Tuesday, January 31, 2017

For the wine lovers...


“Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized.” 






We agree (to all of the above)! If you are a wine connoisseur (or know one!), you'll love our Vineyard Classics II collection from Kanvas. It's perfect for wine bags, coasters, table runners, napkins, and more! 

Click here to see the entire Vineyard Classics II collection.
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Monday, January 30, 2017

Get ready for our Quilt Along!

It's that time of year when winter feels like it might last forever...

Keep busy with our 
"Everyone's a Star" Quilt Along!

On Thursday, we'll kick off a 5-week quilt along, using the star-happy lap-size pattern shown below:

Three bloggers will be creating this quilt using three different fabric collections. Choose your favorite and sew along with us! 

Lisa will be using Zentastic:

 Stephanie will be using Liberty Garden:

 and Debby will be using Moon Flower:

Below you'll find general yardage requirements. On Thursday, we'll show you what the three finished quilts will look like and give specific yardages for each fabric used in each of the three quilts. We'll also be sharing details about the quilt along contest--if you sew along with us, using any Benartex, Kanvas or Contempo fabric collection, you'll eligible to win a fantastic fabric prize! 

See you on Thursday!

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Friday, January 27, 2017

Meet Moon Flower!

A classic color combination: red, black, and cream, but with an Asian flair! 
The Moon Flower collection from Kanvas is filled with unique prints--large and small florals, large circles, scalloped fans, sprays, and buttons! 


A spiral of beautiful prints!

Click here to see the entire Moon Flower collection.

Psst! Moon Flower will be the third featured collection in our Quilt Along, starting next week! Watch for details and fabric requirements here on the blog. 
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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Meet Liberty Garden!

Liberty Garden: Soft, contemporary large-print florals and small-print coordinates. Perfect for spring, perfect for pillows, skirts, quilts, and more! Pick coral and fuchsia or lime and blue (or mix them together!)


Blues and limes:


Corals and fuchsias:



Use Liberty Garden in one of our two free quilt patterns, available on the website: 

"Garden Path" by Heidi Pridemore
Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

 "Liberty Woven" by Benartex Studios
Click here to download the free quilt pattern.


Click here to see the entire Liberty Garden collection.
Click here to find the free quilt patterns.

Psst! Liberty Garden will be one of the featured collections in our Quilt Along, starting next week! If you'd like to sew along with us, stay tuned! 
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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Meet Zentastic!

If you loved the Daily Zen collection last year, then Zentastic is for you! 

Squiggles, dashes, dots, circles and lines--the designs on these fabrics have a pen and ink, doodle-like quality that makes them oh-so-modern. And the colors! There's a veritable rainbow of choices (as shown in the photo below, and that's not even the entire collection), as well as a variety of your favorite neutrals--black, gray, and white. 






Which one do you like best? Hard to choose, isn't it? We love them all!

Click here to see the entire Zentastic collection by Michele D'Amore for Contempo.

Psst! Next week we'll be launching a quilt along here on the blog. Three quilters will be making the same quilt using three different fabric lines--one from Benartex, one from Kanvas, and one from Contempo. Zentastic is one of the lines we'll be using, so if you'd like to sew along with us, stay tuned! 
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Friday, January 20, 2017

Benartex in the news!

We love seeing our fabric featured in projects in quilting magazines! Here are three for you to check out from current issues:
"With a Twist" by Deb Shafer;
featured in the January/February 2017 issue of Quilting Quickly magazine.
This bright lap quilt uses the Citron Twist collection in a fun and easy pinwheel block. 

Click here to see the Citron Twist collection by Maria Kalinowski.
Click here to find the With a Twist kit. 
Click here to find Quilting Quickly magazine. 



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"Green Space" by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton;
featured in the November/December 2016 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. 
Flying geese set off the large print focal squares in this geometric design using the Circle Play collection. 

Click here to see the Circle Play collection by Ann Lauer.
Click here to find the Green Space kit. 
Click here to find Love of Quilting magazine. 













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Refresh a bedroom with this interlocking block bed runner made with the Feathers & Flourishes collection. 

