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Want to add color to your summer and your quilts? Well, which color? Here is a quick chart of the Pantone Colors of the Year since 2000.
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Looking for a quick, homemade gift, or something to make with your kids? Julie's adorable pincushion is just the right thing.
Go to Julie's classroom for more tips, tricks, & techniques.
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You'll want to visit the whimsical world of Jamie Fingal as she shares her work and her out-of-this-world studio.
Star Members can watch Jamie in Show 1702: Rebel with a Cause.
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Does your thread look like this, or worse? Maybe we can help. Here are some tips from WeAllSew.com for organizing your thread.
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News from the National Quilt Museum:
"To witness how the art of quilting can be both the cultural and economic focal point of an entire community, the National Quilt Museum presents the Quilts of Caohagan exhibit. The quilts in this exhibit were all made by over 100 quilters on the tiny island of Caohagan in the Philippines. The work of these extraordinary quilters ultimately funds food, education, housing, and other community necessities. The exhibit will be at The National Quilt Museum through October 13th, 2015.
As an additional treat, two quilters from the island will demonstrate their quilting process for Museum visitors in mid-August."
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The Francisco Center for the Performing Arts in La Veta, CO wanted to present the musical play, The Quilters, but felt a bit challenged by the quilt that is the main link to telling all the stories within the play. Ricky raised his hand and said, “Making the quilt will be easy! Leave that to me,” and he set out to design and oversee the making of the Legacy Quilt.
There are sixteen blocks in the play — each telling a story of life, laughter, triumph, and tragedy in the lives of pioneer women during the settling of the West in the mid-1800s. Because each block is shown during the play, and then the complete Legacy Quilt is revealed at the end, two of each block had to be made. In large theatrical productions, the quilt is revealed as a gigantic backdrop on the stage. The stage in the theater in La Veta is small, so a regular bed quilt was best suited for the play; a real quilt that could be used and loved, rather than being a stage prop that would be put in storage.
After measuring the stage to determine the best size of quilt appropriate for this production, Ricky designed each block to finish at 15” and created sashing bars with cornerstones to link together all the blocks. Although the play features sixteen blocks, Ricky’s design called for 20 traditional blocks. The “piano key" border added the finishing touch. Ricky selected all the fabrics for the quilt, new fabrics with an old-fashioned feel to them. He had the vision to choose deep red as a linking element throughout (not all the deep reds are the same fabric, but they are the same general shade of red).
Members of the Colorado Quilt Council (the state guild in Colorado) raised their hands to make the blocks. Each individual was sent a block pattern (with some requiring hand piecing), along with Ricky's fabric choices and a key to fabric placement. A deadline was set for all the blocks to be sent back, with each quilter making two identical blocks. Ricky created the Lone Star block. One volunteer also assembled the sashing units and another volunteer made the piano key border.
Once the blocks were returned, Ricky assembled the quilt top based on his master design. The quilt, which finished at 103” wide by 85” tall, was then sent to a machine quilter - thank you Cyndi McChesney! - who custom quilted each block with an appropriate pattern or design. One unique characteristic of this quilt is that in order for it to fit on the stage, it had to be assembled in a horizontal layout. This will provide a nice bit of history to the quilt when people are curious why some of the blocks are on their sides.
The quilt was used as a raffle opportunity and raised $2200 for the theater group. The winner of the quilt is a local quilter, so it will be treasured forever. The sixteen blocks used in the play, the additional four unused blocks, and the remaining fabric, were sent to the Colorado Quilt Council to be assembled into a charity quilt. The quilt is a great example of community spirit and teamwork. Ricky is considering making this a pattern - so stay tuned!
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Cami at Tidbits created this great tutorial for a reversible pillowcase that will let you use the wonderful fabric that you have on hand to create two looks in one.
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You will not believe the art that Hollis Chatelain created from old blue jeans. Here she talks about Parched, a blue jean quilt that was accepted into Houston in 2013. Click here to see a photo of the quilt.
Star Members can watch Hollis in Show 1207: Out of Africa: From Life Experience to Incredible Quilts where Hollis shares how she combines a fast-and-fun reverse appliqué technique using recycled denim and hand-dyed fabric to create texture, as well as insight into her incredible threadwork.
("Go Tell It at the Quilt Show!" is a Quilt Alliance project designed to capture the stories of quilts where quiltmakers gather.)
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Photo by Gregory Case Photography
Jamie Fingal earned her reputation as a Rebel Quilter because she doesn’t like to follow the rules. She does like to have fun, though, and imbues her whimsical quilts with positive messages. Jamie often uses heavy-duty zippers in her work. She doesn’t bind her quilts. She uses wool felt for the batting and the backing. She also gives herself one day every week to just play in her studio and have fun, and create. Jamie carries a sketchbook with her everywhere and uses her drawings as inspiration for her quilts. She walks Alex through the process of making a small prayer flag art quilt, then shows Ricky how to build a quilt background using overlapping pre-fused hexagons.
After Jamie’s visit, Gina Perkes, who also happens to be a BERNINA Ambassador, offers tips for creating bobbin appliqué on a domestic sewing machine.
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Blooms For Julie by Jan Magee. (Photo by Gregory Case Photography)
Keeping your blocks square is vital when it involves pressing. Have no fear, help is here.
Jan Magee, designer of Blooms For Julie, has some great tips to make the quilt assembly come together accurately.
It's still not too late to make this fun summer quilt. Order your kit today and start sewing in no time.
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