Natima's Neighborhood - Oh, my!

What a gorgeous city! This is Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia. If the Selvage Blog was a big bucks operation, we would have a convention there! Natima would show us around and we'd take a ride on those boats in the foreground. Visit: http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/

Natima is a quilter, stitcher, basket weaver, book maker (with paper, not bets), mixed media artist, photographer, and she works at a university library! You can see her projects on her blogs:
http://fromrags-riches.blogspot.com/
http://notjustnat.blogspot.com/

More quilter's neighborhoods all this month!

Selvage Birthday Card Among Janiacs

Anya of Wellsboro, PA just made this postcard for Rita, a quilting friend who's having a birthday soon. They're both "Janiacs" (Dear Jane quilt aficianados) so the fabrics are very appropriate.

Anya has taken the first step toward making a Dear Jane Selvage Quilt: thinking about it, and saying what a dumb idea it is! We've seen this kind of thing before. That's how I started my selvage lamp.

If you want to encourage Anya in this endeavor, or see what else she's up to, visit her blog at: http://hillscreekquilter.blogspot.com/.

Tomorrow: More Selvage Blog reader's neighborhoods!

.....Today is a good day to start a new quilt!.....

Debra's Little Selvage Quilt

Debra's motto is: "When I have money, I buy fabric; with whatever is left, I buy food." That makes sense to me. She's also an RN, so don't worry; she won't take it too far! Isn't this a pretty mini selvage quilt? That polka-dot sashing is pure genius!

I like Debra's sense of humor, keeping her selvage stash in this bag. Talk about green living!

Visit her blog at: www.quiltchicksrule.blogspot.com.

Kathi Price Sews While Others Sleep!

Kathi Price of Frisco, TX is already hard at work making wonderful Christmas stockings! Like Rumplestilskin, she is sewing while others are sleeping, or are on summer vacation. She has a nice collection of new Christmas fabrics too. Light colors and lots of words.

These stockings are so cheerful. Kathi really knows how to "put it all together." I like how she sort of framed the peppermint flower above with the turquoise selvages.

See stocking #2 below:

Below, see the tape that says "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?" That's perfect in a selvage arrangement, don't you think?

These two stockings make a great pair. Thanks for the inspiration, Kathi!

There are lots of ways you can see what Kathi's making, and contact her. Visit:

http://kathiskreations.blogspot.com/
http://kathip22.etsy.com/
http://twitter.com/kathip22
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kathis-Kreations/48640534442?ref=mf

"Salvaged Selvedges" by Linda Robertus

See the back of the quilt below.

Linda Robertus of Brisbane, Australia has finished her quilt, "Salvaged Selvedges" for an article in the December issue of "Down Under Quilts" and it is truly stunning! She used the "quilt as you go" method, so each block was already quilted before assembling the quilt. Isn't this a beauty? See more photos at: http://www.q-linda.blogspot.com/.

See the online version of Down Under Quilts at: http://www.downunderquilts-digital.com/downunderquilts/issue125/ It's free.

Linda has a few other things on her plate at the moment too. She's a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. Her topic is the transmission of tuberculosis. Yikes! And she's a Mom, she has a job, and she just discovered the joy of Photoshop! I need a nap!

Martina's Selvage Pillow

Selvage quilter and lawyer Martina Odenthal of Cologne, Germany made this unique selvage pillow for her son. What a great combination of fabrics! The striped background fabric adds lots of energy. She is way ahead of the curve. Yayyy, Martina!

Visit her blog at: www.stufenzumgericht.blogspot.com.

A New Blog by Quilt Diva Julie

Julie of Memphis, TN has a new blog called "Contemplate Then Wait." (You remember Julie; she made the selvage quilt named "Garcia." See sidebar.)

In her new blog she captures what quilting could mean in my life if I actually made the quilts that I want to make for people. I get the idea, but then I usually don't get around to it. She conveys the "heart" of quilt-making. Visit the link to see for yourself: http://contemplatethenwait.blogspot.com/ Thank you, Julie.

