it's time to get out into the garden! And for those of you who prefer to admire gorgeous florals rather than get down and dig in the dirt, consider this fabric version. 
"Garden Party" by Sue Harvey and Sandy Boobar; featured in The Quilter April/May 2014

Garden Party, by Sue Harvey and Sandy Boobar of Pine Tree Country Quilts, features Ro Gregg's Block Party collection, and what a party it makes! Roses, iris, tulips and sunflowers bloom in fussy cut blocks and a pretty all-over floral that has a scrapbook feel. 

Like many great designs, this quilt looks more complex than it really is--all you need are pieced strip sets, flying geese, and two kinds of floral blocks. The fussy-cut focal squares, cut from this fabric,
take center stage are connected by a lattice look of green strips. Squares cut from the secondary main floral print, this one,

appear to be blooming out of pink petals (easy flying geese units!). Put it all together, and you've got a gorgeous year-round garden that's easy to make.

Which is your favorite flower?

See Ro's entire Block Party collection here.
Find the kit for Garden Party here.
Find The Quilter magazine here


Monday, March 31, 2014

March Madness Final Four

Our Marblehead March Madness bracket is quickly narrowing down! 
After this weekend, we're left with 4 schools/colors vying for the top spot.



Florida:


UConn:


Wisconsin:


Kentucky:


Who will win it all? Which Marblehead color is your favorite?

Friday, March 28, 2014

A New Leaf

Ro Gregg has done it again--another richly colored collection, this one themed for autumn. The collection, called A New Leaf, features warm, welcoming harvest colors overlaid with metallic gold accents. And the best part? There's also a panel, the perfect focal point for a quilt or wall hanging. Soak in these fall prints and then hear what Ro has to say about A New Leaf below.




Q. What inspired you to design a leafy fall collection?
Ro: Fall is one of my favorite seasons. It actually is the way Mother Nature tries to please us with the spectacular show of color before the landscape turns to black, white and gray.

Q. What do you feel the metallic gold adds to the collection?
Ro: I used metallic gold to achieve a "glistening effect" that would emulate the sparkling effect from the sun.

Q. Did you use real leaves as models for the fabric?
Ro: I use actual leaves on the maple pattern and actual hickory leaves on the stripe.




Q. Can you talk about the color palette? 
Ro: The palette was inspired from a harvest sunset scene--a myriad of golds, crimson, and purples accented by forest greens.

Q. Tell us about the panel--why did you decide to make one and how did you come up with the motifs in it?
Ro: I love decorating for the fall, bringing the outside in, and what better way than showcasing the leaves into a panel. The panel is multifunctional for wall hangings, quilts on a cool night, even a table runner to rest a warm mug of cider on.

Q. Do you have a favorite print in the collection?
Ro: I love the maple leaf with the metallic splatter. It reminds me of when I was a child in grade school and one of our assignments were to make a workbook of fall leaves.



 Ready to get started? Download this free pattern from our website, Bright Autumn by Terry Albers.


See A New Leaf collection by Ro Gregg here.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Baby Talk x 2

Is there a baby quilt on your to-do list? Whether the little bundle of joy is a boy or a girl, Michele Crawford of Flower Box Quilts has a pattern in The Quilter magazine that we think you'll love! It uses our Baby Talk collection--fussy cut squares of sweet baby items, like rocking horses, rubber duckies, and rattles, and easy one-block piecing for a quick finish. 

Here's "Baby Talk" in blue/green:

"Baby Talk" designed by Michele Crawford and quilted by Kay Kimball;
featured in The Quilter magazine April/May 2014

and in pink/lavender:

And here's what Michele has to say about her design:

Q. Can you talk about the versatility of the main print you used for the borders and in the blocks?
Michele: I fussy cut designs from the main print as the corner squares of the quilt block. I like to use a border print in quilt blocks and then "frame" the quilt center with the outer border.


Q. Can you tell us about the block design? The frame around it really enhances the basic four-patch.
Michele: The magazine editor asked me to design a quick and easy template-free block for this quilt, and I thought the framed border offered a different look to a simple four-patch block.

Q. We have to ask—blue/green or pink/lavender?
Michele: I do like the blue/green colorway best.

Q. Any tips for fussy cutting the squares?
Michele: I cut a 3-1/2" square from template plastic and then positioned it on the border fabric to see how the design would look after being fussy cut.

Q. Tell us about the machine quilting.
Michele: Since the quilt design is so angular, I asked my machine quilter, Kay Kimball, to stitch an allover circular type design to "soften" the look with white thread.



To see the entire Baby Talk collection, click here.
To purchase the kit for either colorway and learn more about Michele, click here.
To find The Quilter magazine, click here


Monday, March 24, 2014

March Madness Updated

Here's our updated Marblehead version of March Madness. Whether you watch the games or not, it's fun to see the color filling in on this fabric version! 


Thursday, March 20, 2014

March Madness, Marblehead Style

It's that time again...when it seems like all anyone talks about is their bracket and how far their team will go in the tournament. In an effort to appeal to both non fans and fans alike, we're redesigning the March Madness men's basketball bracket using quilting fabric. 

Here's the Marblehead March Madness bracket, featuring swatches from the various Marblehead collections (200+ varieties and counting!) to represent each team's color. We'll be updating our bracket as the tournament progresses. 


And, we have to ask...which team do you think will win it all? Leave a comment below.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Star Sampler Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone who left comments during the nine days of our Star Sampler Blog Hop! We hope you all enjoyed the tutorials and the fantastic star blocks made using Marblehead Venetian Glass as much as we did! 


We've selected 3 winners from the comments to receive their own bundles of Marblehead Venetian Glass. We added all the comments from the blog hop (531 total), used random number generator to pick 3 comment numbers, and then found those commenters chronologically, starting from the comments on day 1. 

Our winners are:








Congratulations, winners! Please email us at fabriquiltblog (at) gmail.com with your mailing address. Once we have all three addresses, we'll send out the bundles. 


Here are the links for the nine tutorials in case you missed any!


     Star #1: Connie of Free Motion by the River
     Star #2: Joanne
     Star #3: Fabri-Quilt blog team
     Star #4: Dawn from Spring Water Designs
     Star #5: Heidi from The Whimsical Workshop
     Star #6: Fabri-Quilt blog team
     Star #7: Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts
     Star #8: Tammy from Tamarinis
     Star #9: Monica from Diary of a Quilt Maven