When you read the name Painted Pony ‘N Quilts don’t you get a picture of colorful, fun looking quilts?  Well, you’d be right.  Sherrie Thomas’s  patterns are full of life and color.   Many of her patterns are pieced but a few have some applique.  Any skill level quilter will find a pattern to suit them.

Diamond Chain is fat quarter friendly and with pastels it’s the perfect new baby gift.  Or use bright colors to please a toddler.  With squares only, this quilt will go together fast, fast, fast! 

Shown here in soft, muted colors with a white background, Starry Sampler is made with three different blocks.  Log cabin pieces surround the star blocks and nine patches fill the background.  You might want to try a cream or beige background with golds, browns, and reds for the blocks.  A black background with bright bold colors would give you a completely different look.

Would you look at this?!  A LeMoyne Star pattern with no ‘Y’ seams!  1930′s fabrics are the perfect choice to make Stars in Granny’s Garden.  With just a wee bit of applique to finish the look, you’ll find it hard to part with this quilt once its finished.

Vintage Sampler really is a sampler…. including piecing, some applique, and six bloks with hand embroidery.  Learn new skills or just put the ones you already know to good use.  You can dig into your scrap box with this one and make a bit of a dent. 

That’s just four of the patterns offered by Painted Pony ‘N Quilts.  Check out the rest of them… there’s not a dull one in the bunch!

Whether you find yourself at the beach with a bottle of water, poolside with a cocktail, or sitting on the front porch with a glass of iced tea, when you are ready to read here are some books you may enjoy. 

Karen Eckmeir will teach you her trick of topstitching layers to create beautiful fabric landscapes in her book Accidental Landscapes.   Look around you … the inspiration for your next quilt might be right in front of you.  Imagine having a quilt to hold memories of your vacation.

Embellishment Potpourri explores many facets of embelling your quilts.  Fabrics that are folded, tied, stitched and gathered can create beautiful detailed accents.  Thread, yarn, buttons, beads, glitz… it’s all here.   This book is loaded with inspiration.  Watch your next project take on a new life.

The Quilt Maniac’s Playbook by Nicole Chambers includes detailed instructions for twelve quilts and six table runner.  Nicole also teaches you all about developing your eye for color.  You’ll learn easy to use color concepts that will aid you in choosing fabrics.  And we all know that color can make or break your quilts.  You’ll shop with color confidence.

Simple Quilts, another book by Nicole Chambers, includes instructions for twenty projects. These quilts make a big impact but are easy to make.  The sizes range from lap quilts to queen size.  Each quilt is shown in two color ways and Nicole discusses the different looks that are achieved by changing the fabric choices.   

We have over 150 Quilting Books available.  It will be hard to choose just one.  Take your time, enjoy the summer and your beverage, read slowly and think about the quilting you will do.  Think about the projects you want to try first, which fabrics will look best with which quilt, who you will be gifting with your finished pieces. 

Jo Morton’s newest book, Coming Home, will be available in late May.  But you can pre-order now.

Jo Morton has been quilting for over thirty years.  Not long after that she began creating small quilts that were new, but had the look of “olde”.  With a long list of teaching experience to her credit at quilds, shops, retreats and shows, she has also appeared on Simply Quilts and Love Of Quilting. Her quilts are in public and private collections across the country. Since publishing her first book in 2000, she has written and published well over a dozen books. 

You have almost certainly seen her fabulous lines of fabric that she designs for Andover fabrics.  The new collections of Jo Morton fabrics will take you back to the 19th century with beautiful interpretations of period fabrics.

Coming Home is 92 pages of projects and inspiration.  With a new layout and revised directions to make it easier to follow, you will find pieced quilt patterns as well as applique quilt patterns.  Twelve quilt projects, plus two more from Jo’s Little Women Club 7 that are “Worth Repeating”.  

Pre-order now so you can get your hands on this one as soon as it is available!

Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs are so tempting.  It’s wonderful to have a piece of every fabric in a collection.  Then you just have to find a way to show it all off.  Fortunately there are plenty of Jelly Roll quilt patterns and Charm Pack patterns available.

Sittin’ Pretty placemats make good use of any charm pack.  This will sew up fast and look so pretty with all the coordinating fabrics.  Designed by Amy Cotham of Black Cat Creations these are 13″ x 18″ when finished.

Charming Trio – The Baby Collection offers three patterns in one, specially designed for charm packs.  The adorable Hugs and Kisses quilt can be used to cover baby or hang on the wall in the nursery.  Also included are two pillow patterns (one for the hugs and one for the kisses!) and a diaper bag.

This generous sized lap quilt looks like it would take quite a long time with all the little squares but with a jelly roll and strip piecing and a secret or two, it’s easy and you’ll have a Pretty Zig-Zag quilt before you know it!

A Jelly Sandwich never looked so good. This colorful throw size quilt (50.5″ x 58.5″) was designed by Barbara Grove of Me & My Sisters Designs.

Lemon Blush is another pattern  by Barbara Grove.  The long strips of braids look great surrounded by the light lemon colored fabric.  Or you could change the background color and make it Orange Crush, Grape Luscious….

So that will get you started… there are plenty more patterns designed for charm packs, jelly rolls, layer cakes, honey buns… all the sweet fabric packs.  Don’t hold back – Zero calories!

Friendship Designs is the creation of Sue Shipman and Sue Keck.  Friends, with lots of creativity between them, they design quilts that are anything but ordinary.  Many of their patterns feature beautiful, realistic looking flowers.  Some of the patterns are funny and whimsical.  Almost all of them will have you looking twice.

These Swaying Sunflowers just cannot be contained. . . they are blowing in the wind and out of the borders.   The pattern for this 18″ x 44″ tablerunner includes full size applique artwork.  Easy to follow instructions will help you with the pillow-turn technique.

Outside The Box is the perfect pattern for a favorite fabric that you don’t want to cut too small, but would rather show off in larger pieces.  An easy quilt in two sizes: 34″ x 48″ and 60″x 80″.

Even Witches need a Night Out!  These colorful “ladies” seem to have taken up line dancing to relieve the stress of being so witchy.

I wonder if the witches ran into these ladies who are doing the Snowshoe Shuffle?  Brightened with a colorful pieced border, this wall hanging finishes at 19 1/2″ x 23 1/2″.

Have you got That Lovin’ Feline?  The sight of these two kitties snuggling under a bright parasol will make any cat lover smile.  Look at their tails… isn’t that sweet?!

This Tender Tulip is an example of the realistic flowers you’ll find in Friendship Desingns patterns.   Hanging a grouping of these sure would look pretty.

Columbine flowers are the subject of Picture Perfect.  Easy to follow instructions and full size applique artwork will ensure you success with this wall hanging. Instructions include hand and fusible applique methods.

Check out the rest of Sue and Sue’s patterns.  Then if you still have some coffee in your cup and some time on your hands, check out all the other quilt patterns at Quilters Warehouse.