Elena's Selvage Purse

What a stunning selvage purse Elena McDowell of Raleigh, NC has made! There is no end to all the cool stuff Elena can make with selvages. I love the double button, the shape of the flap, and the selvages she arranged on an angle. You can see more of Elena's creations at: www.quiltsbyelena.com.

My Neighborhood

This is what it looks like a block from my apartment in White Plains, New York. This beautiful church plays music every Wednesday at noon. The tall buildings reflect the clouds and add a special sparkle to the city. We've never lived in a city before, but I like it.

Meet Mary Frances Wood of Virginia

Mary Frances Wood of VA makes these charming blocks that include selvages when she is between quilting projects. She makes them without foundation fabric. She just sews the selvages together then trims the block to the size she wants. Mary Frances says that this carefree sewing is very relaxing. Her happy heart shows through in her work, doesn't it?

Take a look at the block with the triangle above. The center has a 3-D optical illusion that I really like.

Her selvage quilting style differs from that of Gail Mitchell (the maker of the "Cat Mat" featured in the sidebar). Mary Frances features the printed part of the fabric, just adding selvages like the spice in a stew. Gail Mitchell, on the other hand, features the white stripe with the writing and uses hardly any colored printed part of the fabric at all. I love the results of both methods!

Linda Joins the Selvage Revolution!

Linda made her first selvage project: zippered selvage pouches, and she's liking it. She says she has joined the selvage revolution! I love her combination of black and pink fabrics. Her selvages are wide enough to show off some pretty roses. Nice job!

Check out Linda's blog: http://twosucculentsisters.blogspot.com/. She says "succulent" refers to living richly and reveling in ordinary and extraordinary moments. Sounds good, like someone who would sit in the onion chair, no doubt.

Karen Schiltz's Zippered Selvage Pouches

Karen Schiltz is a very talented longarm quilter in Erlanger, Kentucky. She just made these charming selvage pouches, and she's preparing to teach a class on making selvage quilts. Her strategy to build her selvage stash is to tell customers that she'll trim the selvages from their backings as a convenience for them! (heh, heh, heh ;)

Visit: http://www.deerviewquilting.com/

New Selvage Quilter: Kay Rindall

Kay Rindall of St. Paul, MN is well into her first selvage project. I love the faces on the selvage in the bottom photo; it's from the St. Jude's Hospital fabric line. I really like these blocks. The sashing in the blocks is nice and narrow, like the selvages.

I wonder how Kay will use these blocks in a quilt. Maybe she'll use a black and white striped sashing, or a selvage sashing, or maybe she'll set them on point! We'll see. Nice job, Kay!

About selvages, Kay says, "I already buy enough yardage to be sure I get the part of the selvage I want -- and when buying a FQ, I always open it to make sure it's from the printed selvage side. But I dread the day I find myself buying the fabric strictly because of the selvage!!"

If that happens, we're here for you, Kay. :)

Yikes! 248 Quilt Blogs in One Place?

Are you wondering what other cool quilting blogs are out there? (Thank goodness you've already discovered the Selvage Blog!) Visit: http://quilterblogs.com/ You can also find quilt shops (including online shops) there. It's a beautiful site; that pretty nine-patch quilt is on their home page.



If you have a blog, you can ask them to add yours to their list, too. (By the way, they are in the beautiful city of Idaho Falls.)

World's Most Beautiful Selvage (Chair)?

Okay, take a look at this chair (from the Pottery Barn website), and think.....

Isn't this beautiful? I'm thinking about covering an upholstered chair with selvages. I know it's nuts, but wouldn't that be so cool? Tell me what you think. I would cover some foundation pieces, then have an upholsterer cover the chair with them.

Elena McDowell sent me this selvage photo. Do you think she would send me this selvage to put front and center on my chair? I haven't asked her; do you think I should? We have to establish some accepted ethics in this new frontier of qilting. :)

Twig Purse from Zebula Design

Here's something to fuel your creativity: a twig purse! I wish I had thought of this. There's just something about this that tickles my fancy.

This is from Natalie of http://www.zebuladesign.com/ a quirky arts and crafts site. She sells her creations on Etsy. Yayy, Natalie. You get today's Onion Chair Award.

Quilters Knot in Topeka, KS - Selvage Socks

All the members of Quilters Knot in Topeka, Kansas have a pair of these selvage socks! Member Susan White tells about her group:

"As a group of 5 women, we have group embroidered t-shirts, group selvage-trimmed anklets, group embroidered dinner napkins with creative 'sewing' napkin rings, plus a traveling embroidered pet-screen bag that goes to the next host's home--complete with dinner napkins, and 'spool and quilt block' lights to decorate and inspire! Our kids roll their eyes at our silliness, but we have fun, share ideas, eat good food, and work on group projects--not to mention the loads of emotional support that comes with spending time with friends."

