Butterflies are in abundance with the summer flowers blooming.  They’re beautiful, but you need to look quick to enjoy.  Now, a butterfly quilt, that’s a different story.  Not flitting away, but always there for your viewning pleasure!

Grab your colorful scraps for Butterfly Baskets.  Shown here in repro fabrics, this would also look great in batiks, or in any bright fabrics.  Instructions are included for a pillow.

Butterfly Town is a little bolder.  12″ blocks make this a fairly quick and easy quilt.  Three sizes are included: baby, lap, or bed.

The Heirloom Buttefly-Flower is pre-printed and pre-colored.  Just add embroidery!  This makes a great take-along project.

With a strip pieced background and raw edge fusible applique, Bertie the Butterfly has lots of personality.  Several of these 9″x11″ quilts would really brighten up the wall of a little girl’s room.  Hmm…. might look pretty good in the sewing room, too!

There are two size options for the Oriental Butterfly wallhanging: 18″ x40″ and 26″ x 59″, plus a pillow pattern.  The petal edging looks fluttery, doesn’t it?  Perfect for a butterfly pillow.

They are square dancing, doing the Butterfly Doe-Si-Doe!  Two simple blocks combine to great the butterfly look.  All piecing – no applieque.  Dig out those colorful scraps.

This link will take you to more Butterfly patterns and Butterfly fabric.

We’ll close with an Irish blessing…

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness, and riches
Today, tomorrow, and beyond.

Have you ever used a Quilt Kit?  While it’s more creative to make your own fabric choices, or even to design your own quilt, quilt kits certainly have their place.  They provide a jump start to a project.  You know how (beautiful) it’s going to look when you are finished.  And they speed up the process.  Well, sometimes.  And sometimes they are long projects themselves.  We have dozens of kits available, from the quick and easy to the more intricate, months-long quilts.

You’ll be Sittin’ Pretty at mealtime with these lovely placemats by Black Cat Creations.  The kit includes the pattern and all the fabric needed to make six placemats, including the backing.  The only other thing you’ll need is the backing.  This patterns works well with charm packs so you’ll probably make more than one set!

Flannel Pals Baby Quilts are unique in that not only are all the fabrics included, but they have also been cut already!  You’ll get the pattern (quick and easy), all the quilt block pieces, the border, the binding, and color coordinated backing.   An easy way to make a from the heart and hands baby shower gift.  Also available in pink colorway.

Here’s another kit that is great for gift giving.  This Photo Collage Quilt Kit is available in several colorways, making it appropriate for baby showers, graduations, anniversaries, and weddings. Kit includes the instructions, all the fabric, and the batting.  Just add thread!

If you have a little more time to invest, Stars In Granny’s Garden has a big beautiful payoff.  This Lemoyne Star quilt is easy to piece. It has a scrappy look, but you don’t have to do any digging in your scrap pile!    

Check out the rest of the quilt kits – you’ll be sure to find a few that you like.

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!

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.

It seems if we quilt, we can appreciate country style.  Janet Miller’s projects, whether they are crochet, stitchery, or quilts all have a country flavor to them.   Many of The City Stitcher quilt patterns are samplers or incorporate folk art, or both.

Olde Floral Bouquet is sitting is a plaid country vase.  Layers of fabric and frayed edges give this wall hanging dimension.  Silk ribbons are used for the stems, adding another texture. 

Thankful Harvest can be made with either the frayed edge technique, or with traditional applique.  Silk ribbon is machined stiched to form the berry vines and fruit stems. 

Like cats?  Know someone who does?  Scrappy Cats has two options.  One has strippy backgrounds and an inner border that sports buttons all around.  The other option has solid backgrounds and no inner borders.  The scrappy borders are foundation pieced.

Quilted Village can be purchased as a complete set or, just like a village grows, one building at a time.  If you buy them one a time be sure to start with the Schoolhouse as it includes the fabric requirements for the center village green square (which is a gorgeous quilt all on its own!) and for all the backgrounds. 

Circle Of Friends would make a great anniversary quilt.  The star blocks offer room for signatures and the center displays a short poem.  With a sampler look, this personalized quilt will be a treasure that is passed down through generations.

Well, that was a sampling of the City Stichers quilts.  We haven’t even touched on the stitchery patterns or the crochet patterns.  Soon!