Spoon Art

A new restaurant in Avon, Connecticut called "Dish 'n Dat" has this delightful spoon art a big curved wall. My server said it was fun to watch it under construction. Another example of seeing an ordinary item in an unusual way! I like to see things that fill my creativity tank. :)

Sarah London Will Teach You How to Crochet Now

If you've always wanted to know how to crochet granny squares or these little stars, take a look at Sarah London's blog: http://sarahlondon.wordpress.com/ You are only 10 minutes away from knowing how! Her instructional photos are the best I've ever seen. You'll say ah-haa!

I'm on a crocheting/knitting binge right now. I'll post photos soon. I'm making prayer shawls and small blankets. The blankets are really crazy. :)

Martina's Pot-Holders

Rremember Martina Odenthal of Cologne, Germany? She made these pretty pot-holders. It seems to be her trademark to add a bit of tape measure/ruler fabric to her selvage creations. Very nice, Martina! "Trademark" is a little pun since she is a lawyer too.

Isn't that great apple fabric on the back? Red delicious with water droplets. Very kitchen-appropriate. I think selvage pot-holders make a nice Christmas gift for quilting friends. I'd better get on the stick!

Visit Martina's blog at: http://stufenzumgericht.blogspot.com/

Unusual and Creative Tableware Design

When you can only have one cup, this is the one to choose: the "stacked" cup. I like it.

Our sons like to use silverware as all-purpose tools, so this isn't a big stretch for us!

All this cleverness is from toxel.com.

"Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks" Giveaway Winner Announced!

And the winner is: (drumroll) Jean Etheridge of Huntsville, Alabama! Yayyy, Jean. She'll be receiving her copy of "Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks" in the mail any day now.

Thank you to everyone who posted a comment during Quiltmaker's Blog Tour week. That was fun!

Martha MacGyver's Experiment

Well actually, her name's Wendy, but her blog is Martha MacGyver. I don't ask questions about stuff like this. :) She created this as she figured out her selvage quilt plans for "Waste Not, Want Not," a recent post here. I like how she added lots of buttons to go with the color windows. I can see using rows of colored buttons too. Wendy put snaps on this to wear as a cuff. Remember Martina Odenthal's selvage cuffs?

Visit Wendy's blog at: http://www.marthamacgyver.blogspot.com/

Iva McAdams Makes Her First Selvage Skirt

Iva McAdams of Kansas made her first selvage skirt - with a belt too! Here are her words:

"I finally did a selvage project. Paulette Carr's adorable little skirt was my inspiration and I just had to make one for my granddaughter. However, since gathering is not one of my favorite things to do, I opted for more of an a-line skirt. But the next one I make (yes, there will be another one) will definitely be gathered; it's a much cuter look."

Take a look at Iva's blog at: http://plainandfancypieces.blogspot.com/ especially if you want to see some great photos of Rome!

Selvage Quilts by Margaret Zenk

Margaret Zenk is a quilter from East Islip, New York. (I wonder if she lives near the Great Gatsby.) I love this spiky spinning star selvage quilt! Here's what she had to say about it:

"I've been quilting for almost 30 years. When I saw the book it unleashed something in me. I already had a sizeable stash, but now I see fabric in a totally different way. If I have to choose between two at the store, I buy the one with the nicer selvage. I look at FQs to see if they have selvages. I've asked my machine quilter to dig through her trash. I took apart an old apron because there was a selvage that I couldn't resist. I have a large box filled with selvages, even after making 4 quilts. The box weighs 9 lbs."

"I bought this pink striped homespun for $1 per yard and wanted to do something fun with it. I settled on a spinning stars design. Your blog devotees will appreciate that it doesn't take a lot of selvages to do this one. It's similar to the red zinger without the third edge. If you rotate the stripes like I did, you will get real movement. I saved some time by using a glue stick rather than pins to hold the selvages in place before stitching. Final size is 55 x 71. I haven't quilted it yet, but I made a 20" block for the back because I didn't have enough of the pink bubble fabric."

I love how it's a close relative of the Red Zinger! And I'm going to try using a glue stick too. I hope I remember to avoid sewing over the glue!

