A fabric panel and just the right border and tah-dah! a quick quilt!

Surround the Basketball Court panel with a narrow white inner border, then add a wide border of the Love of the Game Oak w/ Basketballs fabric and you’ll have a quick quilt that any basketball fan will love!

Use the Seeing Stars fabric as a border for Tinkerbell to create a magical throw for a child’s room.  Then make mini quilts with the smaller panels to hang on the walls.  Instant room makeover!   Who doesn’t love a magical fairy tale?!

Summer Basket Flowers would look great surrounded by Amber Floral Gingham and then a deep red binding to set it all off.  Just right for a kitchen or breakfast nook wall hanging.  Oh, I just love this particular pairing!  If I go missing it’s probably because I’m in the sewing room whipping up one of these!

Look at this beautiful bird!  Down on the Farm Rust Chicken fabric panel is fat quarter size.  Border it with blue Beauty Shop (I’d never pair these together by the names!) for a quick, small wall hanging.  What do you think – binding in black?

There is nothing like the satisfaction of completing an intricately pieced quilt, but sometimes you want a break and a quick finish.  Fabric panels are great for that.  Did you see any here you liked?  What panels would you use, with what fabrics?

Time for a new purse!  Well, when isn’t it time for a new purse?!  I spent some time choosing patterns and then fabrics that I thought would work well with the patterns.

Purse-O-Nally Yours bag and Wander Blossoms fabric: the flowers for the body of the bag, plaid for the top and bottom borders and for the handles, and the blue polka dot fabric for the trim on the flap pocket.  Or would you use the stripes in place of the plaid?

Twin Pocket Tango bag and Zest fabric: the gray flower circles for the bottom corners with yellow piping, the flowers for the two curved pieces with grey piping, and the yellow flower circles for the center of the bag.

Margo Handbag by Lazy Girl Designs and Petite Odile fabric: Red for the main body of the bag and for the handles.  The darker fabric for the pocket background.

Quattro Purse and Flying Colors II fabric: the colorful butterflies on the black background for the main body of the purse, the light background with the hummingbirds for the first pocket, and the stripes for the last pocket and for the handle.

Now it’s time to pick a favorite.  That might be a little harder!

Danielle Donaldson created her first fabric line and it’s a winner!  She says she loves color – she sure knows how to use it to create a lovely palette.  If you are looking for a breath of spring before it’s time for it to arrive, the search is over. Wander Blossoms will give you hope until the real thing gets here.  Beautiful water colors softly blend a whole array of flowers, each vying for room in the fanciful, whimsical focus print.  Some of the flowers are large and have such detail, and some are almost just a hint of simple petals.  You’ll fall in love with this fabric at first sight!

Companion fabrics include a wavy lined stripe of all the colors found in the focus fabric.  The soft edges of the lines give the pattern a more relaxed feel.  Can you have too many stripe fabrics in your stash?!?!  I don’t think so!

A fun plaid of blues, oranges, greens and neutrals again has the signature soft edges of the Wander Blossom collection.  This fabric reads mainly orange but the other colors make their presence known!

Wander Blossoms Blue Dots isn’t your everyday polka dot fabric.  Every now and then the white dot has a splash of color, or fun smaller polka dots surround it to look like flower blossoms.

These beautiful fabrics would work well with so many different patterns… you might just have to make more than one quilt with them!

Have you ever made an I Spy quilt?  Have you wanted to, but were daunted by the idea of collecting all those different novelty fabrics?  With an I Spy quilt, the more different items you can spot on it, the better!  Well, here’s your chance to make a great one…  we’re hosting an I Spy Fabric Swap!

You send 200 squares of fabric of 10 different prints.  You get 200 squares of fabric back of 200 (mostly) different prints.  It’s possible that you will get some duplicates but most of your squares should be different.  Here’s the details . . . . .

YOU:

Cut 20 4″ squares from each of 10 different novelty prints.  The 4″ includes the seam allowance.  Make sure the “I Spy” object will be visible in the 3.5″ center of the square.  You should be able to get 20 4″ squares from a quarter yard of fabric.

Mail your 200 squares (when you comment we’ll contact you with the address).  Include a self addressed stamped envelope with the same amount of postage it cost you to mail the squares to us.

WE:

…will take all the squares, give 1 of each print to the other participants, and one to you.  After this is done for each participant you will have 200 squares in your pile.

Then we’ll mail your 200 squares to you.

PLEASE:

Pick fun fabrics… something you would like to have.  Quilt shop quality only!  Make sure it actually has an object to “spy”….. floral fabrics don’t work, but a fabric with a flower does.  Make sense?

Be accurate with your cutting.

TIMING:

Mail your squares by October 25.  We’ll mail them back by November 5.  You should have plenty of time to whip up an I Spy throw quilt – or some other I Spy project – for Christmas.

AND:

As long as your fabric is quilt shop quality, it can be from anywhere (including your stash!), but if you would like to purchase it from Quilters Warehouse, we’ll give you 10% off your order of novelty prints.  Use code:  greatfabric10 at checkout.  Coupon is good until October 25, one time use, for any fabric except Bargain Bin.

The first 19 people to comment are IN!

Sometimes you need to look outside the “patriotic fabric” section to find your reds, whites, and blues.

This red is from the Raggedy Ann and Andy fabric collection.  The red and white stripes are perfect for flag quilt projects or other patriotic themed quilts.

Little Island Cream Micro Dot Stripe has stripes that are more narrow, and the “white” is really cream.  One side of the cream stripe has little tiny dots on it.

Monkey Around Stripe is a bit wonky.  The irregular lines of the stripes will add the illusion of movement to your quilt.

Dancing Under the Stars has a deep blue background with lots of snowflakes and white stars.

Polar Opposites Royal with Stars has a soft tone on tone blue background with lots of little white stars spread all over!

Now for the whites.  White is white, right?  Not!  So many whites are tone on tones with lots of little, subtle designs just waiting to be discovered.

Quilting Illusions is a white tone on tone scattered with different sized stars and dots.

Add a little softness to your patriotic project with White Out Floral, a tone on tone white with vines of flowers and leaves.

Add a touch of country with Quilting Illusions Gingham.

So remember, next time you look for fabric for your patriotic pattern, broaden you search and you’ll find your reds, whites and blues in unexpected places!

Have you ever fallen in love with a border fabric so much that you planned your quilt around it?

Subtle Song border fabric will actually give you several border options.  Use just the birds, or just the butterflies/dragonflies, or even just the blue/green/blue stripe.  There are also several combinations you can use.  Parts of this border fabric would also work as sashing.

Called Buttons & Blooms, this is a personal favorite – it just speaks to me!  The buttons, the flowers, the swirls, they are all so pretty and uplifting.  How could you not be happy with this fabric?! If you want to “put a bird on it” there is a perfect companion fabric of light beige with whimsical, happy birds.

Simple Pleasures is a vibrant border of elegant, deep purple with white daisies and little wisps of smaller lilac colored flowers.  It’s such a strong look that you’ll have to be careful not to let it overpower the rest of your quilt, but with the right blocks and companion fabrics you’ll have a striking quilt.

Laurel Burch Flying Colors offers plenty of color!  Great for quilters who embrace color, but a good choice for those who are a little afraid of it.  All you need to do is match a few colors from this border and you will have a stunning quilt.  Several columns of butterflies, birds, and flowers provide lots of choices for borders and sashings.

Go ahead and switch things up a bit when you plan your next quilt and start with the border fabric.  Happy quilting!