Moda's Selvage Scrapbags - Check First

I've been hearing that not all Moda scrapbags contain selvages. If you are hoping to get selvages, be sure to check inside the bag first. If you order online, just ask the seller to make sure that your bag contains selvages. Pretty cool way to jumpstart your selvage stash:)
See Moda: http://www.unitednotions.com/moda-ss_scrapbags_1008.pdf to buy directly.

Selvage CD Case from Rome, Italy

Silvana Flamini of Rome, Italy made this clever CD case. I like her shaggy selvages. Regular readers here will remember Silvana's selvage belt. She is a very talented cook, photographer, crafter and quilter. You will enjoy her blog: http://www.unpopercelia.blogspot.com.
Nice job, Silvana!

Selvage Snail Trail Quilt

Ann Marie of Run and Sew Quilts in Hillsboro, Oregon recently made this beautiful snail trail selvage quilt for her mom. Look at that amazing feather quilting in the red areas! Bravo!

Visit Ann Marie's blog: http://www.runandsewuilts.wordpress.com.

Zippered Selvage ipod Case

Lynne in New Hampshire just made her first selvage project, a little bag with 2 zippers. Here's her story:

"The bag is 7" x 10" and it is mainly for carrying around my iPod. This little bag is nifty. I can put the iPod in the front pocket, and my wallet and keys in the big pocket. It fits across my body, and the strap is long enough so I don't have to take it off if I have to go to the bathroom, for example. It's also light enough to wear under a coat. It's excellent for traveling, in that it's small enough to fit in a larger bag, and it protects my iPod. I can even turn it on and off without taking it out of the bag, so that's nice too."

Lynne blogged about it here: http://patcherymenagerie.blogspot.com/2009/02/selvage-bag.html. She took some photos during the process of making it that are very good. Nice job, Lynne!

Spring is on the way!

Don't lose heart; spring is on the way! Wouldn't you just love to take a nap on these pink flower petals? I can almost smell the sweet fragrance and hear the songbirds.

Ironically, this peaceful scene is a stone's throw from Manhattan. I took this photo at the New York Botanical Garden last April.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Selvage quilter Susan White of Topeka, Kansas made this sweet Valentine for her friends in Quilters Knot and for us! She printed this heart onto notecards for them and we got ours via email and blog. Hey, that still counts! I love the selvages she chose. Thanks, Susan!

Live it up! It does say "Castle."
Are you tempted to thumb through that stack of fabrics to see the selvages? Me too.

I hope you have a great day. Isn't this little guy cute?

Elena's Heart Quilt

Elena McDowell of Raliegh, NC made this happy little quilt for her husband's birthday. I really like the buttons and the echo quilting. The burgundy and teal border is kind of manly, too.

Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

Meet Susan White of Kansas!

Susan made these selvage paperweights for her quilting buddies in Quilters Knot. She backed them with felt, carefully making a bead of fabric glue around the circle. Isn't it cool how the curved glass magnifies the selvages? You can get them from the Oriental Trading Company catalog, 6 for $9.99. Read below to find out what they did for her birthday!

For Susan's birthday they showered her with gifts! She received a bag of selvages, my selvage book (are they wonderful, or what?), a red zinger selvage block on a tote bag, red zinger tea to go with it, an old spool with selvages wrapped around it, and of course, selvage trimmed socks!

Can you believe it, the whole group has selvage-trimmed socks! They have so much fun when they get together it makes their kids roll their eyes. Perfect. Did you know they were having all this fun in Kansas? I'm thinking of moving there!

Selvage "Tea Wallet" from Loft Creations

Stephanie (of http://loftcreations.blogspot.com/) in Ohio just made this little "tea wallet" for her daughter Allison. For this project, she used some of her favorite Denise Schmidt Flea Market selvages. Regular readers, you'll remember the nice journal cover she made too. Allison, you are so lucky.

If you are a quilter who loves tea and teapots etc, and that's me!, be sure to visit her blog (see above for link). Stephanie sells her cool tea items on Etsy, too.

Jodie Carleton's Selvage Parasol!

As you know, Jodie Carleton of Ballarat, Australia is passionate about selvages. She is the creator of that amazing selvage dress that I keep on the sidebar to inspire us (at right). This photo is her latest big selvage project, a selvage parasol!

She has written a hilarious post about the siren call of selvages, even when we have other pressing items on our "to-do" list. Boy, do I know exactly what she is talking about! Take a look at this post: http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/2008/11/with-inner-fortitude-of-marshmallow.html

You'll be surprised to read what she thinks about this parasol project. See: http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/2008/11/tweaking-hell.html

Wowzers! 62 visitors answered the sidebar question in 1 day!

