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!

Are you heading to the beach this summer?  Not, and wish you were? 

Trade your normal commute to work for Rush Hour Traffic, Beach Style.  Dig into your stash to make these fish that don’t seem to mind the crowd.  All the gentle curves add wavy motion, and the button embellishments add dimension and whimsey.

                                                                                           Here’s another stash project.  Over a dozen flip flops surround the beach blanket that holds everything a beachgoer might need. Linda Zokan of Thistledown used batiks in Beach Walk and they look great!

How about a giant Fancy Flip Flop Pillow?  The kids will love these!  Take it to the beach (the straps make it easy to throw it over your arm or shoulder leaving your hands free to carry all your other stuff) or use it inside on the rainy days.  There are endless design possibilities!

 If you are going to the beach, you’ll need a way to carry all your stuff. My Beach Bag is a simple drawstring bag that you can whip up in no time at all.  The extra layers at the bottom add a little personality, and the rest of the pizzazz will come from the fabrics you choose. Go bold!

Want to try a different kind of piecing?   The whole family can spend time piecing Seaside Summer Jigsaw Puzzle.   Stay at home and still enjoy the beach.

Whether you are beach bound, wishing you were, or remembering past trips, I hope you are enjoying your summer.

Sherry Cooper of 2 Easy Designs has released four more patterns for the Tiny Treasures series.   With one wallhanging for each month of the year you’ll have something fresh to hang as the year passes.  Several of the quilts will work for more than just one month so you might want to have a few hooks available! 

The Straight-Laced Boot Wall Hanging is rather whimsical.  What an adorable use for an old boot.  And if the boot has a hole in it (or two!) then that’s even better …. built in drainage. 

After you get your flowers planted, it’s time to head to the seashore for some Easy Livin’.  This cute wall hanging is packed with details.  Can you smell the salty air?

I hope Mrs. Ant appreciates it when Mr. Ant says “I’ll Do Anything For You“!   That extra large, juicy watermelon slice sure looks heavy.

The blossoms on the apples trees are gone and the apples are doing their summer job of growing.  Before we know it we’ll be out getting our own Fresh Picked, and enjoying them raw or baking up some apple pies or turnovers.  Yum!

These patterns are each 7 3/4″ x 18 1/2″ so they will fit in a little spot…. maybe your entry, or in a hall, or on that little wall between the bedroom door and the linen closet door.   A door itself might be the perfect spot.  They are also great for office cubicles.  Instant cheer!  If you don’t work in a cubicle, they would make a great gift for someone who does.  Make the summer ones first, then get a head start on the fall and winter patterns. 

Happy sewing!

With the weather warming up you know you’ll be out and about even more.  And you’ll be carrying more stuff.  A new big bag might be a really good idea!

The Pinwheel Pack is a one strap backpack that measures 12′” x 12″.  Pretty handy as we seldom use both straps of a backpack.  Now that extra strap won’t be in your way.

You can fit TONS of stuff in the Totally Awesome Totebag.  Use it for shopping, the beach, picnics.  It’s 14″ x 17″ and has large pockets, inside and out.

My Favorite Duffle Bag Pattern comes with instructions for two sizes: 14″ x 9″ x 9″ and 17″ x 11″ x 11″.  By Lazy Girl Designs, it’s cute and practical, with pockets inside and out, a zipper closure, and choice of handle length. 

Another Lazy Girl Designs pattern, Summer Tote, is 11″ x 15″.  This bag has pockets galore – six outside and four inside!  Carry everything you need and be able to find it, too!

Can’t decide on a pattern?  Try this one, Three Basic Bags.  You’ll get patterns for three different sized bags: a lunch bag, a shoulder bag, and a market tote.  This pattern also includes instructions for cell phone pocket and an e-reader cover. 

More Tote Bag Patterns are available on our website.  Lots more!

Everywhere a strip, strip! 

Simply Stripes…. it’s simply strips.  Sew the strips, add border, done!  Use as many different fabrics as you like, or just a few.  The interest comes from the varying width of the stripes as much as it does from the fabrics. 

Strip Easy Quilt Pattern was a favorite in one of our recent newsletters.  Designed by Pat Bruce of Daisy & Dell, all the work of deciding where to put which strip is done for you.  A diagram shows where each strip should go.  The edges get sewn on along with the rest of the quilt and are made to look like a border, without the work of adding one!

Your favorite gradation fabric gives this quilt pattern its pizzazz.  It’s a bargello design without all the piecing. The detailed instructions also include pressing guides and quilting suggestions.  Crescendo is a fast, easy, and striking quilt.

Strips of a focal fabric with accent strips sewn in between creates the Streakers quilt.  Keep the same focal fabric, change the accent fabrics, and you’ll get a much different look.

Easy As 10…11…12 includes a strip quilt designed for 2.5″ strips.  Use a jelly roll, or get cutting!  And you get two other easy patterns for when you tire of stripy, stripey quilts.

So. No excuses. No time to make a quilt?! Give me a break:) You’ll finish these in “no time”!

 And, of course, there are plenty of patterns that make use of the rail fence block, which is just three strips sewn together and then cut into sections. 

Strip away!

Do you have an I Spy quilt on your to-make list?   The hardest part about an I Spy project is finding and collecting all the different fabrics.  Check out our I Spy quilting fabric category to find lots of fabrics that would work great.    Once you collect all your fabrics, here’s a few projects to try.

Several nine patch blocks separated by some sashing will make a large lap quilt.  Include an extra wide sash and applique your child’s (or grandchild’s) name on the quilt to make it extra special.

Make an I Spy banner for your kitchen eating area, or for a child’s room.   Use a solid fabric for the back of the banner pieces.  From 10 I Spy squares cut 10 triangles.  Cut 10 triangles from a solid fabric.  With right sides together sew along each long side.  Turn right side out and press.  From the same solid fabric, cut a 3″ wide strip about 60″ long.  Press in half and then fold each side in to the center and press again.  Tuck each I Spy triangle inside this strip about an inch apart and sew right along the open edge the entire length of the strip.  Fold over each end of the strip a few inches and tack it down to make a loop for hanging.

I Spy placemats can create a fun activity for the kids as they are waiting for their meal to be ready. 

Many patterns can be modified to create I Spy quilts. 

In Patch of Posies, replace the color centers of the squares with I Spy fabrics.

Ribbonworks will frame your fabrics nicely.

The charm pack pattern, Baby Charms, is ideal for I Spy squares.  It would make a great quilt for tummy time.  

A fun way to collect enough different pieces is to find a swap – or start one yourself.  Search yahoo groups, or blogs, or suggest it at your next guild meeting.  If you want to start one yourself, here’s how it works:  Find 10 quilters (including yourself) that are interested.  Each person selects 10 different fabrics and cuts 10  4″ squares from each.   You should be able to get 10  4″ squares from one fat quarter.  One person (you?!) collects all of these squares, deals out one of each of the 10 fabrics into 10 separate piles.  When finished each of the 10 piles should contain 100 4″ squares of different fabrics, which are then distributed to the participants.  You may get a few duplicates but most of your fabrics should be different.   Then you are ready to choose a project and sew!