Feedsack Selvages!

Did you know that feedsacks had selvages? I didn't! Where else can you learn so much about the lowly selvage?

Marydon of the Blushing Rose Boutique in Westminster, MD sent this photo, and she says:

"The entire fabric is the same right up to the edge/selvage ... only a rare few have writing about the textile mill. I have attached a pic of a rare one."

You can visit her boutique at: http://www.blushingroseboutique.com/. In addition to other merchandise, she and her husband offer vintage feedsacks for sale. Thank you, Marydon!

Meet Diane in Tampa, FL

Diane in Tampa, FL made this selvage bag. I like her diagonal selvage block arrangement, and the orange pocket on the side. She even covered a button with selvages.

Diane is originally from Las Vegas and now lives in Florida, but she loves snowmen! I guess they seem nice and cold to her. Makes sense to me. Visit her blog at:

http://sewmanmaniacquilter.blogspot.com/ Get it? Sewman = Snowman. I'm just showing off. :)

Meet Sharyn of Kalama Quilts

At the top of Sharyn's blog: http://www.kalamaquilts.blogspot.com/, it reads: "Where we eat to live, and live to quilt." So right off the bat, you know she has her priorities in order and you can relate to her. Her blog is thoughtful, hilarious and definitely worth the trip. Make a new cup of coffee or tea first. Seriously.

Take a look at the card that she made: it has paper selvages! I never saw that before. It even says "Cut Off Strip" right on it, in case we are wondering what to do. :)

Quilt Diva Julie's Stash

Here is Julie's selvage stash! (Julie lives in Memphis, TN) She says:

"When one of our local Walgreens stores closed (in order to open across the street where they could have a drive thru), my husband happened by on the day they were selling off store fixtures. He bought 4 of these 5-drawer units and the extended countertop (which is perfect for a cutting surface) for under $75.00!"

A very fine husband indeed, Julie! I mean "wonderful storage drawers!"

Take a look at Julie's blog: http://quiltdivajulie.blogspot.com/ She has the coolest stuff on her blog. I check in regularly!

Monika's Bag: Peace on Earth

Monika Schiffgen of Germany made this beautiful travel bag. She included a bit of the selvage which reads "Peace on Earth." She says, "Such a beautiful name and a very nice font." What pretty Moda fabrics. And such an elegant bag, Monika.

Seen Enough Selvage Stashes? I Didn't Think So!

Isn't Terri's selvage stash elegant? She says: "I just love the way the colors show through these beautiful glass apothecary jars and since my father and mother were pharmacists, it brings back memories of them at the same time."

Visit her blog "From Here to Quilternity" at: http://www.quilternity.com/


Nancy in Connecticut stores her selvages in the drawers above, according to length. Pretty fancy! Then, she stores her finished selvage blocks in plastic bags (below). Well, okay Nancy, but how about whipping them up into a nice quilt? They're really pretty. Show us what you make!
-
Check out her blog at: http://quiltingquandry.blogspot.com/.

Kathy's stash (below) is small but growing. Kathy is a quilter and a firefighter! You don't hear that every day! She lives in Maine and enjoys the outdoors and gardening.
-
Check out her blog at: http://beewitchinstitchin.wordpress.com/

When I saw this photo, I thought "Wow! She has a lot of the same fabrics as me!" I told her that in an email and she replied, "Well, that's because you sent me some!" Really? I don't remember that at all. Yikes. I wonder what else I'm up to (that I don't know about!).

Still more selvage stashes on the way! Stay tuned.

Time-Lapse Selvage Stash (Physics)

Lynne in New Hampshire sent three photos of her selvage stash. Above, see her stash as it looked in February. So neat and tidy.
-
Below, in the March photo, you can see she's stocking up for a project. Super-Critical Mass!

Then Lynne made two pretty tote bags that you saw on this blog. She says she was eager to clean up after those projects, so she just stuffed her selvages back in the box (April photo, below).

