Happy New Year!

I hope your new year is even better than you can imagine.

Including lots of good quilting time!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a wonderful day and Santa brings you a month of sewing Sundays and a boatload of fabric. Best wishes!

Fingers Embroidered Collar

This whimsical collar by Vivetta in Italy is featured on Moda Operandi. 

It's not a shirt; it's a dickey to be worn under another garment. 

The price is $295 and they are sold out!

Fantasy Christmas Coat!

I love this Christmas fantasy coat made by my friend Barbara at Amber Studios in New Jersey.

Everything about it delights me: the use of real pine foliage, the shaggy woodland collar, the felted flowers, the combination of orange and pink, and the tiny waist too. I would wear this coat in the snowy forest when I bring apples to the fawns. I picture a scene from The Chronicles of Narnia. See all Barbara's creations here.

I hope you're having a merry Christmas season!

Paper Flower Installation in Japan

Over 25,000 paper flowers decorate a mall atrium in Tokyo! Called "Color Mixing,"

 this installation was made by Emmanuelle Moureaux, a French-born architect living in Japan. 

Found on My Modern Met. (Scroll way down.)  

Fused Mosaic Clergy Stole

This fused mosaic clergy stole is the newest item in my Etsy shop: Shadrach's. I finished it last night. It's made from Kona cotton: black, royal blue and turquoise. On my screen the turquoise looks washed out but it's actually quite brilliant. I love this color combination. It's relaxing to cut and arrange the "tiles" in alternating clusters of blue and turquoise.

Julie Sefton's New Book!

Have you seen Julie Sefton's book? Build a Barn, No Pattern Construction 

This looks like fun. She is an awesome quilter.

Just Finished a Super Hero Baby Quilt - Now Waiting For the Baby

This super hero baby quilt is for my DIL's friend in Louisville who is having a baby boy this month. 

DIL provided the comic fabrics. The photo below shows the backing and the striped binding. It measures 40" x 41." First I fussy-cut the images, then filled in around them. All the dotted fabrics and striped binding are from my stash. I love the big black dots on the white background, and the cheddar and black too. This was a new challenge, but it was fun to create. I hope the little guy enjoys it.

Never Thought About It

Haha, this made me smile. Never thought about it. See tee shirt.

New Clergy Stole with Vintage Buttons

This new clergy stole features 433 vintage buttons sewn in a wavy organic river pattern. It's the newest stole in my Etsy shop: Shadrach's. It weighs 10.7 oz. I made it while visiting with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. I loved making the flowing design.

If you have a minute to "Pin" or "Favorite" it on Etsy, that would be great. Thanks!

The buttons are from the 1800's and 1900's. Old saved buttons eventually end up in rummage sales, where I find them. Some are ordinary, others are interesting, like the bovine bone buttons with 2 large holes. Some of the buttons are square. They are mostly white and off-white, with some brown and a few other colors. 

These buttons represent the history of the people who wore them to school and work, to worship, to weddings and births, in illness, at sea, and possibly in the Civil War. Interesting to think about.

Wrapped Chair

"My Mummy Made Me Do It!" by Tommy Simpson, exhibited at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts in 2013. This is one of several items featured on Quilter Beth's Blog.

It looks like it's wrapped with a variety of fabrics and ribbons. See the random knob that would be behind your right calf if you were sitting in the chair? Interesting.

Want to see more awesome chairs?

Aviator Quilt

"Aviator Quilt" made by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique. Vanessa has a pattern for this quilt. She says there is no paper-piecing or templates involved. She is a fabric designer for Moda.

Nice job, Vanessa!

Giveaway Winners!

The two winners of "Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks" are:

1. Jinger in Hawaii. Her blog is: Trials of a Newbie Quilter.

2. Wendy Caton Reed in Maine. Her blog is: The Constant Quilter.

Congratulations! Your magazines will be shipped tomorrow.

Modern Selvage Quilt from C & T

When I made the quilts for my book "Quilts from the Selvage Edge" (AQS 2008) I tried to come up with a selvage version of many classic quilt categories including: log cabin, tree of life, Amish style, silk cigar ribbon quilts, stars, optical illusions, and so on. This courthouse steps quilt from C&T takes care of the modern quilt category! It looks like a maze, or interrupted concentric squares. Very nice!
This photo was posted to Pinterest by C & T Publishing.

New Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks - GIVEAWAY!

Here it is: Vol. 14! It will be on the stands soon, but you can win one now. See below.

See my block: Beach Umbrellas? Like all my favorites, it looks a little tricky, but it's easier than pie.

I love being called one of "today's top designers." Haha. Right next to Bonnie Hunter too! Cool.

Your comment on this post will be your entry into the drawing. Tell us what your favorite kind of quilts are. Random drawing will be held Saturday Nov. 12. Two prizes will be awarded. Prizes will be mailed anywhere in the world.

Selvage Fabric on Spoonflower!

This selvage themed fabric was designed by "AFewScraps" and is available on Spoonflower. 

Nice work, Scraps!

Fabric and Crochet Quilt!

