Christy's Selvage Block!

"Wee Snails Wanderin' at Twilight," an August challenge block by Christy Yates, from Modern Quilts Magazine. Thank you to Pamela Smith for showing me this block!

Very nice job, Christy!!

Wedding Guest Message Quilt

Our son Brian married his sweet girlfriend Lauren in May. Seventy of the wedding guests wrote messages on 5" squares (backed with freezer paper) using fabric pens. And here's the finished quilt. It was hard to get good photos, but you get the basic idea. The squares are Kona White, the dark fabric is a batik, and the outer border is a Hoffman print called "Kaya." The backing is solid blue and the binding is solid gold. 

New Book: Splash of Color!

Keep an eye out for Jackie Kunkel's new book: Splash of Color from That Patchwork Place.

See Jackie's website here: CVQuiltworks. And visit her blog too. Jackie is a dynamic quilter here in Connecticut who is also a pilot! She's a certified Judy Niemeyer quilt teacher, and she's the founder and organizer of the New England Air Museum Quilt Show (coming up later this month). 

And not only that, she's a wonderful person and lots of fun. 

Sewing Machine Thingys!

Thanks to Joan Jordan for this educational diagram. Finally, answers for inquiring minds!

I'd like to have an "unobtainium," but you just can't get them! Know what I mean?

Gas Fueled Iron

Have you ever seen a gas-fueled iron? It's listed on Etsy for $90 from Wisdom Lane.

You can find the strangest things on Etsy! The iron was made by Coleman in the 1920's. 

Now we've seen everything!

Glamping in a Gypsy Trailer

Vintage Gypsy Wagon Travel Trailer for sale on Etsy from prettyware of Arkansas, priced around $3,500. It has a bed, seating, storage and a cooker. See interior photos in the ad. Vintage cute and clever. Seeing things like this fuels our creativity, don't you think?

Doily Quilts

This sweet baby quilt is featured in the book: Make it Sew Modern: Gather, Twist, Pleat, Texture by Vanessa Christensen. Nice!

Made by Marlis1 from Tortosa, Spain. She collected doilies from her family and flea markets, then made this quilt. Photo found on Flickr.

I Brake for Fabric Too!

Haha. From Wish Upon A Quilt. 

Lego Shoes

 Amusing uses for Legos. Have a creative day!

Lego House

"Top Gear presenter, James May, built a new house in Surrey made entirely out of Lego bricks. This two-story Lego palace, which resides in the middle of a vineyard, has a working bathroom, and is covered inside and out with over 816 million Lego bricks." - Zuza Fun

Thank you to patty a. who told me about this yesterday.

Lego Street Art

This painted bridge, embellished wall and tree house remind me of good times with our sons and make me smile. I like happy street art.

Lego Wall

Our family is past the Lego phase now, but this clever idea caught my eye. 

I remember stepping on Legos when checking on our sons during the night. 

That's a real eye-opener!

Selvage Fabric by Timeless Treasures

This fabric by Timeless Treasures is printed to look like it's covered with selvages! 

What would you call this? Down-cycling?

Novelty Fabrics Add Interest

I'm always on the lookout for interesting novelty fabrics like the little red tiger shown above from Cotton and Steel. The branches, the postmark, and the big black dot add some interest too. 

My favorite quilts have a good number of these little surprises. How about you?

The quilt photo above is from the Optimist string quilt pattern. 

Here are two more interesting prints from Cotton and Steel.

Family Quilt Holder

Haha! I love this quilt photo! Looks like one tall quilt-holder and two little helpers. Sweet.

Nice modern quilt too. This photo was posted by sasikirana on flickr. 

Spiky Border Tutorial by Tia Curtis

I love how the spiky border adds pizzazz to this scrappy one-patch quilt by Tia Curtis.

 See her spiky border tutorial here and her  Etsy shop too. 

Tia is a quilt teacher and longarm quilter in Kansas.

Nice job, Tia!

Center Diamond Quilt Shop, Oregon

Last week my DH, DS and I vacationed in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Needless to say, I spent some time in this wonderful quilt shop Center Diamond and brought home some treasures too. These friendly people have a beautiful selection of batiks, Oriental prints, beach themed fabrics, Kaffe Fassett fabrics, the newest modern prints, novelty fabrics and more. Lots of books and tools too. And when you're done, you can sip iced tea outside at a nearby coffee shop (and smell the roses).

Cannon Beach, Oregon. Our hotel was a short walk beyond that big haystack rock: Tolovana Inn.

P.S. I had no problem bringing 4" long scissors on the plane (for knitting). 

Photo Contest Entry: Willys 1942

This photo was my recent entry in the Heritage Village Camera Club competition: "Willys 1942." 

I like the curves and the reflection of the pretty sky on the black car. It's tricky to get a photo without the reflections of all the spectators at a car show, but at this angle, it worked. This was taken at a popular weekly car show in Granby, CT. I was looking for interesting windows during this photo shoot. I think exercises like this keep my quilting ideas fresh. Who knows? It can't hurt.

This photo received the highest possible score, a 9, but not the top prize.

Virtual Selvage Blog Location

Welcome to the new virtual location of the Selvage Blog. Need room for your next quilting project? Just move right in to one of these bright studios. We have plenty of space. And it's free. That's one of the biggest advantages of virtual cyber locations. Tea anyone?

Happy birthday to my Dad, who would have been 89 today!

Advice from Astronaut

As I recall, there was an astronaut in space who was a quilter, right? 

I could be happy in space for a long time if I had my quilting supplies with me. 

If you're new to this blog, take a look at the quilt patterns in my Etsy shop.