Selvage Quilt Exhibit at Brookside Quiltworks

Twenty of my selvage quilts are on exhibit at Brookside Quiltworks in S. Egremont, MA from now until the end of May. You can enter a free drawing to win the Monkey Wrench quilt. There are selvage pincushions with beaded pinsies available for purchase as well as patterns for many of the  quilts in the exhibit. 

And the gorgeous selection fabrics in this shop will inspire you too. I have my eye on her new shipment of Aboriginal prints. Next time.

This is my mom, Mary. We visited the exhibit yesterday, chatted with Catherine Kane the owner of Brookside Quiltworks, and then had a delicious lunch at Patisserie Lenox in nearby Great Barrington, Massachusetts. 

"Red Zinger" (above) is a popular favorite. Click here to see Zinger variations.

See the Red Zinger pattern here.

I love the optical illusion in "Glass Tumbling Blocks" above.

The First All-Selvage Quilt Exhibit!

Twenty of my selvage quilts are now on exhibit at Brookside Quiltworks in South Egremont, Massachusetts starting today and running until the end of May. Printed patterns for many of the quilts are available, and most of the quilts are available for purchase too. 

Catherine's shop is full of the most wonderful fabrics and quilt goodies! Lots of treasures and inspiration for any quilt project. 

Combine this with a nice lunch in nearby Great Barrington, MA and you have a fun outing!

Brookside Quiltworks is open Tuesday-Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-3.

Do You Know What's Coming Here Tomorrow?

Brookside Quiltworks is a wonderful fabric shop and quilt gallery in S. Egremont, Massachusetts. Come back tomorrow and see what's up!

Moonlight, a Strip Quilt and Pattern

 "Moonlight" is my most recent quilt finish. The (Kona Ash Gray) sashing color gives a moonlight look to this quilt. And I love the piano keys. Using only two strips rather than four, and placing them asymmetrically adds a little modern whimsy. I used the same striped fabric for backing and binding. You can see the striped binding in the photo above. And here are some detail photos below. Pattern coming soon on Etsy. I'll keep you posted.

Interweave Quilt Pattern

Are you sewing your stash in 2019? (see over 3,000 pics at #sewingmystash on Instagram) Here's an interesting scrap pattern to consider: Interweave. Fun to make. I'm listing this finished quilt in my Etsy shop as well. 

I hope you are all staying warm, especially in the Midwest USA. Polar vortex, go away!

Movie Recommendation: Green Book

I highly recommend this movie: Green Book. The characters are engaging and the dialogue is spot on. It's funny and moving. The music is great. It has a nice ending. What's not to love? Go see it.
(Not for little kids because of language and brief scenes.)

Winding Trails Scrap Quilt Pattern

This is the new Winding Trails quilt and pattern! It's so much fun to make. You sprinkle the colors as you go. Scrap quilts are the best, aren't they? Visit: Winding Trails pattern.

Gnome/Pixy Hats from Amber Studios on Etsy

Amber Studios is known for fabulous storybook style sweater coats, and now her latest offering is gnome/pixie hats! Click here to see more pics of this hat. Or visit Amber Studios to see other handmade upcycled beauties. What a feast for the eyes! 

Nice work, Barbara!

Record-Breaking Thread Useage in 2018

Yup, 38 spools of thread were emptied in my quilt studio in 2018! Usually I average about 20 spools per year, so despite the flimsiness of this measurement, it's a milestone.

Happy quilting!

New Puzzle Quilt Pattern!

Here's my first finish of 2019! A fun scrap Puzzle quilt measuring 45.5" x 60." I love this one; it reminds me of good family times. I used my scrap stash for this, including that black and white polka dot fabric that finds its way into many of my quilts. My sister Eileen gave me a pack of Cotton and Steel prints that I love. This pattern also has 6 photos of other design variations for inspiration.
See the pattern here: Puzzle Quilt Pattern

Humorous Tee - Sports

In an extended family of sports fans, this shirt tells how my husband and I feel about it all. Haha. (image found at Party Brew on Etsy)

Happy Thanksgiving!

So much to be thankful for! Enjoy!

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."   

"Bird House" by Karen Griska for Curated Quilts

This is my submission for Curated Quilts' Mini Quilt Challenge for an upcoming issue featuring house quilts. This is "Bird House." It measures16" x 16."

The actual colors are clearer and prettier than shown in this photo. It is machine pieced, machine appliqued, raw-edge appliqued, and machine quilted. The house door is a yoyo.

You can see all of the wonderful quilts that have been submitted by clicking here.

Day Three - Hat by Arturo Rios

Day three: Another creation by talented California hat-maker Arturo Rios. He avoids the challenge  of finding outfits to go with this hat. These incredible hats really feed my creativity!

Day Two - Yellow Hat by Arturo Rios

Another fabulous hat by California hat-maker Arturo Rios. This will jump-start our creativity!
One more hat tomorrow.

Three Days of Hats - All by Arturo Rios

Arturo Rios is a fabulous hat-maker in Los Angeles, California. He offers his collection for sale on Etsy: Arturo Rios. I'm enjoying looking at his hats; it sparks my creativity. I'll feature another one  Friday and Saturday.

Now I need a formal outdoor event to go to. I don't know if I could pull this off, though. Could you?

Big Selvage Pillows

Barbara Cain is the author of "Go Big Go Bold, Large Scale Modern Quilts" and her quilts have appeared in many magazines too. She thought it would take a long time to save enough selvages to make anything, but creating these two beautiful selvage pillows (24" square) hardly put a dent in her selvage stash. Barbara used muslin foundation strips. You can read more about this project on her blog: Modern Quilting by B. Nice job Barbara!

Selvage Table Runner - Feathers

Take a look at Renee's reversible selvage table runner: teal selvage feathers on one side and rows of multi-colored selvages on the other. Renee lives in New Mexico. You can read more about this runner on her blog: Quilts of a Feather. Nice work, Renee!

Rewards of Climbing the Photoshop Learning Curve

Finally, the clergy stole photos for my Etsy shop Shadrach's have clean white backgrounds!  I recently got a new computer and had to learn Photoshop because Picasa 3 is now defunct. Picasa was great, except that it couldn't lighten just one area of a photo. It was all or nothing. So this is my reward for learning a new skill: crisp photos. I love it. Ah, the rewards of biting the bullet and leaving my comfort zone.

I'm looking forward to getting back to quilt-making. My collection of quilt pattern ideas is getting very big! And I'm still saving selvages. We'll see.