A Quilter's Pin Dish

                            

This pretty pressed glass dish may have started out in life as a candy, nut or pickle dish, 

but now it's a quilter's pin dish! I use mine for straight pins and basting pins. It adds an elegant touch to my quilt studio. I enjoy the way it sparkles in the sunlight. 

These make terrific gifts because quilting time is "me time."

See the new gifts category in my Etsy shop.

Nancy Sonneborn's Fabulous Fandango Quilt!

This stunning Fandango quilt is a recent finish by Nancy Sonneborn. What a beauty! Her blocks have a lot more pieces than mine. I love it! See the pattern for Fandango in the sidebar on the right.

This is what Nancy had to say about her quilt:

My fans started out a little wonky but improved as I kept at it.  They are all in the quilt and now,  I cannot tell which ones I questioned the execution of.  All the blocks are from multiple scraps I cut before beginning.  No blocks are identical but because I only used the original cuttings the colorway extends throughout.  The most fun happened once I began putting it together.  It did take a while for that time to come but the final product is so worth it.  I do love your patterns and "sewing by eye."   

Nancy's Camelot Quilt

Nancy H. Sonneborn just finished this beautiful Camelot quilt. She made two rows of boys and two rows of girls. Each one is different. (From top to bottom: boy, girl, girl, boy.)  Great colors! She said this quilt was lots of fun to make. Nice work, Nancy!

To see the pattern for this quilt, click here: Camelot Quilt Pattern. 

Patty High's New Ferris Wheel Quilt!

This beautiful Ferris Wheel quilt is the creation of Patty High of Florida. 

I especially like the striped fabrics she used...and all the reds. 

Visit her quilt shop: Red Amaryllis Quilts on Etsy. 

Patty used my Ferris Wheel pattern to make this lovely quilt.

Click to see all my patterns. 

What Does Your Coffee Say?

This is what my coffee says to me every morning, doesn't yours?

I hope you have a quilting-filled day!
***
Would you like your photo or message featured in a cup of coffee? Rizky will do it for $5 on fiverr.
He does it in just one day. 

Improv Wedge Quilt

This quilt was just added to my Etsy shop. See the pattern here.

It measures 58" wide x 65" long. All Kona cotton solids. This quilt is fun to make. 

It's a little short to use on a bed, but it looks awesome on the wall, especially with a spotlight on it.

(The narrow outer stripe is the binding. It was photographed on a white wall.)

Another Way to Tie a Quilt - Sheaf Stitch

Here's a nice "Sheath" stitch for tying a quilt. It's basically three parallel lines cinched in the middle and tied with a square knot. (Sometimes a few words are worth a thousand pictures. Haha.) In the photo above, there are two "arms" that have a shadow under them. Those are the tied ends, sticking up a little.

The loose end in the top part of the photo will be part of the square knot (in photos above and below).

In the photo above, you slide the needle under the stitch (so you can gather up the 3 parallel stitches into the square knot).

Above, you're ready to tie the square knot.

Trim the ends and you're done.

See "Quilt Knots, Ten Ways to Tie a Quilt."

African Quilt Top Finished

This is the quilt top that I started during the recent hurricane. The addition of the navy blue outer border has changed the personality from rather modern to almost preppy. Maybe a cocoa brown border would have preserved the African mood a little better, but navy it is. The backing will be solid royal blue. The binding will be navy blue.

This quilt measures 64" x 76."

I hope to list it in my Etsy shop soon.

Anne's Blue Fan Quilt Top Finished!

Yayy! I just finished my first King Size quilt top! (If you don't think King Size should be capitalized, just try making one; then you'll write it that way too. Haha.) This top measures 96" x 108" (plus a little to compensate for the shrinkage caused by quilting). The bottom photo is missing the outer 10" solid purple border because it wouldn't fit on my design wall. But the first photo shows the finished top.

Did you notice that the outer piano key border (appearing only on the right and left side) is darker than the inner border? That's to draw attention to the center and make the quilt more serene. And I love that little black sawtooth border "holding in" all the fans. Oh, I really like this quilt. And I'm really glad I don't have to quilt it! It will be shipped to Maika in Utah for machine quilting. She says she'll keep it simple because the piecing is so busy, and I agree. She uses a regular sewing machine, not a longarm. I'll show you the finished quilt. 

The outer solid border is Kona's Purple. The backing is Legacy's Purple Crocus. I used a gorgeous package of 22 shades of blues and purples (fat-quarters) called "Purple People Eater," but I held out a few of the "pinkish purples." There are 30+ different fabrics in this quilt! Anne and I decided to use turquoise too. We considered jade, but decided against it. I'm not sure about the binding yet, maybe one of the prominent purples, or black. The batting will be Warm and Natural cotton. 

Apparently I had a lot to say to you about this quilt. Thanks for letting me "talk it out." And thank you for your encouragement about making a large quilt (in the Sept. 22 post: "What's the biggest quilt you'll make?") 

My next commission quilt will be an orange wall quilt that will live in San Francisco. Can't wait!!

Food Themed Tile Quilt - BOM

This is Empire Quilters' BOM for October, a food-themed raw-edge applique tile quilt block. These are so much fun to make. Perfect for novelty fabric collectors. With so many quilters contributing blocks, there will be a huge variety of food fabrics. I'll show you all the blocks after the meeting on Oct. 13.

