Carmen in Stars

We always love to see what our customers make with our fabric collections! We recently received the photo below and knew we had to share it. Jill Baxter from the Minding My P's and Q's Quilt Shop in Denton, Texas, combined the Carmen collection with the Shimmering Constellation free quilt pattern available on our website. We think you'll agree that the result is stunning!

Our Shimmering Constellation free quilt pattern, made by Jill Baxter using the Carmen collection.

Wendy Sheppard originally designed the Shimmering Constellation quilt using the Gold Standard/Simply Sterling collection from Kanvas.

Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

Click here to see the entire Carmen collection.
Click here to find the Shimmering Constellations free quilt pattern. 
Click here to visit the Minding My P's and Q's Quilt Shop website.

Love It? Share It!

Congratulations!

It was a tough choice...

The votes have been tallied...

Congratulations to Wendy Sheppard and her Shimmering Constellation quilt!

Shimmering Constellation by Wendy Sheppard
using Gold Standard/Simply Sterling

Thank you so much for voting and for playing along in our 2016 version of March Madness!

There's one more winner as well--the randomly drawn winner of a box of Benartex fat quarters is Amy Caldwell. Congratulations, Amy! We will contact you by email.

Love It? Share It!

March Madness: The Championship Game!

We're excited to announce the two quilts in our championship game! 

Congratulations to Shimmering Constellation and Circling Stars! 

In addition to showing you the quilts one more time, we're sharing short interviews with the designers so you can learn a little more about each design. 

Thanks to everyone who has helped narrow the patterns down from our original 50 to the Sweet Sixteen to these final two.  As a thank you for your participation, this final round of voting will include the opportunity to win fabric prizes! 

Leave a comment below with your vote for this game (choose Shimmering Constellation or Circling Stars). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting, and a third time on our Pinterest board. 

Voting for this game is open through Monday, April 4 at 5 pm EST. We'll announce the winner on Tuesday, April 5th. 
Voting is now closed. Thank you for playing!

Shimmering Constellation by Wendy Sheppard
using Gold Standard/Simply Sterling

Circling Stars by Jackie Robinson using Basic Blacks and Beiges

Wendy Sheppard talks about her Shimmering Constellation design:

What attracted you to the Gold Standard/Simply Sterling collection?

I like the metallic accents  in the prints and colors of the collection.

Can you talk about how fabric placement enhances this design?

When I work with a fabric collection that has multiple main colors, I try to sprinkle the colors all over the quilt design. So that's why you see a mix of gold, gray and black in the design. The reason the design looks more complicated than it actually is rests solely on the fabric placement for this design.  I think of it as optical illusion at play. At least for me, whenever I see a quilt with many colors/fabrics, I automatically go into a "WOW" mode and think it is a difficult quilt.

How did you come up with this design? 

I started with the stars -- but then I felt like having stars all over the quilt design is too predictable.  That's when I came up with the alternate block to give the design a bit more interest.  I then softened the edges of the other blocks with gold on white prints to give a bit of "halo" effect to the star blocks.

What do you like best about this quilt?

I like it for many reasons - I like that it is a traditional quilt, but with striking visual elements for a home decor piece to add fun statement to a room.  What I love it best is that it is an easy quilt to construct, but with much more to offer in the final design and layout.

Jackie Robinson talks about her Circling Stars design:

What inspired your Basic Blacks and Beiges collection?

It came from when I was a quilt shop owner and could never get enough good blacks and beiges. The fabrics have varying values, which adds interest when they’re all used together.

Tell us about the star block in Circling Stars.

One of the artists in the Benartex design studio, Liz Kolansky, created this block for the front cover of some marketing materials. It is a block that is reminiscent of 54-40 or Fight, but it isn’t. I really liked it and asked Liz if I could use it for a quilt design.

Tell us about the layout.

The black setting triangles make the star blocks pop. Then simple straight borders frame the design.

What do you like best about the quilt?

The illusion of circles created by the blocks. It’s circles without actually piecing circles. 

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

It's a battle of the stars! 

Shimmering Constellation vs. Circling Stars 

Which one will be the fan favorite quilt pattern?

Here's how to vote AND how to enter the giveaway:

• To vote: Leave a comment below with your vote for this game (choose Shimmering Constellation or Circling Stars). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting, and a third time on our Pinterest board. Voting for this game is open through Monday, April 4 at 5 pm EST. We'll announce the winner on Tuesday, April 5th. 

