Monday, February 29, 2016

Ever wondered how fabric flowers are made?

Just a quick heads up on this lovely Leap Day Monday...

Paula Nadelstern has a blog post up on Bernina's We All Sew site today sharing photos from M&S Schmalberg, "the single remaining custom, handmade fabric flower manufacturer in the New York City Garment District." In a world where so much is moving to mass production overseas, M&S Schmalberg is celebrating its 100th birthday in this artistic business. Impressive! 

Don't miss this unique peek inside one of a lifelong New Yorker's favorite local shops, plus some fabulous inspiration of another use for fabric! Thanks to Paula for sharing their story with us. 

Paula says, "It’s my kind of place: colors, textures and creative process everywhere plus a historic backstory of kindness and survival."

Here's a peek at a few of the gorgeous flowers:

Photo courtesy: WeAllSew.com
Photo courtesy: WeAllSew.com


Check out the post to see how they're made--such an fascinating (and involved, labor-intensive) process!


Pop over to the We All Sew blog today--you can enter a giveaway to win two beautiful handmade flowers.

Click here to see Paula's entire post. 

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Friday, February 26, 2016

Viva Brazil!

All eyes will be on Brazil this August for the 2016 Olympics, the first summer games held in South America. 


Get a taste of the excitement with Maria Kalinowski's Viva Brazil collection for Kanvas. Vivid colors, tropical fruits, flowers, and birds, and a cool Brazilian-inspired diamond print in three colorways. You don't have to attend the Olympics to share in the fun! 


Use your favorite Viva Brazil prints in this free quilt pattern,
"Un Poco Loco" by Heidi Pridemore
Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

Click here to see the entire Viva Brazil collection.

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Waving the red, white and blue

Nothing puts you in a patriotic mood like some fun red, white and blue fabrics! From stars and streamers to fireworks and flip flops, Maria Kalinowski's All American line for Kanvas takes American pride to a whole new level. Mix and match these prints with reds and blues from our Colors for Quilters solids to sew a patriotic quilt (start now and you'll be done before Memorial Day and the 4th of July!). Make a picnic quilt, placemats, or a festive door banner and get ready to celebrate! 



p.s. These prints are also perfect for quilts for veterans, either for a veteran in your life or for a donation to Quilts of Valor, Quilts of Honor or other organizations.

Click here to see the entire All American collection.
Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Bobo Baby: Nursery Cuteness!

We <3 baby prints! Maggie & Flo's Bobo Baby collection for Contempo Studio is everything you want for a baby quilt or nursery. Whimsical giraffes, elephants, turtle and birds frolic on blue, green, pink, and yellow prints--perfect for a boy or girl. 



Our favorite part of the Bobo Baby collection: Bobo the elephant. This fun panel sews up into a 3-D stuffed elephant--so sweet and cuddly!


Looking for an easy baby quilt? Diane Nagle's Bobo the Baby Elephant quilt pattern combines a classic block with sweet elephant appliques. 

Click here to download the free quilt pattern. 

Click here to see the entire Bobo Baby collection.

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Dino Roar!

What kid doesn't love a dinosaur? The dinos in Maria Kalinowski's Bedrock collection truly do rock, and they'll make a perfect children's quilt. Start with a patchwork of dino squares, two tossed dino prints, and super cool coordinates--stripes, checks, and dino footprints and scales. The prints come in two colorways--classic primary brights and a trendy teal/olive/brown combo. 



Download our free quilt pattern featuring Bedrock:


"Dinotopia" 
by Stephanie Sheridan and Linda Leathersich of Stitched Together Studios
Click here to find the free quilt pattern.

Click here to see the Bedrock collection. 
*************************************************************

Announcing our Oh Fudge blog hop winners:

Day 1: apple blossom
Day 2: Nancy R.
Day 3: Kathy U.

Congratulations, ladies! We hope you enjoy your Oh Fudge fabrics!

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Friday, February 19, 2016

Not your grandmother's calicos part 2

When you hear the word "calico," what comes to mind? Maybe not your first choice for your next quilting project, right? 

Maggie & Flo's Soho Calico collection for Contempo will change your mind completely about calico. Inspired by the 70s but with a fresh new look, these mini prints are so much fun! You'll find several styles of florals, a zigzag stripe, scallops, dots, vines, and more.

