Take a tour of our booth!

We have so much to show you from International Quilt Market in Salt Lake City last weekend! So much, in fact, that we're breaking up our tour into more than one post. 

At Quilt Market, we show our new fabric lines to quilt shops so they can decide which lines to carry in their shops. We pack our booth full of as much inspiration as possible, showing off these new lines in fantastic quilts.

Our booth set-up is new this year as well--light and airy, and perfect for showing off quilts. 

So many pops of color in the booth!

Happy by Linda Frost; featuring the Happy collection (and some beautiful appliques!)

"Starry Compass Rose" by Elizabeth Eastmond and machine quilted by Denise Marieno, featuring our Painter's Palette Solids collection.

Another Painter's Palette Solids quilt, which you've seen before, but we love it enough to show it again! "A Flutter of Color" by Linda Frost. This quilt pattern is available as a free download on our website. 

"Windfall" by Reeze Hanson featuring our Windfall collection

The Paintbrush University Quilt created by Maria Pate. This is an exciting program for quilt shops using our Painter's Palette Solids.

"Shattered" by Maria Pate, using our Batiks

Garden Rendezvous by Liz Granberg, made using Ro Gregg's Garden Rendezvous collection. 

From our Quilt Market Booth: Home is where you make it

One of the quilts featured in our booth at Quilt Market was our concept quilt for the Row by Row Experience. This year's theme is "Home Sweet Home," and we couldn't resist having a quilt made in our Leather collection fabrics that followed the theme. 

Here are some close-ups and a little more information about our Home Sweet Home quilt, "Home Is Where You Make It," designed by Lisa Swenson Ruble and machine quilted by Diane Oakes.

Q. Where did the idea for this quilt come from?

Lisa: When Paintbrush Studio approached me about designing a row by row quilt concept, they asked for a quilt with a story that moved from row to row. They also suggested a few ideas, including thinking about campers and snowbirds. So many quilters are snowbirds, and I latched onto that as my story--the idea that your home is wherever you are and however you make it. 

And that became the "quote" that runs across the top and bottom borders.

Q. Tell us about the storyline. 

Lisa: The storyline runs through all five rows. In the first row, you see the happy little neighborhood, including the cute camper. In the second row, winter arrives, everything is covered in snow, and the camper is ready to leave town. The third row is the journey--up and down hills, across winding roads, heading for the beach. In the fourth row, the camper is set up near the beach--home away from home. You see some repeating motifs there--the gnome, the flowers, the quilt on the clothesline, the birdhouse. And in the fifth row, relaxing on the beach!

Row 1:

Row 2:

Row 3:

Row 4:

Row 5:

Q. How did you design the quilt?

Lisa: I sketched out the idea for each row on pencil and paper and had a friend, Linda Smoker, create the digital quilt in Adobe Illustrator from my sketches. My sketches weren't even to scale--they were concepts more than anything--and she did a wonderful job transforming them! Then I printed out her digital designs at full size (9" x 36" rows!) at the copy store and traced the various pieces onto fusible web. 

Q. What did you like about the Leather fabrics?

Lisa: They have so much texture! They really added depth to the landscape and even the border. I am glad the palette was narrowed down to just ten, because there are so many different great colors to choose from. 

Q. What is your favorite part of the quilt? 

Lisa: I absolutely love the quilting that Diane Oakes did--I handed her the quilt top and said "do whatever you think works" and she did a fantastic job adding so much texture. I also really like the little gnome. :) 

Thanks, Lisa!

Are you interested in participating in the Row by Row Experience this summer? Find out more details about it here, and see our Leather collection fabric palette here. 

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

Read Lisa's blog post about this quilt here. 

**Please note--the "Home Is Where You Make It" quilt is not a pattern--it's simply a concept quilt that we've designed for fun. Watch for Home Sweet Home row patterns at your local quilt shop this summer!

Garden Rendezvous

Here's a quick look at Ro Gregg's gorgeous Garden Rendezvous collection. Decadent irises, an intricate floral stripe, a panel print, and a soft spring colorway. After Market we'll be sharing Ro's thoughts on this collection, as well as an incredible quilt made using fussy-cut hexies. Stay tuned for more!

