Gray is the newest popular background / neutral fabric color. It’s probably normally thought of as a ‘blah’ color but some of the new gray fabrics are so very pretty.

Beyond the Gate Gray Scroll has a solid gray background with white swirly, curly vines of leaves and buds.

Pale Grey Folio Vine is a tone on tone with a background of varying shades of grey.  The leaves of the vine are tipped in shades of grey.  All the shading creates a very soft look.

As the name suggests, this white background fabric with grey swirls is reminiscent of weddings.   Something Old Something New would make a great border fabric, or even a background, for a wedding quilt.

Granite Beauty Dark Gray is a large print.  The 3″ flowers look handpainted.  It’s just a gorgeous fabric!  Pair this with a light blue – beautiful!

Great for background, Stonehenge Cement is also a good fabric to have on hand if you do landscape quilt.  Lots of variations in the fabric adds the look of lots of texture to your project.

Subtle rose drawings on a shaded grey background is Quilters Rose Smoke.  It’s a very delicate looking, romantic hinting, grey fabric.

Have you tried any grey in your quilts?  Here’s your chance!  Check out the rest of the grey fabrics – they are found in our White, Black and Gray Fabrics section.

There are so many new fabrics in the shop!  It’s hard to choose what to try first!

Do you know a horse lover?  Hmm, that probably encompasses 50% of the teenage girl population.  Mustang Meadows Packed Horses Brown is one of the fabrics in the Mustang Meadows collection.  There is a panel that includes three different scenes, a repeating stripe that also includes three different scenes, two more horse filled scenes, two meadow landscape fabrics, and a sky scene with deep blues and fluffy white clouds.  These would make a great quilt for Christmas gift giving.  With the beautiful horsey scenes, large blocks and/or wide borders might be best, so a quick finish would be assured.

If you like soft blues with just a hint of green the Galeria fabric collection will delight you.  The fabrics include four watercolor type prints and two soft linen looks.  Shown here is the Galeria Encantada Border Stripe.

Earthy brown, night sky blue, and cream are the colors of the Shaded Oaks fabric collection by Holly Taylor for Moda.  Simple drawings of trees and branches accent some of the fabrics, and two of the fabrics have a marbled look to them – one in blue and one in brown.  Make comfy winter quilts from this soft flannel collection.

You might want to browse all the quilt fabric collections to see other new items or old favorites.

This giveaway is now closed.  Winner has been chosen, notified, and is listed at the end of this post.  Thanks for visiting!

Time for a giveaway!  This time we’re giving away a pattern, and some background fabric to get you started.

Fall Wreath Pattern

Mary Herschleb of MH Designs has dozens of paper pieced patterns.  You’ll find wall hangings, placemats, table runners and toppers, ornaments and more.   The changing seasons, nature, vacations, family, and humor all have found a place in her projects.  Fall Wreath is a 15″ x 15″ wallhanging or mini table topper that can be as colorful and as vibrant as you want.  Pull our your scraps or buy a handful of fat eighths.

To get you started we’re going to include 3/4 yard of a background fabric.  This will give you enough for the block background, for the borders, the backing, and even the binding.  All you need to add is the color!

Marble Mate Ivory by Moda will make a perfect background.  It doesn’t have a distracting pattern but it does have enough value variation to make it interesting. You should have just a little left over to add to your scrap pile.

You have a few chances to enter the giveaway . . .

1. Check out all the MH Designs patterns and leave a comment on this post naming one of the patterns that you like.
2. Browse the quilting fabrics and leave a comment naming at least one fabric you would use for this pattern.
3. Share our Facebook post about this giveaway, and then leave another comment letting us know you shared.
4. Share (on Facebook) again on day 2 (Saturday) of the giveaway, and then leave another comment letting us know you shared.
5. Share (on Facebook) again on day 3 (Sunday) of the giveaway, and then leave another comment letting us know you shared.
6. Follow us on Pinterest, and then leave a comment telling us you followed (or that you already do).

That’s SIX chances at winning.  Just be sure to leave a comment here on the blog for each of the chances, as we will choose a winner from the comments using a random number generator.

Giveaway ends midnight (CST) Sunday, September 30th 2012.  Open to US residents only.

Congratulations to Deb G.!  Happy sewing!

