New Plaid Weave Quilt Pattern!

This new scrap quilt pattern goes together so easily. When you see how it works and view the variations, you'll be designing your own plaid blocks in no time at all. Great stash-buster pattern for the long Labor Day weekend! 

 I'm going to make a big quilt this weekend, with lots of different plaid blocks. They go together pretty fast. This quilt and pattern took just 2 days from start to finish. And I got a good night's sleep in there too. Haha. The quilt is only 20" x 27," but still. 

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Cupcake!

Shimrita makes fake cupcakes for display or to be used as photo props. There are even cupcake drawer pulls and jewelry and headbands! She has 430 items in her Etsy store. Amazing and beautiful creations.

Erin's Little Shop of Crochets

Erin in California sells crocheted items in her Etsy shop called Little Shop of Crochets. What really caught my attention is her models! Haha, they are so full of energy and humor! 

Okay, one more. Can't resist. Haha.

Vintage Tortoise Box

Isn't this an interesting vintage purse? Stephanie in Ohio has it listed in her Etsy shop Richard and Ruthie. I've never seen one like this. It's made out of Lucite, and it stands 4" tall, not including the handle. 

I've been busy making sea urchin pincushions (see sidebar), and I'm thinking about having a giveaway. They look awesome on a windowsill in the sun. 

Leaf Quilt by Carla Barrett

Carla Barrett of Feathered Fibers made this beautiful wall quilt with leftover blocks from a bigger project. 

I sometimes have leftover blocks too, but 24? I don't think so! Haha. Nice job, Carla!

Carla also does awesome machine quilting and creates cartoons for quilters. Visit her blog.

Food Sculpture by Dan Cretu

This bicycle sculpture was made by Romanian artist Dan Cretu. 

There's something to feed your creative spirit! 

Pineapple Wall Quilt - Ready to Ship

Good thing I posted a photo of this little quilt yesterday. My customer saw it and said that the ivory border would disappear on the wall where she plans to hang it, so we chose a green border. I like those little red flags too. So pretty. I hope she loves it. 

Thanks for your feedback on the cloud photos! 

Williamsburg Style Christmas Wall Quilt

This little quilt (22" x 25") was made to order for a customer in my Etsy store. She liked a small pineapple quilt that is listed there, but she wanted green rather than navy. She's planning a Williamsburg style Christmas decoration theme. I like this color combination too. The light fabric is a French calligraphy print. I like to use high contrast fabrics for pineapple quilts to make the points really stand out. Pineapples are easy; maybe I should write up a pattern while I remember how to do it. Haha. Happy quilting.

Which Clouds Do You Like Best?

Could you help me pick the best cloud photo for the Camera Club challenge? Vote for Photo #1, 2, or 3 in the Comments below.  I took the photo above right next to my house.

I was driving on Rt. 8 in Watertown, CT and had to pull over to take photo #2 above.

And photo #3 was taken outside JoAnn Fabrics in Waterbury, CT. 

All photos were taken yesterday. My camera is a little Casio Exilim 10.0 mega pixels. There were beautiful clouds all day. Luckily I made it safely home even though I kept looking at the sky!

Quilt Pattern for Fussy-Cutters!

Are you a "fussy-cutter?" I won't bother asking if you're a fabric collector. Duh! My new pattern has 18 pages of idea photos and how-to photos. This quilt is fun and easy to make. It's a great way to feature the "Best Of" your fabric stash. And it gives you another reason to shop for those awesome novelty fabrics.

This is a fun project for a guild workshop or small group. Participants can trade scraps. The way I like to do it is to have a community scrap table in the workroom where people can browse and take what they want. Take a look.

Orange Quilts Plus a Free Tutorial

This photo was featured on the Hirshfield's Color Club blog. Hirshfield's is a paint and home decorating store in the Midwest USA. I like this simple but bold orange log cabin quilt (above). 