• To enter the giveaway: Send an email to socialmedia23 (at) gmail.com with Battle of the Stars in the subject line.
• Both the voting for Favorite Pattern and the giveaway will be open through Monday, April 4th at 5 pm EST. We'll announce the Favorite Pattern and giveaway winners on Tuesday, April 5th. 
• Prizes: One lucky winner will receive a box of Benartex fat quarters! Winner will be randomly chosen from received emails and will be notified by email as well as announced here on the blog. 

Good luck to both of these fantastic patterns! 

Love It? Share It!

March Madness: Final Four, Game 1

Welcome to our Final Four! 

The voting for the two Final Four games will be open for two days each. 

Choose your favorite and leave a comment below letting us know your vote.

This game is now closed. Find the next game here.

Shimmering Constellation by Wendy Sheppard
using Gold Standard/Simply Sterling

vs.

Star Dust by  Wendy Sheppard using Brittany

Leave a comment below with your vote for this game (choose Shimmering Constellation or Star Dust). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting, and a third time on our Pinterest board. 

Voting for this game is open through Wednesday, March 30 at 10 am EST.

This game is now closed. Find the next game here.

To see the full bracket of sixteen and/or read the details of March Madness, click here.

Love It? Share It!

March Madness: Round 2, Day 2

It's Day 2 of our second round of March Madness! Help us choose our Final Four.

Here is today's game:

This game is now over. Find Day 3 voting here.

Shimmering Constellation by Wendy Sheppard
using Gold Standard/Simply Sterling

vs. 

Country Squares by Stitched Together Studios 

using Bandana Florals

Leave a comment below with your vote for this game (choose Shimmering Constellation or Country Squares). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting and a third time on our Pinterest board. 

Voting for this game is open through Wednesday, March 23 at 10 am EST. 

To see the full bracket of sixteen and/or read the details of March Madness, click here.

p.s. Don't forget that clicking on the pattern name will take you to the free pattern pdf you can download to make these quilts yourself!

Love It? Share It!

March Madness: Round 1, Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of our quilt-themed March Madness bracket!

Here are today's games: 
Voting on these games is now closed. Click here for Day 3 voting.

Game 1:

Shimmering Constellation by Wendy Sheppard using Gold Standard/Simply Sterling

vs.

Hidden Stars by Janet Page Kessler using Tropical Nights Balis

AND

Game 2:

Garden Courtyard by Stitched Together Studios using Divine Twine

vs. 

Country Squares by Stitched Together Studios using Bandana Florals

Leave a comment below with your votes for these two games (choose Shimmering Constellation or Hidden Stars for Game 1 AND Garden Courtyard or Country Squares for Game 2). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting and a third time on our Pinterest board. 

Voting for these two games is open through 

Wednesday, March 16 at 10 am EST.
Voting is now closed for these games!

To see the full bracket of sixteen and/or read the details of March Madness, click here.

Love It? Share It!

Renaissance Man II

This is the perfect "man's group!" Wingtip shoes, leather books, script prints...Renaissance Man II by Maria Kalinowski feels like you'd expect a masculine study to look. Piece together large squares of these focal prints for cozy guy quilt. 

Looking for some unique coordinates to use with this collection? It'll go well with the black and metallic prints of the Gold Standard/Simply Sterling collection.

Click here to see the entire Renaissance Man II collection.
Click here to see the entire Gold Standard/Simply Sterling collection.

Love It? Share It!

Shimmer and Shine: Metallics like you've never seen them

Usually when we introduce you to a new fabric line here on the blog, we start by showing the fabric. Today, we're shaking things up a bit, and when you see this quilt, we think you'll understand why. 

Wendy Sheppard's free quilt pattern, Shimmering Constellations, sparkles, shines and glows! The fabric line, Gold Standard/Sterling Silver by Maria Kalinowski for Kanvas, definitely shimmers, with metallic golds and silvers in a huge variety of elegant and contemporary prints. And they absolutely shine in this quilt.

"Shimmering Constellations" by Wendy Sheppard

From stripes to pin dots to dragonflies, feathers, and an animal print, it'll be difficult to decide which print is your favorite. Luckily, "Shimmering Constellations" uses so many of them, you won't have to decide! 

Click here to see the entire Gold Standard/Sterling Silver collection.
Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

Love It? Share It!