Happy New Year!

Dear Quilting Buddies,

I hope you have a wonderful new year filled with good surprises beyond your wildest dreams!

Let's start some new quilts. Forget about the ufo's. I'm thinking a Quilt-along or a new World quilt would be fun. 

Hugs, Karen

My DH has an Etsy store!

My husband has an Etsy shop! JasonGriskaPhoto 

Jason has been taking photos of landscapes and everything else since I met him in 1972. Now that he's retired, he takes photo trips several times a year. He goes to great lengths to capture his shots, getting up way before dawn to be in the right spot before sunrise. He has posted about 50 of his best photos. So take a look and favorite or Pin a few to get him started. 

In the photo above, there were two sets of waves that intersected, creating this turbulent mass. I love the color in this one. 

I hope you are enjoying this quiet time between Christmas and New Year's Day! 

Monster Knee Patch

Another cute denim idea: a monster knee patch. From Bebe a la mode design.

Denim Dog

What a cute way to upcycle an old pair of jeans! I found a site about making denim toys: here.

There are no patterns on that site, just lots of inspiration. 

Outstanding Pine Burr Quilt by Tara Faughnan

 

This stunning Pine Burr quilt is the creation of Tara Faughnan of California. It was a prize-winning quilt at QuiltCon 2016. Tara said that she designed and made this quilt row by row, not knowing when she started what the finshed quilt design would look like. 

If you would like to see my pattern for a Pine Burr quilt, click here.

New Batch of African Clergy Stoles

See my new batch of clergy stoles made from African fabrics. I like the four big sunflower designs on this stole. I sourced most of these fabrics on Etsy. I love cutting them up and mixing them all together...I'm a scrap quilter at heart!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful day with a heart full of thanksgiving.

New African Clergy Stole

Today I cut into my latest Etsy purchase of African fabrics. I buy from sources in the US and Africa. I used to make quilts with these fabrics, but now I use them mostly for clergy stoles. When you view a whole yard, the bright bold designs can be overwhelming. But when cut up and blended together in a stole or a quilt, I think the result is beautiful.

See the listing for this stole in my Etsy shop.

(Clergy stoles are worn by many ordained Protestant ministers.)

How to Say "Quilt" in Thirteen Languages!

1. German = decke

2. Spanish = edredon

3. French = courtepoint

4. Japanese = kiruto

5. Italian = trapunta

6. Russian = stegat

7. Lithuanian = antklode

8. Finnish = peite

9. Swedish = lapptacke

10. Danish = dyne

11. Chinese = beizi

12. Irish = chuilt

13. Romanian = macat

Have you ever wondered what the word for "quilt" is in these other languages? I posted a quilt on Instagram and wanted to put the word for "quilt" in hashtags. I thought you might be interested.

The quilt pic above is the "World Quilt" that we made a few years ago here on the Selvage Blog. See the posts about it here. 

New Quilt Pattern: Column Sampler!

Just finished! This new Column Sampler quilt is so much fun to make. "Liberated" quilt-making methods remove the hassle of measuring. This quilt has Snowball blocks in three sizes, Bowties, Shoo-Fly blocks, Checkerboards, and Birds-in-the-Air (variation), 

See the pattern here: Column Sampler quilt.

I would appreciate Pins, fb, and blog mentions!

Little tigers by Cotton and Steel add some extra whimsy. I can't resist adding fun surprises like this.

Bird Selvage Quilt by Kathy

This beautiful selvage quilt is the creation of Kathy Boudreau in Maine. She is a member of the Pine Tree Quilt Guild. You can read more about this quilt on Louisa Enright's Blog. 

What a creative combination of selvages and whimsical birds! 

Yvonne's Modern Selvage Quilt

Found on Pinterest, this modern selvage quilt was made by Yvonne Campbell. See more of her work on her blog: Quilty Dream. Nice job, Yvonne!1

Mary's Amazing New Selvage Quilt

Mary just finished this mind-boggling selvage quilt! There are 256 blocks (16 x 16). I love the busy look of this quilt. Lots of white, but still some bits of color, I like the turquoise here and there.

Nice work, Mary!

I can't imagine what this little quilting kitty is thinking. 

Happy October!

This is Ann Shaw's "Black Oak" quilt. I love the colors. Even though I'm not crazy about orange, the pink/purple makes it work. Did you notice that the background is made from leafy batiks? Clever.

You can see Ann's pattern for "Black Oak" at Fiddlesticks Quilt Shop. Also visit Ann Shaw's site for more quilts, patterns and workshop info.

We're getting into serious quilting weather! I love autumn.

Lisa's New Stacks Quilt!

Take a look at this beautiful new Stacks quilt that Lisa made for her daughter, a book lover. See my pattern here: The Stacks Quilt Pattern. Lisa chose a gray background for a softer look, and she added an additional stack of books because her daughter is a big reader after all. Nice job, Lisa!