-

While that's true, according to the physics of selvage quilting her stash will never return to the neat state shown above, and she will never have a smaller selvage stash, no matter how many projects she does. Our knowledge of selvage physics is still in it's infancy, but these surprising principles are being verified every day. Does your experience agree with this?

Thanks, Lynne for your contribution to art and science.

Oops! Selvage Editor Needed!

Sophy's Roses just don't sound as pretty when pronounced "Soppy's Roses." When this typo was made, maybe they thought, "Oh well, who reads selvages?" Well we do! We're not the Quilt Police, we're just sayin.

Thanks to selvage quilter Joan Jordan who noticed these interesting selvages in her stash and emailed us a photo. (See her purse and postcard on this blog).

The Perfect Card

Joan Jordan made this very cute selvage postcard. Here's what she had to say about it:

"This is my first selvage postcard. It’s not perfect, but I made it for my mother for Mother’s Day, and she’ll think it’s perfect. We both love cats and chocolate, and my step-father’s name is Jack. I wouldn’t normally slap my name on the front of something, but I have three sisters, so I wanted to be sure that credit is received where credit is due."
-

I think this is a card she'll remember for a while. (Even if it didn't have your whole name on it!)Hand-made Mother's Day cards are the best! Very clever, Joan!

Jen Duncan's Fast Blue Zinger

Jen Duncan had to have a selvage quilt yesterday! (She was in a hurry.) So necessity being the mother of invention, she came up with some ways to make a lightning-fast Blue Zinger! Take a look at the photos on her blog: http://www.jenduncan.typepad.com/ Her post is dated May 12th. You will really like her blog.

Doesn't she have the best selvages? Jen, where do you find those fabrics?

Britta's Pin Cushion and TaTuTa

What a pretty pin cushion Britta Eggenstein of Germany has made! Blue on one side, and red/gold/yellow on the other side. And such an elegant presentation on that beautiful antique sewing machine!

Britta also made a TaTuTa (I've never heard that word before, but it must mean something like "tisssue holder." Yes, I am very clever.) If you check out the selvage stash posts, you'll see Britta's stash.

Isn't it fun to have quilting buddies all over the world? I really enjoy that! Of course we are all buddies; we all hang out at the Selvage Blog together, right?

You can see Britta's blog at: http://quilt-girlie.blogspot.com/

Brenda Knight's Selvage Bag

Take a look at this stunning selvage bag made by Brenda Knight! Her signature style is so so beautiful. To see the photo, click on the link below:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=fv9uvjv.5w25j1lv&x=0&h=1&y=-5xl42o&localeid=en_US

Want to See More Selvage Stashes?

Rachel at the Second Avenue Studio in Oregon keeps her stash in a brown paper bag. It's stuffed pretty tight. I like what she says in her blog profile: "I'm a quilter. I have a quiet place to do my work. Lucky me. I married a great guy with muscles and brains." :)

See Rachel's blog at: http://2ndavenuestudio.blogspot.com/

Yes, Kelly Jackson has just one lonely selvage (above), but it is a pretty one. And you know, a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step! Keep up with Kelly's projects at: http://www.ihaveanotion.blogspot.com/.

Is this a pretty selvage stash, or what? As you recall, Carrie P. was the winner of the package of selvages in the recent give-away by the Fabric Square Shop. So I think we're going to need an updated photo of her selvage stash sometime. She has a lovely blog at: http://apassionforapplique.blogspot.com/.

Caution: Her blog may make you want to drop everything and take up applique!

Coming up: More selvage stashes on May 19th.

Pretty Needlecase Available on Etsy

Akiko Kunst in Massachusetts wants to make a selvage jacket, so she decided to practice with a small project first. That makes sense, but I'd say she's ready to make the jacket! I love her soft light palette. And that lime green button with the leaves nearby is perfect. Nice job, Akiko!