Leah at  the Green Bee blog recently made this orange flying geese quilt (above). She says her favorite part of the process is hand-sewing the binding on the back of the quilt. I don't hear that very often. 

And finally, here's a free tutorial for the Modern Chevron Baby Quilt (below) from Kirsty at You Had Me at Bonjour. Kirsty is an Australian living in France. You'll love her blog.

What a modern color combination: orange and gray. Very pretty.

Barb's Asterisk Quilt

Take a look at Barb's new Asterisk Quilt! Isn't it a beauty? Black frames on Amy Butler fabrics is gorgeous. I reminds me of a stained glass window. You can read more about it on Helen's blog (ironically named) Helen No Blog. These two quilting buddies live on Long Island in New York.

New Stash-Buster String Quilt Pattern!

This new quilt pattern is a fantastic combination of Tumbling Blocks, String Quilting, and Liberated Quilt Making! It's a real stash buster too. I love this mixture of retro and modern prints. And did you notice the orange? I haven't used orange in ages, but I'm making up for lost time now! See quilt details here.

I hope you have a very quilty day! 

Woodland Wild Dreads

Don't have time to grow your own dreads? You can buy them in 5 different colorways from Woodland Wild in the UK for $56. Or you can get mini elf-locks for $5.60. I've seen this yarn and thought it looked like dread-locks, but I never thought of making these. How clever! Nice job, Bryony Whistlecraft!

Pinsies With Butterflies

Have you seen the new batch of pinsies in my Etsy store? The silver charms are just coming out. More soon. I like these little butterfly charms.

Awesome Selvage Rug!

Look at this amazing selvage rug! It's the creation of Julie. Her blog is "Quilter Behind the Barn Door." She has a wonderful tutorial for this rug too. Great work, Julie!

Lynda's New Selvage Quilt

Here's Lynda's new selvage quilt. It's her version of the "Surprise" quilt from my book "Quilts from the Selvage Edge." Black and white prints look great with selvages, don't you think? Great job, Lynda! 

Joan's One-Legged Seagull

Long-time Selvage Blog reader Joan sent me this photo of a one-legged seagull that she saw in Santa Monica, California. This little fella caught her attention because she remembered seeing a seagull a few days earlier with one leg, 35 miles away. 

Could be the same one...judging by his smile, I think he recognized her!

Thanks, Joan!

More Seagulls

After telling you that I took 300 seagull photos I thought I'd better show you some more. In the middle photo the seagull is stretching his leg. In the last photo, this one's making a very loud noise. Probably saying "Enough pictures already!" Haha.

Chasing Seagulls

Yes I've been chasing seagulls from the beach into Long Island Sound so I can get some photos of their beautiful wings. Aren't they beautiful? I paid them with some bread from the Cracker Barrel. 

The topic for September's Camera Club competition is "Nature." These are some of my favorites from about 300 photos! Some shots don't even have a bird in them. LOL

Cute Selvage

Is this the cutest selvage or what? Berenstain Bears. Haha. 

Thank you to Anya, Hills Creek Quilter, in Pennsylvania for this photo. 

A New Chapter in Purses

What a clever idea from Novel Creations on Etsy! Made by Karen H. from Texas. This purse measures 7" x 10" and you can choose from several handles. It sells for $45. 

Karen works in a used book store where she finds lots of books to be upcycled into distinctive purses. You can order a custom purse too. Nice work, Karen!

Trip to Keepsake Quilting in NH

I just made my annual pilgrimage to Keepsake Quilting in Center Harbor, New Hampshire. Look what I saw in town: a Keepsake Quilting truck! I wonder what goodies they're hauling around in that. 

This is one of my purchases: a yard of blue fabric designed by Maria Kalinowski for Benartex called "Pool." I think I'll make a pillowcase out of it first. Then it will go into a quilt later, maybe. Or perhaps a bunch of pincushions. Haha. You never know. The price was about $11.50/yard. Yikes!