Marblehead Goes Pastel

We've mentioned before that the Ro Gregg's Marblehead collection is a little, well, large (200+ and counting). Have you seen the latest addition to the line? 

Introducing....Pleasing Pastels!

These soft colors complement the primary colors, jewel-tones and brights already in the collection and have "baby quilt" written all over them! 

(Or, consider using them for an entry in the Marblehead Challenge!)

You can find the pattern for the fat quarter friendly "Pastel Star" by Cathy Miles available for free on our website. 

See the full line of Pleasing Pastels here.

Calling all Marblehead Challenge entries!

If you've finished your entry for the Marblehead Challenge and want to send it in, we now have a link to the entry form here on the blog. 

Click on the "Marblehead Challenge" tab above in the header (the purple arrow in the sample image below shows you where to find it), and then scroll down to the line that says, "Click here to download the entry form for the Challenge."

Print and fill out the form, take a photo of your finished project, and mail it in to the address listed on the entry form. 

If you're not done yet, don't worry! The Challenge deadline is October 1, 2013, so you still have plenty of time. 

Cool as a Cucumber

As summer starts to heat up, we need something besides a tangy, ice-cold glass of lemonade to keep us cool.

Image: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/login.asp?docid=5520

Like Dawn Stewart's quilt, "Cool Blue."

"Cool Blue" by Dawn Stewart;
featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting July/August 2013

Dawn played with the Indigo Blues collection, using a variety of shades of blue, to create this easy-on-the-eyes two-color delight, which is featured in the latest issue of Love of Quilting magazine. We asked Dawn a few questions about her quilt:

Q. What attracted you to the fabric line?

Dawn: I've always loved the fresh, clean look of blue and white together, and the large floral in the Indigo Blues fabric line reminded me of some beautiful china dishes. 

Image: replacements.com

Q. What are the challenges and advantages of working with fabrics that are all one color? 
Dawn: The main challenge is keeping the fabrics from blending together too much.  Instead of color, you have to pay more attention to value, making sure there is good contrast from light to dark so that the design of the block shows through.  The advantage is that you don't have to worry about colors not matching, or some colors overpowering others in the design. 

Q. How does changing the fabric position in the block design create the overall pattern?
Dawn: I came up with the block design first, and because I was working with just two colors, I decided to go with the "positive" and "negative" effect.  Then the fun part was playing with the prints and values, using them in different parts of the blocks until I found a layout that was pleasing to me. 

Same block, two different value combinations

Q. What do you like best about this quilt?
Dawn: I like that it's look is more complex than it really is ~ It's pretty quick and easy to make with nice results.

Q. How was it machine quilted and why?
Dawn: I machine quilted it myself on my HandiQuilter Avante.  The pieced blocks are pretty linear, so even though I quilted a lot of straight lines in the background areas, I used some curvy quilting designs on the blocks and in the borders for some contrast.  I chose a navy blue thread so it would coordinate, but show up somewhat.

Q. What do you envision this quilt being used for?
Dawn: I think it'd make a nice wall hanging (Particularly in a blue & white bedroom that I have!), but it may just have to come down off the wall sometimes and serve as a cute table cover for a tea party or brunch :) 

Thanks, Dawn! You can see a few more photos of Dawn's quilt in her blog post.

See the entire Indigo Blues collection here.

Learn more about Dawn and her work here.

Find the kit for the quilt here.

Find Love of Quilting magazine here. 

You know you're a quilter when....

We enjoyed reading all the comments received here and on Facebook about how you know you're a quilter, so we decided to compile them and share them with all of you:

You know you're a quilter when...

Perfect strangers point it out:

Quiltingranny: 

A complete stranger walks up to you at the store and states, I know you are a quilter and you get this really dumb look on your face and they snicker and say, you are covered in strings and upon looking down, your jeans are covered with thread!

Qltr89:

You go to the grocery store with the thimble pad still stuck to your finger, and the cashier wonders where she can get the new kind of band-aid.

Rubydell:

You have to use a sticky roller before you leave the house....and you don't have a pet.

Michele:

You know you're a quilter when you go to pick up your kids at school and you have bits of thread on your clothes and in your hair. 

Hookedonquilting:

You know you're a quilter when you go to get fingerprinted for an upcoming adoption and the clerk says, "I bet you're right handed and a crafty person." Shocked, you ask how she knew that. She tells you that you've worn down the fingerprints on your left pointer and index finger to the point where they're almost non-existent. Who'd of thought...