The panel, with a lovely lattice border--the perfect entrance to a garden full of irises!

And of course there's a free pattern for using this panel: 

"Garden Rendezvous" quilt by Dawn Stewart

Find the free quilt pattern for this quilt here. 

This line also includes two different pre-quilted combinations:

Aren't these rich colors so appealing? 

See the entire Garden Rendezvous collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.
Find the free quilt pattern here.

Opposites Attract

We're on our way to Salt Lake City for Quilt Market, but will be giving you a few sneak peeks of what we'll be showing to quilt shop owners during this industry-only show. (And what we're sharing will be arriving in your local quilt shops soon, so watch for them!)

Last week we showed you Barbara J. Eikmeier's new collection, Vintage 30's Ruby's Treasures. Today we're sharing another new line that we're super excited about--Opposites Attract. These fabrics have so many possibilities! 

Opposites Attract

Like red, black and white together, like in this Opposites Attract quilt designed by Pine Tree Country Quilts? Done. Check out our free quilt pattern below for this cool Log Cabin variation quilt. 

Find the free quilt pattern here.

Prefer just black and white, or just red and white? This collection has plenty of choices! 

See the entire Opposites Attract collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop. 
Find the free quilt pattern here.

Introducing...Vintage 30's Ruby's Treasures!

We've been talking around it all week, and today's the day to share it! Next week at Quilt Market we'll be debuting Barbara J. Eikmeier's Vintage 30's Ruby's Treasures collection, created in conjunction with McKim Studios. This fabric line pairs popular 30s-style prints with the embroidery designs of Ruby Short McKim. 

And the panels:

Q. Where did the inspiration for these fabrics come from?

Barb: We started with fabric that was in Ruby’s archives. We found these little kits that had actual fabrics in them and we ended up using three—the pink diagonal plaid with little flowers on it is my favorite. We also used the blue and yellow tulips, and the stripe.

Q. Where else did you find fabric inspiration?

Barb: There are two scattered little dot prints. I have a stuffed Scottie dog my grandmother made me out of 2” squares. The dot print came from the dog.

The little flower sprigs came from Sunbonnet Sue blocks that my 97-year-old friend’s sister had made.

I also “shopped” my friend’s 1930s DWR quilt, and chose a print from there.

The other prints came from 1930s scrap bags that I have bought at estate sales over the years.

Q. Tell us about the embroidery panels.

Barb: Because 2016 is the 100^th anniversary of Ruby’s first pattern being published, her granddaughter Merrily wanted to do a big celebration. When we first started talking, I thought it would be nice to include some of the panels. I personally like preprinted panels—don’t have to trace. In the McKim Studio Revival, these two (farm life and flower garden) were the most popular. The blocks are 8-1/2” square between the dotted lines and are printed on a solid antique white. I’m really excited about all the opportunities to use these panels!

Q. And how do the Painter’s Palette Solids fit in?

Barb: We selected nine solids from the Painter’s Palette collection that coordinate beautifully with the 30s prints. You’ll see these solids in upcoming projects featuring Vintage 30’s Ruby’s Treasures.

 

From upper left: 121-005 Bright Yellow, 121-024 Orchid, 121-025 River, 121-032 Waterfall, 121-039 Jade, 121-049 Coral, 121-069 Carnation, 121-078 Bubble Gum, 099 Rice Paper

See the entire Vintage 30's Ruby's Treasures collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.

p.s. Don't forget our free pattern! Barb designed the Ruby's Treasures quilt and you can download it from our website. 

Download "Ruby's Treasures" by Barbara J. Eikmeier here.

Meet Ruby Short McKim

If you're a quilter, you may be familiar with Ruby Short McKim. Under the name McKim Studios, Ruby had a 21-year career as a quilt designer, publishing patterns in the Kansas City Star, through a mailer order business, and in a book, One Hundred and One Patchwork Patterns.