You can see her beautiful quilts at: http://withhugsnstitches.com/Gallery.php

Her needlecase is for sale on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24456700

Elena's Tobacco Barn Quilt

Elena McDowell of NC made this wonderful "Tobacco Barns" selvage quilt. I love the roofs, the stones in the sashing and outer border, and the charming "school-house" quilt look. It's light and airy, just like those breezy barns. It's perfect. Great job, Elena!

-

See more of Elena's stunning work at: http://www.quiltsbyelena.com/, and http://www.carolinasquirrel.etsy.com/.

Mona Norhave - A Quilter in Denmark

Mona Norhave in Denmark got a handfull of small selvages from her fabric shop (3-6" long) and her challenge was to make something with them. I like how she arranges her selvages, and the addition of the buttons and ribbons on the pin cushions is so nice. Good job, Mona! Now she's waiting for her package of selvages from the Fabric Square Shop. This should be interesting!

-

Take a look at Mona's website http://www.monanorhave.dk/ especially if you like to look at lots of quilts. She has a huge collection of interesting quilts featured there.

Happy Mother's Day!

Selvage Cards from Germany!

Monika Schiffgen of Germany made these very creative selvage postcards. What a nice job she did piecing and embellishing! I think she and her quilting buddies are exchanging them, but I don't read German so I don't know for sure!

You can check out Monika's blog at: http://www.steppstiche.blogspot.com/. The photos are very interesting even if you can't read the text! :)

"Quilter's World" Riviews Selvage Book

I was so delighted to see "Quilts from the Selvage Edge" reviewed in "Quilter's World magazine." Who knows, maybe some new selvage quilters will be born.

I'm very curious to see the new book by Bonnie K. Hunter called "Scraps and Shirttails," also shown above. She was the Featured Quilter one time on www.realwomenquilt.com, so I feel like I know her a little bit. I guess all quilters know each other a little bit because we have a lot in common to start with.

Thank you to Debbie in Jerusalem for telling me about this book review! You can see her blog at: www.debbiesfiberwork.blogspot.com. She has been experimenting with stamping designs onto fabric. Very interesting results.

Selvage Quilt by Susan Holman

Susan Holman made this very clever selvage quilt called "Gone Fabric Shopping." It measures 67" x 67." This quilt was recently exhibited at the Friendship Star Quilters quilt show in Montgomery County, MD. This is what Susan had to say about her quilt:

"The book "Quilts from the Selvedge Edge" inspired me to make this quilt. I have always saved the selvedge edge that had writing or dots so I've got 17 years worth of fabric collecting to cut from. This quilt barely scratched the surface... Machine pieced. Machine quilted."

Thank you to Amy of the Calico Cat for sharing this quilt with us. You can see her beautiful baby and her quilting projects on her blog at: www.thecalicocat.blogspot.com.

Even More Selvage Stashes!

Jennifer Duncan stores her selvages in this nice basket (above). When the basket is up on the shelf, some selvages peek over the edge so she doesn't forget them (below). We've seen some of her selvages in the past, remember those nice Japanese selvages with the little "pac man" type designs on them? See her blog at: http://www.jenduncan.typepad.com/

Britta in Germany has a whole boxful of selvages, nice and wide too (below). A rainy day, and she'll have a new selvage project! See her blog at: http://www.quilt-girlie.blogspot.com/.

Amy Sheridan of San Diego, CA keeps her selvages in a gallon zip-lock bag (below). That red and white striped one is going to look great! She's using my rule-of-thumb that when you have a gallon bagful, you're ready to make a selvage quilt.

Anya of PA keeps her sizable selvage collection in clear plastic bags (below). It looks like she has lots of quilting projects going in there. Check her blog to see what she's up to: http://www.hillscreekquilter.blogspot.com/.

Still more selvage stashes to come on May 9th, 13th, and 18th! Stay tuned.

Quilts for Kids - Abruzzo, Italy Earthquake

(This is just an example of a child's quilt that's quick and easy to make. It's from: www.noveltyquiltfabric.com.)

