Celebrate National Quilting Month with Us!

We're celebrating National Quilting Month with a Sampler Quilt created using blocks by many of our fabric designers. Throughout the month, we'll share a block made by each of the designers listed below and featuring their newest fabric line, along with directions to sew that block. 

Follow along as we reveal the blocks to make a sampler quilt, or make a quilt using just one or a few favorites. 

Featured Designers:
Jackie Robinson - A Festival of Roses
Paula Nadelstern - Piece and Joy
Amanda Murphy - Thankful
Christa Watson - Abstract Garden
Nancy Halvorsen - Home Grown
Ann Lauer - Cat-I-Tude 2: PurrFect Together
Cheryl Haynes - Harvest Berry
Cherry Guidry - Hearty the Snowman
Modern Quilt Studio - Warp & Weft

We hope you'll enjoy following along! Watch for a few fabric giveaways as well!

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Cat-I-Tude 2 Virtual Trunk Show

Cat-I-Tude 2: Purr-Fect Together made quite a splash at Quilt Market, and it's shipping to quilt stores now. Check out Ann's virtual quilt show for ideas on what to sew with these purr-fect prints. 

The star of the show in the booth at Quilt Market: the paisley chair! The white pillow on the chair features designs from the upcoming OESD embroidery collection.

We loved Ann's jacket, made by Delberta Zimmerman using the Little Something Jacket pattern. She embellished it with cut out cats and hand painted gold scrolls. It's beautiful! (And check out the Oh My Stars! quilt in the background!)

Ready for some cat quilts? Here we go!

Oh My Stars!

"There are actually two different stars in this quilt--the purple star with the checkerboard through it and the larger white stars. And then of course the cat blocks. The three different values of blenders create a great gradation effect in the pieced border, which I love."

Click here for the Oh My Stars! kit.

Something Special
"This quilt features straight-line piecing that gives the illusion of circles. It uses a half-rectangle ruler in the secondary block. The border really showcases that wonderful stripe as well."

Click here for the Something Special kit. 

Afternoon Delight
"This is one of my most popular patterns, and it's perfect for use with the cat prints!" 

Click here to purchase the Afternoon Delight kit.

Free Fall
"Try out a bargello design with the various values of prints in Free Fall. These prints have so much movement, which definitely translates into the design. A great wall hanging!"

Click here to purchase the Free Fall kit.

Line Dance
"Line Dance combines fussy-cut cats with large squares of other cat prints and coordinates. This design is also really nice for showing off the paisley print and paisley border."

Click here to purchase the Line Dance kit.

Aristocrats
"This design is great for using the panel and surrounding it with pieced borders. Depending on how big you want the quilt, you can choose from a few different border options. It's classy and easy."

Click here to purchase the Aristocrats kit.

Did you see our interview with Ann about Cat-I-Tude 2? Click here to read it.
Click here to see the entire Cat-I-tude 2 collection.
Click here to visit Ann's website. 

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Cat-I-Tude 2: Purr-Fect Together

The cats are back! Cat-I-Tude was so popular that Ann Lauer created Cat-I-Tude 2: Purr-Fect Together. These cat prints prove that two heads are better than one! 

Like the original collection, Cat-I-tude 2 features stylized cats that look like painted porcelain. Keep reading as Ann walks us through the collection. 

This collection starts with a panel of different sized blocks.

Yes. This time there's an 18" square in the middle, which is great for bags, jackets and pillows. The four blocks around it work for 8", 9" or 10" squares like the first collection. There are gold scrolls around the cats, which creates a really delicate texture in the background.

Tell us about the large cats.

These cats have realistic poses like the first collection, and I love the two cats snuggling together. They're dsigned to fit a 9" or 10" block. So with a 12" cut of fabric, you'll get three different cats. There are six cats total. 

Are there more cats in this collection?

Yes--in addition to the panel and large cats, there are prints in multiple sizes.These Sweetheart cats are more portrait-like--they're such sweet, snuggly faces.

That paisley is fantastic!
Thanks! It has a great black and white check look in it, which makes it really playful. The paisley shows up again in the stripe, which is perfect for fussy cutting.

Can you tell us about the palette? 
It includes deeper reds, blues, and greens, along with the purple. The coordinates come in different values. There's the gold-accented paisley, and the squares on point, which also shows up in the background of some of the cat prints. The lightest coordinate is just outlines of the squares on point.

Later this week, we'll be sharing quilts and projects using Ann's Cat-I-Tude 2 collection. 

Click here to see the entire Cat-I-tude 2 collection.
Click here to visit Ann's website. 

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Tour the Benartex Booth: Quilt Market

Take a virtual tour of our booths at Quilt Market! Today we're sharing the Benartex section of the booth; next up will be Contempo and Kanvas. 

We're celebrating 20 years of Paula Nadelstern fabric design! The booth highlighted her new collection, More is More, along with a retrospective of all of her fabric lines.

Thank you, Paula, for 20 years of gorgeous fabric!

A gallery of square quilts made by various designers using Paula's fabric:

An advent calendar with gorgeously detailed ornaments counting down each day.

Fabric and beaded spheres, as well as a dimensional star from Indygo Junction.

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Next up is Nancy Halvorsen's new collection, Home Grown. It includes a panel ready for fussy cutting and plenty of Nancy's whimsical applique designs.

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Ann Lauer brings the cats back with Cat-I-Tude 2: Purr-Fect Together.

She's wearing a jacket made with Cat-I-Tude 2 prints!

Fussy cut cats alternate with star blocks.

We love the furniture!

And a tote bag:

Take a sneak peek at Jackie Robinson's new Christmas collection, A Festive Season 3.

We hope you enjoyed seeing the quilts featured in the Benartex section of our booth. Tomorrow we'll be sharing the Contempo booth, and then the Kanvas booth on Sunday.

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Market Preview: Ann Lauer & Eleanor Burns

Quilt Market starts Saturday, November 3rd, and we have so many new collections to share with shop owners at this industry-only show! We'll be showing you photos of the booth after the show, but we thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek of what's coming. 

Cat-I-Tude 2: Purr Fect Together by Ann Lauer
(It's National Cat Day...hug yours today!)
If you loved Ann's Cat-I-Tude collection, you'll be thrilled to know that she has a sequel! These cats come with friends--pairs of sleek, porcelain-painted felines appear both on the panel and in coordinates. The line also includes larger cats that can be fussy-cut for a quilt block center, pillow, or tote bag. Ann has added in new coordinates and colors, including a cool black and white paisley, a paisley stripe, and two versions of a square tonal blender. 

If you're attending Market, don't miss Ann's School House on November 2nd from 4:55 - 5:25.
Click here to see the entire Cat-I-Tude 2 collection.



Eleanor Burns: Forty Years with the Log Cabin

We'll also be celebrating Eleanor Burns--can you believe her Log Cabin pattern came out 40 years ago? She'll be sharing at a special Schoolhouse commemorating that anniversary on November 2nd from 5:30-6. 

Come back for more sneak peeks this week!

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