New from Susan Rooney: Autumn Breeze

If you're a fan of Susan Rooney's Breezy Blooms collection, you'll be happy to know that she has two new lines out--and we'll be sharing both of them here on the blog this week! 

First up is Autumn Breeze. This collection uses many of the same fun colors from Breezy Blooms, but with a fall feel. Because much of the palette is the same, the scribble and whirl coordinates from Breezy Blooms work beautifully with these prints too! Keep reading below the swatches, as Susan chatted with us about her new collection.

The panel 

We love Autumn Breeze!

Thanks! It uses the bright colors that I love, and people seem to like the option of a fall look in these colors—it’s something a bit different. It’s fun to pull things together between these prints and the coordinating whirls and swirls from Breezy Blooms.

Tell us about the panel.

The panel initially started out as squares but progressed to rectangles with leaves looking like they were falling or twirling. I like being different. The rectangles have so many possibilities! And since I have a pattern company as well, I am designing patterns using these rectangles. They make a beautiful table runner for a fall in general or even a Thanksgiving table.

Which of the prints came first?

The overall stained glass look. I’d used that concept before in some of my licensed products and I liked it. The way in which I colorized the sections creates the pattern in the print.

And how did that translate over to the leaf prints?

I started out by fitting the stained glass look into leaf shapes—almost like using cookie cutters. Then I reworked the lines to fit the leaf shape and give them a bit more dimension. The larger prints have just leaves and swirls, and the smaller prints have leaves with swirls as well as acorns and bittersweet, something else that is also in the panel.

What is your favorite piece in this collection?

The panel. It’s different from typical square block panels. I like how we’ve been able to pull it into a quilt and table collection design. I can’t wait to work with it some more.

Here are three free patterns available on our website featuring the Autumn Breeze collection:

First, Susan's table collection:

Click here to download the free pattern.

 The Falling Leaves quilt by Heidi Pridemore:

Click here to download the free pattern.

The Walk in the Woods quilt by Susan Rooney:

Click here to download the free pattern.

Click here to see the entire Autumn Breeze collection.

Click here to download the free projects featuring the Autumn Breeze collection.

Click here to read more about Susan and see her Breezy Blooms collection.

Click here to see more of Susan's patterns and other work.

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Christmas in July: Free Project Round-Up

July is almost over, and so is our Christmas in July blog hop. We hope you've enjoyed the tutorials these talented designers have shared (if you missed any, you'll find links near the bottom of this post).

Because it's never too early to begin a Christmas quilt, we also wanted to share a few free quilt patterns that coordinate with our lines. Below each you'll find a link to download or print the pdf for the pattern--then simply ask for the fabric at your local quilt shop! 

Find the pattern for "Father Frost's Ornaments" by Jackie Robinson here.

Find the pattern for "Wrap It Up" by Tailormade by Design here.

Find the pattern for "Classic Christmas" by Diane Nagle here.

If you haven't checked out all of our Christmas in July tutorials, make sure you do! You'll find some fantastic inspiration to help you make some holiday decor before the hustle and bustle of December begins. 
Day 1: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts and Season's Greetings

Day 2: Benartex Blog Design Team with Holiday Balis

Day 3: Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty with Christmas Pure & Simple

Day 4: Wendy from Ivory Spring with Holiday Magic

Missed our holiday collections? See them all here:

Christmas Pure & Simple

Deck the Halls

Father Frost

Season's Greetings

Holiday Magic

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March Madness: Final Four Game 2

Here's the second of our two Final Four games! In this round of voting, we're sharing a bit more information about the quilts. We hope you enjoy hearing what the designers have to say about their patterns and the fabrics they used! 

Find voting information at the bottom of the post.

Ambrosia Star

Ambrosia Star by Tailormade by Design, featuring Ambrosia

Melanie and Joanie talk about Ambrosia Star:

How did you come up with the quilt design?  

We use Electric Quilter which allows us to "play" with the different fabrics and blocks until we are dizzy. We like to use two or three blocks and see if we can get the illusion of other blocks or layers...it is just a twisted game we play together!

What do you like best about the design?

The white circles that happen around the stars and the soft trellis chain that happens on top of everything.

Why stars?

No reason...we weren't really thinking stars, they just happened.

You chose to use just a few prints and stay in a single colorway. Any reason why?

We wanted it fresh and simple looking.