Italian quilter Roberta Sperandio was happy to hear from so many of you who expressed an interest in makinig a quilt for a child impacted by the recent earthquakes in Abruzzo, Italy. So, here is an update on her "Thousand Colors for Abruzzo" project:

Roberta is asking for finished quilts (a colorful Linus-type "blankie") for children ages 3-6 years old. They should be about 40" x 60," and made out of cotton fabric with poly batting. Since they don't have dryers, she asks that we not use wool, fleece, flannel, etc.

The quilts need to be there by July 15, and since it may take a few weeks to ship to Italy, we need to get our machines humming asap. She and her husband Vincent will deliver the quilts personally.

The mailing address for the quilts is:

Roberta Sperandio
Mille Colori per l'Abruzzo
Via Due Agosto. 24
31022 Preganziol, Treviso
Italy

On the customs document, just write: "Gift: Quilt for Earthquake Children of Abruzzo"

Her blog is: http://www.simplyninepatch.blogspot.com/
Her email is: roberta.sperandio@alice.it

Julia Wood's "Tic Tac Tomato" Selvage Quilt!

Julia Wood has made another amazing selvage quilt, "Tic Tac Tomato." (Remember she recently made the beautiful "Green Zinger.")

This is what she had to say about it:
"This is a 12" x 12" art quilt. The selvages form the tic tac toe grid. I stamped the tomatoes with real tomatoes and fabric paint. Then I appliqued them to the grid. The quilt also features beading (for seeds), puff paint (for mayonnaise), and lots of hand quilting using embroidery floss."

I wish I could have seen her "stamping the tomatoes with real tomatoes and fabric paint." I keep trying to imagine how she did it! Those beads look just like tomato seeds! And that mayo! And all that quilting! Incredible, Julia! This is delightfully and exceedingly creative.

See Julia's blog at: http://www.greenquilts.blogspot.com/.

More Selvage Stashes!

Kathi Price keeps her selvages on these interesting hangers (above). I think that little lizzard is waving at us. Very artistic. See Kathi's blog and Etsy shop at:
http://kathiskreations.blogspot.com/
http://kathip22.etsy.com/

Susan McConnell keeps her selvages (above) in a brown paper bag! I think I see a gray Japanese selvage in there on the right. I bet she just doesn't want to tempt burglars. (I don't mean Anya and Rita, of course!) http://hangingonbyaneedleandthread.blogspot.com/

Michele Lancaster keeps her selvages in a shallow box (above). Good idea, you can see what you're looking for. I love that colorful selvage front and center. It certainly is a "variety pack."

Jean of http://www.quiltinjeannie.blogspot.com/ keeps her selvages in bags (above). Makes sense to me. I think I see enough selvages there for a quilt, Jean! Cool shamrocks.

This vertical selvage collection belongs to Debbie in Jerusalem. When she visits New York and New Jersey she stocks up on fabric (and selvages, of course). See Debbie's blog at:

http://debbiesfiberwork.blogspot.com/

More selvage stashes to come on May 5th, 9th, and 13th! Don't miss tomorrow's post: Julia Wood's "Tic Tac Tomato." It's really amazing!!

Nancy's Floral Selvage Quilt

Nancy in Connecticut is making her first selvage quilt. She was thinking the florals were "too much" but then she found the sandy colored fabric for the inner border and now she loves it. I do too, especially that selvagve border. Nice job, Nancy!
-

Take a look at her blog: http://www.quiltingquandry.blogspot.com/. She has an excellent tutorial showing how to make a block with folded curves. Very cool.

I thought you'd be interested to know that Wednesday was a record-breaking day here at the Selvage Blog. There were 873 individual visitors! Did you know this was such a busy place? I'm so glad you are here!

It was also my 56th birthday! My husband and I had a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory here in White Plains, NY. My Mom gave me a mountain laurel shrub. I love those!