Best of all, this collection comes in two huge colorways. Today we're showing the pinks; we've already shown you the blues. Use them alone or mix them up--either way, the Soho Calico prints are perfect for your next project!




Click here to see the Soho Calico pink colorway.
Click here to see the Soho Calico blue colorway.

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Thursday, February 18, 2016

A Mum for a Mum in plum and blue

It's always fun to see how different designers use the same fabric collection. Today's post is twice as fun because these two ladies chose to work in opposite color ways of Jackie Robinson's A Mum for a Mum collection, so you'll really see a lot of variety! 

Kay Wright-Handy designed this beauty using the plum colorway, and it's appropriate called "Plum Perfect." The purple blocks feature fussy-cut mum squares, and or course the floral stripe makes a gorgeous border. "Plum Perfect" was featured in American Patchwork & Quilting's February 2016 issue. 
"Plum Perfect" by Kay Wright-Handy; machine quilted by Debbie Tribble;
featured in American Patchwork & Quilting February 2016 

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine.
©2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.
 


Kay talks about her quilt: 
How did you decide which color way to use?
I love flowers and these really caught my eye. The colorway with the purple and yellow mums, reminded me of fall, my favorite season!

Why did you choose to fussy cut the large mums for focal blocks?
The  realistic mums just begged to be fussy cut. I wanted to showcase these beauties.

How did you come up with the design?
Since I wanted the mums to be the main focus, they were placed alternately with a secondary block. This was to give the impression of a garden walkway around the mums.

What do you like about the mum stripe border?
The striped border so elegantly ties all the design elements together and finishes the quilt much like a fence around a garden.  The border fabric was then quilted with stitching to mimic a Victorian fence top.

What do you like best about the quilt?
The color combination, the interplay between the purples, yellows and greens really made me smile.    

Do you have a favorite print in the collection?
Yes the smaller all over mum print was my favorite in the collection, although I didn't use it in my pattern design.  I did use it as my back and now I have a "second" quilt to enjoy.


Can you talk about the machine quilting that Debbie did?

Debbie Tribble of Dreamweaver Quilting used a Gammill longarm with Statler Stitcher.  She is a Creative Studio Certified Instructor and loves using the software to individualize patterns.  The inner patterns were from Methodist Hill Studio, she manipulated the original to allow ease in thread color changes over the fussy cut mums, the stitching is reminiscent of a trellis over the large mum print.  Inspiration for the border came from a ruler class taught by Kimmy Brunner. Debbie digitized the pattern to custom fit Plum Perfect.

Click here to see Jackie's A Mum for A Mum collection.
Click here to find the kit for Plum Perfect.
Click here to find American Patchwork & Quilting magazine.













************************************************************

Mischele Hart used the blue color way, also showcasing the floral stripe in the border, but she created pieced flower pot blocks in her quilt, "Pot of Posies." Equally beautiful, but totally different than Kay's design. "Pot of Posies" was featured in the January/February 2016 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. 



"Pots of Posies" by Mischele Hart; machine quilted by Susan Scheer;
featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine January/February 2016





What attracted you to Jackie’s Mum collection? How did you decide which color way to use?
 This collection is appealing to me because it seems reminiscent of gorgeous florals from “across the pond” that we’ve all seen and loved, but with the bonus of lovely, workable companion pieces. It was hard to decide which color way to use because I’m a big fan of purple, but teal narrowly won because of the setting where it will be used.

Do you have a favorite print in the collection?
That’s a tough question, but the floral stripe was the one that popped out at me. The large, bountiful flowers are fetching. Also, the idea of using the stripe in the border to achieve visual appeal and end the quilt beautifully without the onus of elaborate piecing was mighty attractive from a design standpoint.  




How did you come up with your block design?  
I felt the best way to honor the collection was to create a simple geometric design that would place focus on the activity in the prints. The choice of designing flowerpots for flowers was a natural progression of thought and design.  

Tell us about your pieced sashing—it really adds a lot of interest to the quilt.
I believe this sashing is called garden maze.  You get some big visual payoff with this setting, especially when you realize that it is composed of simple-to-piece triple rail and star blocks. Perfect for carrying forth a garden theme.