Can you talk about how the quilt is constructed? It looks complex.

It really isn't!  The quilt is made up of two fairly simple blocks. One has a flying geese section which can be a little bit of a challenge if it is your first time working with triangles, but everything else is just sub-cutting strips for four-patches and framing.

What appealed to you about the Ambrosia fabric collection?

It's soft florals and airy feel.  

Glass House

Glass House by Stitched Together Studios featuring Palazzo

Stephanie and Linda talk about Glass House:

How did you come up with the quilt design?

This was a combined effort with both of us adding unique elements as the design evolved. We actually started with the border and worked out the center of the quilt last.

What do you like best about it?

The modern feel using some pretty traditional quilt blocks.

What prompted you to do such an "untraditional" design?

We both love mixing the traditional and modern aspects of quilt design - this fabric line just called for something a little "funky."

Why did you choose to use such a variety of block designs in the quilt?

The outer border was so strong visually that we felt that the center of the quilt needed to be just as strong. By using lots of different blocks and many of the fabrics in the line we kept the two components of this quilts balanced.

Talk about the inner/outer border.

The inner light border became really cool negative space reminiscent of a body of water around an island.  The outer choppy border was the first element that we designed in this quilt...we wanted it to look like pieces of the center that floated away.

What appealed to you about the Palazzo fabric collection?  

The colors! We love aqua and teal and the addition of the greens made these colors all blend perfectly!

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Leave a comment below with your vote for this game (choose Ambrosia Star or Glass House). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting, and you can see all of the fabrics in each of the featured line on our Facebook page. 

Voting for this game is open through Friday, April 4 at 1 pm EST.

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

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March Madness: Final Four Game 1

Today starts the voting for our two Final Four games! In this round of voting, we're sharing a bit more information about the quilts. We hope you enjoy hearing what the designers have to say about their patterns and the fabrics they used! 

Find voting information at the bottom of the post.

Movement in Squares

Movement in Squares by Wendy Sheppard, 

featuring Op Art Reflections from Kanvas

Wendy talks about Movement in Squares:

How did you come up with the quilt design? 

In the back of my mind, I had always wanted to design a "linkage" design.  I thought the Op Art Reflections fabrics would be fun to use for a quilt of "scrappy" linkages.  And then, it was a matter of deciding if I wanted my linkages to be all rectangular or square.  I decided to use a mix to kind of break up the "predictability" of the design a bit.   The design also reflects my love for structure, symmetry, and order, a leftover from my engineering days before my Mom days, I suppose.

What do you like best about the design?

#1 I really like the fact that it looks like a complicated design, but it is actually quite easy to construct. 

#2 The overall effect is what I love. The "linkage" effect gives a sense of movement to the square and rectangular links in the design.

#3 The background fabric I used (see next question).

#4 This design is versatile to be used for any fabrics. I am thinking it would make a visually effective "modern Amish" quilt using just solids. But then, the possibilities are endless. If I owned a gallery, I would commission quilters to use this design for an arrays of fabrics for different final looks of the quilts.

How did you choose the solid background color to use with the prints?

It is actually not a solid fabric. It is a mottled greenish/bluish fabric from Benartex's Blush collection that makes a very interesting background fabric. I am always experimenting using different fabrics as background fabrics in contemporary designs. You can read more about this choice here.  

What's appealing about the Op Art Reflections fabrics?

I love the geometric designs that make up these fabrics. 

vs.

It's Electrifying

It's Electrifying by Wendy Sheppard, 

featuring Electric Feather by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry

Wendy talks about It's Electrifying:

How did you come up with the quilt design? 

As soon as I saw the fabric swatches, I knew I wanted a "clean cut" and simple look for the design that lets the fabrics do the "talking."

What do you like best about the design?

#1 I like the fact that it is a dressed up HST (half-square triangle) design!  So often, HST units are used as sub-units in "supportive roles" in block construction. To have the HST be the main players in a quilt design is what appeals to me about the design.

#2 Like Movement in Squares, I also think this design is versatile for many fabric choices.

Why did you decide to use such large HSTs?

There is a lot of movement and texture in Electric Feather fabrics, and I wanted to use simple but large patches to highlight the different feels in the movement and texture on the fabrics. Smaller HSTs might not sufficiently capture the movement and texture otherwise.

What prompted you to use beige as a neutral, in addition to the white and black?

