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.

See My Candlestick Block on Quiltmaker's Block Network

This is one of the blocks that I made for Quiltmaker Magazine's 100 Blocks (shown below). Now it's featured on a Quiltmaker's Block Network video by June Dudley. Each week she'll feature a new block. They've come up with lots of different ways to use this block. Thanks, June!

Asterisk Quilt in New Book!

I was shopping yesterday and just happened to see my Asterisk quilt on the front cover of this book! What a shock! The quilt was in Quiltmaker magazine a few years ago. This book was published by Martingale in 2012. I had no idea they were publishing this. I'm sure I gave them permission back then to use it; they are very conscientious about that. This is quite a thrill for me!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks - Reprint and Giveaway

This reprint of the first issue is available starting today in quilt shops. There is a digital edition for $5.99.

See the book of Quiltmaker's 200 Blocks, price $26.99.

And here is a free pattern for the Spring Blossom block.

CLICK HERE AND YOU MIGHT WIN 100 BLOCKS OR A FANCY MUG!

Yes, I made some blocks for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks issues. They're on the mugs too. :)

GIVEAWAY - Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks - 3 Winners

The new collector's edition of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 2 will hit the stores on Tuesday. Leave a comment below to enter a drawing for a free copy. There will be 3 winners.

The block above is my contribution to this issue. It's called "Upcycle" which means, of course, making something cool out of "throw-away" stuff.

Selvage quilters can tell at a glance how to make this block, but to show the newbies, I took some in-process photos. Machine stitch along the bound edge of each selvage. The stitching is easy to see on the red selvage in the photo below.

I like the little boots on the Moda selvage. That's one of my favorites.

Trim the block as shown above. Make three more, then sew them together, as shown below.

Add a selvage to the top and the bottom of the block, and then add one to each side. I think it will look really interesing when all the blocks go together. The long selvages will appear as if they're woven together. So far, I've only made one block, so this is just speculation.

I like the soft shaggies on the Moda acorn selvage below.

I was delighted to see another block in this book that included a selvage. Patty Young designed both the fabric and the block design for "Flutter." Isn't the hummingbird shape nice? Great colors too.

Okay, here they are, ready to be mailed to three lucky winners who will be chosen by our friend Mr. Random Number Guy. So leave a comment.

Wasn't it interesting to read about what we quilters wear (or don't wear) on our little feet when we sit down at the sewing machine? Who knew?

Quiltmaker Magazine's 100 Blocks, Volume 2!

This collector's edition of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks just went to press two days ago! It'll be on the stands November 16. And yes, there will be a selvage block, designed by me! :)

In volume 1, I contributed a pieced block called "Candlestick," but this time I decided to make a selvage block. I think it will look challenging to newbies, but you selvage quilters will easily see how it goes together.

I like the block on the left in the bottom row. And the block with 4 shoes too. I wonder who designed them. We'll have a giveaway of this magazine when it's available.

Special giveaway coming tomorrow. Guaranteed.

Quiltmaker's Small Quilts: Give-Away

Why 2 copies? Because I'm having a Give-Away! Leave a comment to enter. Two names will be chosen at random tomorrow to receive a copy of this new Special Issue of Quiltmaker's "Small Quilts."

The team at Quiltmaker magazine asked me to review "Small Quilts," and they provided the two copies to give away. They are very nice folks.

So I made a cup of tea and took a look. They've come up with a nice variety of quilts, some traditional like the two quilts above, and some modern "light and airy" designs that would be very quick to make. There's even a nice Amish style quilt with bright colors on a black background. They always show the quilts in an alternate color arrangement to help get the creativity going. They'd all be great done in scraps too.

If you have some baby quilts to make this summer, you're sure to find some good ideas to get you started. I find that it always recharges my battery to browse and study the clever quilts that these quilters come up with. So, I say take a look at this issue. It could be the start of some summer fun!