Want too see a Raw-Edge Tile Quilt pattern? 

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! 

Silk Quilt is Finished!

This silk quilt is a custom order for Thelma in the UK. I just finished it yesterday and it goes in the mail today.   

We had very good communication via email and that helped make the process easy and enjoyable. This quilt measures 48" long x 30" wide. She plans to hang it over a bed. 

I like using shot silks because they look so brilliant in a spotlight or near a lamp. Shot silks are woven with two different color fibers. One color going north-south, and the other color going east-west. Depending on the direction you use them in a quilt, the color will look different. I put them in both directions, of course.

The three panels are machine pieced, not using foundations. I didn't use a stabilizer either. This is silk dupioni, so it's a little stiff, and has small nubby bits in the weave. You can see them in the middle photo. Cutting the silk with pinking shears (zig-zag cut) helps to avoid fraying, which can be a big problem with silk. I have a pinking blade for my rotary cutter too. Yes, my cutting table has lots of silk fuzz on it! Haha.

The triangles were sewn improvisationally, and the colors were arranged with a minimum of agonizing. This makes for a more exciting quilt than when I ponder it too much. This was fun!

Sea Urchin Pincushion!

This is my new Sea Urchin! It's a silk pincushion on a round glass dish, topped with 60 pinsies! I love the busyness of the whole thing, like a scrap quilt. This looks awesome in my quilt studio. And when you're on the phone, you can take them out and rearrange them. See this in my Etsy store.

New Tutorial for Pinsies!

Have you noticed the beaded pins that decorate all my pincushions? They're getting pretty crazy, as you can see in the upper right corner. Haha. I've been getting emails asking for info about how to make these little beauties so here's a tutorial complete with supply list, photo instructions, and handy tips. 

Pinsies make nice little gifts to exchange with your quilting buddies too.

Good project to do with kids. 

I do tend to get carried away with projects like this. They are so much fun to make!

I've had beads waiting for a project like this for a long time. 

Thanks for all your comments yesterday about where you get your creative inspiration!! 

Nantucket Basket Pincushions With Rocks

Remember the photo I showed you recently while making the Nantucket Basket pincushions? The rock shown was too heavy. I had to go outside and find smaller rocks, but now the pin cushions have a nice weight. The bottom of the basket has a flat wood base so they don't teeter. The decorative pins add a nice touch; these have pearls and hematite beads. I love how this came out!

Visit my growing pincushion collection on Etsy.

New Spiral Pin Cushion Pattern.

This new knitted and needle-felted pin cushion is my latest creation. It's remarkably soft and feels good to squish. It's knitted from Lopi wool from Iceland. The ivory roving is from Martha Stewart Crafts. The button is from La Mode.

Needle-felting is thought to be the oldest fiber craft, even pre-dating spinning and weaving. Basically you tangle wool fibers by stabbing them with a long needle that has barbs along the shaft. It's fun.

If you haven't yet tried needle-felting, take a look at my new pattern for the Spiral Pin Cushion.

 If you can knit, stab, and sew a button, you can do this.

I should call mine "needle cushions." I use my pins so constantly that I don't have time to "cushion" them. Pins go into a pretty vintage soap dish that my sister Eileen gave me. Without a "needle cushion" I'd be walking around with needles and thread stuck in the knee of my pants!

Brand New Selvage Quilt Pattern!

Just finished this today! Here's my new selvage quilt pattern, "Cane Weave!" It's a pdf tutorial so you can get it now via email. Then you can print it if you like. This quilt goes together fast, and it's lots of fun to make. You know you already have all the ingredients in your sewing room! Haha. And more, I'm sure. There's also a Photo Gallery section with lots of interesting selvages to see too. Take a look, I'm really excited about this quilt. It's different from the quilts in the "Quilts from the Selvage Edge" book in construction and appearance.

Come back tomorrow for a really big giveaway! (Hint: Remember the skinny string quilt that we made?)

If you'd spread the word about this pattern on your blog, that would be wonderful. Thanks!

Narrow Stairsteps and YOUR Quilts

This simple block is a good project for new quilters, and it goes together fast. It looks like hedges in a formal garden, doesn't it? Take a look at the book, then leave a comment for the fat quarter giveaway. I hope you're not going "stair-crazy" yet! Haha. I do get a little carried away sometimes.

YOUR QUILTS: Email a photo of your stairstep quilt and I'll feature it here on the Selvage Blog. (Please send it as an attachment.)

Attic Stairs: Scrap-Buster!

"Attic Stairs" is one of the quilt patterns in my new book. It's a no-thinking-required scrap-buster. As you generate scraps from other projects, cut and toss into 2 piles: one dark and one light. Sew pairs, then trim into final size. Before you know it you'll have that gift you've been meaning to make. See the book, and then comment to enter the fat quarter giveaway.

See My New Book! Fat Quarters Giveaway Starts Today! (4 Winners)

My new book is out today! It features eleven fabulous versions of the Stairstep quilt.

 It's easy enough for new quilters, but it has design options that will tempt experienced quilters too.

I'm really excited about it!

The book is a pdf, so you get it immediately via email. Print it if you like. Take a look. Then come back and leave a comment. You'll be automatically entered in a random drawing for a package of 4 fat quarters by Kaffe Fasset. Four winners will be announced on Sunday Feb. 5.

If you "Favorite" it, tell your friends, or blog about it, etc., please enter 2 comments.