Your stash threatens to overtake your house:

Cheri:
you will never have enough fabric, EVER!

Cheryl:

you have more fabric than anything else in your home!

Diane:

when you have to buy a 12' x 10' shed to store your fabric that will no longer fit in your house.

You share the love:

Sandy:
When your license bracket on the back of your car says...
"Obsessed Quilter...will brake for fabric"

Anonymous:

Your granddaughter would rather play in your fabric scraps than anywhere else!

You start seeing quilt designs in everything:
Emily C:
You see designs on the floor of buildings and think "what a nice block that would make".

Stephanie:

when.…you see quilt blocks in floor tiles and the brickwork on buildings.

When you leave the house, quilt shops are your primary destination:
Pam: 
The first store you check out on vacation is a fabric/quilt store. Also, you plan trips around the stores.

GeeMa:
Your local quilt store knows you by first name.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing!

Cherry Blossom

Cherry Blossoms...pale, delicate flowers that explode into bloom, heralding the spring season. Gorgeous, aren't they?

Image: www.tokyotimes.com

Cherry Blossoms...a delicate, Asian-inspired new fabric line, available in quilt shops now. 

Gorgeous, aren't they?

These fabrics would also work really well in Marinda Stewart's Shimmering Bouquets quilt!

Make Cherry Blossom season last all year long!

• Visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden website to see a time-lapse video created from over 3000 digital photos (1 every 3 minutes over an 8-day period!) of their Cherry Walk. 
• Visit our website to see the entire Cherry Blossom collection close up and find a shop near you carrying the fabrics!

Or, to see the actual flowers blooming, mark your calendar for next April:
National Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade (Washington, D.C.)
The Bloom of Cherry Blossoms (map of different areas in Japan)
Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
Cherry Blossom Festival (Macon, GA)

(These are just a few--you can likely find festivals in your area of the country by using your friendly Google search!)

You know you're a quilter when...

You have a decal like one of these on your car!

Bonus points if it's a front license plate!

Now we'd like you to fill in the blank (leave a comment):
You know you're a quilter when ___________________________.
And, even better, if you have a photo to share, email it to us at fabriquiltblog (at) gmail.com and we'll share it here on the blog.

Trompe L'Oeil

Trompe l'oeil: French for "deceive the eye," this is how Marinda Stewart describes her kimono quilt, "Shimmering Kimono," made using the Shimmering Bouquets collection. 

Why? Because the quilt looks like the back of an actual kimono spread out, complete with the illusion of depth and a dimensional folded collar.

"Shimmering Kimono" by Marinda Stewart;
featured in Quilt Trends magazine, Summer 2013 issue

Marinda talked to us about her kimono quilt, a concept that she has used in the past for quilts, and one that we think she employed very successfully here!

Q. What inspired you to make this art quilt?

Marinda: I've always liked a kimono as an art object and I thought it'd be interesting to do what looks like a real kimono hung but is actually a 2-D quilt. It's a fun format to play with—you could do a whole series of kimonos.

Q. Talk to us about the Shimmering Bouquets fabrics.

Marinda: Shimmering Bouquets struck me as being kind of an Asian sensibility. With large-scale prints, the last thing you want to do is cut them up. The line has large tropical florals, and then a print that reminded me of a men's ties. Another print with bias curves reminded me of the work of Koos van den Akker. And then there were tonal florals. The kimono idea seemed like a perfect way to pull these prints together into a cohesive design.

Q. What makes the construction of this quilt unique?

Marinda: I prefer projects without templates. In this project, you're freehand drawing serpentine lines, laying one fabric on top of another, turning it under and topstitching. It looks more complicated than it really is. The hardest part is creating the triangular pieces [the ''front'' edges of the kimono]; you just have to align your edges so it looks like a kimono hung from the back with the front edges showing.

Q. What made you choose yellow as the background color?

Marinda: I've always loved gray and yellow—like pussy willows and forsythia. Or birch bark and daffodils—the cool/warm playoff. The yellow lightens and brightens the quilt up.

Q. How do you envision this quilt being displayed?
Marinda: When I designed it, I thought this quilt could be really handsome. I could see it hung in a very modern room as an art piece with a low table and a single orchid plant in bloom, plus a few pieces of mercury glass.

Find the kit for the project here.

See the entire Shimmering Bouquets collection here.

Find Quilt Trends here.