See My Asterisk Quilt in Quiltmaker!

Keep an eye out for the new May/June issue of Quiltmaker...but here's a sneek peek of one of my favorite quilts!

I'm really excited to tell you about this quilt. This year I designed the Blocks of the Month for my guild, Empire Quilters in New York City. This was the block that we kicked off the year with in September. I called it "Candy Stick," but I like Quiltmaker's name better, "Asterisk."

My challenge was to design a block that looks difficult, but is actually easy and fun to make. Those are my favorites. It also had to work as a scrappy quilt and have wide appeal. Many quilters participated and we had a great time. (I made this quilt in advance to show the guild how it would look, and it's one of my favorites. I like how Quiltmaker photographed it too.)

The Empire Quilters Block of the Month can be seen at: http://www.empirebom.blogspot.com/.

See My Fan Quilt in Quiltmaker Magazine!

Photo above by Tim Benko.

Quiltmaker magazine has included my fan quilt in their January/February issue! It's very exciting to open Quiltmaker and see a quilt that I thought up. And this quilt is one of my favorites too. They named it "Fandango" (the fast Spanish dance using castinets). I used to call it "Firing on All Cylinders," but I like their festive name better.

The article has a good description about how to make this quilt. It's string-pieced by eye, not foundation pieced. Scraps are cut 1 inch wide. The key to making the fan is: when you sew two strips together, start with a regular 1/4" seam allowance, then gradually increase to about a 1/2" sean allowance. Repeating this with each strip creates the fan. Finally, place a square template on the block and trim to a square shape. Quiltmaker did a good job showing how to do it.

Click here to see an interniew with me about the quilt: http://www.quiltmaker.com/articles/Karen_Griska

Happy Quilting!

Welcome "Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks" Blog Tour!

This is the block that I made for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks; it's called "Candlestick." It's quick and easy to make, and I like it's lacy, airy style. Quilt blocks that have a stronog diagonal are particularly nice because there are so many ways to arrange them in the quilt top. Some of the many options are: barn-raising, on point, X's, and zig-zags. Then you could add sashing, or not.

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If you make a quilt using this block, I'd love to see a photo. We'll post them here on the Selvage Blog. I can see some selvages looking good in this block too!

GIVEAWAY: Scroll down to win a free copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks! Good luck.

Follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily Nov. 9-13 at

www.quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures for inspiration, ideas and giveaways galore!

Look for 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers in your local quilt shop,

or purchase it at www.quiltmaker.com/100blocks

GIVEAWAY TODAY: Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks

Simply add a comment to this post and you will be automatically entered to win a free copy.
No need to compose anything fancy since this is a random drawing. Good luck.

(I'll post the winner's name; then you can email me your address. No need to give your email now.)

I can't wait to see this issue. It should be on the stands any time now.

Giveaway at Quiltmaker!

Diane Harris at Quiltmaker magazine is having a giveaway. Click over here: http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/2009/06/26/selvage-obsession-giveaway/ to win the quilt block above (made by me for Quiltmaker magazine) and a copy of my selvage book. All you have to do is post a Comment on her site today. Good luck. :)

I really like that block. Click on the photo in the sidebar here at the Selvage Blog to see how easy it is to make fast flying geese (in case you don't win).

New Selvage Blocks in Quiltmaker Magazine!

Take a look at the new issue of Quiltmaker magazine to see the selvage version of the quilt featured on the cover. (It's on page 54.) Mark Lipinski designed the quilt on the cover, and I was asked by Quiltmaker to make a selvage version.

I was delighted to discover how quick and easy it is to make flying geese blocks with selvages. It's one of those projects that looks challenging, but is surprisingly simple! And I love how it came out! They also included a review of "Quilts from the Selvage Edge."

Thank you to my friend Linda Lasco (Senior Editor at AQS) who alerted me to the arrival of this issue on the stands. She is "up to the minute" when it comes to quilts!