I used the white and black to tie all the colors together in the design. But then, I felt like I needed something more subdued (thus beige) to give a bit of rest to the eye in the midst of the contrasts. So the beige was used to bring out the other colors in the design to shine like jewels.

Can you talk about your choice to put a black frame around the colored half of HST and the small squares on the opposite side? Why not just one or the other?

Yes, the small squares and the black frame combo to me is the most interesting part of the design. The HST's by themselves are just HST's, but with the framing, the large HST's all of a sudden become what draw the eye. I didn't want to use an all black frame because that seemed a bit predictable, and a frame with all small squares around makes things a bit too busy. So, the compromise and balance happened when I mixed the small squares and black to make the frames. The final framing combo brings out the HST perfectly, I think.

What's appealing about the Electric Feather fabrics?

The richness in colors and the overall texture is what I love about the Electric Feather fabrics! 

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Leave a comment below with your vote for this game (choose Movement in Squares or It's Electrifying). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting, and you can see all of the fabrics in each of the featured line on our Facebook page. 

Voting for this game is open through Wednesday, April 2 at 1 pm EST.

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

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Kids' Quilts Blog Hop Follow Up

We hope you enjoyed our Kids' Quilts Blog Hop last week! 

Today we're sharing a couple additional patterns for kids' quilts as well as information on more charities accepting quilts. Stephanie Sheridan of Stitched Together Studios recolored two of Benartex's free patterns using the four lines featured last week. 

The Park Avenue pattern, originally designed using the Cachet collection, shown here in Doodle Dogs and Monkeying Around:

Doodle Dogs

Monkeying Around

Find the free pattern here.

Yardage requirements:

	Original Cachet Fabric	Monkeying Around Fabrics	Doodle Dogs Fabrics
A	FQ 3430-70	6445-84	6442-84
B	1/3 yd. 3431-70	6446-44	6442-09
C	1/3 yd. 3432-70	6447-44	6442-12
D	1/3 yd. 3434-70	6446-12	6441-84
E	1 1/8 yd. 3437-12	4800-04	6440-01
F	¼ yd. 3437-22	6448-12	6440-12
G	¼ yd. 3437-66	6448-44	6440-84

The Purr-fectly Precious pattern, originally designed using the My Little Kitten collection, shown here in English Rosey and Yard Dogs:

English Rosey

Yard Dogs

Find the free pattern here.

Yardage requirements:

	Original My Little Kitten Fabric	Yard Dogs Fabrics	English Rosey Fabrics
A	½ yd. 3630-55	¼ yd.   5717-77	½ yd. 6436-09
B	½ yd. 3630-01	¼ yd.   5717-79	½ yd. 6436-55
C	¼ yd. 3633-01	1/3 yd.  5874-07	¼ yd. 6438-55
D	¼ yd. 3633-55	5874-07	¼ yd. 6438-84
E	2/3 yd. 3635-84	2/3 yd. 5718-09	2/3 yd. 6437-01
F	2/3 yd. 3635-10	2/3 yd. 5718-79	2/3 yd. 6301-99
G	2/3 yd. 3635-59	2/3 yd. 5718-77	2/3 yd. 6437-26
H	¾ yd. 988-52	¾ yd.   5717-10	2/3 yd. 6436-84
I	1/3 yd. 3634-55	1/3 yd. 5874-12	1/3 yd. 6439-26

Binky Patrol
Making blankets (quilted, knitted, crocheted) for children born HIV+, drug-addicted, infected with AIDS or other chronic & terminal illnesses, those who are abused, in foster care or experiencing trauma of any kind.

Wrap Them in Love
Collecting donated quilts and distributing them to children around the world, so they can be wrapped in love and comfort. 

100 Quilts for Kids
Wherever you donate your quilt, share it here--an online initiative to encourage quilters to make and donate quilts in their area

Margaret's Hope Chest
A family's way to turn tragedy into hope, by collecting and donating quilts to those in need (many of them children).


p.s. If you missed last week's blog hop, check out the links here:

Day 1: by the Benartex Blog Team, featuring Monkeying Around
Day 2: by Nikki from The Girl Who Quilts, featuring English Rosey
Day 3: by Emily from Mommy's Nap Time, featuring Doodle Dog
Day 4: by Sarah from Confessions of a Fabric Addict, featuring Yard Dog

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