Susan Knapp and Mary Jane Mattingly of The Quilt Branch have written a series of books titled “Six Halves Make A Whole”.  Each book has several projects each of which can be made with six half yard cuts of fabric.   Fabric Bundles are bundles of fabric from a fabric collection - you can choose 1/4 yard cuts, whole yard cuts, or half yard cuts – perfect for pairing with “Six Halves” books!

Six Halves Make A Whole Christmas has patterns for Christmas Stockings, a tree skirt, pillow shams, and lap quilts.  The Holiday Medley fabric bundle would pair with this book nicely.

The first book, simply Six Halves Make A Whole.  Try the Farmland fabric bundle with this book.  The Farmland Bundle has 7 fabrics.  Make your quilt with 6 of them and use the 7th for the binding. Or, for your resident sports fan, use the Sports Xtreme Patch fabric bundle.

Six Halves Make A Whole Lot More has patterns for five quilts and a set of placemats.   Pair this book with the Petite Odile fabric bundle.  The 7 fabrics of Petite Odile feature greys and muted reds reminiscient of 19th century France.  Enough fabric for your quilt and for your binding.  Or use that extra piece as part of your backing.

Two more books in the series are Six Halves Make A Whole Sampler

and Six Halves Make A Whole Starburst.

What fabric bundle would you use for these two books?

Country Manor by Paula Barnes for Marcus Fabrics is a collection of browns, roses, and creams with a soft romantic look.  

 They would look great in a living room or bedroom.  And we’re giving away a bundle of FIVE FAT QUARTERS!  All you have to do is leave a comment (the comment button is just above the title of the post), and tell us what is your favorite fabric collection – besides this one, of course!  

If (when?!) you win, here are a couple patterns that only require four fat quarters.  That leaves the last fat quarter for the binding – perfect!

 This is the original Fat Quarter Table Runner by Out of the Blue.   With strip piecing it’ll be finished before you know it, and since it is quilt-as-you-go, when it’s finished it’s already quilted!

Sondra Davison designed several more Table Runners in this series.  Each of them only needs four fat quarters.  Here’s a few of them.

Fat Quarter Table Runner V

Fat Quarter Table Runner III

Fat Quarter Table Runner VII

Remember, to enter the giveaway, just leave a comment telling us the name of your favorite fabric collection - besides this one, of course!   The comment button is just above the title of this post.

Do that and you’ll have a chance at winning FIVE FAT QUARTERS of these beautiful fabrics…

Giveaway is open until midnight (CST) Thursday, August 30th.   Winner will be selected by random number generator.

 US residents only.

So you have your tools.  You have your pattern.  And now it’s time to choose your fabrics. 

Your pattern will list the fabric requirements usually with just a little bit of extra.  Not lots – you won’t have enough left over for another project or anything like that.  But you should have enough extra so that you can trim your edges straight before you actually start cutting.  If you are prone to errors, and can afford it, go ahead and buy a little extra.  You’ll never regret having leftovers for your stash!

The quilt pattern designer will sometimes make suggestions about the fabric, such as mentioning that a directional print won’t be best.  The fabric requirements will somtimes list light, medium, and dark yardages as opposed to actual colors. 

There are a few ways to proceed.  If you are in love with the colors and fabrics that the designer used, you can simply use the picture of the finished quilt as a guide.  You probably won’t be able to get the exact fabrics, but you can usually find something similiar.

Another option would be to select a fabric collection that you like and choose fabrics from within that collection.

 
For instance, Fancy Hill Farm is a collection by Robyn Pandolph for RJR Fabrics. Beautiful greens, reds, ivory, and tan in solids, large print florals and small print florals. You’ll find lights, mediums, and darks within the collection and you can be sure that all the fabrics will coordinate with each other.

Still another way to go would be to choose from a type of fabric.

If you limit yourself to reproduction fabrics, many of the print styles will work with each other. You’ll just need to be sure to select colors that go together.

Another option is to choose a print fabric you like that has several colors.   Say you like this dinosaur print but your pattern is for a living room table runner… and your living room decor does not run to dinosaurs!

Match the colors in the print with tone on tone fabrics and/or solids in the same colors.   Then you can use those fabrics without the print – you know they go together because you already like the color palette in the print.  Save the dinosaurs for the kid quilt.

Finally, you can skip all the above methods and just trust your artistic instincts (they really are in there).  It’s your quilt - express yourself!

Tools, pattern, fabric…. let the fun begin!