In the February/March 2016 issue of Quilter's Newsletter magazine, Barbara J. Eikmeier authored an article about Ruby and her prolific quilting career. The article is a fantastic preview for what we'll be sharing tomorrow--a peek at Barb's brand-new fabric collection, Vintage 30's Ruby's Treasures, produced in conjunction with McKim Studios. We talked to Barb about her connection to Ruby and her work. 

Q. How did you connect with Ruby's work and studio?
Barb: I heard Ruby's granddaughter, Merrily McKim Touhey, speak at an event about a year ago. 2016 is the 100-year anniversary of the publication of Ruby's first pattern, and the McKim Studios was planning a year-long celebration. Ruby is really well-known in quilt circles, especially in quilt history. 

Q. Tell us a bit about the article you wrote.
Barb: The QNM article celebrates 100 years of Ruby Short McKim. I got information from research papers done about Ruby, as well as her book. Merrily shared information with me, as well as Ruby's archives. The article shows many of Ruby's quilts and embroidery designs, all from the archives as well. 

Q. How did this connection lead to a fabric collection?
Barb: I wanted to do something to commemorate the anniversary. Ruby was from Independence, MO, Paintbrush Studio is a Kansas City company, and the Kansas City Star, which printed Ruby's first pattern, is still in printing. 

Q. Describe your personal connection with Ruby. 
Barb: I feel like I'm kindred spirits with Ruby. We're both quilters; she had so many different things going on, different areas of interest, and I do too. The fabric collection that we're launching is called Vintage 30's Ruby's Treasures, and it's a combination of 30's prints and two panels of Ruby's embroidery designs.  

Come back to learn more about the fabric line (and see it!) tomorrow!

Read the article yourself! Find the February/March 2016 issue of Quilter's Newsletter magazine here.

Goose Crossing

Do you love a great two-color quilt?
Make sure you catch Barbara J. Eikmeier's Goose Crossing quilt, featured in the March/April 2016 issue of Love of Quilting! Barb used her Vintage Shirting & Dress Prints collection to create this quilt, inspired by an antique. Keep reading; Barb shared more information about her design below. 

"Goose Crossing" by Barbara J. Eikmeier; machine quilted by Denise Mariano;
featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting March/April 2016

Q. What inspired this quilt?
Barb: An antique quilt that belongs to my friend Lynn and was made by her grandmother. I've borrowed the quilt for my blues talk and wanted to try making it. On the antique version, the colors are reversed. When I drew it, I didn't love it, but then I switched the colors and it became this great quilt.

Barb's version

the antique version

antique version close-up

Q. Tell us why you like two-color quilts. 
Barb: I especially like blue and white, and also red and white. I think they’re striking and kind of timeless. I just don’t get tired of them; they speak to me. When you use fabrics that are really similar like in this quilt, I call it using fabrics that are the same but different. It’s like selecting from a menu—don’t have to really worry about placement. They can be all mixed up. This quilt uses all the blues from my Vintage Shirting collection. 

Q. What do you like best about this quilt?
Barb: I like that it's easy to make--I super sized the blocks--they're 18" square in my version--and the geese go every which way. I made the flying geese units using the Fons & Porter flying geese ruler. I like to cut my triangles to the right size and sew them together, rather than trimming larger pieces. I think it's time saving. It's just a fun quilt to make. 

Q. Tell us some fun facts about this quilt.
Barb: There are multiple ways to assemble this quilt. We featured one in the TV series, and a different method in the magazine. 
Also, I had my first celebrity encounter because of this quilt--my husband and I were out walking the dog and a lady stopped us to tell me how much she liked the quilt in the video. I didn't even know her! 

Q. How did you name this quilt?
Barb: I named it as a tribute to my old neighborhood. There were two ponds on either side of the road, and the geese would walk across the road. They put up a sign for the geese--like a deer crossing sign. 

See the entire Vintage Shirting & Dress Prints collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.
Learn more about Barbara and her work here.
Find the kit to make this quilt here.
Find Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine here. (This quilt was also featured on the “Love of Quilting” 2700 TV series.)