The blocks in your quilt are made solely from the tonal coordinates in the collection, tied together by the floral stripe in the border. Can you talk about why you decided to use the fabrics in that way?
It’s always great for quilters when a quilter like Jackie Robinson designs a collection.  This collection offers a gorgeous, yet safe, array of choices for quilters of all experience levels. The well thought-out difference in color values, print scales, and print activities make it easy to pull together fabrics, using only this collection, that are guaranteed to work well together and make a quilt with big visual appeal.

Why do you like the large mum border? Did you plan the rest of the quilt design around it?
I love the large floral stripe!  It was the inspiration for the design, for sure.  You know, one of the “quilty” things to appreciate about the stripe is that a 6” cut is perfect for displaying the mums. We quilters all seem have a 6” wide ruler, so there’s not a lot of fretting, adjusting, or constantly checking for the correct line on the ruler, etc. when you make cuts.  That’s another of the thoughtful and practical benefits of a quilter-designed fabric collection.

What is your favorite part of the quilt?
The flowerpots.  They were fun to devise and piece.

Tell us about how Susan quilted it.
It’s fun to see how Susan Scheer’s creative mind works. With this quilt she chose to use various leafy designs to embellish the surface of the quilt. She used thread colors and shapes that soften the straight lines in the design and enhance the florals.
It’s lovely to find a friend and machine quilter that you can give a top to and totally pressure them by offering nothing in the way of guidance and saying something like, “Here ya go, friend. Will you please do something I’m gonna like?”  Susan always creates beauty in unexpected and delightful ways. 

Anything else you’d like to share?
One of the essential ways quilters can keep our art form vibrant, alive, progressive, and interesting is by communicating with one another. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to chat with you about quilting!




Click here to see Jackie's A Mum for A Mum collection.
Click here to find the kit for Pots of Posies.
Click here to find Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Not your grandmother's calicos...

When you hear the word "calico," what comes to mind? Maybe not your first choice for your next quilting project, right? 

Maggie & Flo's Soho Calico collection for Contempo will change your mind completely about calico. Inspired by the 70s but with a fresh new look, these mini prints are so much fun! You'll find several styles of florals, a zigzag stripe, scallops, dots, vines, and more.

Best of all, this collection comes in two huge colorways. Today we're showing the blues; next we'll show you the pinks. Use them alone or mix them up--either way, the Soho Calico prints are perfect for your next project!



Click here to see the Soho Calico blue colorway.
Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Monday, February 15, 2016

Spring Parade

Spring is around the corner! (and Easter too!) Get ready for the new season with the sweet pastel prints in Maria Kalinowski's Spring Parade collection. Bunnies, decorated eggs, chicks and tulips--all the spring favorites--along with a tiny jelly bean dot in several colors! 

Try Wendy Sheppard's free quilt pattern, Tulip Time:
Click here to download the free quilt pattern. 

Click here to see the entire Tulip Time collection.

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Oh Fudge! Sweet Treats Runner Tutorial

Ready for one more Oh Fudge tutorial? 
Alison from Little Bunny Quilts transformed these luscious chocolates into wrapped candies! So cute! Enjoy her tutorial and then head over to her blog for a chance to win your own pack of 10" Oh Fudge squares. Here's Alison!

Hello there! I am Alison and I blog over at Little Bunny Quilts and I am back here at Sew in Love With Fabric to share a tutorial using the adorable Oh Fudge fabric by Maria Kalinowski.

With a few pieces from a 10x10 stacker and some background fabric, you can whip up a sweet treat for Valentine's Day!



Cutting:

From each of eight (8) different 10x10 pieces, cut
      One (1) 5 inch square (eight (8) total)
      One (1) 4 inch square (eight (8) total)

From your background, cut
      Eight (8) 5 inch squares
      Seven (7) 1 inch by 11 inch strips
      Two (2) 2 inch by 11 inch strips
      Two (2) 2 inch by 35 inch strips

For backing, you will need a piece approximately 18 inches by 40 inches.
For binding, you will need three (3) strips 2.25 inches by WOF

Construction:

Draw a diagonal line on the back of each of your 5 inch background squares. Pair each with one of your print 5 inch squares and sew 1/4 inch from each side of the line. Cut along the drawn line and press toward your print fabric. Do not trim squares yet.



