"Twilight Star" Quilt on Location in Bucks County, PA

I love how the quilts in Kaffe Fassett's books are photographed in beautiful locations. With the help of my sons Brian and David, we took this photo on the grounds of Fonthill Museum in Doylestown, PA. It was nearly 100 degrees and humid that day. You can't see me, but I am crouched down on the bridge holding the quilt. Afterwards, we went out for smoothies!


Brian just completed his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts-Photography at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Charm Girls Guild, Doylestown, PA

These are my dear quilting friends. If you are a hermit quilter like I was for years, consider joining or starting a small quilting group. We meet once a month to share what we are doing in our quilting, tell about discoveries of good quilt books, fabrics, methods, shows, etc., and have some good laughs. Then we have tea and goodies. This has been going on for about 4 years. Perfect every time:)

Left to right: Helen Wolf, Linda Eichhorn, Ellen Johnson, Stephanie Berk, and Barbara Harrison (seated). In this photo they are holding one of my selvage quilts, a large basket block set on point. This quilt is now in the collection of Mark Lipinski of Quilter's Home magazine. No, he didn't buy it at a Sotheby's auction, I gave it to him! (He wrote the hilarious foreword to my book "Quilts from the Selvage Edge.")

Tote Bag by "the Ladies from Holland"

This is one of the tote bags made by Joke and her friends Lenie, Ruby and Nell. Wherever we went at the AQS (Paducah) show, people said "We met the ladies from Holland! Aren't their tote bags great?" I love how Joke used red selvages in one section, and yellow selvages in another, and so on. Very creative.

Eleanor Burns Takes a Look

Eleanor Burns had a wonderful "Show-n-Tell" evening program at the AQS Show in Paducah. Everyone who brought a quilt to share went on stage with Eleanor and talked about their quilt. Eleanor is so enthusiastic and encouraging, and I think she was really intrigued with the selvage quilt. This quilt is called "Old Maid's Puzzle, Solved." There is a pattern for it in the book "Quilts from the Selvage Edge."

Fantastic Quilts by Kathleen Loomis of Louisville, KY

Kathleen Loomis' father was a typographer so she developed an appreciation for letters at an early age. Her quilts feature letters and some are made with selvages. These quilts were part of an exhibit at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana in 2005.

Top: "Black I" 45" x 42" 2001

Bottom: "That's My Q" 56" x 87" 2004

Meet Joke van der Veen of the Netherlands!

Here we are at the Cracker Barrel in Paducah. Left to right: My sister Eileen Lovett of RI, Karen Griska of NY (me), and Joke van der Veen of the Netherlands. I am holding a very nice tote bag made by Joke. She was visiting the AQS quilt show with her friends Lenie (see next post), Nell and Ruby.

They brought little gifts from home to give to quilters they met in the US and Eileen and I were showered with them:)

Meet Lenie Mosselman van der Spuij!

I met Lenie and her friends at the AQS Show in Paducah. My sister Eileen and I were having breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. We were wearing our selvage vests, (of course!) and these quilters from the Netherlands were sporting their selvage tote bags. Immediately recognizing kindred spirits, we all connected and visited like old friends!

Lenie sent me this photo of some boxes she made. There are so many ways to use selvages!!

"The Selvage Queen," by Sandy Richardson!

Sandy Richardson of Cropwell, Alabama created this fantastic bear she calls "The Selvage Queen!" It has a crown and a necklace with the name: Selvage Queen. Sandy makes these as gifts for her friends. What a whimsical addition to any quilt studio!

Sandy credits Teresa Varnes of "Quilt in a Day" for the bear pattern. Doing it up in selvages, of course, was Sandy's idea. This little bear makes me smile!

Meet Vivian Lincicum of Mason City, Iowa!

Vivian calls this stunning quilt "Trash to Treasure #1." It measures 65" x 82." This is her first selvage quilt and she plans to make more.

Like many Iowans, Vivian's home was flooded in June. They had a couple inches of relatively clean water in their downstairs, so although they lost their carpets she said they were pretty lucky. All her fabric was safe in plastic bins. She and her husband worked hard moving things to higher ground as the water rose. She said they found things to laugh about and they shed a few pounds too. That's having a good attitude!

Meet "Quilt Diva" Julie Sefton!

Julie calls this quilt "At the Edge." It measures just 9" x 12." She created it for Ami Simms' Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (see http://www.alzquilts.org/). Julie is one of Ami's $1,000 Promise Quilters. Be sure to check out Julie's blog: http://www.quiltdivajulie.blogspot.com/. It is one of the best blogs out there!

Meet Sam Farman from Australia!

One of Sam's pen pals saw her fabric postcards on flickr and told her about "Quilts from the Selvage Edge." I like the idea of adding buttons. Sam and her friends are harvesting their selvages for future projects. The Internet makes the quilting world like a small neighborhood. Greetings to our quilting friends in Australia!

Click on this photo to see a close-up!

Selvage Purse - by Elena McDowell

These are just some of the things that Elena has been up to! Visit her website to see more: http://www.quiltsbyelena.com/.

Book Cover - by Elena McDowell

I think this book would feel nice to hold. And the look of selvages all lined up is really growing on me!

Table Runner - by Elena McDowell

Skip dessert! You'll be so inspired to return to your quilt studio you may lose a few pounds with one of these table runners.

Star of LeMoyne - by Elena McDowell

Taking selvages from the waste basket to the elegant world of star quilts. Elena is thinking big!

Pin Cushions - by Elena McDowell

A great gift idea for your quilting buddies.

Sock Monkey's Quilt - by Elena McDowell

This photo makes me smile!

Meet Elena McDowell of North Carolina!

Elena McDowell has been creating with selvages for years! Take a look at her fabulous work.

Her friends have been calling her crazy for a long time, but all the while enabling her with their selvages. That's what good quilting buddies are for! And one of them surprised her with a gift of "Quilts from the Selvage Edge." How perfect is that? (I think she could write her own selvage quilt book.)

The "woven" selvages appear to float above the surface of this quilt. Nice job, Elena!