While I was admiring pillowcases with crocheted edges yesterday, I found this elegant fabric/crochet quilt. It's from The Whoot in Australia. It looks like one-patch and four-patch blocks made like pot-holders, then bordered with a crocheted edge. The off-white roses are a very nice touch.

Pillowcases With Crocheted Edges - Nice Gifts!

Good idea! Beautiful pillowcases with crocheted edges would make great gifts for my sisters. Lots more inspirational photos on Pinterest too. The photo above is from Polka Pics. 

And here's a good resource for making crocheted edges: The Finer Edge, Kristin Omdahl.

More From Hata Larson

Old tee shirts, monk cloth, and now beads! This looks like fun. See more from Hata Larson of Rusia here. 

Low Price on Kona Solids!

The Fabric Shack in Ohio offers Kona solids for $5.49/yard! ($9 at JoAnn) They carry 303 colors, and 12 of them come in 108" wide too.

Source article: Laurie's Place "The Best Sites for Buying Fabric."

The pretty color above is called "Breakers."

Riel Nason's New Selvage Quilt Book!

This beautiful selvage quilt is the work of Canadian quilter and fiction author Riel Nason.

I love the delicate detail in this quilt. Look at that lattice. Yayy, Riel!

Riel's newest book is published by C & T Publishing. 

See all her books on Amazon here.

Hanging Around

Hilarious photo from Vintage Everyday. Somebody was thinking out of the box!

Road Sign Humor

Found this photo on Facebook. I don't know who's photo it is. I wonder how many times this has been photographed. Haha.

Join the Team: "Quilters Step It Up"

Join the team "Quilters Step It Up" and simply increase the number of steps you take each day for 2 weeks starting on Oct. 13. I started this team. 

You might want to use a fitness tracker or you might not; it doesn't matter. See FAQs.

I recently got a Fitbit Alta which counts my steps each day. It helps me stay motivated. (eBay was cheapest.) You might prefer to keep a log of minutes spent walking. This will be fun. 

Stay tuned.

Couture Fantasy Coat from Amber Studios!

Look at this floral fantasy coat from Barbara at Amber Studios! Isn't it stunning? 

She starts with an upcycled boiled wool sweater, makes it into a coat, and then it's loaded with the most exquisite handmade embellishments! I've seen Barbara's coats in person and they are over-the-top wonderful. She takes her customer's measurements, listens to their preferences, and then creates a coat of their dreams. They all have a feminine shape and lovely drape.

Feast your eyes in her shop, and view her sold items too. 

Not only is she a fabulous artist, but she's a sweet person too.

Apple Quilt from Russia!

This beautiful collage quilt featuring apples is the creation of quilt artist Valentina Maximova of Russia. You can see more work from this artist here. 

I love the colors.

Here's That Pink and Gold Again

I'm noticing this beautiful color combination lately: pink and gold. This is a saffron yellow antique Persian Kerman rug from the Nazmiyal Collection. It measures 5' x 9' and is listed for $18,500.

Very detailed design! Beautiful!

Quilters Guild of Plano, TX

Look at this gorgeous quilt! Lots of fancy piecing and applique. This was a raffle quilt made by the Quilters Guild of Plano, TX in 2011. They have lots of quilt photos on the Gallery page of their website. Nice job!

Kristin Shield's Improv Quilt

These quilts just keep getting better and better! This is "Bright Lights, Big City" by Kristin Shields. It measures 29" x 30." Photo by Sherri Lynn Wood of daintytime on Flickr. This quilt was inspired by a quilt in Wood's book: The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters. Wow!

More Improv Curves

This quilt was made by Mina Kennison. It was inspired by a quilt in  The Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri L. Wood. 

Wow! Curved String Quilt!

This fabulous string-curves quilt is the creation of Ann. She describes the process on her blog: Fret Not Yourself. Did you notice the circle that extends off the lower right corner? Ann says she used bias binding for that part, but straight-of-grain binding for the rest. Clever! 

(The photo is by Ann too.)

A Vintage Quilt for Fifty Cents?

Yes! A friend in my quilt guild recently bought this vintage feathered star quilt at the Bethlehem (CT) Fair for fifty cents! It's in very good condition too. And look at all those tiny triangles! I didn't think that happened any more!

Mrs. Bobbins

If you like Mrs. Bobbins, you'll like my collection of cartoons here. 

Ruth McDowell's Blue Moon Chicken Quilt

I love how Ruth McDowell chooses fabrics for her wonderful quilts. She has this one listed for sale on her website at $1,400. Want to learn how she makes them? See her most recent book (pictured below) here: Piecing: Expanding the Basics. 

Trying to Get More Carbs and Nitrites?

I know, I'm not either. But isn't this hilarious? Enjoy the day!

Hi Doll Eyes!

Lisa in New Zealand used 13 shades of green, gray, brown and gold to embroider the iris for her doll eyes. She used a photo of her own eye as a guide. Lisa aims to create cloth dolls like the ones from the 1930's, but with a more updated look. You can see how she does it here: Big Little.

Obras by Serena Garcia

Serena Garcia's collection of fiber art is called Obras ("works" in Spanish).

She is from Chile. See more of her creations here: Obras. This looks like fun.