In case you're wondering, 350-450 visitors check out this blog each day (not including search engines or returning visitors). Visitors come from (in descending order like the ingredients in your cereal): USA, Italy, UK, Germany, Australia, Canada, Russia, and more.

To get free stats about your website or blog, visit: www.statcounter.com. They give you some html text to copy and paste into your Gadgets. They walk you through it and it's really easy.

Gail Mitchell's Cat Mat

Gail Mitchell in Eastern Canada just made her first selvage quilt, and what a stunning quilt it is. She says it was fun and only took a couple of hours to make. Gail calls it the "Cat Mat," and it measures 15 inches square.

Every selvage quilter has her own signature style, made up of her choices of selvages, how wide she makes each strip, and how much of the printed fabric she reveals. Gail's style is awesome; using practically no printed part of the fabric, those color windows really stand out! I love it. Her kitten loves it too.

Visit Gail's blog at: http://www.quilt-knit-run-sew.blogspot.com/.

The next person to answer the question on the sidebar will be #500! Will it be you?

Brenda's Basket - New Method

Take a look at Brenda's new selvage basket block. She's been experimenting with the process of sewing selvages together without a foundation fabric, and she says it's working fine! Visit her blog to find out more: http://www.scrapsandstrings.blogspot.com/.

We hope you're staying warm up there in Manitoba, Brenda!

A Delicious Blast of Color!

This colorful feast for the eyes is from Sarah London of Australia. She must have known that her fiber-art friends in the Northern hemisphere needed some wonderful color. Thanks, Sarah!

My favorite part is where she combined hot pink, red, and cheddar gold in one "block," and then put it between the electric blues and the pale pastels. She must have a massive yarn stash. Or, she did have one, at least.

Sarah London's new blog address is: www.sarahlondon.typepad.com.

Anett's Selvage Daybook Cover

Anett of Hannover, Germany just made this stunning selvage cover for her daybook. What an elegant idea to make that graceful curve! And I love that little toggle. Great job, Anett!

You can see more of Anett's creations on her blog: http://allerleiausstoff.blogspot.com/

Thank you to Martina for suggesting that Anett send us this great photo. And a special "Hello!" to our many visitors from Germany.

Wanted: Your Selvages in Exchange for Fabric

Sonya of Australia needs lots of selvages for some projects she's planning. She's even offering to send you an equal amount of fat quarters in exchange. Let's help her out.

For more information see Sonya's post on: www.sagoontuesdays.blogspot.com.

I'm looking forward to seeing what she makes with this batch of selvages!

I loved her panels:http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/sonyas-selvage-wall-panels.html.

Want to be a Quilt Pattern Designer?

Take a look at Quilt News. Use the link below, then click on "For Designers." Marguertia McManus gives solid advice about marketing, how to write a press release, she provides a distributors list, and info about websites and blogging. Her goal is to help quilters who want to make a business with their quilting. Good stuff. I found her site today when she recommended "Quilts from the Selvage Edge."
Visist: http://www.quiltnews.loosefibers.com/

June Calender Made 50 Selvage Cards

We've been keeping an eye on June Calender of New York City as she has been feverishly making selvage postcards. A few weeks ago, she just decided that 50 is enough for now, and she's moving on to other things. Like taking a trip to Africa! It was on her "bucket list." My guess is that June would definitely sit in the Onion Chair.

Before she goes on her trip, she will seriously clean her living quarters so it's "ship-shape" when she returns. What an interesting concept. Visit her blog at: www.calenderpages.blogspot.com.

Meet Artist Jill Buckley of Canada

Artist Jill Buckley of Canada was making this vest and decided to add selvages. She says the selvage edges turn a rather boring piece into something a bit more interesting. I think it looks terrific!

Doesn't Jill sound like Martina (in ysterday's post)? I don't think the vest or the blouse were "boring" to begin with, but I do like what they did with their selvages.

Jill is a retired designer/dressmaker so she has extensive skills for projects like this. Her vest is much fancier than the ones I make! Check out her blog at: http://www.thequiltrat.blogspot.com/.

Martina Odenthal: a Selvage Art Blouse

Martina Odenthal of Germany says she took a boring white blouse and using her imagination and some selvages, created something very fashionable for zero money! Look at those buttons...they look just like color windows.

Oh, Martina, I think you have started someting here! I'm already evaluating my blouses for a little upgrading. Thank you for this great idea.

Check out Martina's blog at: www.stufenzumgericht.blogspot.com.

Charming Selvage Creation from France

Fanny (in Lyon, France) made this charming selvage pouch for storing her circular knitting needles. What a nice idea! I like the button, and the cropped edges on the flap. This is her first selvage project. Nice job:)