Below is Margaret's Gold Zinger. She chose gold to go with the rick rack that she wanted to use. It's perfect, don't you think? Did you know you can machine wash and dry a selvage quilt and nothing bad will happen? It's true. There are before and after photos showing this in the book "Quilts from the Selvage Edge."

Yayyy, Margaret! Great job.

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.

The Best of Selvage Blog (Selvage Stuff)

For those of you who are taking the "Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour" today and are new to the Selvage Blog, here is a sampling of some selvage projects.

Above is a spider web selvage quilt made by Anne Marie Cowley of Oregon. Below is a log cabin selvage quilt made by me.

The selvage tote below was made by Fernanda Gomes of Portugal. All of these items are shown in more detail as you scroll through the older posts.

The amazing selvage frock below was made by Jodie Carleton of Ballarat, Australia. It's modeled by her daughter. See this and other fantastic projects by Jodie in the sidebar at right.

This pretty selvage shirt was made by Paulette Carr.

Come back and visit us often. Selvage quilters share lots of inspiration here. Sign up on our companion site: www.selvagequilts.com for occasional emails on special topics.

The Best of Selvage Blog (Just for Fun)

For our visitors from Quiltmaker today, here is a sample of some posts we enjoy... just for fun. Sometimes it's something beautiful, unusual, humorous, or just wierd. It all fills our creativity tank!

This is a life-size knitted Ferrari. Why? I don't know. But you had to see it.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw these unique but very uncomfortable-looking shoes.

I found this wild calla lily at Big Sur, California. It was late afternoon, and I thought it looked majestic.

I love to see amazing things made out of common items, like the pencil sculpture below...and selvage quilts!

Sweedish photographer Eric Johansson took the photo above. Isn't he amazing?

I took the photo below at the Columbia River Gorge between Washington and Oregon. Not amazaing, but still beautiful.

Scroll down through Older Posts to see these and other topics.

Join Pat Sloan's Red Zinger Mania Group!

This is the Red Zinger that I made for Quilter's Home a year ago. It was the trigger for Pat Sloan's new obsession: Red Zinger Mania! (Heh heh heh, we're here for you, Pat!) She's going to make a Red Zinger and she wants company! Pat has a forum on her site for all of us to hang out: selvage quilters, non-selvage quilters, enablers, selvage swappers, wannabees, newbies, been-there-done-thats...

I just have to share with you what Pat said in her opening post:

"I said I was not going to do this...my friends are...I see quilters everywhere doing it...but I...not I...I would be strong. I would not cave in. Even if I did blog about Karen's quilt. But alas...the other day I started to keep them. I started to KEEP my selvages...gasp...the obsession has started!" -Pat Sloan, quilter from Virginia and Internet guru

When Pat gets an idea, she goes full tilt!! You will see what I mean when you visit her sites:

Read her post about Red Zinger Mania: http://patsloan.typepad.com/pat_sloans_corner/2009/10/just-a-litle-obsession.html

This is where you register to join the fun and add your Comments: http://quiltmashup.com/index.php/topic,278.0.html

Website - http://www.patsloan.com/

Blog - http://patsloan.typepad.com/

Quilt Forum - http://www.quiltmashup.com/

P.S. I sent her a box of selvages to get them going! I can't wait to see the quilts.

Brian Griska, Photographer

This is one of Brian's most recent photos. He's a photographer in NYC/NJ specializing in creative still life photos. I love his work. You can see more at http://www.briangriska.com/.

Today is his 26th birthday, and yes, as you may have guessed, I'm his Mom. :)

Happy birthday, Brian!

Jodie's Latest Obsession - Robots!

Fiberart genius Jodie Carleton of Ballarat, Australia is in full force making robots! And they have personalities and stories! They even knit - look at how the little black robot is holding the yarn for the knitter! Jodie's blog is a real treat. Take a look at: http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/

Jodie is the creator of the selvage dress, selvage chair and selvage parasol shown in the sidebar at right, or just click here to see all: www.selvageblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Jodie%20Carleton

Heather Bailey's Felt for Embellishments and Ornaments

Designer Heather Bailey is always up to something deliciously colorful! Her latest thing is felt. She stocks high quality wool blend (and bamboo) felt in good colors in her online store: http://www.heatherbaileystore.com/category-s/55.htm&Click=25

This is the felt she uses for her leaves, flowers and pincushions. Aren't they stunning? I'm thinking ornaments! For Christmas and for year-round decoration in the quilt studio!