Panda Quilt from Labels!

Quilter Jill Buckley sent me this photo of a quilt called "Made in China" by Anita Payne of Stratford, Ontario. I hope you can see in this photo that the panda is made completely from labels! Isn't this amazing? Thanks, Jill.

This quilt was made by Lisa Thompson's sister. Here's what Lisa wrote:
"This is my sister's quilt. She asked me and other family members for labels from our clothes. She was known to cut a label out while someone was still wearing the shirt it came from! She also went to thrift stores on days they sold clothes by the pound and bought things just for the labels."

Show Me Your Neighborhood

Kwiltmakr lives in Kansas, and this is her neighborhood. She saw the post yesterday showing my neighborhood and promtly emailed me these photos of her backyard.

As you may have guessed, her place and mine are both perfect for quilting!

Visit her blog at http://wwwundertherose.blogspot.com/

This is my neighborhood.

Send me a photo of what your part of the world looks like.

This is White Plains, New York. You can see a little bit of my building on the far right edge of this photo. We live on the 18th floor. We can see a little bit of the New York City skyline, trains, lots of trees, the Bronx River Parkway, and usually about 8 planes over JFK and LaGuardia. We park our cars underground. I can walk to Macy's, Target, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble Booksellers, and the train station for NYC. It's a nice place to live. We've been here for 2 years.

I'm guessing the view outside your door is a little different. Show us!

White Plains Curiousity

This building in White Plains, NY seems to be sinking into the ground! The sign on the building isn't in very good shape either. Tilt your head to the left and you'll see that it's just perched on a hill, and is perfectly level. I passed this building several times before finally stopping to take a picture, aligning my camera with the sidewalk.

Exhibit Your House Quilt in Pennsylvania!

Illustration: Above quilt block by Christine of Auntie's Quaint Quilts - Tasmania, Australia.

The Charm Girls Quilters want to exhibit your house quilt in an elegant Quilt Show to benefit the Pearl S. Buck International House in Perkasie, PA in April 2010. (We are 6 quilting buddies who have been together for 5 years. This will be our second show.)

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Any way that you interpret the “House” theme is fair game! Are you thinking of a fixer-upper or a mansion? A hen house, fun house, gingerbread house, housework, or a fire house? Surprise us. There will be a Grand Prize chosen by the staff of the Pearl S. Buck House, and Viewer's Choice Awards.

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Finished quilts must be no larger than 36” square, and no smaller than 20” square. The rest us up to you.

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Please tell Helen Wolf (asap) if you will be contributing a quilt: charmgirls@comcast.net. Your quilt must arrive in PA by March 31, 2010. All quilts will be returned, or if you choose, donated to a silent auction to benefit the Pearl S. Buck International House. There is a submission fee of $10 for quilters in the US. If you live outside the US (or in Alaska or Hawaii) there is no fee since you will have extra shipping expenses. Helen has all the info.

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Also email a photo for exhibit on the Selvage Blog. Have fun!

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"Buenos noches!" to all our visitors from Spain today.

Selvage Applique by Debra Posthumus

Debra Posthumus of Terre Haute, Indiana created these delightful selvage applique designs. She bought the blue fabric (a shirt) at a garage sale for 50 cents, and she got 8 embroidery hoops at a church sale for $1. And of course, the selvages were absolutely free!

Debra likes the bird (above) the best, and she uses it in the header for her blog: www.quiltchicksrule.blogspot.com.

I think my favorite is the house and tree. The shapes are just right, and I like all the selvages. I like how the door stands out.

The line, "I love cake" is from an episode of "That 70's Show."

Even though the photo below is a little washed out, I wanted to show you the teacup. The steam looks like question marks to me. And I love that tea tag. Nice job, Debra!