Using a ruler, cut a each half square triangle in half perpendicular to the sewn seam.  Line up the cut as close to the corners as possible, but do not simply cut from corner to corner as your squares may have shifted slightly. Cutting perpendicularly to the seam will result in more accurate quarter square triangles.



Sew together pairs of cut half square triangles into quarter square triangles.



Press as desired and trim quarter square triangle units to 4 inches square. Helpful hint: the center of your quarter square triangle should line up with the 2 inch square mark if you have a square ruler. My ruler also has a diagonal line which is helpful to line up along your seam lines.



Sew one quarter square triangle unit to each side of your print 4 inch square. Press as desired and make eight (8) candy blocks, which should measure at 4 inches by 11 inches.





Sew a 1 inch by 11 inch strip between each of your candy blocks and connect as shown below. I found it helpful to press towards the background strips.



Sew the 2 inch by 11 inch strips to each end of your row, and sew your 2 inch by 35 inch strips to the top and bottom. Press as desired.



Layer with backing and batting and quilt as desired. I quilted my table runner with a loopy meander with some hearts scattered in. Bind as desired. I used a brown, red, and pink stripe from my stash.




Thanks for letting me share my "sweet" tutorial with you today!

Head over to Alison's blog for a chance to win some Oh Fudge for yourself!

Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Oh Fudge! Love Letters Tutorial

Looking for more Oh Fudge ideas? 

Debby Kratovil has a sweet project for you! Here she is!

Chocolate is the way to THIS woman's heart! Let me tell you why this Oh Fudge Collection by Maria Kalinowski for Kanvas is better than flowers (we are close to Valentine's Day, you know).



Stack of 10" Oh Fudge squares - yum, yum!
What could be better than having your fill of chocolate and not gaining one pound? Now to me, that's living! I was inspired to use this fabric line to go with some letters I made LAST Valentine's Day using a stack of luscious reds from Benartex.


Group of red fabrics from a variety of Benartex collections
 And the letters:
Red letters mixed up; can you figure out what I'm trying to say?
And then last week I shared how I appliqued the letters to plain white background HERE using freezer paper. Check it out.

Let's see where I went with this awesome Oh Fudge fabric. The blocks are rectangles (don't ask me why), finishing to 5" x 7".

I cut strips of 6 fabrics, 7" x 10".
6 yummy squares of chocolate delights
I had to measure-guess the dimensions so I could set the blocks on a tilt. This is the same technique I used with another Benartex collection (Fowl Play) a year ago. See it HERE (you will love it!)

I used my own Arrowheads Template for half-rectangles. This is the same angle as used in the Tri-Recs Tool set (my EZ Wrights by Darlene Zimmerman). You probably have one of those in your sewing room! There is a link for a pdf pattern with the correct angle on the Fowl Play post, but it's not quite tall enough. Just extend the angled side up the 7" height. Or go look for your Tri-Recs tool in your sewing room!


7" x 10" strips cut using my version of a Tri-Recs tool ( the Recs one)
These are cut from a 7" x 10" strip:
Four half-rectangle triangles cut
I pulled the letters L O V E for another quilt (you can see a sneak peek on my blog). This is what I have left and I added a heart (actually two).
Remaining letters with an extra heart
Then I added a set of 4 triangles to the sides. Here they are before sewing:


Aligning the triangles for a RIGHT tilt
And aligning the triangles for a LEFT tilt:


Aligning triangles for a left tilt
Now let's talk about WHY I didn't just cut fabric Willy-Nilly and disregard the straight of grain. ARE YOU KIDDING? Cutting triangles this way ASSURES that the sides of the block are NOT on the bias.

Here they are sewn.
Triangles sewn; now ready for trimming
Now to trim the sides, leaving a 1/4" seam:
Trim, leaving 1/4" seam around all sides
I put them all together but didn't have the perfect sashing. But what do you think so far? Pretty sweet, wouldn't you say?



Find the tutorial that has a pdf for the letters I used here.

Head over to Debby's blog for a peek at the LOVE quilt she made with the remaining letters and a random collection of Benartex red prints, plus a chance to enter a giveaway for a stack of 10" Oh Fudge squares.




Love It? Share It! Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Email