See Heather's blog: http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/

To see previous posts about Heather's wonderful stuff here on the Selvage Blog: http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Heather%20Bailey

Have a creative day!

Congratulations, Linda!

Do you remember Linda from Des Moines, Iowa? (If not, click here: http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/lindas-quilt-studio-in-iowa.html)

Right now she's in Australia cuddling with her happy new grandson, teaching her granddaughter how to knit and visiting with her daughter and son-in-law. In addition, she's teaching new quilters as they work on charity quilts together.

Isn't that a beautiful lavender jacaranda tree above? (Quilter Linda Robertus introduced us to those.) Looking in the other direction, she can see Sydney and the Iron Bridge. She loves it there. What's not to love?

Take a look at Linda's blogs. She's keeping them up to date while Down Under. Thanks for sharing all that joy, Linda! I could gaze at this laughing baby all day!

http://www.flourishingpalms.blogspot.com/
http://www.stitchinmission.blogspot.com/

Floral Plate Warms My Heart

I saw this plate on display in a Cracker Barrell restaurant in my travels. That's one of my favorite stops when I'm on the road. It was so pretty I decided to take a photo to show you. I love the combination of black and creamy white with multi bright colors. I should have turned the plate over to see what was written on the back but I didn't think of it at the time.

Not only does the Cracker Barrell have comfort food, they have antique decorations that warm my heart too. This plate reminds me of my Grandmother Barbara who came to this country from Lithuania by herself when she was 16 years old. Can you imagine? She could knit real fast, and she was the best cook. She had 5 kids, the middle one was my Dad. She and I were very close. She would peel the skin off grapes for me when I was a toddler. That memory makes me chuckle now.

I hope you enjoy a tender memory today.

Origami Bird Teabag

What a creative idea! As a tea lover and a fanatic for seeing common things in new ways, this really caught my eye. The concept was designed by Natalia Ponomareva from Russia. I bet the wings go up and down as you dip the bag. But you have to make the "tweet tweet" sounds yourself.

I found this item on Toxel.com.

Welcome to my office.

Well, not exactly. This is also the Main Reading Room of the Nashville Public Library. Isn't it beautiful? While visiting one of my sons in Nashville I spent some time on my computer here. That's the Selvage Blog on my screen. It's so uplifting to work in an elegant environment like this.

But Starbucks has it's advantages too. Where do you like to hang out when away from home? By the way, did you know Panera has free Internet access? Good deal.

Mary Rush's Rag Rugs

On a recent trip to the Smoky Mountain National Park and nearby Gatlinburg, TN, I met Mary Rush of "Hand Knotted Country Carpets" from Mountain Home, NC. Her demonstration and colorful craft fair booth caught my eye, especially the circular rug shown above. I love the soft colors.

Take a look at her website where she offers rug kits and a DVD showing how to knot a rug: http://www.handknottedcountrycarpets.com/.

Gwen Marston's New Book Coming in January

I think I'm going to have a new new favorite quilting book soon. "Liberated Quiltmaking II" is scheduled to be out in January 2010. I hope it has a gazillion quilts. I'll give you a full report as soon as my copy arrives.

Here's the link at American Quilter's Society: http://www.americanquilter.com/books_supplies/item_detail.php?id=8147

Here's the link at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Liberated-Quiltmaking-II-Gwen-Marston/dp/1574326538/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256763476&sr=1-6

Melinda's Selvage Covered Journal

Melinda of Marietta, GA just made this selvage journal cover. Isn't it a beauty? Lots of stripes and a great swirly button. Here's what she had to say:

"Today was special projects day at guild. We were making journal covers. We had some prep work to do before we started including quilting the outside cover and cutting all the parts needed to make the cover.
I decided to do a selvage one, of course. As you know I love selvages. Here is the finished project. It turned out even better than I expected."

See more photos of this project on her blog at:
http://melinful.blogspot.com/2009/10/special-projects-day-at-guild.html She credits her friend Lisa for the cover-making method. Thanks, Melinda!