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Is the answer your stash?  Most of us love color, but there is something about a black and white quilt. 

Nothing like a Tuxedo to dress things up.   The Rainbow Block Template will make easy work of the curves, allowing you to concentrate on the beautiful contrasts of the black, white, & red.

                                                     Wrapped In Love And Memories is designed to show off your photos.  It’d make a great anniversary or wedding quilt.  Or….you could use those center areas for an accent color.

Easy Does It – yep it does look easy!  A quick finish lap quilt that packs a lot of impact.  

Red does seems to be the go-to color for adding punch to a black and white project.  Have you ever tried a different accent color with a basically black and white quilt?

The ClaudieJo Bag would be great if you have lots of different black and whites. Just carrying this bag would have to perk you up!

And now, here’s a little eye candy for all you black and white fabric lovers….

For more, check out the Black & White quilting fabric section on our website.

Are you a horse lover?  Do you know one?  Seems most teenage girls, and some boys, at some point fall in love with horses.  And some stay that way all their lives.  I know this from personal experience!

So, a horse-y quilt may be in order!  And we have horse-y fabric…

For the youngest of horse lovers (or young at heart!) use Painted Ponies Carousel Horses.  There are four colorful coordinating fabrics.  This works for babies as well as little girls. 

More ‘mature’ horse enthusiasts will enjoy the Horsin’ Around Quilt panel.  You could fussy cut these to fit any block style quilt; or just use the panel, add borders and call it done.

 Horsin’ Around Green would make a great background, border, or backing for any horse themed quilt.

All the cowboy accessories are found in Best West Sky quilt fabric, with such a pretty shade of blue for the background.

This Horse Stained Glass pattern could be personalized by changing the colors of the horse and adding the horse’s name to the board he’s standing behind. 

You don’t have to be a horse lover to appreciate the beauty of Horse Parade.

Check out the rest of the horse themed fabrics and patterns and have fun horsing around!

Have you seen the Stonehenge Fabrics?  They are beautiful, full of color and texture.

Elisa Wilson of Elisa’s Backporch Design paired the medallion style pre-printed panel available in the Stonehenge fabric line with a border of blocks to simulate a garden walk of tiles in her French Garden quilt pattern.   The quilt finishes at 49″ x 67″; large enough for a snuggle-on-the-couch lap quilt. It would also look great as a wall hanging.

The French Garden is also available as a quilt kit.  The kit includes the pattern, all the fabric for the top and for the binding. 

Stonehenge Stucco wide backing (108″) will make finishing a breeze.  And, if you are careful, you can back two quilts with just 2 yards of the backing fabric.

 Another option for the center is the Stonehenge Brown Panel.

 Or use the same pattern and go for a regal look with the Imperial Collection 8 panel.  Beautiful varied blues on an indigo background are enhanced with silver metallic thread throughout. There are several coordinating blues in the Imperial Collection that will work well for the borders.

 If you’ve never made a panel quilt before this pattern is a great one to try. 

Happy quilting!

The real answer is:  You can never have enough!

But, most of us live in the real world.  That means we don’t have unlimited funds (no fair!) for fabric.  So when shopping we have to decide just how much fabric is enough for us and balance that with how much the checkbook can handle.  

When purchasing for a particular pattern, most designers figure for just a little extra, knowing that you will need to trim the edge to a straight line before you start cutting.   But they don’t figure for large mistakes.  If you know you don’t always follow the cutting instructions carefully, buy extra!   If you wind up being careful, and don’t make any mistakes, you’ll have some extra for your stash.  Or you could make a pillowcase with the leftovers, or a mini quilt, or a table topper or….

When participating in a quilt shop-hop, it’s fun to pick up FQs at each shop.  It’s also a good idea to really look at the FQs you are collecting.  Are they in a color that you don’t usually use?  Do you have something in your stash already you can use with them?  You may want to be sure to select FQs that can be used together, or buy yardage of a coodinating fabric. And keep your quilty friends in mind. Maybe you’ll see something you know they’ll love… a dotty choice,

a rocky one for landscape quilts,

an irressistible 30′s fabric.

