Posts tagged: "fabric selection"

  1. Scrap quilting made simple: 3 ways (+ giveaway!)

    Posted by on May 9, 2013

    One block, three ways: planned, coordinated, and make-do quilt blocks from Triple-Play Scrap Quilting If your fabric yardage, precuts, scraps, and quilt-shop visits are growing exponentially with no signs of stopping, consider yourself a kindred spirit with designer Nancy Allen. A quilter since the age of 12, she estimates that she could easily make more [...]

  2. Quilting with batiks

    Posted by on April 22, 2013

    Picture a blue and white quilt made with traditional star blocks. What kind of fabric is your imaginary quilt made from? Solids? ’30s prints? Civil War reproductions? Or maybe…batiks? That’s the route Cheryl Brown took, and her gorgeous "Winter Stars" quilt demonstrates how pairing traditional blocks with contemporary batik designs can bring new life to [...]

  3. Yum yum! Scrap quilting recipes (+ giveaway!)

    Posted by on February 28, 2013

    Welcome to the Patchwork Palette Quilt-Recipe Challenge! Ever followed a recipe? It feels safe, doesn’t it? You make it once, following the directions to a T. Next time, maybe you switch things up a bit—a dash of this and a sprinkle of that. You continue to experiment with the recipe a little more each time [...]

  4. Fat quarters: tips + easy quilt patterns

    Posted by on January 21, 2013

    Fat quarters are beautiful, versatile, and—let’s be honest—irresistible. Resisting a fat-quarter purchase is akin to refusing a piece of cake at a birthday party. It simply shouldn’t be done! Fat-quarter acquisitions are pure intuition for quilters. They’re affordable, eye-catching, and they can infuse quilts with richness and diversity. And yet… so many fabrics, so many [...]

  5. Easy quilt patterns for large-print fabrics

    Posted by on January 8, 2013

    Novelty fabrics, theme prints, pictorial prints too; What in the world will I DO with you? Most every quilter is guilty of the scenario. You see a BIG print—gorgeous, inspiring, whimsical, sentimental, or all of the above—so you buy a half-yard, a yard, or more. You bring the new fabric home, thrilled with your purchase. [...]

  6. Showy quilts to shrink your stash

    Posted by on December 13, 2012

    Most of us patchwork quilters would agree that after the pieces are sewn, the layers are quilted, and the binding is bound, one thing can make or break a quilt: the fabric. And for all the fabric we buy, collect, and stack in our sewing spaces (anyone okay with hoard?), sometimes it seems nearly impossible [...]

  7. Scrap quilt success – it’s point-less

    Posted by on November 8, 2012

    (Left: two scrap-quilt blocks illustrating scattered color (top) and blended color (bottom)) Raise your hand if you’ve made a scrap quilt that developed into either: …..1) a mind-numbing bore (from being too careful), or …..2) a muddled mess (from not being careful enough). If either scrap-quilt scenario has landed on your sewing table, you’re in [...]

  8. Fabric-selection tips! + 40% off quilt books

    Posted by on October 29, 2012

    How long does it take you to choose fabrics for a project—several hours? Days? Are you still deciding and you’ll get back to us? When choosing fabric for quilting seems overwhelming, try the following ideas from Tammy Kelly, excerpted from her book Snowball Quilts. You’ll find tips about everything from selecting fabrics that add movement to [...]

  9. How to choose quilt fabrics in five minutes (+ giveaway!)

    Posted by on April 27, 2012

    Quilt designer Kathy Brown admits that choosing fabric for quilts has never been difficult for her. (Envious? I admit it. I am.) All she needs is one fabric—a focus fabric, a blender, or any special fabric that catches her eye—and she’s ready to mix and match until the perfect concoction emerges. What makes fabric selection [...]