200 Crocheted Granny Squares in a Month!

What do you do when you are stressed, or have a long ride in the car, or have to sit in waiting rooms, or get to go on vacation and watch action movies with the men in your family? Needlework of some kind, of course! I was stressed 5 weeks ago so I went to Michaels and bought 9 different colors plus dark brown for the borders. And two Size "G" crochet hooks. Always get a back-up hook! 200 blocks later, I'm not stressed any more. And we had a blast in Oregon, as you all know. Now I hope to attach all these blocks into a nice warm afghan.

My mother and her mother taught me how to make these "Granny Squares" a long time ago. How cool is that? I remember using the blankets they made, so this brings back nice memories.

Selvage Tote for Lynne's Mom

Lynne in New England made this beautiful selvage tote bag as a birthday present for her Mom. They're both artists so you would expect this to be stunning...and it is! I love color gradation arrangements. She put some dark selvages in the middle so dirt won't show up on the bottom of the bag. Pretty smart idea. See the handles below.

Lynne had this funky pink button left over from another project. It's perfect here!

Millie likes the bag too (below). She has her own blog: http://www.darlingmillie.blogspot.com/. You should see all the cats in the list of Followers of Millie's blog!

Oh, yeah. Lynne has a blog too: http://www.patcherymenagerie.blogspot.com/. She shows more in-progress photos, including the zippered inner pocket. Nice job, Lynne!

The Toy Society

The Toy Society makes toys and leaves them in public places to be found by lucky passers-by. You can find out more about it at www.thetoysociety.blogspot.com.

I just found the blog today and I signed up to get more information. I like the idea of crafters leaving little treats all over the world. I found this pretty blue bird on the blog among the older posts. Looks like fun.

An Uplifting Place

This is the cieling in one of the Reading Rooms at the New York Public Library (Fifth Ave. and 42nd Street). Isn't it beautiful? You can imagine how elaborate the rest of the building is, if this is the cieling!

As I admired this I was inspired to be a more artistic quilter, to think "bigger," to reach further. I suspect many visitors to the Library are lifted up in their hearts. I think this would please the creators of this elegant building.

Little Selvage Pin-Cushions

I made these little pin-cushions as "party favor" type gifts. Each one was wrapped in a clear bag, then tied with pretty satin ribbons. The collection made a festive decoration!

P.S. I bet Martha Stewart never thought of this!

Quick and Easy Selvage Project

Do you like the idea of starting and finishing a selvage project in one afternoon? Take a look at this. It's just one quilt block, used to make a pretty pillow. It looks so good in a quilting room or other place where creativity is celebrated. I like how the cherries are featured in the middle.

You could draw lines on the foundation first, to help you be sure the center section is covered with selvages.

Then add selvages to the corners. Trim. I rounded the corners of the finished square so that the pillow wouldn't have little pointy things on the corners.

You may remember that I made this pillow for the Moda Bake Shop, and it was featured in a give-away a while back. This piece is unusual in that the selvages are so coordinated.

If you would like more directions for selvage quilting, visit www.selvagequilts.com and click on Workshops. It's all free; you can use anything you find there for classes or whatever you want.

Do You Like to Read Quilts?

Have you noticed that clothing labels are being replaced by the practice of printing the information right onto the clothing fabric? In 10 years a labels quilt like this one may be a real antique.

Label quilts are like selvage quilts in a way: they feature a common item we normally don't value or save. They're fun to read. They're tough and withstand lots of washing. They look very busy.

I like to secure my labels with bits of masking tape so it's easy to machine sew the labels onto the foundation. After sewing, just pull the tape off.

Fill empty spaces with little buttons (above). The quilt top below will be finished one of these days when I decide what kind of border I want. I love all the buttons in the sashing.

I am responsible for the Block-of-the-Month program for my guild this coming year. This labels block will be the topic for October. The Empire Quilters meet at the Fashion Institute in New York City's Garment District. How appropriate that we make a fashion labels quilt!

The blocks for Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. are already posted on a blog: www.empirebom.blogspot.com. If your guild needs a BOM program, feel free to use this one.