And check out the selection of wide backing.  Every quilt needs a back but this usually the smallest section of fabric, so if you see something you like – get it!

Many local quilt shops carry different lines of fabric, depending on the owner’s preferences and the local clientele.  If you have driven far and see something you really like, it makes sense to buy a few yards.  Think of it as spending the gas money that you’ll save by not having to drive all the back for the fabric that you decide belatedly you just can’t live without.

At your favorite local quilt shop, it’s easy to think “if I run out, I’ll just pop back up here and get some more”, but if you do that make sure you complete your quilt in a hurry.  Who knows if the fabric you are using will be a favorite and will be gone when you return.  I’ve had that happen more than once.  Now, if I really like a fabric, I purchase twice as much as I think I’ll use.  

I have a few other personal rules:

If it’s very near the end of the bolt, I’ll go ahead and buy whatever is left.

If it’s tone on tone, I take it home.

If it’s blue, I buy two.

Black, white and red?  I go ahead!

And my rule for not buying?  If I don’t love it, I don’t buy it.  That doesn’t happen very often.

I have yet to regret buying “too much” but have definitely regretted not buying enough!  How about you?  How do you decide how much fabric you “need”?

In our neck of the woods it feels like Spring has arrived!  It’s only the middle of March, so we’re not holding our breath thinking it will stay.  There’s still a chance for a snowstorm for just a little longer.  I know you’re thinking “don’t say the ‘snow’ word!”.  Let’s just cross our fingers, and in the meantime we can sew up a Spring table runner…. or two.

Fancy Hill Farm Fabric Collection looks like the ideal fabrics for Spring table runners. 

Isn’t it gorgeous?!  Ivory and soft rose flowers, with sage stems and leaves on a saturated red background.  This same design is available with a green background and an ivory background.  Go take a peek at the rest of the fabrics in the Fancy Hill Farm collection.  I’ll wait.

See?!  Was I right, or what?!

Back to the table runners . . . .

Posie Parade would showcase the large florals and would also make good use of the striped fabrics in the collection.  You could swap that largest outside border with the set in triangles, so the triangles were solid and the border used the floral.  Two pretty looks.

This pattern is the Fat Quarter Table Runner Pattern IV, but any of Out Of The Blue’s Fat Quarter Table Runner Patterns would be ideal for the Fancy Hill Farm fabrics.

Main squares in the red floral with a green trellis; green floral squares with a red trellis; white floral with a tan trellis. Floral Trellis Table Runner will offer lots of options.

These are patterns I thought would look good with Fancy Hill.  You’ll probably find others that you like even better if you browse through the Table Runner Patterns.

While we might not be looking forward to winter, fall weather certainly is a pleasant change from the blast of heat we had this summer.  Our fabric choices turn to beautiful golds, browns, reds, and yellows.

Look at all the colors and texture in this corn!  Aside from adding interest to any block, this Dutchess Country fabric would look great in a landscape quilt, or as a border.  It would also make a unique binding. 

 The scattered wheat in gentle curves adds motion to Harvest Home, a tone on tone gold that would pair nicely with the corn fabric.

Add Mixmaster Scribbles Red for the pop! There’s so much to like about this fabric… the waves of intensity, the squiggly lines and the warm color.

Another red, this one is a little deeper, Mixmasters Dot to Dot Cranberry has more subtle variations in color.

Adding a deep brown seems called for and Jo Morton’s Cocoa Express works.  The tan and red lines that create the diamond shapes remove the boredom of a solid brown, but still allow the fabric to be “read” as brown.

Finally, to brighten things up, Yellow Classic Yellow.  A tone on tone, there are little “v”s of red…. just a smattering.  It kind of reminds me of chicks and their beaks. 

What do you think of this color pallette?  What would you pair with the corn fabric?