Flow Acrylic Paintings - Lots of Trial and Error

Interesting effects are created by pigment density disparities. Mix acrylic paints with water, pouring medium, and silicone oil. Some people mix silicone oil into only one color. Some use inks, heat, diluted dishwashing soap, or glue. So many factors at work, like Forrest Gump says, "you never know what you're going to get."

Antique Thimble Necklace

This would also make a nice Christmas tree ornament with some colorful satin bows. 

Have a creative day!

QUILTSHIP Giveaway Winners!

Visit: Quiltship, a community for quilters. It's a fun place to find inspiration, share your projects, buy and sell patterns, and make friends! 

The three WINNERS of the pincushion giveaway are:

1. Linda Swanekamp in Buffalo, NY

2. Dolores in Toronto

3. Sally in Seattle, WA

Yayy! 

Little Bird from St. Petersburg, Russia

This little bird is the creation of slava che, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia. He has loved glass since he was young. I bought this on his Etsy shop Russian Miniatures. I love the colors and how you can see right through it. It sparkles in the sun. Nice job, slava!

New Clergy Stole with Dove and Olive Branch

My new clergy stole design features a dove with an olive branch. I really like this one. You can see the listing here. Thanks for any internet love like Pins or FB.

Interesting Stone Work

Olive tree image in a wall. Pinterest, unidentified.

Stone work by Ithaca VW.

Amazing creativity with rocks!

Time for a Giveaway!

Scroll down to read about the new site Quiltship, and enter

the giveaway! 

QUILTSHIP - a community for quilters! & GIVEAWAY

Quiltship is a new online community for quilters! Drop in and visit with quilters from all over the world. See quilt project photos, get ideas, join groups (scrap quilt lovers, charity quilters...), find out about quilting events (real cruises, quilt shows...), and buy or sell quilt patterns.

I joined 3 months ago and it's been so much fun making friends here. I've posted some quilt photos, some patterns to sell, asked some questions, joined some groups and had some good laughs.

Sign in with an email and password. It's free and they never misuse your email. This is a top-notch group of the nicest quilters out there.

Join the fun aboard this virtual ship! We're saving a seat for you!

GIVEAWAY!

After you sign in to Quiltship, come back and enter the GIVEAWAY! Your quick comment on this post is your entry. Three winners from anywhere in the world will be chosen at random on Friday June 30th. Each winner will receive a felted wool pincushion handmade by me! Each pincushion has a pretty metallic button and two pinsies. Yup, fancy!

Sheenaliam's Embroidery

This was posted on Instagram by Sheenaliam. So clever!

Joyful Red Clergy Stole

Finished this red stole today! Just in time for ordination and Pentecost season. Quilters will recognize these Kaffe Fassett Westminster fabrics. I love the colors and how they all look great together.

See more photos and details here. As you know, I always love Pins and fb. Thanks!

Asymmetrical Blue and Green Clergy Stole

I just finished this clergy stole a few minutes ago and wanted to show you. This fabric is by Timeless Treasures. I love the colors: blue, aqua, purple and greens. They're cool and soothing. This stole took less time to make than the one in the last post, but I spent some time deciding how to position the pattern before cutting the fabric. I like that green stripe. I don't know if my customers will like the asymmetry, but I'm guessing they will. See more details in my Etsy shop: Water Stole #191.

And if you're in the mood for Pinning, thanks!

Blue and Green Clergy Stole

Quilters will recognize these fabrics! Yup, I used my blue and green Westminster fabrics to make this clergy stole, and I think the result is delicious! This is Joyful #185. (I started with #1, and this is my 185th stole! I tend to go overboard with things.)

In case you're new to clergy stoles, they're worn by many ordained Protestant clergy. Some are subtle, and others, not so much. Haha.

P. S. I'm hoping my readers will help me by Pinning the listing. Thanks!

Pat Kilmark's First Prize Quilt!

This fabulous quilt by Pat Kilmark won first prize at Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee in March.

She used my Fandango pattern for the center, then she invented an awesome asymmetrical border. I particularly love those polka dots and the striped fabrics in the fans. Lots of action there.

Congratulations, Pat!!

Boho Springtime Quilt by Monique

I found this colorful quilt on Etsy. It was made by sewfunbymonique in California. She used Jennifer Paganelli's fabric line: Crazy Love. Such a simple design, but the bright fabrics do all the work.

Monique uses minky on the back and no batting in the middle. Clever, Monique!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! May the saving message of Easter bring you hope and peace and joy.

Fancy Feathers' Incredible Longarm Quilting!

Have you ever seen a modern whole cloth quilt like this? It's the work of longarm quilter Rose Bell in Canada. Her website is Fancy Feathers. Nice work, Rose!