"Ring Around the Toesies" by Kate Colleran; featured in the February/March 2017 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts magazine.


Click here to see the Feathers & Flourishes collection by Amanda Murphy.
Click here to find McCall's Quick Quilts magazine. 




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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Anything Goes!

 Ann Lauer says that her newest collection, Anything Goes, is reminiscent of a grown-up coloring book. The black and white prints are so much fun, but then you see the red, lime and blue and realize that the name is true--Anything Goes! We asked Ann to tell us about these playful prints. 

A sampling of Anything Goes prints, fresh off the bolt! 




Tell us about Anything Goes.
I may just love it the best! I love black and white; I think they are classy and timeless. The black and white prints are designed to go from light to dark with smooth transitions in scale and value. And adding color just makes it fun. Where the color is added, it’s watercolor. Instead of stamping the color, they’re blended and shaded, which adds depth.

We’re not surprised the line includes a stripe!
The stripe was planned out to have four repeats across the width, so it can be used for a quilt border with minimal waste, whether you choose the flower section or the stripe, or both. It’s also great fun to fussy-cut, and to use a quarter square ruler on, like in the Squares By Golly free download pattern.



Tell us about some of your other favorites.
I’m crazy about the big print. The flower centers are the same motif of the Playful Discs print. I love the way the shards of color are in the black and white leaves. Those same shards show up in a few different prints. And the background in this big print—there’s a ton of action—squares and circles in two sizes. You can cut the big print anywhere and create something wonderful.



We reused the squares and dots from Poppy Panache because they were so popular, but we added in new colors. I think the multi squares is a terrific blender. It adds just a touch of color—it’s pretty on its own, in blocks, or in borders. It brings so many colors together.




Playful discs is my favorite among the black and white prints.


What makes this line so unique?
The black and white prints flow so smoothly, and you can add in bright color to make it playful. You can add tons to make it wild and crazy, or you can just choose one accent color--either lime, red, or blue--to work with, which I think makes the collection seem bigger, with more options.





Can you share some of the patterns that feature Anything Goes?
It works great in bargello quilts. When you cut up that huge print into slivers, you get just enough color to make it really interesting.
 
"Freefall;" one of several bargello quilt patterns

"Afternoon Delight"

"Just the Right Angle"

"Steppin' Out - Stripe"


 And of course there's the free quilt pattern I designed that is available on Benartex's website, "Squares, by Golly."

Click here to download the free quilt pattern.


Click here to see the entire Anything Goes collection. 
Click here to visit Ann's website and see her Anything Goes patterns and kits. 
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Tuesday, January 17, 2017

The fabric line that was meant to be: Kismet

Paula Nadelstern's mouth-watering new collection, Kismet, is coming to a quilt shop near you! 

Playing on the idea of "kismet," a word she learned from her Broadway-loving father, Paula says "Clearly, this collection was meant to be: my destiny to design the charismatic patterns and your fate to make fabulous quilts with them." That's a fate we'd all happily take! 


Let's start with the Mandala print, featuring Paula's lush kaleidoscope designs. 
Mandala is available in three colorways
Both Dragonettes and Liquid Lace are bilaterally symmetrical patterns
(we're showing a close-up of each so you can appreciate the detail, as well as how it prints across the fabric width)

Dragonettes detail

Dragonettes fabric width

Liquid Lace detail

Liquid Lace fabric width
Kismet features two different coordinating prints, each available in a wide variety of colors.
Flash Dance, which Paula shows ideas for in her new book, Fabricadabra:
Flash Dance
 And Alchemy, which she describes as a leftover chemistry experiment gone wrong. 
Alchemy
 To read more of Paula's thoughts on her Kismet fabrics, click here

Use the Mandala print and several of the coordinates in the Fortune pattern, designed by Stitched Together Studios. It's available as a free pattern on our website. 
Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

Click here to see the entire Kismet collection.
Click here to visit Paula's website to learn more about her work and to shop her Pop Up Shop, open now through January 28th (and selling Kismet, among other things!)
Plus, Paula was recently featured on Pat Sloan's show on American Patchwork & Quilting Radio. Click here to listen to the podcast.

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